Bloukrans and Moordspruit - "Blue Cliff and "Spring of Murder"

There was little to be seen on the night of the 16th of February 1838 for there was no moon at all. It was a peaceful night along the Tugela River and its tributaries, yet it would soon become the darkest night of foulest murder. It was the greatest nightmare anyone had ever known.

Nobody knew it yet, but more than a week ago the Voortrekker governor Piet Retief and all 70 of his men and servants had been murdered by Dingane – king of the Zulu.

Down river hardly anyone had heard the silent tread of 10,000 Zulu phantoms as they marched through the long grass. Here and there a dog strained at its rope and barked hysterically. The cattle milled and horses began to whinny. The animals could sense the approach, but inside some of the wagons the families were still sleeping soundly.

By the light of stars alone their shaking fingers poured powder down the barrels, and a little more into the pan of their flintlocks. They hardly had to raise and aim – some scarcely had the opportunity to fire more than one or two shots before Zululand’s sharpest steel sliced into their backs and chests. In some places there was more resistance. The lucky ones who had more warning managed to find a little shelter – from where they fought a fight that required no courage – when fighting for the ones you love beyond reason itself – courage had no meaning. All men became lions and every soul was turned into a hero. Circumstances simply made you one.

Every man and women fought for their very lives that night. First with guns, and then with axes, knives and any object that they could swing. When these weapons were pried from their wounded arms, they fought with their bare hands. Fathers fell across their children, and mothers huddled around their crying infants. The blades found them all. The spears knew no mercy of any kind. The blades went through the mothers and into their children as if they were made from butter. Even the children who tore loose and ran away were run down and caught. Not one of them was spared.