186 Recollections of Adventures 



had no hope for improvement, and anticipated bitter 

 rivalry and party troubles and more to this effect. 

 The only people who were well off in those days 

 were the native commissioners and tax collectors. 

 Mr. Kruger pauperised the lower class Boers by 

 giving them doles out of the Amortization Fund, 

 erven in the towns and plots of land about the 

 country, such as Mapochs' Land and the Spelonken 

 etc., Many of these people had inherited farms, or 

 portions of farms and sold them, and were actually 

 working for the Kaffirs. On my farms I had for- 

 bidden my natives to employ poor Boers, as I con- 

 sidered it demoralizing for both. Now many Boers 

 give their farms to natives to cultivate on half 

 shares and do no work themselves. Natives are 

 purchasing farms all over the country, while the 

 poorer Boers congregate on the outskirts of the town, 

 leading a miserable, demoralizing existence. The 

 better class Boers will not employ them on the 

 farms, saying that they are too exacting, and too 

 lazy to work. When the Germans annexed South 

 West Africa and there was trouble on the border of 

 the Transvaal, Wessel Schutte told me in 1884 that if 

 Germany attempted to interfere in South Africa, 

 the Boers would stand by the British, noth with- 

 standing all that had happened. 



In 1884 to 1885 the Boers on the Western border 

 were on the war path ; and Colonel Warren was 

 sent to watch the position. No one knew what 

 would happen, and the country was kept unsettled 

 as usual, but I had my hands full night and day and 

 could not bother about politics. In a paper issued 

 at this time June 6th 1885 I find considerable 

 excitement had been aroused in Pretoria by the 

 effort of a strong party in the Volksraad to pass a 

 resolution that the names of all persons who petitioned 



