The Chilhowee echo. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1899-19??, 1900-04-21
A LESSON IN HISTORY.
BY JOHN N. billiard.

~ cdH IdtHer tellS his cnllufeD is Lne Ia
nous midnight ride of Paul Revere from
Charlestown to Concord. The sculptor
French preserved the features of the colonial
goldsmith in deathless bronze, and Long.
fellow immortalized the deed in verse The
first story that 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 a 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 Glenelg, 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. 1--WE 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 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 seek
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
fcontinuous conflict that has ragged between
the Dutch farmers and the English since
| that time
We think of South Africa to-day as of a
country of great distances, of long stretches
between the struggling little villages, and
still greater distances between the cities of
any size, and we are not entirely mistaken
Even to-day, nearly three-quarters of a CEN
| fury since the Dutch farmers started on
their long trek, journey from Cape Town
to Kimberley is not to be undertaken too
| lightly, and journey into Natal is even
| longer But to-day much of South Africa
is girdled with railroads, and if a journey of
many hundreds of miles is not to be consid-
| cred lightly now, what must it have been in
1887
| And so the trek began. Louis Trichard
was the first. He was man of violent tenn
permanent, whose hatred of the English was
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 found
| it advisable to leave the Cape Colony. An
other party of Boer trekkers, under the lead
ership of Piet Retief, left the colony little
later. With this expedition was Paul Kru-
ger, boy of ten years, the present president
of the Transvaal republic. Another mem
Der of the little band of pioneers was Mar.
thinus Oosthuyse, the hero of an adventure
that has no parallel in the most improbable
| fiction.
There was no definite destination in the
minds of the Boer leaders. The main idea
| was to get as far as possible from British in
reference "Trekking" northward beyond
| the Drakensburg, they finally pitched their
tents near the capital of Dingaan, the great
Zulu chieftain, who received the burghers
cordially. Not satisfied with the promise
Of the English secretary, Retief deemed it
safer to obtain cession of such land as they
| promised them all the land they wanted, and
invited the leaders to visit his capital, when
the trtaties would be drawn up. Retief ac-
cepted the invitation, and with 70 of his
party visited the Zulu stronghold. They
were royalty received, and the festivities in
| their honor continued four days.
On the day on which the treaty was signed
Dingaan invited his guests to attend fare
| well feast in his own kraa1 that evening. The
Beers accepted, but when they attempted to
enter the kraal with their guns the Zulu
| chieftan objected and asked his visitors to
leave their weapons outside. The Beers de-
INJURED at first, but Dingaan told them that
arms were out of place at such gathering
| and showed them that all the Zulus were
unarmed; so the Beers, unsuspecting treach-
cry or double-dealing on Dngaan's part,
| stacked their arms at the gate and went into
| the feast.
While the barbaric banquet was at its
height Dingaan rose to his feet, and, holding
gourd in his hand, said he would toast his
guests. Then he uttered the fatal words
"Bulala Abotagati!" ("Kill the white
| devils!"); and before the Beers had a
thought of danger a thousand warriors fell
| upon them with assegais and clubs. Not a
| soul survived.
But the massacre of Retief and his men
was only part of Dngaan's diabolical plan.
That same night he marched away with a
large army toward the main encampment
of the Beers. At midnight the Zulu impi
(war partly fell upon the sleeping Beers,
and another slaughter followed Men, wom-
en- and children were butchered. In the con-
fusion of the fight, and aided by the dark
ness, IA men and boys escaped, and made
their way to small hill, on the summit of
which they improvised lager, or fort. The
Zulus followed them in the morning, but the
little handful of Beers repulsed assault after
assault, until their ammunition was COM
pletely exhausted.
At this critical moment white man was
seen riding in the rear of the Zulu lines. It
was Marthinus Oosthuyse, who had just
returned from a three days hunting trip.
The beleaguered and desperate Beers sig
nailed to him that they were out of ammun-
ton, and he rode back to the scene of the
massacre, mile away, where he loaded him.
self with powder and ball.
The Zulus were 1000 strong and as they
were between the young Boer and his com,
rades there was seemingly, not one chance
in million that he could ride through the
lines. But Marthinus Oosthuyse calmly
took this chance. With superhuman cour-
age he spurred his horse against the living
wall. The air was black with storm of as
segais and spears. Great clubs were swung
at has head, and huge javelins were hurled
- D,,+ ID