At the Fireside--Volume 1 (10 page)

The Adam Kok trek

The Adam Kok trek

The story of how the Griqua lost their land at Philippolis in the aftermath of the Great Trek is a story of British betrayal. The Griqua were loyal to the British authority at the Cape. What many of us are not aware of because emphasis is always placed on the white Trek, is the fact that there were many separate treks, all involving people of colour. Certainly, the trek of the Griqua under their leader Adam Kok was one of the epics of the 19th century.

When it suited the British they repudiated treaties and made a virtual present of an ally's territory to that ally's enemy.

Adam Kok II died in September 1835, on the way home from trying in vain to persuade the Governor of the Cape to sign a treaty similar to the one with Andries Waterboer at Griquatown. He had been equally unsuccessful in persuading the Governor to take effective action to stop white trekkers from flooding into his country. To cut a very long and complicated story short, the Griqua eventually found themselves facing the following unpalatable alternatives. Either the British would annex their lands or their lands would be annexed by the trekkers, returning from across the Drakensberg, as a result of the British annexation of Natal. The tension between the leader of the returning trekkers, one Mocke, and the Griqua was so high that Mocke placed himself under Hendrik Potgieter when the Boers attacked the Griqua at Philippolis. In this battle one Griqua and ten Boers were killed. Two regiments were sent up from the Cape to retrieve 2 000 Griqua cattle from the trekkers.

Sir Harry Smith then repudiated the old treaty, told Adam Kok III that he was going to take his land away and threatened to hang him on the spot.

It was then that the Griqua decided to trek from Philippolis and because this was a coloured trek, the event has until recently been denied its rightful place in our history. More than 2 000 people, 300 wagons and carts and 20 000 head of cattle and sheep set out on a journey that would take them over two years. They would have to blast their way through the mountains and trek over the Malutis to a place then called Nomansland, lying between the Transkei to the south and Natal to the north. First, however, they had to sell their farms in Philippolis, and obtain permission from Moshweshwe to trek through Basutoland.

The first Griqua trekkers left towards the end of 1860 and established a base near the modern Zastron, where the rest of the trekkers joined them. They had decided to wait another winter before trekking on, but this was a disastrous decision as the winter of 1862 was extremely severe and a year of drought nearly ruined them. Their cattle and sheep died by the thousands and vultures circled continuously overhead.

When the spring came they pressed ahead, blasting a way through the mountains to the very source of the Orange or Gariep River. Eventually, after the loss of many animals and wagons in steep ravines, they dragged themselves over Ongeluksnek in the summer of 1862-63, and descended into their Promised Land. They founded Griqualand East, but little did they realise at the time that, having endured such hardship, it would be barely fifteen years before the land that they had called their own, with the blessings of the British authorities, would be annexed by Britain.

Today Kokstad, the capital of Griqualand East, still bears reference to the name of their leader, Adam Kok.

Prince Louis Napoleon

Prince Louis Napoleon

In a rather isolated, flat piece of veld near the road between Melmoth and Vryheid in Kwazulu-Natal, stands a monument marking the place where Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial and the last of the Napoleons, met his end, in June 1879 during the course of the AngloZulu War. He was just twenty-three years old. His father, Napoleon III, and his mother, Princess Eugenie, had sought refuge in England after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 when Napoleon III was forced to abdicate and France became a Republic. After some persuasion by Queen Victoria, Prince Louis was allowed to study at the Woolwich Military Academy where, at the age of nineteen, he qualified as an Artillery Officer in the British Army, passing out top of his class in horsemanship and fencing.

The British had invaded Zululand and, after the ignominious defeat suffered at Isandlwana, Lord Chelmsford had called for reinforcements from Britain. Many of the Prince's fellow officers had been called up and, wanting to show gratitude to the British and wishing even more to redeem the name of Napoleon in France, the young man saw a brilliant opportunity in the Zulu War. Princess Eugenie was dead against the idea, as was the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. But Queen Victoria again intervened and it was agreed that, being a foreigner, he could not be sent overseas as an officer, but would be allowed to go as an ‘observer'. Lord Chelmsford had mightier issues on his mind. When Louis Napoleon arrived in Durban, he, along with Lieutenant Jahleel Carey, were placed under Quatermaster Colonel Harrison, the officer in charge of reconnaissance. Jahleel Carey had been educated in France and he and the Prince got along very well.

