“If you’re going heading out, then you’ll have to get to know the locals. It’s either the Khoikhoi or the San people,” His father explained.
Jan nodded.
“The Khoikhoi live similar lifestyles to us. They have cattle, and they migrate from time to time once they exhaust the food in the region for the cattle. The San, or Bushman as we call them, aren’t pastoralists like the Khoikhoi, and live hunter-gatherer lifestyles. The problem is that these two groups don’t like each other. You see, when the Khoikhoi bring their cattle to graze on the land, the usual animals the San hunt start dying off as their food sources start disappearing. So, these groups get into constant conflict due to this.”
“How do they look like?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. To my eyes, the Khoikhoi and the San look the same. But if you want an actual example. Oi! Jacob!”
A dark elf began stumbling before them. And as his father predicted, he really could not tell the difference between him and the other elves. It was like how Asians could not tell Europeans apart, and how Europeans could not tell Asians apart, that sort of thing. It held true for the elves, who probably all saw Europeans as the same, whilst they could tell intercultural differences between one another.
“Jacob here is one of the Khoikhoi, or so he insists. I got him whilst trekking. There were numerous Khoikhoi chiefdoms in the land before we came. But they were under pressure from both sides. The amaGqunukhwebe were conquering and assimilating them from the East, whilst we came and settled in their lands from the West. Many of them were displaced, Jacob is the descendent of one of them, whom I had to pay a decent sum to obtain him as a servant.”
“So, what’s the difference?”
His father dismissed the Khoikhoi, Jacob and whispered to him.
“Honestly, there isn’t any. But don’t say that to their faces, they will be pretty pissed off. Practically, you don’t have to worry about these things. Just think of Khoikhoi as pastoralists and San as hunter-gatherers. Wealthy San people who become wealthy enough to own cattle might make classification difficult, but just consider them by how they make a living and you will do fine.”
“But the most troubling of all is the way they fight. The San know the terrain well. They will ambush you with poison arrows, and I have lost many men due to their arrows. My only advice is not to mess with them and negotiate with them for safe passage. Do not try to fight them. If you give them cattle or two, I’m sure they will leave you alone. The Khoikhoi aren’t too dangerous. But due to intermarrying and mixing, you never know if they have inherited some of the San’s techniques.”
“That reminds me. Wanna hear an interesting fact?”
His father grinned and Jan shrugged.
“The third group will be the Bantu speakers known as the Xhosa. You’ve met them previously with Pretorius, and were even ambushed by one of their parties. Xhosa in the Khoikhoi language means ‘to destroy’, and the amaXhosa, the term which the Xhosa used to refer to themselves means ‘angry men’ or ‘the men who do damage’.”
“Doesn’t this mean the Khoikhoi were the original inhabitants since they named the Xhosa?”
His father shrugged.
“Who knows.”
“But anyway. The Xhosa organized themselves into various chiefdoms. The chiefs that are not from the Royal family are known as Great Councillors. Only chiefs from the Royal Family can address themselves as Chiefs.”
“So, I wasted my time negotiating with an unimportant nobody.”
“These nobodies have their territories by the outskirts of the kingdom. Boers do pass through them from time to time. So, while the raids in her territory likely stopped altogether, it could not be said for the other Xhosa chiefdoms. However, I wouldn’t say your efforts as wasted. In parlaying with her, you have shown that they could be brought to the negotiating table, so they’re setting their sights in the Transvaal and Free States region.”
Having a fruitful discussion with his father about the various affairs, he bid him goodbye.
Captain T. C. Smith marched from the Eastern Cape with a couple of hundred men to station themselves in Port Natal. In the march through the Frontier region, they did not meet any Elfrican attacks, probably sensing a different vibe due to their discipline compared to the regular trekkers. A month later, they reached Port Natal and camped by the base of the Berea hills.
There, the captain looked through a telescope and found the town safe. There weren’t Boers marching around, carrying out their uncivilized savagery. Putting the telescope aside, he breathed a sigh of relief. But this time, he took a closer look for any elves that were to reside in the town. He double-checked to ensure that the town was occupied by elves. Seeing the elves being subservient to various English merchants, he heaved a second sigh of relief.
