The hatchet. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1883-19??, 1900-05-13
BoER FARMERS.
They Spend Their Days in ase and
Content


called coffee the country Boer is con-
tent to spend his days in comparative
idleness. From his homemade chair
of leather thongs on a wooden frame,
standing on the verandah of his home.
stead, he shouts directions to the
various boys" or natives at work In
the wagon house or down by the
stream. As for himself particularly
If he has grown-up sons, he does lit
tie, If any, manual work, and still less
mental. He Vegetables, Eliminates and
expectorates I'm the beatitude of moth
ing accomplished, nothing done to
earn a nights repose.
Very good tobacco Is grown in the
Transvaal particularly In the Potchef'
stroom district, and under the Maya
liesberg Mountains, near Rustenbcrg.
It is always home cured and dried.
At first il strikes one as peculiar, and
not altogether palatable, as it is very
dry and almost powdery with an in
dividual flavor which Is all its own
but gradually one grows accustomed
to il, and eventually one refuses to
smoke anything else. 1t Is absolutely
pure and healthy. Everybody smokes
It all day long, and there is no throat
tickling, no harshness and no heat
about il. The farmer produces 1t for
about is cents a pound, and 1t is sent
to the town in great circular rolls,
weighing about 40 pounds each When
cut and unrayeled, it is retailed at %
and 80 cents a pound, and search thu
world over you will find nowhere bet
ter pipe tobacco.
Among the older Beers it was con-
sidered highly indecorous for wom'
an to allow her hair to be seen, even
by her sons or daughters. 1t was al
ways, night and day, carefully con-
cealed beneath a gigantic sunbOnne;
or "kappie.' which projected far in
front of the face, somewhat after the
| fashion of the old poke bonnet
The women's dress is almost alwaya
| black-of a heavy twill material akin
| to baiize or bombazine. 1t sticks out
| straight all the way around like a
! sort of crndline
on an outlying farm, which may ba
| anything from 20 to 200 miles from q
town of any sort, the shopping-apart
from the quarterly visit to Nachtmaal,
! or Holy Communion-is conducted
through the agency of a "smaus,' This
is to all intents and purposes, a ped
der. who goes from farm to farm with
a tray or jewelry and nicknacks in
front of him and a pack upon his back,
ready to deal in anything and every
thing that will yield a handsome
profit.
A few quaint, homemade medicines
are kept at hand in every farmhouse,
for the Boer is always falling sick OF
some more or less imaginary com
plaint. and wants to be coddled. doc
tered and physiced with all manner o.
extraordinary connections. A favoritd
remedy for childrens commissions iG
dogs blood made hot and mixed with
vinegar, while vultures fat and jack
| ais liver combined is supposed to
cure ague and shivering fever.
The Juice of wild aloes is a sort OF
general all.around tonic, which is
given frequently and freely for colds
and coughs. and an oinment made
from the fat Of a viakvaTk, or wild
pig. is always used for sprains or
bruises. All these things are "old
womens remedies but whether it is
that faith has a good deal to do with
a cure. it is quite certain that many
of them are extraordinarily efiica-
cious. Some Of the prescriptions for
preparations of herbs have been hand
ed down to the Beers by native doc
tors, and are very often successful in
mitigating, if not in curing, minor
ailments.
Before the advent Of the railway in
the Transvaal, and even now in those
districts into which the iron horse has
not yet penetrated the whole of tho
transport, or carrying trade, is con-
Quoted by kuyeyOrs. Every other
Boer farmers son is, or was, a kur.
~ .T.v ,I~
i'm trade was a wagon or 16 oxen. The
former. usually built in the Cape Col.
ony at one or other of the famous
wagon dorps, is a strong heavy, we'll
put-together concern either half or
fully tented, capable of carrying goods
TO a weight of five or six tons, and
drawn by eight spans of two each, Of
| patient. meekeyed oxen. These YER
table beasts of burden can walk for
eight hours a day at a uniform pace
of three miles an hour At the head
of the team striues a little nearly
naked Kaffir boy, called the ''yoor-
lOoper' He guides the long string
of oxen by a short riempje or strap.
attached TO the horns of the near side
leader On the wagon sits the ker.
yeyOr, hourishing a twenty-foot whip
at the end of a long bamboo whip
stick. With quite extraordinary deX-
terity he is able to flick any one Of
his team on any part of the body, II
he thinks that particular OK Is tagging
a bit or not doing his share of the
pulling. The worst OK of the team,
the one which always comes in for
the most punishment, is, in a spirit
of derision, always called "Engelsch.
man. or Englishman.