Albaster Klip, Northern Cape

Two transcriptions of Trechardt's diary have been published to date.  Trechardt's trek has inspired creative work by foremost literary and artistic figures in South Africa. However, the only extensive evaluation of the diary as an historical source was undertaken by Gustav Preller in 1917. Since then a large body of information on Trechardt and his trek, which Preller did not have access to, has emerged! It certainly is time for a re-evaluation of the diary, as an historical source. 

The first issue focused on in this article is the diarist himself, namely Trechardt. Why did he keep the diary? Did he mostly report on events and circumstances in which he himself participated or which he experienced? Did he enter information on a daily basis or long after events about which he wrote? Is the information which he included in the diary of sufficient interest to justify claims that it should be regarded as an important source? The answers to these questions can be summarised as follows: It is not clear why Trechardt kept a diary, but it certainly was not to justify his actions. He reported on what he himself did or witnessed. He wrote almost daily and seldom more than two days after events; and he certainly provides unique and valuable information. 

Indeed, this evaluation of Trechardt's diary as an historical source is based primarily on an analysis of the variety of issues about which the diary provides information that is not readily available from other sources. In the first place, Trechardt provides detailed information about his own character and views; about relationships within Voortrekker families; about racial prejudices; and about violence. Secondly, the diary highlights the differences between the various types of pioneers who participated in the Great Trek. Thirdly, extensive information is provided on Voortrekker customs and habits, including religious practices, education, death and funerals, clothing, food and drink, disease and medicine. Fourthly, the diary contains extensive information about the world of the Voortrekker. This includes the fauna and flora of the areas where they trekked; the climate and rainfall; the challenges of trekking in areas never before traversed by wheeled vehicles; interaction with indigenous communities as well as cultural practices of those communities; their hunting activities and indiscriminate killing and wounding of game; their wagons and the challenges to keep those wagons going; houses and shelters which the Voortrekkers built; their furniture and their tools; their farming activities and their struggle to move forward with their large herds of cattle and sheep; stock diseases and, finally, their interaction with the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay.

The Historic old British stone fort, situated on Prieska Koppie, in the Prieska Koppie Nature Reserve, at Prieska