John Clark Collection
James Saunders King (1795-1828) Born in Halifax, New Brunswick, in 1795, he joined the Royal Navy as a ship's boy in 1806 and left it as a 20-year-old midshipman in 1815. By 1822 he had achieved command of the brig SAlisburg which did odd jobs like trooping between Cape Town and other places, that is, carrying troops to local garrisons. Ex-Lieutenant Francis Farewell was also involved in this venture and the story goes that the ship was forced by a gale to run for the harbor entrance of Port Natal and cross the bar at risk. The legend, therefore, is that Durban was founded by a southeast wind. The two men contacted Shaka and did their best to make a living from ivory trading but eventually, they had a serious quarrel over money. After the failure of the mission to the Cape on Shaka's behalf, King returned empty-handed and depressed. He died of dysentery, an almost universal complaint among European traders, explorers, and soldiers in the Africa of the olden days, and was buried near his home on the Bluff. His servants mourned him as a father. For many years his grave was roughly marked as being near a clump of bamboo. Later a resident made a circular concrete slab (seen here). Today a small memorial garden marks the spot.