The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-19

| Africa, and who are, upon the whole, as
| ilne race OF pioneers as the world has
| seen. Ihey nave their faults end weak
| nesses, these people, but what nationality
! has not?
1t should always be remembered that
the South African Boer became subject
! 70 Great Britain by no fault or wish OF
ms own. lie was never conquered i'm the
| true sense of the word. We held the
Cape in 1898 for a few years by arrange
menr with the Stakeholder, the Prince OF
orange, then a fugitive i'm England from
Inc armies OF the French republic. Cape
Town was finally captured by force in
iS6, but the back-c0untry farmers knew
| little or nothing OF the affair. gross
act of injustice, the addition OF slavery
IN Cape Colony in 1885 without ade-
quate compensation to the farmers who
owned slaves, ruined large numbers OF
them and drove them in the bitterest
spirit OF Indignation to seek new homes
beyond the reach Of a British government
and British laws. In the Great Trek, "
as 1t is called, hundreds of farmers quit
TED Cape Colony, selling their farms for
anything they would fetch in a forced
market, and, with their families bestow-
ed in their wagons and their nocks and
nerds around them, crossed the Orange
river and sought new homes and pas
lures. The present republics of the
Transvaal and Orange Free State owe
their origin to this movement.
The history of the Great Trek, IT, II
ever comes to be written, will furnish
one of the most inspiring of epics. These
despised and slow-moving Dutch farm
ers, armed with only hintiOck guns after
suffering cruel reverses and the bloodiest
treachery, met and conquered the. whole
Zulu army, then at the hight of its
strength and military discipline. Fewer
than 400 Beers successfully resisted H.
900 of the fiercest Zulu warriors. At the
close of that Sunday morning battle,
fought upon Dec. l6, 1893, 1900 Zulus lay
dead round the Dutch laager; the stream
flowing by, ever since called the Blood
river, ran crimson; and the power of
Dfngaan and HIS nation was for years
broken. To this hour the Transvaal
Dutch annually meet to celebrate Din
gaan's Day" and return humble thanks
for their browning mercy, that wonder
full victory over the Zulu host.
In their warfare with the Zulus in the
country now called Natal, the Dutch far
merS used that plan of battle-laagering
their wagons in square formation-which
has been found ever since an invaluable
aid against the over-pOwering numbers of
savage tribes. Only 50 lately as in the Ma
tabele war this old Boer method was
adopted; and by its use-aided of course,
Immensely by Maxim gunS-the coIonists
of Mashonaland won their brilliant Victo-
rieS and destroyed the long and cruel Ma
tabele tyranny.
About this same period-1ss6- 's7-anotber
portion of the Great Trek made it's way
into the present territory of the Orange
Free state, and thence, crossing the Vaal,
succeeded, after some bloody and disas.
trous reVerses in driving Moselikatse fla
Their Of Lobengula) beyond the Limpopo
into the country now called Matabeleland
AlOStilhdlSe WAS Luen the most TeQOuBfed
native captain IN South Africa, and his
men, almost all pure-bred Zulus, who had
migrated from Zululand with him in a
body, were as fearless, as fierce, as cruel
and as highly trained as-Chaka's and Din
gean's finest warriors. Yet the Trek Beers
Vanquished Moselikatse as they had van
pushed Dingaan, and took possession of
that fair and rich country now called
Transvaal.
One battle was fought in lager against
Moselikatse Matabele hordes. There were
but forty grown Dutchmen in the camp
but the women and even the children
president Kruger, then a boy, was, be-
lieye, among the number) served in the
defense, loading the long smooth-bore guns
as fast as they were emDtied, and the
Beers finally beat off their savage enemy
with great loss. After this fight reinforce
mentS came in and small hands of mount
cd farmers attacked the Matabele in their
own kraals.
In the last of these daring campaigns 1876
Boers followed up and fell upon MoselilI-
atse in person on the Marico river Mo-
selikatSe commanded no fewer than TO-
600 of his finest soldiers. Fierce as they
were, however. they lacked horses and
guns, and found themselves no match
for the mounted Dutch farmers, all fine
game shots and all imbued with an in
Vincible determination. For more than a
week the Beers, with nothing but biltong
(sun-dried game meaD to eat, and no bed
the Matabele hosts. Again and again the
ponents, to bring them to closer quar-