164 
AFRICA SINCE 1888 
by the English; these have in the main been absorbed by the 
Boers. 
Between 1820 and 1830 slavery was abolished by Great Brit- 
ain. The Dutch, who were engaged in trade and agriculture, 
freed their slaves and remained in Cape Colon}', mingling more 
and more with the English ; those engaged in the raising of cat- 
tle, dissatisfied with the compensation offered, moved north- 
ward, though still under British dominion. 
Tlie English and the Boers were engaged in continual conflict 
with the natives, hut the home government was unwilling to 
defend the settlers. The Boers w'ere therefore compelled to 
defend themselves, and thereby gradually became independent, 
roaming with their families and cattle, crushing out or enslav- 
ing the natives, until they reached the Orange river, in the 
country now called the Orange Free State. Between 1835 and 
1838 they settled beyond the river Vaal, in the Transvaal. Here 
scattered over a vast area each family occupies as many acres as 
it desires. There is no means of intercommunication, .save by ox 
wagons, traveling only twelve miles a day. The people are with- 
out near neighbors, and there are very few towns or villages. 
In such a community education is necessarily neglected. Inter- 
mingling with English, Germans, and Kaffirs they speak a 
dialect unlike either the pure Dutch or the Dutch spoken in 
Cape Town. They live in perfect social equality, with a strong 
sense of personal dignity — ])roud, independent, neither rich nor 
poor, but shrewd and self-willed. Mr Glad.stone has described 
them as “ Protestants in religion, Hollanders in origin, vigorous, 
obstinate, and tenacious in character, even as we are.” 
In time of drought they move with their families and cattle 
from place to place for pasturage, returning after the rains to 
their homes. The hunting of game is an absolute necessity, not 
only for the protection of the cattle from wild animals, but for 
food, clothing, and trade. In consequence, the elephant, lion, 
rhinoceros, ostrich, and zebra have been almost entirely driven 
to the north. Mdien they are gone the Boer will probably lose 
his remarkable skill with the rifle. 
When the Boers receive a summons to arms from the president 
they take their provisions, rifles, and ammunition, mount their 
horses, and are off, the best sharpshooters and guerillas in the 
world, as the English have frequently learned to their cost, 
especially in the battle of Majuba hill, where, though strongly 
entrenched, they were defeated with great lo.ss. 
