THE
HENRY-STEYN TREK (1895)
MEMBERS OF THE HENRY-STEYN TREK
John and Emily Henry and children: Tom, Freddie, Trevis.
Johannes Gerhardus F. and Herculina Steyn (my
Great grandparents?)
and children:
Christoffel, Christian, Theunis, Lucas, Maria.
Johannes
and Annie Steyn and
children:
Martha, Herculina, Johannes, Anna.
Pieter and Engela Steyn and children: Johannes Annie.
Hendrik and Christiana Steyn and child: Aletta
Hendrik and Sannie Steyn and children: Cornelius and Sannie.
P. Willem and Cornelia Steyn and children: Antonie, Hendrik,
Stephanus, Paul, Susanna, Anna, Cornelia, Johannes, Pieter.
Christoffel and Alletta Steyn.
Wentzel and Johanna Coetzer and children: Johannes, Wentzel,
Johanna, Annie, Piet, Martha, Willem.
Harm and Johanna Coetzer (my
Great grandparents?) and children: Hendrik,
Susanna, Jan, Piet, Lettie.
Thomas and Maria Ferreira and children: Willem, Maria, Jan, Thomas,
Catharina, Louis.
Johannes and Annie Kloppers and children: Martha, Aletta, Annie,
Christoffel, Willem, Johannes, Schalk.
Stephanus and Annie Lomard and children: Annie, Stephanus,
Barend.
Cornelius and Catharina Marais and children: Annie, Barend,
Catharina, Stephina.
Willem and Hessie Prinsloo and children: Willemina, Hans, Willem,
Freek.
E. Coetzer
Ignatius du Preez
Jaap Hauptfleisch.
Daniel van der Zandt.
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Chapter 11
THE HENRY-STEYN TREK (1895)
THE THIRD big Trek and
one which has opened up the most northern part of Gazaland, was
that conducted by Messrs. Henry and Steyn in 1895.
The Trek fever was growing, especially in the Free State where
farmers were beginning to realize that their farms were getting
smaller and smaller, and where others saw that it was not so easy
to obtain land. The idea to move into the “Land of Rhodes” had
gripped the Freestaters who by now had lost several hundred
emigrants.
In the Kroonstad district various people contemplated trekking to
German West Africa, and then again to North West Transvaal, but a
decision either way was never made.
The news that farms were available in Rhodesia at the nominal
figure of only about £30 caught the imagination of those people who
have always grown up with the soil and whose greatest desire was to
possess a piece of ground themselves. The news in the press that
plentiful and fertile agricultural land was still to be had led
some of the local inhabitants to convene a meeting. Here it was
decided to appoint a small committee to proceed up to this
hinterland of Rhodes and to inspect possible areas of settlement.
They were also instructed to take up several farms should they be
satisfied with the prospects.
This committee, consisting of John Henry and Johannes G.F. Steyn,
took the boat at East London in the winter of 1894 and sailed to
Beira. From there they traveled in a river steamboat up the Pungwe
River and then by train up to the last stop “Seventy-five!” From
there they had to walk or to make use of transport-wagons as far as
Chimoyo and the Ruwui River. Here the road to the Moodie’s farm was
explained to them and once more they had to travel on foot. The
first night the mist arose and they lost their way completely. They
wandered around aimlessly and full of fear until one day they
stumbled on to the farm of Mr Cripps near Umtali. He gave them
directions how to get to the Moodie’s farm along the mail route and
sent a native boy as guide.
Two days later they arrived at the kraal of a native chief,
Mutambara, who gave them a brand new hut to sleep in, as well as
food in two newly carved wooden bowls: in the one, hard-boiled
mealie meal and in the other roasted locust.
When they arrived at the Water Fall, Dunbar Moodie said they should
move to the extreme south. They thought, however, that an area
nearer to the railway line would be more desirable and expressed a
wish to settle in the extreme north, past the Martin’s area towards
the Umvumvumvu valley. They were granted farms on payment of £30 a
piece, and had to be responsible for pegging their own boundaries
of the 3000 morgen farm for a married and 1500 for an umarried
person. If the farms were too big, they could buy the extra ground,
after proper surveying, at one shilling and sixpence per morgen; if
they were too small northing more could be done about it, as all
farms had to be pegged adjoining one another.
