here, is now changed into sounds o j y hag
From the earliest days the u „cted ns from the
gnided and guarded ns; He has p gaw b ut few
rude attacks of harhaiians ^ eI1 providentially
white people—attacks which it not ^ K g M
av e rted f w ould have e ^ h e d -
remember m years gone by th e moa® g j |
S B Z B z ^ x m
m a te a fortification t0 w^ ioh aome of th e
S S 3 5 2 wete exposed S J
5 " i t r ms
thankful for great blessing , untoward events
appreciate those more frequent and g | g j ^ | M
which by some have been styled blessings
' t i - remarked t h t f t o 'k&jM
r ^ ™ t " e m m e n t Journal on the occasion
dished up in the WF ^ | While he has accom-
Of his la s t b^ ? n S ^ u n t I s would immortahze
plished much th a t in .• ^ were to future
his name in song: “ d ;od*le d b y a ns’orupnlous generatrons .a sectumie v ™ speculators
a“ «” to „mention? will probably take no not.ce
of the day at all f now wealthy men—
Many t0 the J ge sums
not only in land b ut . M| syndicates for their *IrZ1 i l Z t e cash is kept in some
. As ispoitea 1 th. IP«»- ’ M ■
sure hiding-place, for the Boer has not yet acquired a
confidence in Banks ; and I have been assured, on good
authority, that some of these primitive folk who have
deposited sums at Banking institutions have called and
asked to see their money. A ready cashier will at once
produce a quantity of gold from his drawer, and confidence
is restored. In former days little cash was
handled by the Boers; they possessed large farms or,
rather, unworked tracts of land, but money was scarce,
and heavy and laborious wagon transport was undertaken
for small sums.
In stature the Boer is tall and strongly built, but
seldom stout. Living in one of the most healthy and
invigorating climes—I speak of the high veld—he
possesses, as a rule, a splendid constitution and a capacity
for much more work than he cares to undertake ; his
ordinary spare and meagre diet prevents much aptitude
for corpulency. For bathing he has no desire, and he
is as economical in the use of soap as any white race
found on the globe.
It is generally thought, and especially in this country,
that the Boers have a hatred for Englishmen. This is
a fallacy, for, in spite of all that may be said and done,
the Britisher is respected though not loved. His word
is taken, his honesty accepted, but his arrogance is overestimated.
The Hollander, on the contrary, though so
near by blood, is neither respected nor loved. Englishmen
improve the country, even if their old colonial
instincts prompt a desire to fly the old flag ; the Hollander
is often a financial parasite. The Englishman will
toil if he can reap : the Hollander will reap if possible,
but not toil. It is the Hollanders in the Transvaal who
dislike the English, and are alike detested by the Boers.
The longer I remained in the country, the more
absurd it appeared for the English to have lost it.
England could have worked well with the Boers by
proper management, and Hollanders would no longer
have had the opportunity of exploiting them. But a
Eoer is a plain man : he can understand an English
farmer but not an English aristocrat, and why a pious
D 2