SOME BOER CHARACTERISTICS

Waikato Argus, Volume X, Issue 914, 28 March 1901, Page 3

SOME BOER CHARACTERISTICS

*A I'APKK with the above lie: ->in2, by a late gunner of the CI.V flattery appears iu the January number i 1 tin; Monthly Review. tlie following account of tlie sti*to of things n: Waterval when the prwmt rs were set free hy the British, it is iiiterosrins!, as it s' own that the Hon- caolers did not behave like ill conditioned ryiants, hut seem to have been on aniieahle term* with the prisoners. The "Tommy" who relued his rxp'.-rieiiee to me. : fter describing the loniiins with which they looked out tor the English troops, told with great humour oi the ahum which their Boer unards exhibited when they heard that the Kncli-i- "ere in Pretoria, and of the naive nay in which they came up to consult him as to what they had better do.

On the last night, when '.he adv. rice cavalry were supposed t> be vwthiu a few miles, ir oust hive been as eood as a farce. "The corporal of 'lie guard, Old Cine; r, as we called 'im, 'cos 'e 'ad red 'air—"e was a t-ood soit, 'c wms comes up to me and sez.- ' Look ere, Bill, what the 'ell am Ito do '—'e talked sood English, 'e did—l went the rounds just now and I found cue of my smtries 'ad done a bunk, mi 1 puts on the next man. and now Vs gone and dope a hank too, him.' ' Wei.' stz I, 'if I was you IM go round to the guard tent and put the first man you iind on guard !" '"What good would that do?'' sez 'e ; " e'd on y scoot like the others-" "Well," stz 1, "T don't see what .he 'ell you are lo do, unless yen goes on yers-lf —and 'c did. He was a good chap, wah old Ginger." The same Tommy told me that under the circumstances they had nothing to complain of at Waterval. It was natural))' ii crampe ', wearisome uxistenc-, hut the Beer gaolers, as the above story indicates, did not aggravate their misery by undue ehurlishuess.

In my opinion, our'men who were taken prisoners by the Boers ihic treated quite, as wdl as wc treated the Boer prisoners, and that in very well. Of course, when one is fighting the inhabitants of the country it is rather difficult to enter very largely into Mich close relations with them as to be ably to form a complete estimate of their character. But. I was lucky euoneli to have some chances of forming a partial ou •. In the Free State I was often sont to farms hsearch of provisions or f or. go. J generally f.uimi that wherever there were men on the farms they had fought against us, and were proud of the fact But i.hev seemed to bear no malice on that account, and if questioned whether they bore rs a grudce would give such answers as "No; we know v.iun we are beaten, and accept the inevitable," or, " No ; yon have only been doing your duty, just as we were doing ours.'' In the majority of farms, however, there were no males left, except o"casionally very old men or quite young boys : in theso the women generally received us with more sullen looks than the men, but tho extraordinary hospitality and courtesy of the Boers to any one corning to their farms almo.-.t invariably caused them to uubeud before the interview was over. We hardly ever left a farm, even where we had been conducting somen hat forced sales for th« battery, without having coffee or a piece of bread or milk, all luxuries in that stricken country, offered to us by women who, a minute before, might have been weeping for a husband or brother taken prisoner or killed, for all they knew. 'J he result of our visits to these farms, in the Free State that is to say —of the Transvaal I cannot speak to the same extent—was certainly to increase our respect for the people. Both the men and t lie uomen, though feeling their defeat keenly, were dignified and courteous. They received soldiers, who were their enemies, as if they were guests, but never gave the slightest indication tint they wanted to appear to rejoice in the defeat of their own country. I remember going to a house u-ar Fouriesburg, the most pros-perous-looking farm I saw in Eolith Africa, where the only people we saw, be-id<-s a voluble Scotch factor, delighted at seeing his own countrymen, were the t»vo little daughters of the house, aged thirteen and fifteen. The younger took the lead in everything, and, touched by our stare of comparative destitution, ( xtracted from her mother one of (he few pots of mariiiahide, which she let us have at a price which was cheap there, but would here be regarded as exorbitant. I asked her then what hid become of hei father and brother : " They hove been riahtiug against you, of ecurso," was her proud PDSwer, " as was their duty." Of Boer prisoners we saw a good number, as wc were part ot the force which escorted about JSUO of ihcm from Fouriesburg to Winburg. They were certainly a most extraordinary and impressive crowd as they filed past, some on horseback, some in light Cape carts, other driving builock waggons or mule watvons. Not one' of them was in uniform, but they were dressed in rough homely clothes, rather like poorer English farmers. They were all ages ; boys, not more than twelve or fourteen, men in the prime of life, unkempt and deter-mrned-lookiog, and greybeards fighting for their grandchildren. Some of then seemed rather sullen, but on the whole they took their adversity well, and trom conversation we had with some of them they seemed to bear us no malice, but to regard rrs as honourable foes ; a feeling which we reciprocated. Incidentally it may lie mentioned Unit we found no confirmation in them of the popular opinion about the 13oer di.-tate for water ; in fact, they seemed to rush for a wash in a dirty covvpond with as much relish as we. But their most striking characteristic was their genuine piety. Every evening, when their camp tires were lit, the would sing in chorus psalms or hyrnus iu praise of their Maker. One night especially I shall never forget. We and another battery were .camped err the brow of a ridge which was lit no by our tires ; ou the plain below the camp-rims of the Boers and other troops were dotted about. Farther off, a long line (if veldt-fire made tin; distance look like Eastbourne or IJrightou Bt.cn from the sea at niubt. Suddenly out of the depth the majestic cry of thesu fifteen hundred voices rose up beyond us, to God, as they verily believe. Ilyprocrosy I have heard it called by sorrte of the English setters in Soutli Africa. Well, 1 remember meeting at Pretoria a burly Englishman from Johannesbury who had joined some volunteer horse regiment and was on Lord Roberts' bodyguard. ~ He was a shrewd business man, who, as I gathered from his talk, had not been unprosperous in his affairs, and his attitude struck me as rather cbaratcristic of the attitude of English people out tin.to to the Dutch. He professed in the strongest language his hatred of the Boers ; he said they wire hypocrites and absolutely untrustworthy, and that they should be exterminated ; and yet almost in the same breath he remarked that if he were travelling about the country he would never dream of going for the night to in Englishman's house, where he could never be sure of a welcome, but he would go to a Boor's, who would entertain hint with the frankest hospitality. The fact of the matter seems to be that the Bours arc good business men, besides being ready pious, and there is an unaccountable idea current amonj people of mean intellect that the two cpuditie:, ate incompatible. Aud yet who would now talk ot the Scotch as hypocrites, though their pifcty io >is salient a ieattne of tiie lvet. as their capacity ior makiug a bargain. Hypocrites the great mass o: the Boers certainly are nor, any more than our own PuritßDS ivere. Hospitable they certainly are, aud proud of their country in a way which wins the sympathy of those who are no less proud Siaud willing to light for theirs. P (Tolccmi.nuc:L)