Louis Tregardt

Journey to Delagoa Bay

Tregardt decided on a southerly approach to Delagoa Bay, avoiding the Limpopo where the Van Rensburgs were murdered, and the tsetse flies endemic to the low regions. Tregardt, at a loss to recover these losses, resorted to taking a number of tribe members hostage to prevent further wrongdoing.

The final two-hundred mile stage of the trek to Delagoa Bay commenced on 5 February 1838, and the Olifants River was soon forded a 14th and last time. Here the subjects of the Sekororo induna Ngotshipana came to apologise, and managed to secure the release of four woman hostages by presenting Tregardt with two large elephant tusks. The tribes beyond the Blyde River assured Tregardt of their good intentions, and the old chieftainess Mosali asked Tregardt to arbitrate in a quarrel with her rival, Magupe. A local tribe also assisted the trek in navigating a region set with numerous trapping pits. which also describes the further history in Delagoa bay and also the journeys of his son Carolus. The detailed information of the route and GPS coordinates are available online.

Dissolution of trek The party of fifty-two persons and ethnology, The diary was commenced in July 1836 at the Zoutpansberg, and concluded in May 1838 at Delagoa Bay. Entries were added almost daily, and seldom more than two days after the events he described.

The document was not written for publication or effect, but rather details his personal reflections on the social interactions and day to day experiences of his small community. which significantly improves the accessibility of the text.

The town Trichardtsdorp was named after him in 1899, which in itself recalls Tregardt's disagreement with Van Rensburg. In the town of Louis Trichardt a memorial commemorates the school they built, and a bust of Tregardt is displayed in the municipal library.

The Louis Tregardt Trek Memorial Garden is located at the final destination of his trek, in Maputo.

A novel by Jeanette Ferreira, Die son kom aan die seekant op (Afrikaans: The sun ascends from the ocean), is based on his journey, as is the youth novel by Pieter Pieterse, Die pad na die see (Course to the sea).