The Voortrekkers had established two states in…

The Voortrekkers had established two states in the 1840s and the 1850s: the Orange Free State between the Orange and the Vaal rivers and the South African Republic (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek, a union of four Boer republics founded by the Voortrekkers) to the north of the Vaal River in the area later constituting the Transvaal.

Like the Africans among whom they have settled, the Voortrekkers in both states make their living from a combination of extensive pastoralism and hunting.

Ivory is the most important product at first, and the search for it engenders great competition between African and European hunters.

In the 1860s, ostrich feathers also become an important export.

All processed foods and manufactured goods are acquired by trading ivory, skins, and feathers to British merchants at the Cape.