The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-07
\ B0ER FAsTNESS.
LYdenburG and Its Wicked Old
Fighting King.

fighting men from Aldershot, with then
hands so fun in the Free State. know any
thing of Abel Erasmus OF Lydenburg
Transvaal? To those who do not know
the Lydenburg district of the Transvasl
from within I tender an experience CLEAN
ed many years ago. coupled with some
information which has come to hand In
Delagoa bay during the past week. 1t
concerns Abel Erasmus. Transvaal Native
Commissioner etc, also the Ohrigstadt
Valley likewise Her Majestys govern
ment, sooner or later.
A wealthy and Immensely influential
man is IA Boer Of the Beers" a patriarch
of the Transvaal and Cape Colony, though
of late years seldom heard of outside of
his own district. He, among the best
Boer families. as well as the back-veldt
doppers, is equally great as, if not greater,
than Paul Kruger himself.
Abel Erasmus is "A power among all
white men, one Of the principal free
hooters in and out of the Transvaal and
the terror of all blacks. As a Boer poll
| tician he is of the first rank. although
| his voice is never heard outside of che
| executive. Owing TO his ability and
| strength of mind, he never consults the
government in Pretoria, but always acts
| ''on his own judgment" On the other
HI nd, Paul Kruger invariably seeks the
advice of his trusted friend, Abel Eras-
mus.
Abel Erasmus is handsome old man
| of 20 years. with white hair and beard, a
! soft, kindly expression lighting up a re-
| markably open face. His appearance,
| standing fully six feet. is that of the
! finest type of Boer farmer of the old
| school in South Africa. The inner man
OF Abel Erasmus in many respects is ex-
actly the opposite. In his public capacity
| as Native C@mmiss loner of vast district
| he has ruled the whole native popula ton
| for the last forty years with a rod of
iron. For real viilainy and boodshed
among all classes of natives under his
| protection" he has not his equal in the
| Transvaal. To mention the name of Abel
| to any resident native within his district
Is like a galvanic shock. Fourteen years
ago l lived on a high road about sixty
miles from Lydenburg. Troops of native
| cattle passed the door every week. on
inquiry l always learned they were going
| TO Abel, with the everla sting tines of cows
and calves imposed upon every kraal.
| If an Induna or a headman of a kraal
was "sent for by Abel the news cast a
| gloom over all the kraals In that district
| Abel Erasmus was in no way responsible
for the present rebellion. He always was
| clever and far-sighted enough to know it
was not wise to seek a quarrel with the
British The Transvaal had fought for
| its independence and gained It. The
Boer government was established from
/ end to end of the country. Industry and
wealth had made the Transvaal the great
est gold mining country in the world. The
| Lydenburg diggers and che Lynderburg
| Beers were on the best of terms. If
Abel Erasmus had been given Kruger's
| opportunity ne would have become re-
publican dictator, who would have pilot
| ed his country according to special cir
| cumstances, and avoided any chance of
| self-destruction. Abel Erasmus is no
friend of the Hollander moths who have
eaten through the Transvaal fabric. He
| has generally kept away from them as
much as possible. When his advice was
sought previous to the war, and the bulk
| of the Boer farmers in the Lydenburg
district were asked they were mostly
willing to CRANE the five years franchise
to Uitlanders, for many business reasons
foremost the Lydenburg landowners were
weli-tO-do farmers. contented. and the
| Uitlanders working in the gold mines
| We're their best customers.
| When the time has arrived for our
| troops to advance into the Transvaal
| Abel Erasmus will no longer sit passive.
| His iron will. prudence and vast expert
ence i'm handling Beers in the past will
| cause him once again to take promi-
nent part in defense of his country, even
at his age. This will be heightened all the
| more because he is well known TO the
| British government for his many delin-
| quencies and cold-blooded murders OF ma
| Gives in the past. His brother freeboters
| Groot Adrian De la Rey, Van Pittin and
| Van Nekirk, of Bechuanaland and Stel-
| laland fame, have all departed to the
happy hunting ground" If the reader
| is DESTROYS to learn of their many depre-
dations in the past the book. "Austral
| Africa; Losing Ia or Ruling It. by John
| Mackenzie, published in 1887 by Sampson
| Low. is the best expose of the Transvaals
| struggle for supremacy in South Africa.
and Sir Charles Warren's expedition in
1S7S-1Ss1.
The Ohrigstadt lager is so called be
| cause il is the oldest and strongest posi-
| ton ever taken up by the early trek Beers
when going north from Cape Colony and
| Natal 1t is as we'll to remember from
sixty to one hundred years back the pres
| ent Transvaal was Inhabited in certain
| districts by Basutos. other native tribes
| like the Zulus continually raiding them.
| The emigrant Beers hands were against
| ALL capturing their cattle and making
| slaves of the men and youngsters. When
| hard pressed by large mpis of natives,
the Beers retreated TO Ohrigstadt Valley.
That position is simply impregnable, If
defended it being a series of volcanic for
| tifications interminable kopjes extending
for miles Inside these natural projections
| Is most beautiful and fertile valley,
| in extent about seventy-five miles square
| or thereabouts. protected on the east by
the Drakensburg mountains. on the north
and west by the deep and broad Oliphat $
river with Forts Oliphant and Weber.
| From the south the valley narrows down
to the town of Lydenburg, which is the
only gate. Two thousand Beers, with ar
tillery, could defy 10000 British troops
for an indefinite period.
No men, If they came in their thousands,
could ever climb through these series Of
pigmy and giant ridges. or pass through
| the multitudinous death traps of bouled-
| built kopjes intersected with dongas. The
| force inside the valley. so long ammu-
milton and food lasted. is safe. There are
| three beautiful rivers-Blyde. Ohrigstadt
| and Steelport-rL inning into the Ohphant s
river, besides hundreds of springs. The
nature and aspect of the valley is that of
one continuous garden, capable of irriga-
| ton from fountains in all directions. The
soil is alluvial. producing with primitive
| methods of cultivation grain forage. to-
| bacco ETC. in fact. everything required
and the hills afford excellent pasturage
for Boer horses, cattle and sheep, summer
and winter. The valley is even now fairly
well populated by struggling Beers
"sweated' by Abel Erasmus, and many
well-to-do natives, all of whom have ex-
cellent fruit gardens The many natural