The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-01

l.
allies of civilization. There. in a Sc
cluded wilderness, the traveller finds
widely scattered community Of farmers
and sheep ranchers, all of direct Dutch
descent, preserving all the characters
tics of the crude life of their ancestors
of the eighteenth century, intermarry-
ing so universally as to exclude all the
freshening impulses of Saxon and Gel
tic blood, and repelling all the inf1u-
ences that would mold their destiny in
the direction of social elevation, refined
surroundings and mental culture.
They are today the most extraor-
binary people of the Caucasian race,
| intensely devoted to their Lutheran re-
ligion, to the preservation Of their
country from the influx of English
| speaking agriculturists, and to the re-
| tention of the Dutch language as that
of the Volksraad, or Congress of the
Courts, the schools and the churches.
| Their rough dress is also a close copy
of old Dutch fashions, and in only one
respect do they keep pace with modern
progress; this is in the purchase of the
latest types Of improved firearms.
They are all trained marksmen, and
their sons from the age Of 10 are kept
in constant practice, hunting for the
supply of the family larder with the
delicious meat of the Gland, considered
superior to beef. The Transvaal Beers
require farms of enormous extent to
secure sufficient pasturage for their
focks and herds. The services of a
land surveyor are seldom needed, the
farms being outlined by riding on
horseback say for an hour in any
given direction, the four sides of
square thus formed containing about
1000 "morgen." Many of the farms
are of vast dimensions and the own
ers resemble the feudal barons Of old,
having the power of life and death
over his boys" Kaffir servants), who
are really serfs and among whom dis
| cipline is maintained by means Of the
''shambuk" whip of rhinoceros hide,
and hideous stories of the cruelties
| inflicted by the Beers on the Kaffirs
are current.
Each farm must have a spring or
water course, known as a "fontein,"
and thus this is a favorite terminal for
the names of farms. The Boer first
builds a dam to retain water for his
sheep and cattle during the dry season,
and then erectS a cheap one story,
pitch roof stone adobe house, the
earthern floor being solidly macerated
with clay obtained from neighboring
anthills, which there exist to the
height of eight and ten feet, and form
| ing a solid, clean surface impervious
to vermin. In the wall is set a, huge
! fireplace, while on the blackened beams
overhead are hung festoons Of dried
pumpkins, and "beltong," the meat of
the OK, Gland or springbok, dried in the
sun in strips. This is the equivalent of
our corned meats. For fresh meat the
Boer occasionally slaughters one of
his fat fat-tailed sheep, the mutton
| being boiled in a huge pot along with
sliced pumpkins and Boer (wheat)
meal, or "mealie" (corn) meal. This
| is not a dish fit to set before a king.
| On the contrary, had to be desperate
ly hungry to make a square meal off
it, when "trekking" through the wild
erness. Sheep tail fat is used instead
of butter.
The Beers rule is patriarchial and
archaic. After hunting all day, he re-
+1rns home and has family worship,
reading from a great leather-back
Dutch Bible; after prayers. father.
mother, sons and daughters join the
boys outside and count the sheep as
they are being driven into the kraal
for the night, a necessary precaution,
since hyenas, jackals and even lions
still prowl over these vast solitary
treeless table lands.
The Boer is innately lazy; he hates
agriculture and field or two of meal
les. irrigated from the ''fontein,'' is
about all the crop he raises, while the
frau" grows few potatoes and many
monster pumpkins. Fresh fruit is al
most unknown. Here and there an
enterprising man may raise a few
pomegranate and peach trees from the
seed, or a grape vine or two, but the
average Boer scorns the fruit tree.
Flowers under artificial cultivation I
never saw but once-on the farm of a
Boer named Butler, near the Vaal
river. In spite of Mr.. Buffers name, I
found he couldn't speak word of Eng
| lish.
Education is largely of an elementary
character. The three RS" represent
| the average curriculum, and all schools
are taught by teachers from Holland.
Catholic or Hebrew schools are al
lowed to be established, and it is this
school question that is one of the
causes of the serious troubles now ex-
! listing between the Beers and the large
English-speaking population drawn into
the country by reason of the. gold min
ing operations. The franchise is ex-
tended to foreigners if they become
naturalized after five years residence,
/ -
are allowed to vote. The Volksraad
has two chambers, but while the ma
! turalized citizen may be elected to the
second, its powers are completely nulli-
fed in case of the first chamber veto
ing its acts.
The laws are so stringent that prac-
tically only Beers can secure admis-
sion to the first chamber and thus the
republic refuses to what is now the
majority of the population just share
| in legislation. The taxes and import
duties are very heavy. The Boer bare
! ~ tolerates the modern Hollander, is
suspicious of the German and bitterly
detests the Englishman, and the
American, too, for does he not speak
English? When you are on a journey
and ride up to solitary farm house.
perhaps two miles from any other,
likely as not the churlish owner
energies only to reply to your saluta-
ton in English:
'eYou fer doomed Engelsman, foot
SAX
And I have had to leave a Beers
inhospitable door and proceed to a
Kaffir sheep herder's hut to purchase
meat and get it cooked.
Still the Transvaal Boer has many
good traits. He is true to his convic-
tions, and with his family will travel
miles in his big wagon to attend re-
| ligious services; he Is honest in all
his dealings, sternfy just to his SER
wants, kind to his family, and hos
pitable to his Boer neighbors. But he
hates modern civilization and will have
Maiuba Hill and the equally decisive
i dofoat of mr. TarpaSorIc fr~ooc e,l,r~.,r