The party was very satisfied, traveled back through the
Chimanimani-poort and arrived three days later at Chimoyo from
where they journeyed back via Beira to the Free State.
Their report was anxiously awaited by the farmers and others from
Kroonstad, and it was decided to start organizing at once so as to
move off as soon as it was feasible in the following winter. The
Trek would meet formally at Schoemansdrift at the Vaal River on the
the May 1895.
Loaded with such diverse items as grass, fruit, seeds, trees,
domestic animals, clothing and food for six months, thirteen wagons
arrived at the appointed place on this date. From the farthest
south was perhaps Mr Thomas I. Ferreira from Tarkastad, whose
uncle, Steyn, was one of the delegates. He had come to Cradock and
told his relatives what he had discovered, and at least this one
family decided to join his party. Thomas Ferreira writes:
“My
mother was rather sad at our parting, but she told us to load our
wagon firstly with Religion, then with Patience, then with Courage
and then with Faith, and all would be
well.”
At Vaal River a few other wagons joined them so that there were in
all 16 wagons and 104 people, about 5000 cattle and about 750
sheep, etc. It was decided to divide the Trek in two parts to
facilitate grazing and movement and that Mr Henry would lead one
section and Mr J.G. Steyn, acting as general secretary, the
other.
Ten more people joined them near Potchefstroom, and so the Trek
moved on in the direction of the Crocodile River. It was terribly
cold and on one occasion so muddy and sticky that one wagon after
the other got stuck. On one occasion they had to use four spans of
oxen to pull one of the wagons out. Food supplies were obtained at
Rustenburg and from there they had to keep a close watch on the
cattle for fear the African would steal some of them. They crossed
the Crocodile River and on the road to Palala experienced the first
signs of cattle disease (gall-sickness), and many trek-oxen died.
One occasion the lions caught four of their horses. What with heat,
hook-thorn, thirst and a certain amount of despair, the Trek was
heavy-going as far as the Limpopo. Here they met transport-riders
and others who encouraged them to go on. The hunters were most
interesting, and for about ten days they camped at the Limpopo
listening to hunters like Hans Nieman, Jan Terblanche and others.
They even arranged a dance on one of the canvas sheets.
The Sunday before trekking through the river, the usual Sunday
service was held, and many a heart was sad at the thought of
leaving their native country.
The Trek received quite a fright on the road from the Limpopo to
Tuli when Thomas Ferreira got lost. He had gone out shooting and
after he had killed a kudu, he had no idea which way to go. That
evening he found the spot where he had left the wagons that
morning. “Suddenly somebody
touched my shoulder,” writes Thomas
Ferreira, “and asked me if I
knew where I was…I got such a shock that I ran wildly into the
bush; and till this day I do not know who touched me…..I struck the
road again but had no idea which way to go. Fortunately it was
north. I ran with the perspiration running down my face. I had only
three cartridges left, and all around me I heard the yelping of
wild dogs, hyenas and the roaring of lions. That night about one
o’clock I heard shot. It was someone sent out along that road to
look for me.” It was a case of “all’s well that ends
well!”
On the road to Tuli, horse-sickness broke out and killed off most
of their horses. At the Nuanetsi, lions caught some of those who
were left. At “Sugar Loaf”, a solid, gigantic granite hill, more
cattle got ill, and the party was not sure whether they would ever
reach Fort Victoria. They were greatly encouraged by the arrival of
an invitation from some owners of a mine near this fort to the
young people of the party, and by the arrival of two new
adventurers, Willem Prinsloo and John Scheffers.
At Fort Victoria – the supply depot of all who traveled to and from
South Africa – they took in what supplies they considered
necessary, and then moved on to the Sabi. About halfway to this
river, most of the members of the Trek developed a kind of
dysentery which, however, did not prove too serious.
A few days later a boy, Paul Steyn, was born and the Trek slowed
down for a day or two. The only mishap was when the wagon of
Cornelius Marais broke down. A few men volunteered to stay behind
and do repairs, and while they were away to fetch an axle of a
precious wagon skeleton which was discovered there, he tried to
jack up his wagon. The wagon toppled down and Marais was pinned to
the ground. He and his wife struggled in vain to free his legs, and
he was almost dying of pain when a native boy appeared on the scene
and helped to pull the poor man out.
