Byrne was fortunate to obtain the surveyor and civil engineer John Swales Moreland as his agent in Natal.
First, he thought there were vast open spaces just waiting to be settled, as a result of the Boers’ withdrawal from Natal once British rule had been established.
Instead of returning and occupying the land they were thus able to claim, the Boers more often than not sold it to speculators, sometimes at prices as low as 1d or2d an acre, and withdrew permanently beyond the Drakensberg.
Thus Moreland found it extremely difficult to obtain suitable land, i.e. well-watered, with good soil, access to timber for firewood and building purposes, and within easy distance of either Pietermaritzburg or Durban.
Many emigrants rejected their allotments as not worth the payment of survey fees, and either found jobs in the towns, or purchased or leased land at very little cost elsewhere.