Carey asked permission from Colonel Harrison to accompany Louis Napoleon on a sketching trip into an area that the scouts had reported, was free of Zulus. Permission was granted and, along with six mounted troops and a friendly Zulu as a guide, they set out on the morning of 1 June 1879. The English accounts tell us that they came across a deserted kraal that afternoon, they unsaddled and brewed some tea. A Zulu impi came out of the long grass and fell upon them. In the firing, shouting, and general melee, two troopers and the Zulu guide were cut off from their horses and were killed. There was pandemonium as the rest tried to mount and run. Napoleon's horse reared and bolted and Napoleon, holding onto the carbine holster, was dragged some 100 metres before the strap holding the holster broke. He slipped and fell under the horse.

Lieutenant Carey managed to gather the rest of the party and, realising that it would be disastrous to return with five men as the area was overrun with Zulus, he hotfooted it back to Itelezi camp.

Louis Napoleon had ventured forth accompanied by only eight men. More than a thousand men went to look for his body. All the British cavalry was there, together with all the mounted volunteers and the Edendale members of the Natal Native Contingent. When they searched the area the following day, they found Trooper Abel, killed by a bullet from a captured British carbine, and Trooper Rogers, who had been killed with spears, propped up against a bank, his eyes open and face frozen in an expression of shock. Further away, in a donga, lay the body of Louis Napoleon, naked except for a gold wristlet and a necklace containing his father's miniature.

The news shook the world. It received more coverage than the Isandlwana defeat and the French, who for years had felt nothing for Napoleon III or his family, were up in arms in a frenzy of Anglophobia. It is said that Queen Victoria, upon receiving the news, did not sleep for two days. In typical British fashion at that time, a scapegoat had to be found, and this role fell to Lieutenant Carey. He was court-martialled in Durban, found guilty of misbehaviour in the face of the enemy and sent home at once. Lord Chelmsford intended to have him cashiered, but Princess Eugenie, eschewing revenge, appealed on his behalf to Queen Victoria, who intervened and Carey was reprieved. He later joined the Indian Army, where, after bearing the contempt of his fellow officers for a few years and, having become totally ruined with no prospect of advancement, the burden became too great and he committed suicide.

All of Natal bowed their heads in 1880 as the grief-stricken Eugenie slowly made her way up into Zululand, visiting all the battlefields and, finally, the donga where her only son had died. The party found Subuza, who owned the kraal nearby. She bought the site from him and planted a willow sapling and an ivy shoot there. Then she returned to England.

We should also listen to what the Zulus have to say about this incident. Yes, they agree, a patrol of British did come to Subuza's Kraal, and, yes, there were no men there as they were away serving in the ‘Magoba Mkosi' (Tenders of the Kings') impi. But the Zulu maidens were there in the kraal and Napoleon, with his good looks and obviously regal bearing, was quite attractive. Zulu tradition tells us that there were a few dalliances that afternoon, that the ‘Magoba Mkosi' regiment, upon returning, came across this scene and that it was then that the massacre occurred.

What the real story is, we will never know, but the Zulus have nothing to hide, so why not tell it as it was?

The first Cape Slave Revolt

The first Cape Slave Revolt

At the time of the Second British Occupation of the Cape in 1806, there were 29 800 slaves and 22 600 colonists. The British then passed a law prohibiting the importation of more slaves, but nothing was done about the slaves still in service. By the time slavery was abolished in 1834, there were some 40 000 slaves in the Cape alone. It is in that period – between the second British Occupation in 1806 and slave emancipation in 1834 that there were two slave revolts.

The first slave revolt in 1808 was very strange indeed. Its two chief instigators were a labourer named James Hooper and an Irish sailor, Michael Kelly. The Irish were much abused by the British at that time.

James Hooper had arrived some months earlier and had taken lodgings with a slave named Louis, who was married to a free woman. His owner allowed him to live and work in town in exchange for some of his earnings. The men began swapping grievances and were soon plotting the general emancipation of the slaves and the overthrow of the Cape Government.

