The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-03-09

NNSS sAS " 6Ac@A W jOuAS
grasses, the leaves of the protea, the tree
fern and the yellow wood the alterations
Of vale, hill and meadow; the sheen Of riv-
ers and stream seen along reaches or family
caught at the curves and shadows of their
courses-all carried the eye through a long
succession Of pastoral beauty until it rested
upon the soft vapors of the distant Indian
sea. AS the eyes of the wanderers gazed up
on the glorious country, il was little wonder
that they believed they beheld in it the ter
mination of their pilgrimage, the home where
their toll and travail was to cease, or that the
long-pent enthusiasm Of their strong but
simple faith should find expression in q loud
burst Of prayer to God who had led them thus
to he verge Of their promised land.
ID the southern summer Of 1888 the long
line OF wagons moved down the steep face OF
the Drakensberg and took possession of this
green and silent country, for with all its
beauty it was tenantless. Here and there the
moldering remains Of native habitations were
to be seen. Great herds of wild animals and
troops of ostriches gambolled upon the plains
or craned their heads over the ridge tops, but
man was only visible at long intervals and in
feeble and scattered numbers. But the emil
grants were not to obtain this fertile region
as their home without long and severe strug-
giles. Their leader, Pieter Retlef, and sew
enty Of his best men were treacherously slain
at the kings kraal in Zululand, whittier they
had gone to arrange the cession of the coun-
try. Months of conflict followed this attack.
The Zulu nordes swept down upon the wag-
On laagers; the Beers moved in turn into
Zululand. Again the Zulus invaded Natal,
and finally the Dutch, by a last mighty effort,
broke the Zulu power in a great battle by the
Black Umvolosi, and destroyed the kings
kraal, the victory being the signal for the
| whole army to cry with one voice, "Ihanks
to the great God who BY His grace has given
us victory"
Three years passed away. 'sThe Republic
Of Natalia," as they called their land, was
beginning to put forth the first shoots OF pro-
gress peace reigned around the frontiers;
the homes were numerous from the Drakens-
berg to the Indian sea. All at once the
| clouds gathered and the storm broke. In the
year 1S42 a body Of regular troops appeared
at Port Natal, overland, and took possession
Of that place in the queens name. The
Beers at once rose in arms and beseiged the
troops in a hastily-constructed fort near the
present toWn of Durham. reinforcement
came from the cape, the beleagured garrison
was relieved, and the Beers, finding resist
ance hopeless, once more turned their farms
into focks, ~''inspanned" their oxen, and set
their faces toward the black wilderness
again. Before, however, finally quitting
their promised land, they determined to try
the effect Of appealing direct to the governor
of the Cape Colony. For this purpose they
dispatched as their representative their ablest
man, MIR. Pretorius. But the high commits
sioner refused to hear him, and Pretorius
rode back as he had come. The Boer farm
ers, hearing from him his fruitless mission,
Immediately began to trek from the prom
ised land into the bleak wilds of the Vaal and
| Orange rivers. The misery of their second
exodus is thus described by Sir Harry Smith,
who met them on the road: s'These fami-
les" he writes, were exposed to Q state Of
misery which I never saw equalled, except
in Masenna's invasion Of Portugal, when the
whole of the population of that part Of the
seat of war abandoned their homes. The
scene was truly heartrending." They crossed
the Drakenaburg, saw Natal vanish behind,
and the bare, brown landscape spread before
them again.
But even here they were not. to be left
alone. In 1848 another proclamation ap-
peared declaring the land lying between the
Orange and Vaal rivers to be British terri
tory. The Beers were now fairly desperate.
They had fed from the old colony to Natal,
and from Natal to the wilderness; but Wher-
ever they had gone p~roclamations and annex
ati,ns under the guise of protection had fol-
lowed them. They had, in fact, reached that
state Of passion when slight proVocation IS
sufficient to cause open conflict. This was
soon given; the extension Of British author
ity to the high country lying between the Up
per Caledon and the Vaal seemed to be the
last straw. In the month of July, 1849, they
rose in instruction. It was q wild, hopeless
attempt, but the men were desperate. Dur
ing eleven years they had undergone terrible
sufferings; they had carried their wagons
across deserts and over mountains ; they had
fought with savage beasts and men more
savage still they had subdued their enemies,