Louis Trichardt - Afrikanergeskiedenis

'n Ander bydrae tot ofls kultuur op sosiale gebied is die plek- en
plaasname, en ook persoonsname wat uit die trek-jare dateer, b1'voorbeeld
Bloedrivier, S7eenen, \7inburg, Pietermaritzbug, Louis Trichardt
en talle ander. En wat van Piet, Jan, Mari4 Griet, en al die
lekker ou algemene name.
Die Groot Trek het ook ons taal verryk. Ons kom nie eens meer
agter as ons idiome en uitdrukkings soos ,,tou opgooi, hot en haar,"
,,'n vyfde wiel aan die wa" en ,,agteros kom ook in die kraal" gebruik
nie. Die vetkers het aanleiding gegee tot: ,,kan nie kers vashou nie,
so fegop soos 'n kefs," ensovoorts.
Die Trek dien as tema vir romans soos - Geknelde Land en Offer- .
land van F. A. Venter. Gedigte soos ,,die Ossewa" ert ,,Dingaansdag"
van Jan F. E. Celliers is geinspireer deur gebeurtenisse van di6 tyd.
Dinge wat die Trekkers elke dag gebruik het, soos die ou voorlaaiet,
die kersvorms, hul kombuisgereedskap en hul klere is vandag
kosbare kultuurskatte.
Kultuurbewe*ings soos die Voortrekkers en Volkspelelaers is deur
die Groot Trek geinspireer.
Ook in ons volkslied is hulle invloed merkbaar. Die digter daarvan,
C. j. Langenhoven, het mos ges6 : ,,Ons eie Afrikaanse kultuur,
gekenmerk deur egtheid en waarheid en eenvoud, was tot hiertoe hoEr
en deeeliker as al die vreemde wat ons voorsehou word." So het hv
dan hierdie srootste sebeurtenis in die geskiedenis en kultuurvormins
van Suid-Afrika in ons volkslied opgehaal :
".Oor
ons ver-verlate vlaktes. met die kreun van ossewa,
Ruis die stem van ons geliefde, van ons land, Suid-Afrika!"
LOUIS TRICHARDT.
By Donv6 Carter, Std. IV.
The first DeoDle to leave the Colonv wete Louis Trichardt a,nd
his familiv. Ffe was a farmer in the Sornerset East district. He crossed
the border into Xhosa territorv in 1833. and hited land from T:Iint"a.
\Zhen the Sixth Frontier \Var started. the Trichardt familv. which in
the meantime had been ioined bv others. set out northwards for the
Oranse River. Shortlv after crossine this river, Hans van Rensburg. a
leader of another Dart\'. ioined Trichardt.
Trichardt keot a diarv g'hich has been preserved. His simnle record
gives valuabfe information about life on trek. Most of the time^
the covered wagon was the trekkers home and fortress. The average
distance travelled a day was five miles. since the stock could not manaoe
more than that. Silhere there was Dlentv of grass and water, there woutd
be lonc halts. Usuallv, the routine for the children on week davs. vras
to receive some elementarv instnrction from DaniFl Pfeffer who
acted as schoolmaster. After that the bovs would soend the rest of tbe
dav looking after the cattte and sheep. The household tasks were done
br.. the mothers and daughters. $/hen the trek party was movinq, the
men wefe very busv. but when thev stopped. thev occuDied themselves
by cleaning guns and repairing wagons. Trichardt thought it was not
'ta

go4
10
be quite cur off from all white people. If they could find a way
to Delagoa-Bay, they could get help and itores from the portogrrese.
so they decided to explore rhe country and find a roure ro the seal then
return and settle.They felt so safe that they separated. Hans van Renspafiy
!r"g':
wenr east and they were never heaid of again.It is thought
that they were murdered by narives. After great diffic*ulties, TrichurJt',
party- eventt'ally reached Delagoa Bay. The journey, which was over
two hundred miles, lasted several months. sometimes a road. had to
b9 c-ut thro_ugh thick undergrowth. \when they at last got to the top
of the-Drakensberg, they were faced with the problem" of finding a
route down the mountairi. So as to Iower the wagons, the back whJels
had to be removed in the steep descent.
They reached rhe Komati River at the end of March. Many of the
cattle had been killed by tsetse_fly, and mararia was spreading'quickly
amoflg mernbers of the Darty. On reachine Delagoa Biy, they" r."i.r"i
a kind welcome from the_portuguese. unfortunat"ty, trr"',ireklers were,
one by one, dying,of malaria. After his wife died'in May 1g3g, Trichardt
was so heart-broken that he made no further entries in his diary.
Later in the year, Trichardt himself died. The followin,r y"u" th"
twentvsix .women and children who survivecl. were taken by ship to
Port Natal, where other Trekkers had formed a republic.