The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1900-04-27
A LESSON IN HISTORY.
ny JOHN N. billiard.

N"A AeNhNl WIS hlo AllllQlIu 10 lit Ia
nous midnight ride Of Paul Revere from
Charlestown to Concord. The sculptor
French preserved the features of the colonial
goldsmith in deathess bronze, and Long.
fellow immortaized the deed in verse The
first story that a Boer boy hears from his
fathers lips is the heroic ride of Marthinus
Oosthuyse. The tale has been handed down,
by word Of mouth, from generation to gen
GRAFTON, and the fame in South Africa of the
young Boer, who braved death by riding
through a swarm of Zulus, rivals that of Paul
Revere in American history. 1t is story of
the great trek, and to tell it one must bark
back to the very beginning of the trouble
between Boer and Briton.
In 1887 Lord G!enelg, the British secretary
of state for the colonies, announced that the
government would not attempt to exercise
sovereignty over the land that lay north Of
the Drakensberg, the land that is now
within the boundaries of Natal and the
Transvaal republic. This was welcome news
to the Beers, who bitterly resented Great
Britain's interference in their ethical and
private affairs. eve are ruined by being
robbed of our slaves" reads one of their
revolutionary manifestoes. "They roam
about the country as Migrants and steal
our cattle. The missionaries, who are the
advisers Of the government, say that black
man is as good as a white and better. We
will not submit to it. We are Gods chosen
people, and we will leave this benighted
country, this hotbed of injustice, and seel;
the promised land We will trek to the north
and pitch our tents on the banks of the
Nile"
This was the beginning of the trouble that
is to-day resulting in bloody war in South
Africa 1t was the beginning of the almost
continuous conflict that has ragged between
the Dutch farmers and the English since
that time.
We think of South Africa to-day as Of q
country of great distances, of long stretches
between the struggling little villages, ant
still greater distances between the cities o.
any size, and we are not entirely mistaken
Even to-day, nearly three-quarters of a cen
fury since the Dutch farmers started OF
their long trek, journey from Cape Towr
to Kimberley is not to be undertaken too
lightly, and journey into Natal is ever
longer. But to-day much of South AfricS
is girdled with railroads, and if q journey o
many hundreds Of miles is not to be consid
cred lightly now, what must it have been il
1887
And so the trek began. Louis TricharC
was the first He was a man of violent TEN
permanent, whose hatred of the English wa
SO open that he was believed to have in
cited the Kaffirs in the war of 1884 '35. A re
ward was set upon his head, and he founC
it advisable to leave the Cape Colony. An
other party of Boer trekkers, under the lead
ership of Pet Retief, left the colony a littl
later. With this expedition was Paul Kru
ger, boy of ten years, the present presiden
of the Transvaal republic. Another mem
Der of the little band Of pioneers was Man
thnus Oosthuyse, the hero of an adventur
that has no parallel in the most improbabl
fiction.
There was no definite destination in tn
minds of the Boer leaders. The main ide
was to get as fal as possible from British in
reference, "Trekking" northward beyon
the Drakensburg, they finally pitched thei
tents near the capital of Dingaan, the greo
Zulu chieftain, who received the burgher
cordially, Not satisfied with the proms
of the English secretary, Retief deemed
safer to obtain a cession of such land as the
desired from the native chiefs. Dingaa
promised them all the land they wanted, an
invited the leaders to visit his capital whe
the trtaties would be drawn up. Retief a,
cepted the invitation, and with 70 of hi
party visited the Zulu stronghold. The
were royalty received, and the festivities
their honor continued four days.
On the day on which the treaty was signe
Dngaan invited his guests to attend far
well feast in his own kraal that evening. tn
Beers accepted, but when they attempted
enter the kraal with their guns the Zul
chieftain objected and asked his visitors
leave their weapons outside The Beers
INJURED at first, but Dingaan told them thu
arms were out of place at such gatherir
and showed them that al the Zu.us wei
unarmed; so the Beers, unsuspecting treacl
cry or doube-dealing on Dingaan's par
stacked their arms at the gate and went I'M
the feast.
While the barbaric banquet was at i
/ height Dngaan rose to his feet, and, holdir
a gourd in his hand, said he would toast h
guests. Then he uttered the fatal wore
"Bulala Abotagatil" WKiil the viii
devils'0; and before the Beers had
thought Of danger thousand warriors fe
upon them with assegais and clubs. Not
soul survived.
But the massacre of Retief and his me-
was only part of Dingaan's diabolical pla
That same night he marched away with
large army toward the main encampmel
,, of the Beers. At midnight the Zulu i'm
! (war partly fell upon the sleeping BoeI
! and another slaughter followed. Men, woI
en- and children were butchered. In the co
fusion of the fight, and aided by the dar
ness, IA men and boys escaped, and ma,
: their way to small hill, on the summit
which they improvised lager, or fort. IT.
: Zulus followed them in the morning, but 4
, little handful of Beers repulsed assault aft
assault, until their ammunition was col
l pletely exhausted.
: At this critical moment white man W
I, seen riding in the rear of the Zulu lines.
= was Marthnus Oosthuyse, who had ju
: returned from three days hunting tri
The beleaguered and desperate Beers s.
; nailed to him that they were out of ammui
ton, and he rode back to the scene of t
massacre, mile away, where he loaded hi
self with powder and ball.
The Zulus were 1000 strong, and as tn
were between the young Boer and his CO..
rades there was, seemingly, not one chan
in a million that he could ride through I
lines. But Marthinus Oosthuyse calm
n took this chance. With superhuman col
age he spurred his horse against the livi
!. wall. The air was black with a storm of
| z. of,,b.