Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-08-22

-@sISsf was burning ike the
~ Iive-coaI Of a slow
WV match while the
NJ Union Jack dangled
over his head. and
be Ionged for wilderness where he
could live to his dying day without
seeing so much as the print of an
English foot.
Re was a farmer CT Lichtenburg, a
grazing district lying in the west Of
the Transvaal, and it was easy for
him to muster little company Of kins-
men and friends of like temper to
trek with him out Of the Transvaal a
few days after the close of the war.
There were twenty-six whites in his
party, men, women and children, and
about q hundred KafIrs, most of whom
had been attached by years of service
and good treatment.
Du Toit had no definite choice of a
spot to settle on. He planned in a
general way TO spy ont the land amid
and beyond the swamps Of Nozam-
bique and laid his course straight over
the weld to Komateport at the railroad
crossing between the Transvaal and
/ the Portuguese territory. For some
time his trek was heard from more
or less frequently, but after passing
the Portuguese border the news be-
/ gan to shrink to bare reports that the
Beers had been seen by natives from
time to time, still pressing On to the
northeast through the wilderness to
the vast swamps.
They were doggedly entering the
most repellent region of the dark con
tinent, fearful expanse of fetid pools
and loathsome mire. under the glare
of the torrid sun, the breeding-ground
Of the crocodile and ali manner Of
reptiles, insects and vermin, a perpet-
ual fOUnt of miasma and deadly fevers.
but jealousy held against intrusion by
the f1ercest and most bIoOdthirsty ma
tives Of Africa. All cunning and hate
are lodged in these people, into whose
native blood has come a touch of the
Arab and of the trader of Madagascar
I Their normal life is war: their chief
! amusement is murder; the savage
with most blood on his hands is
hero, and may become a god when he
1 dies.
1t was presumed that the Boer trek
had passed into the swamps, but no
native had seen the entry and no
news came out and back to Lichten-
/ burg. After several months of vain
waiting and growing anxiety, a search
/ for the trail was begun with the help
1 of native scouts.
Every path leading into the marshes
was traced for many miles by the
/ searching parties, but no marks of Du
/ TOit's trek were detected and no It'd
ings of the missing party could be
| gathered from the natives. Yet ev-
cry Africander persisted in the belief
that the party was somewhere alive or
that its fate could be learned. All
African history has no record of a lost
BOer; but, after hunting vainly for
many weeks, the Portuguese govern
ment was on the point of giving up the
attempt. and it was evident that the
Beers must renew the search for their
/ cOuntrymen or it would be abandoned.
/ had gone to Lorenzo Marques to
select land for the same purpose as
Du Toit in a territory beyond the
stretch of British dominion. The mys-
/ terious disappearance of the Boer
! tTekkeTs was table-talk in the little
kiOsks on the stTeet-corners. Within
an hour after my arrival a Portuguese
colonel, who was seated at one of the
/ tables, rose to meet me as I entered q
kiosk and greeted me as an old ac-
Quaintance. I sat down to share a
/ bottle Of wine with him. and, after
few minutes Of polite inquiries and
/ fiowery talk he urged me to enlist in
the hunt for the missing party
The encouragement was persuad-
ed to make one more trial, and my
| friend Colonel Andreas. was put in
/ command of a troop of four hundred
men, with myself and a number of
friendly natives as scouts.
On the second day the raw men
showed signs ofNGatigue. and before
the end of the third day the horses
were tagged and pIodded along with
dropping heads.
As days went on. the column thin
ned out more and more. stretching out
| for over mile. Millions of insects
lowered over our marching troop,
/ drinking our sweat and settling in
such swarms that every mans back
I looked as if it were coated with flies
/ wings. One by one the stragglers in
/ the rear would cry for help and drop
/ swoOning from their saddles. The
| horses, too, were falling from ex-
/ haustion. At intervals from the sur
! rounding bush we would hear the
/ sharp crack Of d rife: or an arrow
/ buzzing like a frightened humming-
/ bird would reach its mark Il one of
o troop. It was idle for US to at
tempt pursuit. Before we could spur
/ our tired horses to the cover. the Iurk-
I ing native would slip of into the thick
/ cts.
! After a month of this travelling bv
/ forced marches, stopping only a few
times to rest at pool or stream. our
/ horses we're too fatigued to go furth-
4 er. We knew that we were not far
1 from the border Of the swamps and
the colonel determined to make the
entry on foot
IN order to tighten the load Of the