“Jan? Here again? I thought we had discussed things last time,” Potgieter’s head perked up upon seeing the young Commando.
“I took some time to think. But I thought of a good way to secure the route between Potchefstroom and Pietermaritzburg.”
“Go on, I’m listening.”
Taking in a deep breath, Jan elaborated, “During our trek here, we have met with the local elves, Sotho, Zulu, and Tswana. Now, we all know you have a partnership with the Tswana, so we could discount them as a threat. So, our two threats to any trade routes are Sotho elves and Zulu elves. The problem is that each group has numerous chiefs we must negotiate with. But what if we put a single, centralized power in charge in the region, and they will protect the routes there? Like that, all we have to do is pay the protection fee to that power, and things will run smoothly.”
Potgieter became intrigued.
“Sotho? Then Queen Moshoeshoe would be a good candidate. But the tribes do not fall under her. And she’s unlikely to come out of that fortress of hers to ensure their subordination. We might have a problem with Sotho.”
Jan smirked, tapping his fingers on the table.
“Well, you see, what if we got rid of the Sotho elves, indirectly? You see, it is troublesome to negotiate with two parties. One party breaking their end of the bargain would give us endless headaches. What I want to put into power is the Zulu.”
“I’ve met numerous Zulus on my way here. Now, you should know of our ties with Queen Mpande back in the Zulu Kingdom. Her influence here is meagre. But what If I know someone that can increase her influence here? Then, we install her as the direct party we negotiate with.”
Potgieter slammed his fist against the table.
“That is a foolish decision. Empowering the Zulu, increasing their centralization of power. It would only bring trouble to all of us. What if you indirectly create the next Shaka?”
“But I’m not empowering someone who has that much authority as Shaka. I plan to have Princess Cetshwayo increase her influence here. Now, why her specifically? Well, she was a key partner during the construction of Port Mpande. Since we have some history in our relations, then we can negotiate with her.”
“Why would she even listen to you?”
“You see, she isn’t the heir apparent for the Zulu throne. So, she is desperately coming out with numerous schemes to build up her power base. The partnership with us is an example. She wants and needs to build up favour with Queen Mpande, what better reason to secure the submission of the Zulu elves in Transvaal? Of course, if you hand over a couple of gold nuggets as tribute to sweeten the deal.”
“It sounds as if only you’ll benefit. What is it for me?”
Jan shook his head.
“You don’t understand. What ramifications if Princess Cetshwayo decides to increase her influence here? Do you think every Zulu chief would fall under her thumb? No. And surely, her presence would result in hostilities. Now then, when they fight, some elves would flee in other directions. Some would flee to your Tswana friends, and then they would fight. This would weaken your friends and prevent a knife on your back.”
“Second of all, those British merchants charge such high fees. But we are Boers, of course, I won’t charge so outrageous fees. Not funny? Fine, in all seriousness, because we skirt British taxes, all goods coming to you will be cheaper. And… Boer gold will flow within Boer hands.”
Potgieter held his head in his hands.
“What you’re proposing is another Mfecane, the displacement of numerous elves in the region to ensure our trade routes would be secure? Boy, the repercussions of such a thing are unpredictable.”
Jan took some time to think. ‘The removal of a group of people from lands’, wait isn’t what he’s proposing genocide?
He paled momentarily but regained his confidence.
“They can instead submit to Zulu rule or migrate. It’s very simple. All we want them is to not attack our trade routes. If they break that agreement, then actions have consequences. They should learn to listen to instructions.”
“Then what then? Zulus will be stronger. We’ll suffer eventually.”
“But you see, as I’ve said. Princess Cetshwayo is not the heir apparent. And she would have to invest some resources into this initiative instead of jockeying for favour in the Zulu royal court. Then, fewer chiefs in the Zulu royal court would support her. When Queen Mpande dies, a civil war would break out. Once the dust settles, the Zulus will be much weaker. Then, we don’t have to worry about an attack since they’ll be too busy licking their wounds to bother.”
“That’s why Potgieter, you’re the key to this. Gold. If it gets the existing Boers in Zoutpansberg this greedy, now imagine how an elf would feel once they are given a couple of these nuggets. All just to ensure a couple of trade caravans won’t be attacked. If you ask me, it's free money for nothing. Why wouldn’t they accept the deal? Just put in some effort to assert your control over the region and collect gold every week.”
