The record-union., 1899-10-18
THE BOERS AT HOME.
ANECDOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF
THEIR ODD WAYS.
Told by a Woman Who Lives
Among the Queer People Of
the TransvaaI.

HoofS are made of mud from the dam,
stamped by Kaffirs, the top layer being.
mixed with bullockS or goats blood
Whlch hardens, and gives it in time, by
continued smearings of COW manure a
pollshed surface, somewhat like ma
hogany. This smearing process, which
Is oohe by the hand, is an abomination
70 new comers, but it is marvellous how
one gets accustomed to it, and really
not TO dislike the fresh ow-stable
smell; at any rate it is preferable to
others more revolving. Dom Paul is
SAID greatly to dislike the planked floors
OIL MS villa in Pretoria, and Madam
Kruger votes them noisy, and only fit
for Rooineks.
II Is really marvellous that they are
not swept off the face of the earth al
together. Our scientists would be as
tonlshed to see the water drunk by the
boefs. They gulp it down full of life
from these dams-water in which oxen
stand and pigs wallow, and where the
manure on its banks tester in the bak-
ing sun L have seen in times of
drought huge dam shrunken to a
small pond of green slime to a
SUN they drink. Occasionally typhoid
ana d1phtheria make havoc amongst
them, but they are too indolent to cor
rect the error.
Inc English doctor usually tackled a.
patient With bath, rightly believing
hef ailments to arise from unclean Iv-
ing, but they are very indignant at the
treatment sometimes "Allamachte
man, screamed an old vrouw. who had
been ordered a hot mustard foot bath
DO you want to kill me! / haven't
washed my feet for the last thirty
years. No persuasion would induce her
10 submit. But, again, amongst the
Doppers-a Quaker-like sect fast dis
appearlng-it is usual for the men folk
peIore supper to have their feet washed
IN the basin of water, and wiped either
py the mistress or the Hottentot help
thus carrying out the Biblical custom.
II Is Well-knoWn fact that the Beers
women 1ncludedg seldom change their
garments unless laid up with sickness.
"A woman VIII sometimes remove her
poolce III very Warm) on going to bed
ana replace 1t with a shawl She gets
up ana commences her day in the same
clothes week in and week out Really
wealthy farms keep up this custom.
After the raid in johannesburg, the
PRESIDENTS bodyguard drove through
the town, that we should not forget
they had beaten US. 1t made US feel
very sore, and it seemed grim irony
that these filthy looking unkempt crea-
lures should have the crow over us.
The Beers have great powers of on
durance; they viii go all day hunting
with only a small flask of water and a
lump of biltong 1dried OK or wild b,1ck
flesh)' remain in their saddles the whole
day, and be ready for a repetition the
next. They are excellent shots. being
allowed a gun from almost infancy, and
it is simply marvellous how they can
track the spoor of animals or ostriches.
they may be out for days. but thew will
run them down in the end. The horses
are small, badly fed, and seldom
groomed, but they also are a hardy
race.
Religion is a prominent feature of
thelr nVes, but in my experience it is
used as cloak to many iniquities: it
does not keep them from being great
liars; for their promises must ALWAYS
be taken with more than a. pinch of
salt. Their hypocrisy is sometimes
most exasperating. One of two broth
ers, wealthy sheep owners, died from
rheumatic fever The doctors bill
brought a visit from the surviving
Boer. Sniveling and blubbering, he
Whined, "Ah, DOCTOR my poor brother.
how he loved you, and how good YOU
were to him! So good, that just before
he died he told me not to paw YOU.
Money could never repay what you did
for him, but he would wait at the gate
OF heaven and there repay you a thou
sandfold'
They are impractical to idiocy beyond
their guns-even the best of them; for
instance, a bath was ordered by the
doctor for young Boer suffering from
typhoid. On a second visit he found
him dying. They had been in sore
straits about giving a bath. Not hav-
ing such thing the question arose,
should he take it in the dam, the
drinking water for man and beast?"
At last the old mother solved the rid
die by making him stand in up to his
hips, with his clothes on. The doctor
ceased taking coffee at that farm
The Boer puts manure to many uses,
more particularly in outlying districts
where no doctor is to be had | found
a family of three or four children COM
pletely covered with it in a case of
measles; filthy as it seems it often
serves as cure in many other all
ments also. Herbs and roots from the
veldt are also much used For scarlet
fever sheep or goat is killed and
cleaned; the sufferer is sewn in it
while 1t is warm. allowing a space for
the head. 1t draws out the fever. max
ing the carcass quite black but more
often than not the result is good
we We're once invited to one of their
Sunday services, which we accepted.
We found the family of eight seated
plously round the room, which, by the
by, was redolent with fresh smearing.
and bile oil which had been rubbed on
to the chairs. Our host, a thin, red
haired little chap spectacled and
proper-motioned us to seats near him.
then commenced to read and expound
lie became excited. almost furious, and
the women folk bent their heads and
occasionally uttered ''Amen" followed
by groans
Then came a prayer-at which I was
surprised-they knelt as at church
they generally stand. and the whole
scene changed Directly the parental
eye was turned, out came from the
pockets of the youngsters bits of toys,
marbles, or what not: two little chaps
had quiet fight while the older ones
began to crochet and plait the girls
hair They were up to the dodge and
knew what to expect. We We're not,
and knew not that the prayer was to
last over an hour Our position was