The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-15
PASSED a WEEK WITH cRoNJE.
4 Shooting Tour Made With the Boer
General.
(From the London sIail.)

rs that Mr. Cronje's cart?" asked
Standing outside the Royal Hotel at
| Potchefstroom was a ramshackle Cape
cart, drawn by four useful but unkempt
nags. in the charge of Cape boy. CARRIED
in dirty hannels and a straw hat that
bore the guards ribbon. 1t was to him
that l addressed my enquiry.
ia Bass replied the boy and swing
ing my bag and gun case into the front, I
sat down behind Willem. the coaehman.
a drive of some three miles along the
banks OF the afooi River brought us to the
homestead. which differed in no way from
the ordinary farm house of the ordinary
Boer. save, perhaps. that it was even IN
! tidier, if possible. than usual.
The low one-storied bungalow boosted
I the conventional stoop. decorated with a
couple of dilapidated cane chairs and
dozen withered plants rooted in rusty
paraffin tins. Mynheer Cronje was on the
stoop prepared TO receive visitors. The
inevitable salutations passed: "Goe' nor
rer. Dom. hou gaat det van dag?" and the
reply "Goe morrer neef''-and then We
lapsed into English. which Cronie speaks
Guently. if with slight foreign accent.
My invitation was for a week-end's
shooting. My host explained that no
thought it unlikely that we should get any
buck as the deer of the country are
called but that birds in plenty would be
at our disposal. He mentioned the dix
kop a species OF plover. the korhaan,
delicious bird to eat and quite a luxury in
South African households; also. If We
were lucky perhaps, a paauw. which is
kind of lesser buStard, and allied to the
turkey.
Next morning Cronje and his guests
took horse and rode some four miles to a
vlei or lake. which lay on the confines OF
his farm. Here we off saddied knee hal
tered the horses. and turned them TO
Craze. Taking our guns we hid behind
kopje and an ant heap. waiting for any
thing that might come our way. The sun
was high in the heavens and sport was
scarce However. after alternate doing,
watching lunching and renewed expecta-
ton we managed to collect a fair mixed
bag including all the birds that We had
been promised and also some three brace
of red-legged cartridges, good variety.
and closely akin TO the bird we are used
to at home.
Unfortunately for u.s. we did not sight
buck the whole day, although Cronie as
sured US that a herd had crossed his farm
only twenty-four hours before. So we had
to put up with feathered game alone, and
we rode back at night heavily laden with
our days bag.
In the evening I had long political dis
cussion with the great little man. not
dreaming at that period that thin few
years he would be leading an army of his
own followers against that Of the British
Empire. Cronjes opinions were extraOrli-
narily out of harmony with his otherwise
peaceful manner. He declared that the
uitlanders as a whole, were a curse to the
country, although he was pleased to add
that personally ne had many good friends
among them. He did not parade his reii-
gion as is the usual Boer habit but de-
clared that uitlander money had perverted
the simple minded burgher from his bu-
collie ways OF peace and isolation.