Now he could carry out the mission entrusted by Governor George Thomas Napier. Splitting the men in half, he let the demoralized rest in Port Natal, letting them rest there. The rest will be marching to Pietermaritzburg, where they will greet Pretorius and his group of Boers. And while stationed there to ensure the protection of their British citizens, they would investigate the trade links between the town.
His men grumbled about going to such a backward town, especially those that were tasked to go to Pietermaritzburg with him. Officers relayed messages that the men needed some time to rest since the travel was exhausting. He took a day’s rest with the men in Port Natal.
The next day, he decided to let the men rest for a week so that they can resupply the various goods they used up during their trek. Most important of all was the unpredictability of the Boers. They usually started numerous conflicts with elves at random times. Who’s to say they won’t get into a fight? Andries Pretorius might be a reasonable man, according to the Governor. Even if he was infuriated with the British presence for some time, he doubted the man who launch an attack. All it takes was a man who careless finger, and things will go to hell. It will be better to bring his full force to bare if a fight comes. But until then, he will indeed be taking a break in Port Natal, enjoying the last comforts of civilization before heading into savagery.
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“Back and forth cattle raids in Transvaal. The request of assistance from the town of… handwriting is ineligible, I will need some time to decipher it,” Russell explained, holding the worn piece of paper with poor cursive handwriting.
“Here’s another one,” Pietje remarked, who recently picked up how to read, and his eyes slowly hovered over the paper’s contents.
Enunciating each word carefully, he read it aloud, “Another cattle raid. A Boer family was slaughtered. Slaughtered an entire town. Need reinforcements.”
“We will not intervene or bother to send assistance. These people started to raid cattle, their cattle will be raided back. They can negotiate a settlement on their terms. No doubt the elves are not happy with constant back-and-forth cattle raids.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. An entire family might be slaughtered in this one,” Pietje retorted in Dutch.
“So what? Hundreds of families die in the Great Trek. And if it is too dangerous, they could always fall back to the nearest Boer settlements nearby,” Jan coldly explained.
“Plus, there’s not much help we can send them. Any help would take months,” Russell agreed.
“Fuck! I’m itching to slaughter some elves after reading all of this!” Veldkornet Pietje stormed out of the room whilst throwing the papers on the desk. Russell quickly worked to put them together.
“When did the engineer say he will get the wagons constructed?” Jan asked.
“It will take a couple of more months. The first batch has been delivered to the corporals nearest to the Port. They have been testing it out, reporting any faults to the wagon engineer.”
“Good to let the men who will be using it for months start to get used to the design.”
“Jan, about the trip to Zoutpansberg. Must we go there? It’s rather far, around the Northeastern region of the Transvaal. Wouldn’t a good test excursion be to Cape Colony? If it can survive the Great Trek, it can surely survive anything.”
“But that’s the thing. We don’t know if it can survive anything. Plus, the men need to get used to going on campaigns that last over months. I need to get used to that. Speaking of that, we need to appoint successors whilst we are gone on our little excursion.”
Russell nodded, explaining, “I have decided on my assistant as the successor. Pietje put his wife as his successor. I advised him of it, but he said that if anyone disagreed with his wife, they disagreed with him. What about you Jan?”
“That’s the thing. I do not know who I should appoint. By right, I should appoint my Co-Commando, the Zulu Princess, but there’s no way the inhabitants would accept a Zulu Princess as a Commando for their district. So, I think the best option would be to leave it blank, yes, I will not appoint someone as my successor. My father would be the best choice, but even he is busy managing his district in Pietermaritzburg.”
“Then who will decide on the decision whilst you are gone?”
Jan pointed at Russell, and at the doorway where the angry Veldkornet yelled through.
“Both of your successors will co-share decision-making. Like how the Roman Republic worked. Two consuls. They will run the town. Your successor can run the urban districts. Pietje’s wife can run the rural districts. Any disagreements on important matters, well, we’ll settle it through democracy?”
“Democracy? Are you sure the people in the town won’t inadvertently destroy the town? You must remember half of them can barely read or write.”
“Well, they will be running things while they are gone. If they trash the place, it’s their fault. I’m sure your successor will be able to negotiate with Pietje’s wife to prevent any such things from happening. Plus, you should have some faith in the Boers. They elected Pietje, he seemed like a decent Veldkornet.”
