The free state., 1900-01-20
oOERS AS CANpAIGNERS,
PICTURE OF THE HARDY, Willy.
SHARPSHooTINc FARMERS.

'ubilcs rake or receive charges in
silence, their minds intent upon aim
md upon strategy. If it is a charge,
'hey advance in q scattered and what
seems to be confused manner. In
'eality 1t is only the BoerT natural
'rder, in which they fight best. A
'etreat looks like rout because each
nan tries to save himself as quickly
Is possible. A rout is almost Inn
possible because the farmers do not
understand how to 'tlose their heads. +"
They scatter, and when place Of
Iatety has been reached come together
sgaln as if nothing had happened.
While they have no martial music
n the ordinary sense, they have mar
nal music OF most impressive kind
n the extraordinary sense
Each night before turning in" and
bach morning before breakfast, and
lso before going into battle II there
s opportunity, the entire army, with
reads uncovered, joins in singing
old Hundred. Each note is pro-
onged six beats and the effect is
solemn and even awful, so much of
'esolution, of stern and relentless re-
solve do they put into the singing.
The two strongest points about this
practically nninformed and STRANGELY
organized Boer army are both indi-
Tidual-!he individual ability of a
8oer at strategy and his individual
ability as sharpshooter.
The favorite topic of conversation
'mong the Beers has always been how
BEST to meet the British when they
:ame to destroy the republics, how to
light the great defensive war which
Ivery Bcer has felt sure would in
'vltably come. The plans that are
'eing carried ont, and will be
'arried out, are the result Of
fears upon years of study of the
situation by the bnrghers of all ranks,
consulting together upon the stoops
>f their thatched houses of evenings.
The Boer is a natural strategist, willy.
,rafty, hard to corner, quick to seize
ihe slightest advantage, quick to see
advantage where even trsined soldiers
,f other nations would fail to see il.
1t is a mistake to suppose that the
Beers have dsteriorated in marksman-
ship. The English have got that i'm
preston from a superficial observa-
zion of the Beers of the large towns.
The villagers and farmers are as sure
of shot as of old. With . smoothbore
gun Boer shot:Sir George w. Colley
through the head in the Maiuba Hill
light at 1400 yards. With one of the
new guns Gen. Symons was shot in
Ihe Beers new target-the stomach -
1t far longer range. have seen a
girl bring down a bird on the wing at
800 yards.
If Sir Redvers Butler shows himself
at 1000 yards his fate is hardly doubt
iul. For the Beers are now armed
with the sporting Manulicher and they
can, with their knowledge of air cur
rents, hit small object almost every
time at 1900 yards.
President Kruger has been buying
these arms in large quantities ever
Tince the Jameson raid and the prac-
heal failure of the British to punish the
raiders. General Joubert took me into a
storehouse at Pretoria filed with
thousands of these rifles. Isn't it q
beautyY' he said, picking up one OF
them and patting it affectionately.
"Attwenty yards twill shoot through
fifty inches of pine.
The Mannlicher bullet travels with
a velocity of 1000 feet per second. At
1000 yards it will pierce two inches of
solid ash and three inches of pine. At
1000 the bullet, if it does not fatten,
will bore hole right through bone
without splitting. This rifle has a
barrel 80 inches long and weighs
eight pounds. It's cslibre Is 80. 1t
is hair triggered, has a pistol grip,
and the Boer carries it slung over his
shoulder by strap.
If the British try to 60 up into the
republics by way of Natal they must
traverse the Drakensburg mountains,
the only great range in South Africa.
The peaks of these mountains rise as
high as II, 900 feet. The way through
the range is a tortuous course along
steep cliffs and above yawning preci-
pices. Every few hundred yards there
is an impregnable position. The evap-
oration ofthe lowlands condenses there
and gives plenty of water for force
intrenched high among the rocks.
Forage, too is plentiful. A few men
can hold out indefinitely, and unless
the British take heavy artillery with
them-an almost impossible feat-a
few hundred men can almost destroy
. great army.
Once the British gain the almost
level and almost open "veld," over
which two republics spread, the Boers
have left two typical allies-famine
and fire.
Water in South Africa is often as
precious as gold, and sometimes in
fnitely more precious. Every year
witnesses a terrible drought in some
part One may journey 100 miles on
the "Karoo" and never find drop of
water. In johannesburg the writer
was glad to pay "a cents for a quart.
Nearly the whole city was drinking
bottled and imported mineral waters
at the time.
Scarcity Of water is the curse of
that country. Every farmer main
tains reservoir, but even these give
out. There are only two or three
large rivers in the whole country, and
in the dry season even they degener-
ate into shallow pools. These are
called pans and sarye to quench the
thirst of wild animals. The Trans
vaal and Free State are high plateaus