ABSTRACT
Moshweshwe, Sekonyela and Adam Kok felt more secure after Andrew Smith assured them of official British friendship. None of them expected the appearance of Boer forces independent of British control. Within a very short time, what Andrew Smith perceived as a spirit of rebellion among the eastern Boers manifested itself as an invasion of the highveld and Natal. In contrast, people living in the British Zone viewed ‘the movement of the emigrant farmers’ as a momentous break with the past. Confused and contradictory accounts suggest that the trekkers attempted to negotiate peace, using a ‘Fingo’ interpreter. Each of the trekker men had taken his place at the front of his wagon, a musket in his hands, and another at his feet, along with a pile of ammunition and a powder-horn. Many of the horsemen belonged to arrived trekker party led by Piet Uys, who had taken no part in the battle of Vegkop and whose intended destination was Natal.