“The problem is the elves would not be satisfied and may want more,” Potgieter rebutted.
“Potgieter, where does the gold come from? Zoutpansberg, or specifically, from your side. If a wagon is attacked because they got greedy, then we will temporarily pause trade. You also stop paying the gold for that week. If they complain, we can just say they didn’t do their job properly. And even if they tried to attack you directly for the gold, won’t they have to go through the Tswana elves? No matter how you see it, we come out on top in the end.”
Bashing the table, Jan confidently summarized.
“In summary, elves in the region are weakened. We come out stronger. You get cheaper goods and you’ll be able to take advantage of Port Mpande.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Potgieter chuckled.
“What an absurd idea. And you’ll need me to nod my head so then you can send the proposal to the Zulus. You know what? I give you my agreement, we can negotiate about the gold or whatnot later. If I don’t like it, I’ll pull out of the agreement.”
Potgieter clasped his hands together and rested his chin on his hands, “Why don’t you come work for me and not for Pretorius? I can give your men good land here; it would secure their loyalty. All you must do is keep my interests in mind whilst working for Pretorius. It’s not too hard.”
“As long as the favour is not too unreasonable. But Pretorius has been my benefactor throughout my journey, I’m afraid I am a loyal man. And you wouldn’t trust me if I fell so easily into your grasp, wouldn’t you?” Jan got out of his seat and smirked.
“Now then, I’ll get to work drafting the proposal. Because I need every man here, I hope you will be able to send one of your messengers to deliver it to Pietermaritzburg, before forwarding it to Port Mpande. One of Princess Cetshwayo’s loyal minions resides in the Port. She will ensure the princess’ eyes will be borrowed.”
“Heard you were looking for me,” Sjaak De Buys entered the Boer laager. The handsome descendent of the human elf lover, Coenraad, had a stern expression on his face.
Pietje shattered it by asking, “How many women have you bedded today? I heard many of the men in Zoutpansberg left their wives here. They must be so lonely, I’m sure you have helped relieve them.”
Coenraad, who didn’t know what to say, could only sigh, wiping the stern expression on his face.
“Now Sjaak, I am interested in securing Zoutpansberg, but that does not mean we’ll cooperate. I want an overview of the land. And I need the De Buys' assistance. Since you and your family are so near there, surely you must know the lay of the land. We would like to see and meet with the local Tswana tribes.”
Sjaak, finally relieved to be talking about serious matters, nodded his head.
“That is possible. But you’ll have to wait till the end of the week. I still have business to conduct in the town.”
“That is fine, we too have business to conduct.”
The Tswana elves. If he could secure their cooperation, they could help influence Potgieter to act. There are multiple Tswana tribes, but they are a minority in South Elfrica compared to their brothers further North, in modern-day Botswana.
Tswana tribe resided nearby in Potchefstroom, and most of the elves he saw in the town were from that tribe. Other than them, they were the Sotho, and they were able to communicate with one another.
Bathaping translated to ‘those with an affinity for fish’, and like the name implied their diet primarily involved fish. From the stories of the Tswana elves that Potgieter introduced, it appears the tribe split sometime in the past, and those who remained were now known as ‘those who remained behind to eat fish’. He had difficulty understanding most of the Tswana terms, for they didn’t translate very well to Elfrikaans. The elf also shrugged his shoulder when he asked for further assistance. But the Bathaping was a general term describing the tribe. A tribe consists of many clans.
Jan didn’t ask further since he didn’t want to bother with knowing every clan name consisting of around hundreds of elves each. Somehow, they were similar in number to a Commando force. He didn’t need to know every Commando out there; he would be fine not knowing every Tswana clan out there.
There was also the Batlôkwa, which is a tribe that consists of people who identify as either followers of Tlôkwa kings or the descendants of those followers. They have a totem which looked like a cat called the Tlokwe-cat. It was hard to find these days since it was hunted till it can’t be found anymore. He could find one or two in the wild, but he will have to be lucky. A lot of the Tswana elves he met identified as part of this tribe.
He could probably go on the whole day about Tswana culture and the tens of tribes and the thousands of clans, but most of them wouldn’t provide much assistance when he asked about Zoutpansberg.
