Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-07-18
The Dutch Farmer in Africa.

The Dutch farmer or bOer of the in
terror of the Cape Colony may be de-
Scribed in few words. In every COM
munity there are bad exceptions; and
the exceptions being all that we hear of
AT distance, the South African bOer
has till lately been regarded i'm England
a little better than savage. We must
learn to know his fairer side. The
type is unchanging. she was in 1906
in the colony. 50 he is in 1877 in the
republics of the interior. He is uncul-
tivated. He is unprogressive: but he
possesses qualities which even here will
be regarded as not without value. He
is domestic, but not gregariOus. When
he settles he prOcures from 5000 to 20
900 acres Of undulating grass plain. He
takes possession in his wagon with his
wife and children, his scanty furniture.
his family Bible, which is all his litera-
ture, and his sheep and cattle. lie Sc
lects spring of water as site for his
house, ten miles, perhaps from his
nearest neighbOr. His house consists
of a central hall, with kitchen behind
it, and three, four, or five bedrooms
opening out of it, all on one floor. He
builds kraals for his cattle. He fences
in garden which he carefully irrigates.
And so rapid Is the growth III that soil
and climate that i'm four or five years it
will be stocked with oranges. lemons.
citrons, peaches, apricots, figs, apples,
pears, and grape-yines. lie incloSes
fifty or hundred acres. which he
plows and sows with wheat or Indian
corn. His herds and flOckS multiply
with little effort. If he is ambitious he
adds a few ostriches, whose feathers he
sells at Port Elizabeth. Thus he lives
in rude abundance. His boys grow
up and marry; his daughters find hus-
bands, and when the land is good they
remain at his side. For each new fam
lily house is built a few gunshots from
the first. A few more acres are brought
under the plOw. \ second generation
is born. The old people become the
patriarchs of the family hamlet The
younger gather around them at the
evening meal, which is preceded by a
long, solemn grace, as the days work
in the morning is commenced with a
psalm. The authority Of age is absolute
The old lady sits in chair in the hall,
extending her hand TO a guest. but
never rising to receive him. The young
generation. trained to obedience, fetch
and carry at her command. The estate
produces almost everything which the
family consumes. There is no haste to
get rich. There is no desire of change.
The boer has few wants but those which
he can himself supply, and he asks
nothing but to be let alone. The obed-
fence which he expects from his child
ren he expects equally from his ser
wants. He is a strict Calvinist. The
stream of time, which has carried most
Of us so fast and far, has left him
anchored on the old ground. The only
knowledge which he values is contained
in the Bible. His notions of things in
heaven and earth are very much what
would have been found in Scotland i'm
the days Oft the covenant. He is consti-
tutionally republican, yet of liberty in
the modern sense he has no idea. He
considers work the first duty of man,
and habits of work the only fitting edu-
cation. Native questions and all other
questions he regards from this point of
view. Without tenderness. and without