The Sabi itself appeared like the Red Sea to them, but after
Ferreira, on horseback, had marked a track across, they got through
safely, although they had to span two teams in front of some
wagons. The condition of these trek-oxen, by this time, was none to
good, and at Tanganda a few died – of sheer exhaustion, they
thought. With Three Spanberg looming ahead, they were all dubious
as to whether they would be able to get across. But by spanning
three teams in front of each wagon and forcing all passengers to
walk up, there were no incidents. One enormously fat old lady,
Sannie Steyn, had to be supported by a girl under each arm and
another one in front who pulled at a cloth twisted round the body.
A little footstool was carried along to enable her to rest on the
journey and then she was duly refreshed with some coffee!
They passed the Ebenhaezer memorial of the Martin Trek and so
arrived at the Moodie Settlement towards the end of October. They
proceeded in the direction of the Martin Trek and thence to the
Myohodi and Elandspunt where Dunbar Moodie had arranged for them to
stop. He, together with John Henry, Johannes, Beltsazar and
Coenraad Steyn, then went out for a few days to peg the various
farms. It was discovered that there was not sufficient land
available for the whole party so a number of them went still
further northwards into an unknown and unchartered area. The
mountains were steep and two span of oxen had to be used regularly.
Sannie Steyn had to have her usual escort! At Osaapsnek the chain
snapped just as the hind-oxen were pulling the wagon of Hendrik
Steyn. The wagon ran backwards and landed at the bottom, crushing
every bit of furniture to pieces. The wagon was repaired, and the
trek over Osaapsnek continued. Their first view of the lovely range
of country stretching before them, inviting occupation, sent a
thrill through young and old. The first farm was duly pegged and
the others moved on to Paulingnek, where the same mishap occurred
as at Osaapsnek – only this time it was Harm Coetzer’s
wagon. From there they
traveled to Moodiesnek (Moodie’s Pass) a road to Umtali made by the
Moodies. For fear the wagons would run backwards again a huge
wooden block was fastened at the back in order to stop the wagon
from moving backwards. All except one wagon reached the top safely.
The block proved most successful.
The farms Weltevrede, Lombardsrust and Johannesrust were pegged.
Then the others moved to Thom’s Hope where the rest pegged their
farms. Two families moved beyond the Umvumvumvu and discovered that
the area there had been occupied. By the summer of 1896 all
families had been settled and northern Melsetter occupied.
They had to pay about £15 for the Deeds and about £40 survey costs.
Only one farmer, Mr Willem Steyn, sustained a loss when he
discovered that 500 morgen of his farm was in Portuguese
territory.
For most of them the planting and sowing season was past, and so
they had to await the rainy season of 1896 with rather gloomy
prospects. It took them a month to complete the distance of 70
miles from Melsetter to Steynsbank – the last farm in the north,
and it was realized that communication, even with the older
residents further south, was extremely difficult. The first winter
gave them ample proof of it. However, through their perseverance,
they opened up the new area of North Melsetter; and thus the whole
of Gazaland – dream of Moodie, Jameson, and Rhodes – was occupied
as British territory.
Other Treks followed the Steyn’s Trek, but they were not,
technically, considered Pioneer Treks.
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Chapter 12
SETTLING
ACCORDING TO Malcolm
Moodie the beginning of the Trek appeared to him like one long
picnic. Everything was new – clothing, shoes, etc., and the wish
uppermost in the minds of the younger members of the Trek was: “May
it last for ever.” They were all full of ambition to see their new
3000 morgen farms, and in that spirit they rejoiced, and danced and
sang all the way up to the Border. “But the world soon started to
change once we were nearing our destination and had to settle
down…. There were bushes and thorns and thistles. The trousers were
torn to pieces and the beautiful dresses hung like rags. The music
slowly died away….and its place was taken by the family Bible…….”
The first two months of 1893 was an experience they could never
forget: torrents of rain came down and malaria was rife.