Russell became downtrodden, looking towards the floor.
“That’s the issue, though. If we start encouraging Democracy, I fear you will be deposed. After all, you were not elected. The only reason your Commando is because Pretorius supports your claim to the position. If the man wavers his support or the people’s support turn against you, you will lose your position.”
“Coming from an Englishman, I thought you will be encouraging more democratic reforms! Or complain about Westminster, about how your Prime Minister torpedoed in the country in 45 days?”
“There was such a Prime Minister?”
“Sometime in the future,” Jan slyly smirked.
“I might be such a man. But I’m also a man smart enough to not cause himself to lose his job. I am very comfortable in my role. I am decently paid and well clothed compared to the jobs I had to do in the various fields of farmers. And I would like things to stay that way.”
“I don’t think Pretorius will allow things to fall that way. Thinking from his point of view, he isn’t sure of the loyalty of the newly elected Commando or Veldkornet. I doubt he would let that happen. He is fine with having me be the Commando, he knows that I rely on him for this position, and that is why I am forced to be loyal. And who can blame him, the Port is the gateway to the wider world. Without it, we’ll go further inland, hiding away from the British. But with this, we can drum up support for our cause around the world.”
“All the more we shouldn’t leave your seat vacant. Who knows what will happen while we are gone?”
“We’ll give it a shot. We’ll never know if it succeeds or fails if we don’t try. Pretorius is there to serve as insurance if anything happens. Plus, we can learn from our mistakes and set up a proper succession in place for the future if we have to leave next time.”
Captain Smith began digging up information from the locals in Port Natal. As the reports sent to the Governor, the local mayor, a wealthy English merchant, confirmed that the entry of Boer goods has dropped by a large margin.
“Yet, it’s not as if they have moved further inland from Pietermaritzburg. Various traders went there are found that the population had not changed in recent months. It is only growing. Surprisingly, Port Natal has not become more bustling!” The mayor exclaimed.
“Why haven’t you sent anyone to investigate the reason behind the reduction of trade?”
“It is not as if we will all go bankrupt if the Boers stop showing up. The profits brought by trade with Boers are rather minuscule. Why focus on the thousands when there are tens of thousands in the foreign markets of Egypt? Hell, millions in India, especially the spices.”
Smith frowned and grumbled mentally about the mentality of merchants.
“You’re not afraid that they’re pulling back to launch an attack on Natal? Their leader, Andries Pretorius has always insisted that the port should be part of their little Republic. Governor George Thomas Napier might say it is highly unlikely, but their actions are unpredictable.”
“What is there to worry about, with men like you in the army, I’m sure no Boer would dare to lay siege to the port!”
With that praise, he decided to stop grilling the man. He went to the local banks and scoured the accounts of various wealthy men.
“Give me the accounts of any Boers who have created an account with a reasonable sum of wealth.
“What would you consider reasonable?” The bank manager asked, flipping through the books.
“I don’t know how much a Boer makes… Say, about a pound sterling. If there is a sterling within their accounts, I would like to see the information that was registered.”
“Give me an hour or two, we have a lot of books to skim over. Would you like to include foreign Dutch traders in your search query?”
Smith took some time to think.
“I would not be surprised if there are some links between the Boers and the people from their homeland. Yes, give me information on these people as well.”
“Then it will double the time needed to search through the books. Give us a range from two hours to four hours and we will try our best.”
“Why don’t you close the bank and get all your staff to search with you!”
The bank manager’s lips quivered.
“There are many traders who wished to exchange funds now. Would you want me to inform these men that a gentleman called Captain Smith is holding up the entire system due to his immediate demands? Do not blame me if a storm of complaints is sent to the Governor. These men are not someone to be easily trifled with.”
Smith snorted.
“These men? Now is around winter, so the monsoon winds should be blowing the traders from Asia here. All those people likely Arabs or Europeans? Tell me what kind of power these men have to hold up my investigation!”
This time, the bank manager glared at the ignorant captain.
“These are powerful men. Traders from the East India Company come from time to time. And you should know what kind of links the East India Company have back in Britain. I do not need to say that a letter from the company could have you easily demoted. So do not obstruct our processes.”
And with that, the bank manager ignored the captain’s presence.