36 A NATURALIST IN THE TRANSVAAL. 



straight man like Sir Bartle Frere could not manage the 

 President is only explainable on faults of individuality 

 and not of character. An Indian proconsul, with his 

 acquired hauteur and social exclusiveness, which are so 

 often more apparent than real, is no diplomatist for the 

 Transvaal; the imported Hollander, however, is, and 

 has been, too often a financial curse to the Republic. 



The Boer to-day is what may be called " smart " in 

 the little business he does with the community, and this 

 applies principally in the relation of sample to bulk of the 

 produce he disposes on the market. But it must not 

 be forgotten that he has learned much of this through 

 bitter experience and from those who now speak the 

 strongest on the subject. The Chosen People swarm in 

 the Transvaal and have pitted their financial and com- 

 mercial talents against the once unsophisticated farmer, 

 with of course one result. One Israelite, whom I fre- 

 quently saw in Pretoria, and of whom many good and 

 other stories were told, had acted as produce agent for 

 a Boer, whom he generally cheated of a few pounds, in 

 the settlement. One day the Boer arrived indignant, 

 and with a " ready reckoner " in his hand demanded a 

 balance. "What book have you there]" enquired the 

 clever Semite. "A ready reckoner." " Let me see it;" 

 and then returning it contemptuously to the dissatisfied 

 one, added with withering scorn, " why it is last year's 

 edition you have got ! " The Boer retired mystified. 



The Boers seldom laugh, and have no gaiety ; they 

 know neither the pleasures of music, literature, nor even 

 the table ; they are fond of shooting, and are perhaps 

 the finest shots in the world, though they have now 

 nearly exterminated all the big game. No people have 

 ever made the wagon such a home, or driven it with 

 such skill. They possess all the virtues of home life, 

 and are sober and th^fty, drinking perhaps less alcohol 

 and smoking more tobacco than any other people. They 

 have a character for inhospitality, as many a lone and 

 weary traveller or prospector who has sought the shelter 

 of their houses, or asked for food, will declare. But the 

 Boer wished to be left alone, his early treks were made 