They were primarily based around Potchefstroom. Zoutpansberg is rather far from their current location, so he had little information to work with. Either way, he was assured that there were Tswana tribes in the region. But he was warned about going further North-East into modern-day Zimbabwe. Mzilikazi and her Matabele have a sizeable presence in the region, and they conducted numerous border conflicts with the Tswana in the region.
That was when they told him that as a Boer, they should help the Tswana tribes out if he ever venture that far since they had been so hospitable to him. When hospitality meant not getting killed, then sure, they were extremely hospitable.
The mention of Mzilikazi and her Matabele elves recalled the sixth faction in the picture. If he asked any Zulu, they would say Mzilikazi would be second to Shaka in greatness. They could say something like that since they were somewhat related to one another.
But if he brought her in, he might end up getting everyone killed. No doubt, she would be somewhat vengeful of that defeat Potgieter, and the other trekkers served her with the help of the Tswana elves.
Parlaying with Queen Mzilikazi diplomatically might be suicidal, but she should know the value of guns and gunpowder. If he offered it to her on a carrot, she would come biting. Now, how much would she request to have her launch an attack on Zoutpansberg? But that was a horrible decision because once she found out there was gold, she ain’t going to go home to Zimbabwe, and would even stay to wreak havoc.
The matter of Zoutpansberg and its cursed gold.
It’s giving him a massive headache, and he would rather back home. Everyone here wants that gold, and his back isn’t safe, since it is safe to assume he would be backstabbed once his position is weak.
Potgieter was someone he could show his back two, for they knew they were in the same boat. The elves? He was pretty sure if Mzilikazi wasn’t a problem for the Tswana, the Boers would become the problem for the Tswana elves.
To ensure the safety of all Boers in the region, he must not get rid of the Mzilikazi threat. And in fact, he should ensure she was dangerous to keep the Tswana on a leash. After all, when your name means ‘the great river of blood’, he was sure any elf would fear Mzilikazi.
He spent days conversing with the local Tswana as well as the locals living in Potchefstroom. They were friendly folk. It took some time for them to warm up, but once they realized that Boer's camp outside wasn’t a threat, they welcomed him and his men.
“Commando Jan, ready to go?” Sjaak asked and got off the wagon which stopped right by their laager. Other half-elves dismounted from the wagon with him and waved towards the Boers. The Boers waved back.
“Let’s go.”
The group began setting off in a column, slowly trotting forward with the ox. Flight Commandoes resumed their duties scanning their surroundings for threats. They reported to Pietje about the movements of various elven tribes.
Reports came every minute.
“Tswana elves in the North, a rather large village!”
“They have dispatched some elves on horseback to track our group!”
“They have horses? Fok!” Pietje yelled.
At some point, the immense reports of Tswana elves nearby grew tiring, and the men reported in fewer and fewer frequencies.
“Few Boers come by this region. It’s full of elves. I don’t think any man can settle here without getting rid of them. They also have no intention of fighting. We ought to respect that,” Russell commented, and Jan nodded in agreement.
“Potgieter keeping the Boers in check. They know they cannot fight against the endless number of Tswana here since they number in the hundreds. And I believe they obtain horses from trade with the local Boers.”
Looking out the window, Jan watched an elephant being hunted by Tswana natives. They were using a mix of guns and spears. Very soon, they brought down the beast. As the wagon passed by, he could watch the Tswana harvesting the ivory off the animal.
That was how they travelled.
Whenever they made a stop in a laager, local Tswana come up to trade. They presented their ivory and pointed at their muskets and cartridges. He shook his head and pointed to Sjaak, who would help communicate with them.
Sjaak mocked them.
“There is nothing to fear. I don’t think they wish to attack you. A dead Boer would result in less trade. Notwithstanding the repercussions from Potgieter, there’s no need to keep your guard up. Unless you’re planning to settle here, then there’s no need to bother.”
“In the past, someone once told me this. Low crime does not mean no crime. They might not have pushed the dagger within my back, but I should not show my back to their dagger.”
“Perhaps it is a human thing. But I do not feel such fear. I can empathize with the elves around us.”
“Why do you say that? You’re no different from the Griqua back in Cape Colony. Boers won’t see you as human, elves don’t see you as an elf, resulting in limbo.”
Sjaak shrugged and didn’t say further on the matter.
A couple of days later, they reached Buysdorp.