Native Wars and V*rcst 129 



Since the war, when they lost most of their 

 property, and had their villages burnt, they appear to 

 have lost heart and self-respect, and they have taken 

 to beer drinking to excess. They complain that their 

 women spend all that they make in the Indian shops 

 on dress and trumpery, that many become immoral, 

 and will not work as of yore. One cannot but feel 

 sorry for the poor people in this unfortunate transi- 

 tion state, which they cannot avoid, in their contact 

 with European civilisation. The trouble at present 

 is that the old men, women and children remain 

 on the farms, whilst most of the young, able-bodied 

 men go to the Premier Mines, the Rand Gold Mines, 

 and the shops in Pretoria, where they get high wages 

 and learn bad ways. They can grow thousands of 

 bushels of maize, millet, kaffir-corn, etc., and could be 

 infinitely happier than the poorer classes in England, 

 or any part of Europe. Sometimes the locusts destroy 

 crops either wholly or partially. The natives catch 

 and bag them before sunrise, and boil them in large 

 pots (when they turn red like shrimps), dry them, 

 and pound them into meal, which is valued at from 

 15/- to 20/- a three bushel bag, and they consider it 

 twice as nourishing as maize or kaffir corn meal. 

 Animals are also fed on this. 



