a setback that was typical of the mixed-
farming societies of Southern Africa. This cleavage, accentuated by a bitter
religious controversy resulting from the activities of German Protestant
missionaries, prevented the Pedi from consolidating their state and main-
taining a united front against Afrikaner aggression. Even so, most Pedi
remained autonomous
throughout
the r860s. 79
The most dramatic events of the 1850Sand r 860s were played out in and
near the Caledon River valley (map 6). There, the Sotho occupied terrain
similar to the country of the Pedi: a fertile valley and defensible mountains.
104