Episode 52 – Christmas 1799 brings a fortuitous Amatola downpour and the intertwining of futures

We’re heading into a new and most momentous century – the 1800s. When we left off last episode, Ngqika was still trying to decide what to do about the missionaries camping near his Great Place – somewhere east of King Williamstown and south of Hogsback today.

The British had managed to stabilize the Eastern Cape at the end of 1799 but this was a false peace as you’re going to hear.
Coenraad de Buys the giant Trekboer was still living with Ngqika and muttering sweet horribles into his ear about the English, the trekboers of Graaff-Reinet were deep in their cups of resentment. The amaXhosa in the Zuurveld, Chungwa of the amaGnunukhwebe for example, were smiling smugly having apparently secured their rights to the grasses of the Eastern Cape west of the Fish River from the British much to the chagrin of the local trekboers.
Ngqika’s lethal impulses were growing more difficult to gauge and the missionaries were becoming more afraid by the day. They truly believed they would not make it out of the Great Place alive.
De Buys too realized that he was in immediate danger. But the cunning man had a few tricks left after Ngqika’s chief councillor arrived with the news that the king would no longer admit de Buys to his presence.