No sooner had they settled down when the news that the Portuguese
were threatening to drive them out of the country reached the small
community. The only thing to do was to stand guard on the border,
while the Portuguese seemed to be preparing themselves. After a
month (February) things quietened down, but for those who
accompanied Dunbar Moodie along the border it had meant wet clothes
for a whole month (they saw the sun for only two days) and, in many
cases, fever. The only daring episode during this time was when
Dunbar Moodie and Ernst du Plessis boldly rode to the Portuguese
outpost on the Devuli Mountains to bring down the Portuguese
flag!
Not one of the Trekkers was disappointed in the country. The
climate was mild, the grazing sweet, and the soil soft, red and
very fertile. They were all struck by the possibility of using the
numerous streams for irrigation purposes. Excellent timber was
available in the mountain valleys – especially the “assegai”
bush.
They found the Gaza tribes friendly and only too willing to barter
their agricultural products for trifles from the white man or
woman. They brought maize, kaffir corn, pop corn, pumpkin, sweet
potatoes, lemons, bananas and even tobacco, and they seemed to have
cultivated these even better than did the Free State farmers.
It was hoped that the Chartered Company would make a decent road
from the Settlement and that a few police would be stationed in the
vicinity. “It is just possible,” Dunbar Moodie wrote, “that with a
view to the proximity of the Bandisi gold fields and the expected
increase of the population in the settlement a small town might
even be started in Gazaland.” The Rhodesia
Herald carried a report four
months after the beginning of the settlement to the effect that
everything was going well. Four new faces had appeared; the natives
had reaped their crops and they seemed to have been good. On a
recent hunting expedition to the Busi River, the settlers killed,
amongst other game, a hippo. A lioness, that was wounded by a rifle
set for her by Mr Oberholster, had attacked him, but he was able to
shoot her at his fee. “Since their arrival the party had begun to
lay out their gardens; and potatoes, onions and other kinds of
vegetables were available. All kinds of fruit trees had been
planted and had taken root.”
In the meantime Dunbar Moodie and Ernst du Plessis had mapped out
the proposed township. A few police actually moved into the
district to keep an eye on the situation on the border. One result
at least was that some contact was now possible between the
settlers and officialdom in far away Salisbury, Victoria and
Umtali. A regular weekly postal service between Melsetter and
Umtali was inaugurated. “One is inclined to say that all we still
need is an Archangel in order to make the place an earthly
paradise. We already have a justice of the peace!” was the comment
of one of the settlers. Others thought that Dunbar Moodie was a bit
of a “fly in the ointment” for he seemed to have appropriated all
the official posts (except postmaster) for himself.
During August and September a couple of the men returned to South
Africa to recruit more settlers and to fetch their families. Those
who came up to inspect the country had included the Swanepoels,
Pollet, Strydom and De Wet. Swanepoel and De Wet had asked for 36
farms for their families and friends. Swanepoel alone wanted twelve
which he pegged and promised to occupy as soon as he had settled
his affairs (he was a rich farmer in the Free State). He left them
unoccupied until 1895 and by that time people had realized that it
was a friendly but unlawful gesture on the part of Dunbar Moodie to
have allowed the two men to peg and lay claim to these farms.
Dunbar Moodie wrote several letters to Swanepoel keeping him
informed of the position and asking him not to delay occupation too
long. He stated, also, that they were beginning to build, that the
farms were in good conditions, and also the sheep and goats. They
themselves were up to all kinds of tricks….”The trouble with the
missionaries had been settled (occupation of one of the farms of M
L Swanepoel),” he wrote in a subsequent letter, the farms had been
pegged and surveyed, and transfer had been passed….”The world was
too lovely for words….The beautiful green trees, the green veld,
the lovely water, the flowers and everything one’s heart could wish
for…..Wheat, barley, oats seem to do well, the cattle are in prime
condition….We had a bit of a joke here yesterday. A Portuguese
Commandant arrived here with 12 armed men to take away some natives
here in Gazaland, and they had all kinds of nonsense…I went up to
them, took all their rifles and swords and chased them out of the
country….the scally-wags, they do make me cross!.....”
Gazaland was now beginning to appear “on the map” as a high grassy
plateau 4,500 feet above sea level, and described as very healthy.
For the few pioneers to this part of the land of Cecil Rhodes it
was good news, for reports from the Mashonaland area were not
always favourable. It compared favourably with the best in Natal,
Swaziland and Zululand, with few marshes and swamps.
