the Volksraad to discuss the terms of annexation only took place two months later, in August 1843. It was the Boer women, particularly, who passionately confronted Cloete about Natalia's annexation. They told him that, for freedom, they would rather "walk barefoot over the Drakensberg" than live under British rule. Cloete was disturbed by the women's anger and later wrote: "It was a disgrace to their husbands to allow them such freedom."[981]
