Evening star., 1901-02-02
UNDERWRITERS,
THE AFRICAN TREK OK.
Its Use as a Transport and How Il
Best Work is Done.

Its Use as a Transport and How It's
Best Work Is Done.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.
AT the present moment, when the efficf-
ency Of our army in South Africa largely
depends on the stability Of it's TRANSPORT.
1t may not be amiss to consider the cana
bilities of the trek, or transport, OK, who.
after all, despite mules and traction en-
gines, Is the mainstay of South African
transport. The imperial authorities In the
Cape Colony and Natal are now busily en-
gagged In buying all the available OK trans
port they can. as is testified by their nu-
merous advertisements in colonial papers.
Oxen are less expensive than mules They
are slow, but sure, never doing more than
three miles an hour, Of twenty miles q day
which is considered a good trek. The Zulu
OK is the best bred animal, but small and
unserviceable when compared with the bas-
tard Zulu or Natal OK, which thrives on
both the Sour veldt, or coast grass and
the sweet" or up-country veldt. Oxen,
however, require very careful handling
and must on no account be overdriyen:
they must have at least six hours a day
for grazing purposes. In the winter, which
Is coming on now, they can find a picking
on the parched veldt, where a mule or
horse would fail. They are, naturally. in
poor condition till the green grass of the
spring arrives In September. They are yery
liable to lung sickness and red water, and
whole spans sometimes perish from these
fell diseases. In the winter time they suf-
fer terribly from the cold, and on no ac-
count should they be worked in the rain
during that season. for, among other things,
the yoke, when wet, gives them sore necks
thus rendering them useless. The oxs best
work Is done at night time, and moonlight
tricks are the usual thing with transport
riders" after their teams have been grazing
all day. They are never kept under the
yoke for more than eight hours during the
dav fvyn .fr otrha Of oh
ia o'clock to in the morning and from 6
o'clock to 10 at night are the favorite
hours for treking.
AS to their haulage capacity, Span
or team of eighteen oxen will easily draw
a buck wagon (weighing little over a
tom, loaded to six thousand pounds, over
the South African rsads.rmany Of which
are little better thap tracks across the
veldt. Twenty miles1ia day for a heavy
baggage column in SUCH a country az South
Africa Is really good going.
One of the great msrttsf OF the OK wagon
Is the simplicity OF its harness The two
beasts nearest the wagon draw from a pole
(disselboom), on which, the yoke is fasten-
ed, and the couples tn frant are attached
to wire or hide rope, ekneWn as the trek
touw, to which the yekes are fastened by
deficiency in such tackle cap easily be made
good, as it is free froJp. the complexities of
a set Of harness. Prudent transport riders
invariably "outspan" theiE team at the ap-
proacn OF eHulue5{sU.. - .neH Trek
touw be Of wire or ehalnt as whole spans
have been destroyed shy lightning through
neglecting this precauttonrs
In the conveys to the troops not more
than fifty wagons are dispatched at one
time, and. II the road permit. six and more
are driven abreast. The second division
usually starts in half an hour after the
first. Nearly all the wagons in use in the
present campaign are built locally. made
of strong colonial woods and constructed
without springs. Only two men are re-
quired to manage each wagon-a driver and
a "voorIooper." or leader OF the team
both of whom are nearly always trained
Kaffirs.
At present large numbers of these wagons
are being hired from colonists at the rate
Of e. to "A day, the, imperial govern
ment making good any losses that may oc-
cur in the span.