“The agriculturist would find everything he desired in the form of
soil, crops and grazing,” remarked one visitor. Almost every farm
had a high plateau and a low-lying valley; on the former there was
good grazing, in the valleys, timber. Wild fruit was plentiful:
lemons, loquats, bananas, ‘majantjies’, ‘majobohobo’ – food for man
and animal. The indigenous inhabitants seemed to be of a mixed sort
– outcasts from the once mighty Gaza race, but showing a little
zest for hard work as the rest of their people. Their crops were
good, but they possessed no cattle – all probably having been taken
by Nganganyana on one of his last raiding expeditions as he moved
southwards to Imhambane. Game like buffalo, eland, hartebeest and
small buck, hippos, lions and leopards were plentiful – but not so
many birds.
A suitable market for disposing of the rich harvests of this area
was soon realized. Fort Victoria, 150 miles away was the nearest,
but the roads were too bad and the rivers impassable for a long
period each year. Perhaps trade could be established with the
Portuguese and for this a railway was indispensable. If Umtali was
to get preference, it would still be seventy miles from
them….However, they continued to scheme and dream….
Gradually the area around Salisbury was all occupied so that more
and more people were advised to settle in Gazaland. And when the
Moolman-Webster Trek did arrive to strengthen the numbers of the
Moodie Settlement it was a day of great rejoicing. The first seeds
(maize) had just been sown, light showers had begun to all and the
country was looking at its best. Herds of eland, hartebeest, zebra
and sable were grazing peacefully on the green grass of the new
spring.
During that winter season the settlers had organized hunting
expeditions, and on one or two occasions they also went lion
hunting. Malcolm Moodie relates how they went out after two lions
one afternoon. They shot and skinned the lioness, but the male had
disappeared. It was getting dark when they started their homeward
trip, they heard the male roaring close behind them. It was too
dark to discern anything and the lion seemed to get closer, now
roaring to their right, then behind, and the to their left. It was
a mad rush back to the “rondavels” or huts where a friendly fire
could be lit. That whole night the lion walked round the hut…and
they only managed to kill him several days later.
A hippo hunt one day resulted in five hippos being shot by Thomas
Moodie and his party in the Busi River. For many it was their first
experience, and the hide-and-seek tactics of the hippos in the
water provided a whole day’s fun. They had never intended killing
all five and it was only the following morning when they discovered
the five bodies floating in the water that they realized how many
of the shots fired had hit their target. It took them a whole week
to skin and cut up those hippos…”And did we enjoy that hippo bacon?
You have no idea how much you can eat without any ill effect. And
we cut over two hundred whips from one old bull,” concluded Malcolm
Moodie.
Thomas Moodie reaslised that it would be disastrous to allow this
indiscriminate shooting to continue, and he therefore I imposed
restrictions on which and how many animals or game could be shot.
This, of course, did not apply to beasts of prey.
So the first year in the new territory slowly cam to an end – with
only one note of discord. One of the members of the small community
had to leave a farmer’s life “for a golden land; but alas! Not
between the wings of two shining and glittering angels, but
handcuffed and accompanied by two strong policemen to settle his
account at Fort Victoria. He was accused of beating up a
donkey….”
Valuable discoveries had been made such as salt deposits in the
Sabi Valley, three hot mineral springs (recommended for the
crippled, sick and blind), copper mines – also in the Sabi Valley –
and a good quality limestone. Old ruins, a little smaller than
Zimbabwe, were discovered at Chikwanda near the Busi – “about 37
feet in diameter and 20 feet high with unplastered stones,
containing in one place, a big stone pillar about nine feet high,
and several other smaller ones on old graves”.
Towards the end of 1893 the British south African Company had still
refused to assist the settlers with the cutting of a road to Umtali
over the Umvumvumvu and it appeared as if the Portuguese would be
reaping the benefit of the settlement. It seemed a pity as so much
of the timber could have been used in Mashonaland.
After the rains had begun to fall the crops promised well on all
the farms. Lions were still troublesome. Boyce Moodie had killed a
prize male on one farm; and on Moolman’s farm no less than ten
appeared one day. A hunting party chased them into the gorges and
dynamite had to be used to try and get them out. The hunters were
not sure which was the most dangerous – the lions or the dynamite.
