Page "Voortrekkers" Paragraph 3

The reasons for the mass emigration from the Cape Colony have been much discussed over the years.

Afrikaner historiography has emphasized the hardships endured by the frontier farmers which they blamed on British policies of pacifying the Xhosa tribes.

Other historians have emphasized the harshness of the life in the Eastern Cape ( which suffered one of its regular periods of drought in the early 1830s ) compared to the attractions of the fertile country of Natal, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.

Growing land shortages have also been cited as a contributing factor.

The true reasons were obviously very complex and certainly consisted of both " push " factors ( including the general dissatisfaction of life under British rule ) and " pull " factors ( including the desire for a better life in better country.