Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-14

legs. Cups mi saueers, as we'll as knives
and forks, being unknown among these
primitive people, | was handed my coffee
in a basin. l should have liked a little
milk, but milk, although the Beers are a
pastoral race, is practically unknown in
the Transvaal. and sugar they desplse,
mainly, l believe, because they under
stand it is popular in Europe.
To describe one Boer family is to de-
scribe all Boer families. There are, l be-
lieve, about 10000 adult men in the Trans
vaal, and from what l have seen of them
they SO resemble each other as to convey
the impression that they all belong to
one family.
There were several young men In the
household of Jacobus Grundlins, all tall,
powerfully made, with long, matted
boards. n all inconceivably dirty. They
all wear dirty corduroy trousers, very
short Jackets, which make them look like
gigantic school boys, no collars, dirty,
ragged f!anne shirts, billycock hats, n
veldshoons. which are shoes made of
%untanned leather, and, like the furniture.
of home manufacture
The average weight of a Boer young
lady is 100 pounds. increasing to POO and
upward as they get older. Every man
forms his own ideal of beauty. and the
Boer signifies his in one expressive word
bulk.
A Boer lady, seeking to win the affec-
lions of an American, would probably en-
deavOr to keep her face and hands clean,
but, as all a Boer lover cares about is the
weight ~avoirdupois, she can afford to be
as untidy as the most slovenly of her
European sisters.
Ten a. m. was the time for the first
meal, which consisted of steWed meat and
coffee. Then the entire family, consist
ing of some 20 people, many of them
verging on middle age-for a Boer farmer
does not start in business for himself till
he is well advanced in ~years-all set to
work to water the garden, smoking Boer
tobacco, which is of excellent quality.
! Idling or riding about would bring us
up to 2 p. M, at which hour the house
hold would close the doors and shutters
j n indulge in a siesta until 4. Then
smoking and riding about the farm would
be esuned till G., when the second meal,
consisting of meat soup and stewed meat.
would be served. During the whole of
my stay I never saw any departure from
this bill of fare. | asked for bacon, but
there was none to be had, the Beers dis
liking pork.
Dinner over, the men smoked and
thought, or looked as if they did. Nc one
spoke except the lovers, who Ogled and
smirked at each other in a way quite
wondering to behold. l looked at the
! shelves and saw plenty of bottles, but no
DOCKS. l uSSu TO wonder WnelIef lley
took a newspaper. The son who could
read did, but he ever had to peruse it in
secret, as his father, who was regarded
as a sort of chief, had no love for learn
ing.
The monotony of those evenings was
dreadful. They all appeared on the best
of terms with each other, but their ignor-
ance and apathy We're appalling. ]
showed the young ladies my watch and
trinkets. They gazed at them with lack
luster eyes, and turned away. I brought
out for the men some photos of old world
places. They gave them a furtive glance
and then went on repairing their weld
schoons. At s, prayers, a chapter out OF
a family bible-a wonderful book contain
ing atrocious engravings printed on an.
Gent paper-a long sermon, and then bed
There was only one bedstead in the
house and this I occupied. I had no com.
j Function in doing this. as I soon found
that the Beers do not undress on retir.
ing for the night. A few skins are suffi-
cient for their wants.
I experienced so many novel sensation:
during my stay that even when I dis
covered a couple of collins under my bee
one night when e~ndeavOring to eject one
of the wretched Transvaal dogs which
had taken shelter there. I was not sur
prised. 1T seems that wood being scarce
i'm the Transvaal most families keep
few coftins in stock for emergencies.