In the last chapter we read about some of the dark-skinned Africans
who live in South Africa, but we said also that there are many
Europeans living there too. These Europeans came from two nations in
Europe--the English and the Dutch. Now in South Africa they live side
by side, doing the same work, and all obeying and helping the
Government of South Africa, which is European. For many years these
two nations kept separate, but the wisest men in each saw that this
was bad, and they decided to make one strong nation. When Europeans
go to live in another country, they take all their own customs with
them, and so in South Africa there are cities and houses exactly like
those in their old homes in Europe. In the towns many people live
together, drawn there by their work. Some work on mines or railways,
some have shops, some have to keep the town clean and healthy. In all
European towns there are shops, because in Europe and in India and
China no one can make everything he needs for himself. Each man
learns to make one thing well, and spends all the day making one kind
of thing. Then he sells what he has made, and buys from other people
all the other food and clothes he needs. A country where people work
and live in this way is called civilized. It is a good way to live,
because people do their work better and have more time to think and
learn from others. In another book we will read about civilized
countries and the town people of Europe and Asia. In this chapter we
will read about the Europeans on the great farms of South Africa, who
live far away from the towns. These people are mostly Dutch or, as
they are sometimes called, Boers, but some of the farmers are English.