However, they managed to kill two, brining the total for that
fortnight up to six.
The new year 1894 began with bright days and clear skies, a
pleasant change from the heavy rains of November and December. In
January of that year there was an occasion of great rejoicing when
the first marriage, that of Thomas Moodie’s daughter, Elsie, took
place in Melsetter. The Rev. Wilder had come over from the newly
established Mr Silinda Mission to perform the ceremony. There were
no less than ten ladies present! A big reception was held, there
was target shooting and sport, and the eighteen competitors had a
grand time.
G B Dunbar Moodie tried all kinds of experiments with crops and
soon discovered that certain strains of tobacco would do well in
the district – possibly better than anywhere else in South Africa.
As a proof of that he sent ten rolls of his own tobacco crop to
Salisbury in April 1894. Further exports to the chamber of Commerce
during that month were four hundred pairs of soles and eleven
skins. His dream of a tobacco culture did not entirely come true,
but certainly inspired many farmers to try their hand at it – some
in other districts and some with the culture of cigar leaves.
Indeed the first year was, for the pioneers of this settlement, a
rich and eventful one.
But perhaps it was too good to be true. April 1894 saw the turning
of the tide. The first tragedy was the sudden death of the pioneer
leader Thomas Moodie. When he realized that the British South
African Company had no immediate intention of assisting them to
make a road to Umtali, he decided to start with the work himself.
He was the sort of man who would rather do what has to be done than
to wait for somebody else to do it. He took some Africans and they
struggled day after day to shorten the 135 miles between them and
Umtali. No doubt he exerted himself too much, for he was a man not
only with great initiative but also of great strength. The story is
told of how Moddie had traveled to the Victoria Falls as a guide to
an English hunting party as early as 1882. They had to obtain
permission from Lobengula and it was the powerful figure of Thomas
Moodie that made Lobengula decide to grant this permission without
much ado. He asked Moodie to show him his muscles and then said
they looked more like the hips of man than muscles of the arm. In a
jovial mood Lobengula had remarked “O! O! you must not shoot the
elephants, you must catch them with your hands.”
It was his resoluteness which perhaps made him over-confident. He
had not realized that he was not so young any more, and he took it
upon himself to roll the huge boulders out of the road. It was
while he was busy with this that he had an accident. He did not pay
much attention to it, but it led to serious complications and he
died shortly afterwards.
A dark cloud settled over this small community. Moodie, a beloved
leader imbued with the pioneer spirit from the time when his
grandfather had come to Swellendam in 1840 to start an industrial
settlement, was there no longer to lead them. In his time he had
associated with many great men – amongst others, Paul Kruger, with
whom he had been on a hunting expedition – and he feared no
man.
“He was a man full of endurance,” Ernst du Plessis relates. “I have
never met a man who had so much courage as Thomas Moodie, and I
would dare anybody to display as much of that courage as did my
friend Tom. For me it was a great privilege to be associated with
this marvelous man, and to travel, work and live with him. The
memories of what he had to face to make this country liveable will
be amongst my happiest recollections. I can only say that if Thomas
Moodie had not ‘departed’ so early, Rhodesia and Melsetter would
have been a different country to-day.”
A true husband, an intimate father, a faithful friend and an
excellent colonist – that was how he was remembered by everyone who
knew him. Rhodesia as a new country could ill-afford to lose a man
with such capabilities. His experience in the Basuto wars and other
military operations, his industrious Scottish nature and his
general ability would have fitted him to take full leadership for
the Eastern Districts.
It was no wonder those of his friends who cared to remember him,
were so shocked at the treatment meted out to his widow and
children in this land for which he sacrificed his life.
The rest of that year passed rather gloomily for the Melsetter
community. Many new Trekkers arrived, and they brought new life and
spirit into the whole of Gazaland. The winter soon passed away.
Hunting expeditions were again organized and the newcomers were
drawn into the family of settlers. The grass was as green as ever
in August – a great wonder to these Free State farmers – the cattle
were in good condition and butter, milk and vegetables were
plentiful. For all of them it was still a land of high hopes.
I
don't know the origines of this text! If you do then please send me
what you know thanks ;-) DJ.