We left the railway to face the open stony desert and arid rocky
mountains with the greatest keenness, in the bright sun and clear air
of Southern Algeria.
The last bit of civilisation that we saw was a French. colonist's
farm, fortified with a strong loopholed tower, in which the farmer and
his family could take refuge and stand a siege if the Arabs should
rise in rebellion.
These fortified farms are to be seen in many parts of Algeria, and are
a sign, of the farmers _Being Prepared_ for what is _possible_,
though it may not be _probable_.
If our own people in South Africa had prepared their homesteads for
defence in the same way against the Kaffirs, the Zulus, the Basutos,
and the Matabele tribes, they would have saved themselves in very many
cases from death at the hands of these savage warriors when they rose
at different times in rebellion against the white men.
Any Boy Scout who goes later on to farm in an Oversea Dominion where
there are fighting natives will do well to remember this, and to make
one of his farm buildings defensible, so that it cannot be attacked or
burnt by the enemy, and where he and his family can stand a siege of
some weeks, having food, water, and ammunition always ready inside it.
This is _Being Prepared_, and not leaving things to chance.
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