14 
Seven Years in Central Africa. 
[Feb. 
left. The Jesuits wrote Mr. Selous lately, asking him about the 
Barotse; and he thinks they have given up the idea of going 
among the Batoka, and are going up the Barotse valley. 
Zeerust, February I'jth. — Yesterday Mr. Selous left me to come 
on here with the waggons. It has been so hot during the day 
that we have had to travel by night. I had to walk for five hours 
last night before the waggons with a lantern to trace the road 
through thick bush; and when I could find no road I had to 
guide by my compass the boy who led the oxen. 
THE BOERS. 
Before leaving the country of the Boers I would mention that 
many of them are direct descendants of Dutch Protestants and 
French Huguenots, who fled from their homes in the seventeenth 
century and took refuge in South Africa. Since then they have 
gradually pushed their way northwards. The Doper or Baptist 
Boers, who inhabit the northern parts of the Transvaal, are 
generally known as the " Foretrekers." They are devoutly 
attached to their Dutch Bibles, and have no other thought for 
their children than that they should learn to read that Book. 
Their apparent piety and devotion, however, contrast strangely 
with their cruel and unjust treatment of the Africans. This pro- 
bably arises from the belief they have that they are the elect of 
God, and that the African heathen are given to them to be spoiled 
and enslaved, as the Canaanites were treated by the Israelites. 
The Boer has no thought of making use of the ordinary 
advantages of civilization, and is much attached to a simple 
prairie life. Once a year, perhaps, he will make a visit to the 
neighbouring market town, many miles from his farm, and dispose 
of his produce, which generally consists of wool, tobacco, and 
hides, in exchange for which he returns with a supply of clothes, 
coffee, and sugar, the two latter being perhaps the only luxuries 
that he ventures to indulge in. In seasons of drought or un- 
common severity the Boers living in the more desert or higher 
districts of the Transvaal have to leave their homes and wander, 
like the patriarchs of old, with their flocks and herds, encamping 
along the rivers and in the bush-covered land. I visited one 
large camp of Boers, and distributed a number of Dutch 
Testaments amongst them, spending also a good deal of time in 
