Notes on South African Himting, 8g 
Our Murder—^Boers. 
how many stripes I had on my arm, and much 
other detail. Boers are wonderful liars. They 
do it for fun. When I really realized that I was 
alive, I felt thankful that I had never published 
any memoirs,” like the man in the story. 
There are two kinds of Boer—the lower class 
and the lowest. A certain number of respect¬ 
able old gentlemen there are certainly besides 
these, but they are rare and consequently 
priceless. 
The lower class Boer is a decent sort of 
animal. Generally profoundly ignorant, with 
a huge family. Usually he possesses some 
cattle, a horse or two, and a rifle; but no soap 
or conscience. He lives on his farm and does 
nothing. Occasionally he goes for a hunt if 
there is any game about, and is a good shot— 
that is, as far as one can tell, for the Boer never 
fires unless he is, humanly speaking, certain of 
hitting. There is a class of Boer called the 
Dopper, who pride themselves on knowing their 
bible, and wearing odd coats. They used to 
be a very influential factor, but their power is 
dying away. 
There are some few Boers who are very good 
