Page 31 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

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and decided to stay. Probably they did not consider that in
this way they would cut themselves off and could never get away. The boers immediately yoked the oxen to the wagons and drove off into the dark night. Not far from there one of the wagons drove against a tree stump, broke and remained behind. The boers fled with the other wagon and oxen!
The following days were fearful days! All young people of Chief Pakade, under whose people the station was established, were called up by the English government and continuously young, armed men passed the house, probably also looked
at themselves in the window, danced in front of it and then moved on to the collection point. Days and weeks passed in fearful expectation by day and night until we were notified that the Zulu warriors had again withdrawn over the big Tugela border river because they had only been hunting! Our parents were so glad that they had stayed! In Greytown there was a large square with field stones with loopholes whereto the whites fled in emergency situations and then defended
it against the storming hordes. The farms were isolated and far removed from each other and in emergency situations everybody fled to the collection point in Greytown which was a small village at the time. amily in Kroondal near Rustenburg are well known.