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In the 1830s the migration of white Afrikaners away from what they considered the pollution of British civilization in South Africa brought them into conflict with powerful African tribes. Among the most aggressive were the Zulu.

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Transcript

Lead: In the 1830s the migration of white Afrikaners away from what they considered the pollution of British civilization in South Africa brought them into conflict with powerful African tribes. Among the most aggressive were the Zulu.

Intro: A Moment In Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The so-called Great Trek had divided destinations. Eventually, the majority of Afrikaners would settle in the region northeast of the Vaal River in the African heartland, but early on a substantial segment tried to alight in the lush coastal province of Natal. This was Zulu territory and the province of Zulu King Dingaan. He looked with increasing alarm at the arrival of the Afrikaner families on their swift horses, brandishing the firearms that could make short work of his formidable military machine.

At first willing to deal with the Afrikaners and their governor, Piet Retief, Dingaan in late 1837 resolved to rid himself of these people before their swelling numbers, then spilling over the Drakensburg Mountains into Natal, overwhelmed him. In early 1838 Retief and 100 Afrikaners arrived at Dingaan's capital north of the Tugela River. Shortly after concluding a treaty of peace, the Zulu King had the Afrikaners surrounded, dragged to the hill of execution, and had their brains beaten out.

Then two regiments, the flower of the Zulu war machine, brandishing shields, plumes, and spears, dashed westward to attack the Afrikaner camps scattered along the base of the mountains. At one o'clock on a moonless night the Zulu warriors surprised them and killed hundreds, taking perhaps as many as 25,000 cattle and sheep. During the next anxious weeks floods on the Tugela prevented further Zulu incursions and the Afrikaners pulled together for protection. The Great Trek was in serious peril. Next time: the Battle of Blood River.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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