The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-08
THE LAND OF THE BoER.

Characteristics and Life of the Karoo
 Farmer-An English View of His h.
 tolerance, Ignorance and Uncleanli-
 ness-The Desolation of the Weld.
 The Great Karoo. the dry, healthy plateau which Olive Schreiner in mo- ment of happy inspiration once de- scribed as the future sanatorium of the world, is little world in itself. Wedged' between the comparative civ- ilization of the southern section of the western province and the latter-day GoIconda of Kimberley, and bounded on the east by the land peopled by the descendants of the English settlers of 1920, the Karoo has developed charac- teristics peculiarly its own.
 It is the breeding ground of all that is bigoted in the political system of the country, and all that is retrogressive in the commercial side of the South Afri- can nature.
 Physically the land presents the ap- pearance of utter desolation. Nature shows nowhere sharper contrast than that which presents itself to the visi- tor on passing through the Hex River Railway Pass on his journey north- ward. No longer does the eye rest upon the smiling valleys or catch the glint of the stocked stream dan- cing In the bright sunlight In place of the vine-clad slopes, the orange groves. and the peach orchards he beholds the veld-an expanse of country bounded only by the horizon, utterly barren of trees, and clothed only by stunted, dust-laden brushes resembling gorse. The bushes grow between the stones in tufts like the wool upon a. Hottentot's cranium The scene is one of depress- ing loneliness
 "A region of emptiness, bowling and
 drear.
 There is not redeeming feature in the landscape. To paraphrase a South Af- rican commonplace, the birds have no song. the flowers are without smell, the rivers are almost wholly devoid of wa ter, and alas! the women possess not beauty.
 But stay! The weld has one redeem ing feature. It is a great sheep coun- try. Sixteen millions of the ovine spe- cies browse upon it's dwarfed herbage But nature draws the line at this num- ber Periodical drouths and the rav- ages of scab keep down the ovine pop ulation, and thus insure the Boer a handsome price for his slaughtered stock.
 The effect of environment upon the human race is strikingly illustrated ir Cape Colony.In the lower reaches o1 the Western province the wine and brandy farmer presents the appearance of prosperous publican; eastward the cattle farmer takes after the manner oi his fat beeves; the dwelIer in this bar ren, inhospitable Karoo bears the stamp of a man engaged in constant struggle against heavy odds. There is little of the wild Boer about hinl-he is too near civilization for that. As g rule, the Karoo farmer is a slender wiry man, with a skin resembling crinkled parchment, clad in a shabby suit, bluish coat, corduroy trousers and a low-crowned billy-cock encrclec by band of eternal black crape. He drives poor mules and rides in g springless cart.
 The Schaap-boer (Anglice: sheer farmer), save the fortunate individu al who chances to be in touch with the railway or with some up-country viii Iage, lives the life of half barbarian His homestead, unless he be very wealthy, and married to a woman who was educated in Cape Town, usually