A quixotic and dreary expedition
Magnificent book recounts the tragedy of 700 headstrong trekkers
The Thirstland Trek 1874-1881 Nicol StassenProtea Book House The Thirstland Trek is the first book to be written in nearly 40 years about one of the most painful chapters in the history of Afrikaners. In the three years from 1874 seven different treks, eventually comprising about 700 Afrikaners, set off from Pretoria in the then Transvaal, for Humpata in the Angolan highlands. It’s estimated that 230 of the trekkers died, almost the same number returned to the Transvaal and, although about 130 babies were born on the trek, only about 370 people reached their promised land. This does not include black fatalities as no one kept track of them, says author and historian, Nicol Stassen. His empirical research has resulted in the first detailed writing on the "mak volk" – meaning submissive, compliant people — and yet it is only one chapter in the book. The mak people were indentured labourers who had been abducted as children in wars such as the Anglo-Zulu War, or given to Boers by leade...
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