The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-07-05
THE BOERS IN CEYLON
pFi'oners # ereat Britain Enjoy
Themselves in Captivity.
Have Good Food and Participate In
Pastimes Of the English sol-
diers Scenes and Inci-
dents Of Interest,

If criterion may be taken by tn
condition of Boer life in the laager
of Ceylon, it is a comparatively goo
thing to be military prisoner of tn
British government.
Nursed in lap of modified luxury
the 5000 trappers of the veldt OF
the island are so well satisfied will
their surroundings as not to desir'
change until South Africa touches
normal once more, says the Londol
Express.
The captives are as healthy and fl
a crowd as ever stepped upon Brit
ish possession, and transport rides
at anchor in Colombo bay bereft o1
any justification for her existence
there as hospital ship.
The Beers are accommodated ir
iron huts in two camps, each of which
is inclosed by liberal radius o1
barbed wire fencing, through which
the muzzles of Maxim or two pro.
trude as sort of dumb sermon on
law and order. The area is large,
and the prisoners have abundant ex.
ercise room. They are fond of chat.
ting with their guards, and call them
Tommy with easy familiarity, just
as they used to do across the river
trenches at Fourteen Streams, for the
Boer has quiet admiration for the
British private, and in his days OF
much ease follows his example In
many things, including sport.
% The hot eastern days are beguiled
with nonexertive recreation, and in
the cool tennis, cricket and football
form a self-appointed curriculum OF
athletic pastiNe.
1t is particularly interesting to no.
tjce how much the prisoners have
taken to the purely British game OF
football. At the beginning they were
content to watch the Socker men Of
the garrison dribble, or to applaud
the dexterous handling of the oval
Then they Joined In, and progressed
to a primitive game of their own.
They have long since ceased to Dor.
row the Gloucestershire regiments
ball; they have dozen Of their own,
and pit the Transvaalers against the
Free Staters, or the doppers of the
back veldt against the johannes.
burgers"
The troops usually start the play,
and leave off to be a guard while the
burghers attempt the intricacies OF
combination.
Th%appetite of the captives is alb.
normal, and the influx of SO many
big eaters has actually upset the
local markets and brought about q
rise in the price of provender. Even
the Gloucester sentry envies the Boer
his supplies, and is daily heard to
hold forth upon the iniquities of q
commissariat which provides com.
forting extras for the captives which
find no place in the regulars dietary
But Tommy grumbles good-humored-
ly, and would share his ration any
day with hungry Boer, just because
he is the same brave, tough, tender,
lion-hearted Atkins beloved of all
who know his sterling qualities in
the field.
Commandants Krantz and Olivier
and nearly all the officers live on pa.
role outside the camps. Many OF
them reside at the Queens hotel
Kandi, including a number of French.
men, who hold aloof from their for.
mer comrades-at-arms.
Others, including a percentage ot
burghers who can afford it, live in
the bungalows of Trincomali street,
and. save that they report daily tc
the chief of police. enjoy the privi'
leges of lesured resident or visitor
Numbers of the men had carried
lombo apothecaries have been busy
developing plates and films in great
numbers.
Nrouw Krantz. the wife of the
commandant, is proud of having car
ricd rife on commando with heI
husband. Guests at the Queens no
tel often hear the good lady recount
her bag of rooineks. There is not
suspicion of anmus shown against
the British. The captives are CRATE
full for good quarters and liberia
treatment.
Many Beers are voluntarily EN-
ployed on the foreshore works a,
Colombo at wage. and one at least
has been installed into the ease o,
@ comfortable government billet
This fellow means to stay, and has
sent for his vrouw.
Such is burgher life in the laager,
of Ceylon, where there is a philo'
sophie calm and an absence of worry
about war. The vcldtborn look about
them with a well fed and leisured in.
difference, and some say that wher
they cross the Vaal again there viii
be a big trek north to alien terri