The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-02-10
The Land and Its Vast Herds of
Cattle and Sheep.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FARMERS
The Boer Loves His Friend and
Hates His Enemy.

The country of Dom Paul Kruger is
more nearly like what was once called
IN our biographies the great American
desert than any region OF the United
States. The Transvaal proper is about
as large in area as Texas. 1t is a
high, dry and scmi-barren country. The
streams are fed from great springs (ris-
ing III the various mountain ranges that
make up the Drakensbcrgs), and in the
hot season both get very low. Along
the rivers is a fine belt of alluvial land
from mile to mile and half in cx-
tent There is no better land on the
globe than this But the high lands
the vcldt-arc like the sage brush coun-
try OF the west. In few instances,
where high land has been irrigated we'll,
it has astonisl,cd the country. In the
rainy season, late i'll our fall, the grass
springs up and grows with wonderful
luxuriancc. Three days after the rains
begin you would never know the coun-
try. 1t becomes lovely, tender green,
covered with something like our west
crn buffalo grass, "onc and one-half
inches high. After the rains everything
grows with marvellous rapidity. The
three months of almost daily rain has
wctted the earth thoroughly Speaking
OF the river bottoms, the writer was
assured that sixty bushels OF wheat Ga
grain very like the Red Mediterranean,
grown all through Maryland and Vir-
gnia) per acre was not deemed remark
| able. Indian corn, called "mcalies" by
the Bocrs, grows well, and is staple
crop. With the climate about like that
from Southern Kansas to the Arizona
border, cotton should do we'll in South
Africa But it doesn't. 1t has been tried.
1t runs to weed" grows fifteen or six
teen feet lligh and produces an i'm
mensc trcc-likc plant, and but very
little cotton, and the bolls fall of in
dry seasons. So it doesn't pay.
There is no race in the world that is
as tall as the South African Dutchman.
The father of a certain household must
have been E feet 2, and his sons were
all 6 feet, and the youngest, not yet
finished growing promised to be more
than that. The girls were fine, large
women, of superb figure, who could ride
like Amazons and shoot quite as fast
and straight as their brothers. For the
reason that their guest, the writer, knew
no Dutch, except to ask for something
to cat and to make his way in travelling,
and the girls had no English, the con-
vcrsation between them and their Wis
itor was necessarily restricted. The
father and his feet eldest born,
"Grost Pict" (Big Pctcr), spoke Eng
lish pretty well, and if you talked slow
ly they could understand about all that
was said to them. They are generally
a very silent race. But occasionally,
when they became interested, they
talked we'll and freely
One night when the assembled family
was present their visitos said something
about the other Dutch colony, which
24o years ago Gin the same month that
the ancestors Of the Cape Dutch left
for Airica) had sailed for the Island OF
Manhattan and the banks OF the river
named for it's discovcrcr, Hudson.
"Why, Manhattan Island now holds the
fair Queen City OF the new World"
They we're intensely interested "Why,
what do you mcan?" asked Grost Piet,
after telling his brothers and sisters
what l had said. "Why, New York.
to be sure" "And is that on the Island
OF Manhattan" eyes," was the an
swcr, and then the listening family were
told how the old Dutch names and
families constituted the proudest OF our
American aristocracy north of the Po-
tomac and the Ohio and of their i'm
mcnsc wealth. This was also deeply
interesting.
One of the girls wanted to know if
these modern New York girls were
pretty There were three photographs
OF them in my travelling trunk. Her
question was answered by their produc-
tion. The pretticst of the three was in
ball costume, one of the others wore
walking suit with hat, while the third
was in visiting dress. There was some
difficulty in explaining the reason why
each of the functions referred to rem
dered a separate dress necessary. Grost
Piet translated as all these things were
FII1