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THE BOER IN PEACE AND WAR
by
ARTHUR M. MANN
Author of _The Truth From Johannesburg_
With Sixteen Illustrations
London
John Long
6 Chandos Street, Strand
1900
[Illustration]
[Illustration: BOER MOUNTED POLICE]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
BOER MOUNTED POLICE (Frontispiece)
WAGGONS BRINGING WOOL TO EARLY
MORNING MARKET (JOHANNESBURG)
A BOER HOMESTEAD
WAGGONS CROSSING RIVER
A BOER FAMILY
MAJUBA HILL
A BOER ENCAMPMENT
RAADZAAL, OR BOER PARLIAMENT HOUSE
PRESIDENT KRUGER'S HOUSE
PRESIDENT KRUGER
DUTCH CHURCH (PRETORIA)
BOER CATTLE FARM NEAR MAJUBA
SHOOTING RINDERPEST OXEN
WAGGON ON PONTOON OVER RIVER
BOERS OUTSPANNED FOR NACHTMAAL
BLOEMFONTEIN
THE BOER IN PEACE AND WAR
CHAPTER I
A Boer may know you, but it will take you some time to know him, and
when a certain stage in your acquaintance is reached, you may begin to
wonder whether his real nature is penetrable at all. His ways are not
the ways of other people: he is suspicious, distant, and he does not
care to show his hand--unless, of course, there is some pecuniary
advantage to be gained. He is invariably on the alert for advantages
of that description.
His suspicious nature has probably been handed down to him from
preceding generations. When he first set foot in South Africa he was
naturally chary concerning the native population. He had to deal
firmly with Bushmen, and the latter certainly proved a source of
continual trouble. The Boer set himself a difficult task when he
undertook to instil fear, obedience, and submission into the hearts of
these barbarians--a task that could only be faced by men of firm
determination and unlimited self-confidence.
These characteristics have always inspired the Boer, and although he
may often have been the object of derision, it is to his credit that
the predominant qualities mentioned have enabled him to pull through
the miry clay. Without these qualities, it is patent that the little
band which landed at the Cape long years ago would have succumbed
before the conflicting forces which then existed. And as succeeding
years passed on, and the sun still shone upon the heads of the
pioneers, it is worthy to note that, despite the difficulties which
continually presented themselves, the little band multiplied,
prospered, and evolved an ensample not too mean to contemplate.
The Boer cannot be charged with any incapacity where the mere
treatment of natives is concerned; he can manage that business
perfectly. In the first place, he does not make the too common mistake
of allowing the black populace to insert the thin end of the wedge.
This is a mistake too often fraught with serious results, and the Boer
knows it. A native, no matter if he be Swazi, Zulu, Basuto, or any
other nationality, will always take advantage where such is offered,
and he will follow it up with enough persistence to warrant ultimate
success. In Natal, at the present time, this mistake is very apparent,
and, in consequence, one very seldom encounters a native who is
content to attire himself in any other manner than that adopted by his
master. He demands decent clothing, and, if possible, it must be new
and fashionable. I have known cases where a 'boy' has been presented
with a respectable suit of clothes a little too small for him, and it
is unnecessary to add that he disposed of that suit. People who have
hitherto allowed their children to put their pennies in the Sunday
School Mission box, will perhaps hesitate to continue supporting the
'poor, down-trodden native' when they learn that he is so fastidious,
and perhaps, after all, their spare coppers might be assigned to a
more deserving cause.
The Boer does not treat his black servants in any such fashion--he
knows better. He puts them on a sound footing to begin with, and he
leads them to understand that they must remain there.
This method of treatment where the natives are concerned has, to a
great extent, insured the progress of the Boer in South Africa. He has
laid down certain laws at the outset, and he has rigidly adhered to
those laws. He employs a different method of treatment from that which
is attributed to the Natal farmer and others who employ native
servants. He has never allowed his original attitude towards natives
to become compatible with the British idea; he prefers still to look
upon them as slaves, although he is perforce required to regard them
as servants. The difficulty in Natal with regard to the rapidly
increasing native populace, and how to deal effectually with the
question, might have arisen in the Orange Free State, for instance,
were it not for the fact that the native, in comparison with the white
population, is small. By a Law passed in the Volksraad some few years
ago, it became compulsory for farmers to allow only a limited number
of native families to remain on the farms. This created considerable
dissatisfaction among both farmers and natives, and the result was
that native labour approached the inadequate in a very short time.
