Ou handelsvoetpaaie en wapaaie in Oos- en Noord-Transvaal

Abstract

Various factors determined the routes taken by the Voortrekkers. Amongst these were the topography of the interior, the unpopulated Areas/regions of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, the shallow upper reaches of rivers and the perennial fountains. In most cases they could make use of old trade routes that led from Delagoa Bay and Inhambane to the interior. A good deal of research has already been done on these routes, amongst others by B.H. Dicke and W.H.J. Punt. In this article an overview is given of the most important routes: those from Delagoa Bay to Mashonaland; Inhambane to the Soutpansberg; those along the eastern escarpment; Elim to Pafuri, Inhambane and Delagoa Bay; from the Zimbabwe ruins to the Messina copper mine and the Rooiberg tin mine; the route up the Sand River and from Soutpan to Tshivhase; the wagon roads between Ohrigstad, Delagoa Bay, Lydenburg and Pilgrim's Rest, and from Ohrigstad and Lydenburg to Schoemansdal and Albasini.