The plan was to rally the slaves in the outlying farm districts around Malmesbury and then march into Cape Town, where they expected to be joined by the town slaves, all demanding their freedom. If it were refused, they would seize the prison and powder magazine, and fight for it. Confident of success, they voted Louis to be the new head of state.

They didn't stand a chance. They overestimated their ability to rally the slaves and underestimated the 5 000-odd soldiers garrisoned in Cape Town. Michael Kelly, along with two others, Abraham and Adonis, joined the force. Hooper and Abraham rode on horseback to the farm of Pieter Louw in the Malmesbury district to obtain promises of support from the slaves. On obtaining these they returned, got hold of military uniforms and all five set out for Louw's farm with eight horses, hired ostensibly by a ‘British Officer'. The two Irishmen wore regular soldiers' uniforms, while Louis, who had white ancestry, posed as a Spanish sea-captain, in a blue coat with red and gold cuffs and epaulettes, wearing a sword by his side and a cocked hat with an ostrich feather. Abraham and Adonis passed as his batmen.

When they arrived at Pieter Louw's farm he was away, but his wife was completely taken in, and felt very honoured by the visit, offering dinner and lodgings for the night. Abraham and Adonis checked that the slaves hadn't had a change of heart (they had not), and everything seemed to be going according to plan.

That night, Hooper and Kelly got cold feet. They tiptoed into Louis's bedroom, quietly removed the blue jacket, sword and hat, slipped out of the window and hot-footed it to Saldanha Bay, where they were hoping to board a ship and flee.

Louis awoke and saw what had happened, but resolved to stick to the plan. Ten slaves and one Khoikhoi farmhand joined him. They seized the wagon and horses and set off to the neighbouring farm of Willem Basson. Basson was also away and Louis announced that he had been sent by the Government to free the slaves and take the farmers to Cape Town. Basson's wife managed to get away, but they tied up his son and took all the guns and ammunition, as well as the wagon and horses and set off to the next farm.

The procedure was repeated and within the following three days, thirty-four farms had been visited in the Zwartland, Koeberg and Tygerberg areas. Farmers were tied up in the wagons and the mob grew. However, many farm slaves refused to join them and, by the time they decided to march on Cape Town, they numbered only 326 men.

On the evening of 27 October a fainter carried the news to the Governor of the Cape, who immediately sent a large contingent of cavalry and infantry to intercept the band. The slaves put up no resistance and were all captured without a shot being fired. The farmers in the wagons were released and the slaves taken to Cape Town to stand trial. When the authorities realised that most of the slaves had been deceived, only fifty-one were tried for insurrection. Meanwhile Hooper and Kelly, the two main ringleaders, failed to find a ship, were hunted down and brought back to the Castle.

Something needs to be said here about British law and justice at that time. There were no less than 146 crimes that were punishable by death, including murder, rape and theft! Those found guilty of more serious crimes, such as treason and insurrection, were partly hanged, drawn whilst still alive, then cut into quarters and their remains were tied up at the North, South, East and West entrances to the town, to serve as a deterrent to others. Torture and public floggings of 100 lashes were commonplace until the early 19th century.

In December 1808 the High Court sentenced sixteen of the slaves to be hanged in public and their bodies were to be chained and publicly exhibited at different places to serve as a warning to others. The rest of the slaves were to be forced to attend the proceedings. Eventually, only Hooper, Louis, Abraham and two others were hanged and exhibited, and so ended the first slave revolt at the Cape.

The second revolt, in 1824, was a short but very bloody affair, culminating in the culprits' heads being cut off and fixed upon poles planted along the roads for all to witness – a grim way indeed to treat people during an equally grim period of history.

Deserted towns – Marabastad

Deserted towns – Marabastad

The Voortrekkers, under the leadership of the very quarrelsome Stephanus Schoeman, left Ohrigstad and headed northwards to the Soutpansberg. They established a new frontier town, Zoutpansdorp, which would be eventually renamed Schoemansdal. But petty infighting and squabbling was so rife that they even named a range of mountains after the discord – the Strydpoortberge.

The dissention was so great that Field Cornet Jan Botha decided to halt the trek, settle down in one place and patch up the quarrels. They settled on the banks of the Sand River, some 20 km north-east of present-day Pietersburg, and here he built a dam and a small fort he called Fort Klipdam. Some years later, when the BaVenda drove the settlers out of Schoemansdal in the Soutpansberg, the Klipdam settlement was revived. A new fort was built on the same site, although this time it was a rather ornate structure on the lines of a stylish medieval castle, with battlements and crenellations.