Hundreds of native families left the State, and although the Law
ultimately admitted of a wider interpretation, the native populace has
not materially increased. The present attitude of natives in the towns
is not altogether satisfactory since the passing of this Law. Labour
being scarce, they are inclined to take up an independent attitude,
which, if fraught with little danger, is at least calculated to
produce a certain amount of friction between white and black. Added to
this, there is the fact that the education of natives, which is
becoming more general, undoubtedly assists the growth of this
independence. The Boer farmers in this connection adhere to their
pristine view of the matter, namely, that educating natives amounts to
casting pearls before swine; and although this does not tend to
encourage the work of the missionary, there may possibly be a certain
amount of truth in it.
Before the arrival of British subjects at the Cape, the Boer had it
all his own way. He looked upon himself as practically the ruler of
the country, and it was not natural that he should look with favour
upon the advent of a probable rival. He lived peacefully in a
way--that is, when he was not in open conflict with the natives. He
killed his game and cooked it and ate it heartily, and he enjoyed a
measure of happiness. He had found a home; the free-and-easy life
suited him; and if he was not possessed of riches (which would have
been of little value to him then), he had, at least, health and
strength and an abundance of daily food.
But one day the now accursed Englishman crossed his path, and that
made a considerable difference. He perhaps wondered why the English
came there at all, when he was just beginning to develop a great
country. But he did not, of course, know then what he knows now,
namely, that the English are insatiable land-grabbers! He looked upon
their advent more in the light of a huge slice of impertinence. He
knew also that it was dangerous to meddle or contend with them, so he
merely looked on with a suspicious eye. He watched their every
movement, and he also very probably looked for the day of their
departure. But they did not depart; they had come to stay.
The Boer did not like his English neighbours from the start; there was
far too much of the go-ahead persuasion about them. He wanted to jog
along quietly and cautiously, and he very naturally resented the
presence of people in whom the desire for progression was strong. So
long as the Boer was left to himself he was not aware of his own
tardiness. He was very much in the position of a cyclist on the track;
it needed a 'pacer' to show how slowly he was travelling. The 'pacer'
in this instance brought with him no commendation in the eyes of the
Boer; he merely created suspicion and ill-feeling, which ultimately
developed into rancour.
When suspicion lays hold of a man it invariably changes the whole of
that man's character. It did so in the case of the Boer. It debarred
any chance of reconciliation with the English for the future. The Boer
does not know the meaning of compromise, and if he did, it would go
against his grain to entertain it. His nature is stubborn; he cannot
bring himself to look at a question from any other view-point than his
own. He will argue a point for hours, and although he may be in the
wrong, it is a moral impossibility to convince him that he is not in
the right. His consummate ignorance may largely account for this; but
even semi-educated Boers are not much better in this respect.
The Boer makes an excellent pioneer, and when he found that the
English ideas were not compatible with his own, he decided to move
farther north. That is another of his characteristics--independence.
He is not only independent to a degree, he is sensitive; and when he
discovers by accident that he is a much-aggrieved party, his
indignation does not usually take a violent form--he simply clears
out. He may be somewhat different where the Transvaal is concerned--he
may be indignant, but he has no intention in this instance of adopting
the procedure of his forefathers. The latter had not yet dropped into
an inheritance glittering with gold; they were merely agriculturists,
and they desired pastures of their own. Some of them found desirable
pastures in the barren wastes of the Free State, and subsequently the
majority wended their way to the Transvaal.
It is not, of course, my intention to reiterate history. History is
good enough when it is new, but I should only be covering ground which
is already familiar to most readers. My purpose is to present glimpses
of the Boer as he is to-day.