Tuesday 15 December 2015

The Tapestries.

Here they are!
A birthday celebration, before they started their journey.
The exodus, packing up and leaving.
Across the Orange River, it is a massive river and not easy to cross.
Vegkop, one of the many battles they had to fight to stay alive.
The stop at Thaba Nchu, here they took a break to rest,  fix, mend, hunt for food.  Making candles, anything else they needed, cooked and prepared  food to take with them,  to continue on their trek.
Life continue, along the way some pioneers did not survive.  A funeral along the trek.
Wagon wheels had to be repaired along the way.  They took some tools with them and did this when they had to.  
Crossing the mountains.
Waiting at the temporary camp they set up, while some of the men went to explore routes and negotiate with the local tribes.
Piet Retief, one of the leaders, saying good bye, before one of these missions.  
Attacks happened frequently.
The weather could be a major factor.  Thunder and lightning, large hail is always a factor, which caused a lot of damage.
Making time for quiet time, reading the Bible and praying.
The battle at Blood River.
This is an overall snapshot of their journey.

The Battle of Blood River, 16 December 1838.

Besieged on all sides, before the battle, the Voortrekkers took a Vow, in return for God's help in obtaining a positive outcome that they would honour this day, as a holy day of God, forever. Giving Thanks!

The odds was not in their favor.

During the battle a group of about 470 Voortrekkers defeated a force of almost 10 000.  Three of the Voortrekkers was wounded and almost 3000 Zulu warriors died in battle.

PS: Piet Retief and his men was killed on the 6th February 1838, by Dingane, after the signing of the treaty.  (This included 100 men,  Retief was left to watch the massacre, which included his son.  He was left to the end. 

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