This fort was an administrative outpost of the Transvaal Republic in the 1880s and there lived Oscar Dahl, a short, stocky, powerful man, born in Denmark. He had been a sailor, lured to South Africa by the diamonds of Kimberley, and had later wandered up to open a trading station in the Spelonken, in the Lydenburg district. He had fought with the Boers in the First Sekhukhune War and had been appointed Native Commissioner as a reward. After the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877, he fought in the Second Sekhukhune War with the British and they had made him District Commissioner for the Northern Transvaal. With the restoration of the Republic after Majuba, he was left at his post, as he was both a popular and an efficient civil servant.

Oscar Dahl's wife Sannie was the half-sister of the famous Dina Fourie, the heroine of the tragic Sofala Trek, in which Dina's father, husband and children all had perished (see
The Story of Dina Chambers
). Part of Sannie's dowry were the two small ‘Grietjie' cannons that had been the cause of the dreadful journey. These cannons, originally taken to Schoemansdal by Commandant Stephanus Schoeman, were handed over to Joao Albassini, known to the local people as ‘Jowawa', when Schoemansdal was abandoned. Later they were given to a William Fitzgerald, who farmed on the Luvuvhu River, and he, in turn, gave them to Sannie, who presented them to her husband. Oscar mounted them on the twin turrets of his castle at Klipdam. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, they were fitted with wheels taken from commandeered cocopans from the Eersteling Gold Mine, and brought into active service. Nowadays, this historic and much-travelled pair of cannons can be found in the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria.

Dahl, Officer of the Northern Transvaal frontier, was also the general civil service factotum, and among his general duties was that of marriage officer, in which regard an amusing story is told. One day, a shy young couple came to be married. Dahl completed the necessary formalities and then requested his fee. The cheeky young settler, referring to the time that Oscar had been a trader, said ‘Put it down on the account.' Dahl flew into a rage, kicked the young man out, locked the door and shouted, ‘I'll keep the bride – on deposit!'

Some time later, Sannie Dahl arrived back from a visit, saw the obviously distressed young man sitting in the garden and enquired as to the problem. The young man explained his predicament. She then sneaked into the house, took a pound note from her husband's best trousers, gave it to the young man and he redeemed his beloved!

Eventually, the Northern Soutpansberg settlers were forced out by Makhato, the Lion of the North and Chief of the BaVenda, and they all trekked away and settled south of Fort Klipdam in an area known as Marabastad. It was never a successful settlement and, had it not been for the fact that Edward Button discovered gold on the farm Eersteling in 1871, it would have been abandoned years earlier. But the gold rush prolonged its life. At its peak it consisted of two marquee tents for Government officials, a boarding house, an interdenominational tin shanty church, four stores and a few shacks, along with five fine pubs, the best of these being ‘The Blue Post' owned by L Page-Lee.

One of the Government tents doubled as the local gaol and was equipped with a set of stocks. Through some misunderstanding over a horse and spider, Bob Jameson, brother of the famous Leander Starr Jameson, was sentenced to three months in this gaol. Dr Bencome was horrified and warned Rabe, the Mining Commissioner, that Bob was a certified alcoholic and, if suddenly deprived of liquor, would certainly cause trouble. Rabe was impressed and ordered that Bob be allowed three drinks a day. So for three months a warder escorted Bob Jameson three times a day down to ‘The Blue Post'. The last drink in the evening usually saw them swaying, arm in arm and singing, back to the tent. After this period in gaol, Bob Jameson walked off in the direction of Lourenco Marques, never to be seen in Marabastad again. Such was life in these frontier towns, full of interesting characters, many with a story to tell.

Marabastad, like many other frontier towns, was destined to vanish. The end of the gold rush removed its reason to exist and in November 1881 the new Volksraad decided to establish a town in the centre of the Northern Transvaal. A farm was purchased in a place known to the local people as Pholokwane (‘the Protected Place') and this is the present-day Pietersburg. The local magistrate moved there in 1886 and Marabastad faded into history.