The World and Its People Part 30

The South African Republic possesses an abundance of a good quality of iron. In fact, the supply of iron ore is almost limitless. Silver, copper, lead, and several other minerals are also found to quite an extent.

A railway will shortly be completed from Pretoria to Delagoa Bay, with a branch line to Barbertown. The railroad to Delagoa Bay will open the republic to many favorable conditions and opportunities. Even at the present time good carriage roads cannot be said to exist. Those dignified by the name of roads are mere wagon tracks.

A line of railroad from Pretoria to Vereeniging on the Vaal River, pa.s.sing through Johannesburg, is now open. At Vereeniging it is connected with the Great Trunk line through the Orange Free State, which branches off to the three chief ports of Cape Colony. From Krugersdorp there is a railway through Johannesburg to the Springs. This pa.s.ses over a great coal mine, which supplies fuel to the city itself and to the quartz-crushing machinery along a route of fifty-four miles.

With railroads at its command, the South African Republic must needs have a brilliant future.

It is rather a curious fact in the history of the country, that as soon as the unbeaten tracks were opened to civilization and cultivation they became freed from malarial fevers. This was particularly noticeable along the borders of the forests and the streams in the lowlands. In course of time vast tracts north of the Vaal became the property of the emigrant farmers, who had been attracted by the facilities for grazing and stock-raising.

As the large game, becoming alarmed, fled from the presence of man, who had invaded their haunts, the dreaded tsetse fly, which had been so numerous as to threaten the extinction of the herds of cattle, also disappeared, much to the delight and satisfaction of the farmers. Hence the republic holds many attractions for the would-be settler, now that its chief plagues no longer have an existence.

CHAPTER XLIII.

OVER THE DRACHENBERG MOUNTAINS.

In order to enter the South African Republic the traveler must pa.s.s the Drachenberg Mountains. These form the source of the Orange and the Vaal rivers.

The undertaking is far from alluring. Some portions of the mountains have a height of over ten thousand feet.

A wagon road has been made by which the range can be crossed. The summit of this road is about sixty-five hundred feet above the sea.

The toil and the danger in crossing the Drachenberg Mountains with an ox wagon has been admirably described by one writer: "Our wagon is to go up first, being supposed to be the heaviest. Hendrick's and Pater's teams are to be put to it,--thirty-six oxen in all,--and if we get to the summit in ten hours we are to deem ourselves fortunate.

"All is in readiness; the cattle are yoked and the treek-trow is stretched out to its greatest length. The drivers have taken their places,--William in front, Pater in the middle, and Hendrick, as the most skillful, behind; whilst Morris and I are instructed to follow close after with a large stone in our hands, which is to be jammed under the hind wheels whenever the wagon stops or we hear the word _klip_ shouted. The sun had long gone down, but we had a grand moon, one that seemed much overgrown, still had lost none of its brilliancy by the process.

"Hendrick pa.s.ses the signal to the other drivers to know if they are ready; having received a favorable reply, with good ba.s.s voice he shouts, '_Amba treek!_' the words being echoed by each of the others, and off moves the wagon in gallant style.

"For about a hundred yards our course is over the sward; after that comes an abrupt turn entering a steep incline, and the ascent has begun.

For a hundred yards or more it was a tremendous pull; but as it was the start, the oxen were comparatively fresh, and no stones were required; but in fifty yards more 'Klip!' was called out, and my friend and I did the klipping, Hendrick at the same time rushing behind to the rear of the wagon to put on the brake.

"Now, this klipping may be a very playful amus.e.m.e.nt for some people, but Morris and myself very soon came to the conclusion that it bore a very strong resemblance to hard work, with every probability of getting your fingers crushed or yourself run over. Neither was it a joke to carry a rock, about twenty-five pounds in weight, up a hill--mountain, I should say--far more favorable for the progression of goats or Shetland ponies than human beings.

"Though seeing the matter in this light, yet we dare not remonstrate, for if we did not klip, the wagons, as likely as not, would go over the ledge, and halt--in fragments.

"Grade after grade the hill increased in steepness, and often the oxen were compelled to stop every twenty or thirty yards. The drivers certainly did their work, and did not spare themselves; and the heavy breathing of the cattle showed that their task was no easy one.

Although our stoppages were most numerous, still we crawled on,--truly, step by step,--still forward; so if we met nothing more formidable, in time we should reach the top. We were in luck, too, as far as the weather was concerned, for a more lovely night could not have been made to order....

"We have come to a terrible grip; the gun-like reports of the whips, crack! crack! crack! incessantly, like the irregular fire of a company skirmishing; and I had just remarked, 'That's hot, Morris!' when that most objectionable--nay, abominated--shout of 'Klip!' struck on our ears. I did my best to be quick, and in consequence got a finger pinched.

"That last pull was a near thing, but the driving and the energy of Hendrick saved us, or at least the wagon, from trying to discover the sea level.

"That, doubtless, was the worst trial we had; for, although it was only in the middle of the incline, halts afterwards became less frequent and less prolonged. At this time it was fearfully cold, and there was no wind; still our progress was so slow that the blood chilled in our veins....

"Again we are off; the whips crack, the drivers scold and shout the names of lagging oxen, while the poor beasts groan and wheeze with their exertions and the effects of the rarefied atmosphere. From the abyss on our left rises an immense riven rock. Here we are informed that a wagon, at no long distant time back, had gone over, but we pa.s.s the dangerous place in safety, and--hurrah! hurrah! we are descending, having pa.s.sed the summit."

The Drachenberg Mountains were the scene of fierce encounters between the English and the Boers, or settlers, during the late Transvaal war.

Two most disastrous battles were fought, in which the English were overpowered and defeated by the Boers, who, though valiant and brave in many respects, did not hesitate to resort to treachery and deceit in their dealings with the English, while they displayed not only cruelty but heartlessness and greed in the victories which they won. They spared neither women nor children in their blind fury and ruthless slaughter, and were indifferent to the cries of the wounded as they searched them for plunder.

CHAPTER XLIV.

VIEWS OF THE BOERS.

The Boers may be considered the real strength of the population of the Transvaal, or South African Republic.

They number at least eight thousand families, which support themselves by farm work of some description.

The Boers are generally peasants, though they are usually the wealthiest land owners in the country.

The character of the Boers has been strongly impressed by their wanderings and sufferings. Their habits of life, too, have necessarily been greatly modified through adverse circ.u.mstances and by the peculiar features of their surroundings.

If one of a family is about to ride but a few miles away from his home, he takes leave of the members of his household with almost as much ceremony and affection as though going on a journey to a foreign country. In the same manner, persons, whether they are visitors, neighbors, or relatives, on entering a household for the first time, greet each member of the family, and, in turn, receive a hearty clasp of the hand from each, as a welcome and a token of hospitality and rejoicing.

This custom evidently originated from the feelings of uncertainty experienced in the vicissitudes of life forty years ago. Friends meeting after an absence were in the habit of greeting one another as though they had been delivered from some great danger. While those who were about to leave home parted from their friends as though they were never to meet again.

In the early days of their settlement the Boers had few candles.

Constantly driven from one point to another, their life in the wilderness, where they hoped and planned to found their homes, proved a long and weary pilgrimage. A little coa.r.s.e fat from the animals which they slaughtered and a bit of rag made their only lamp. Crude as it was, it answered their needs, for these people acquired a habit of going early to their rest and rising at the first break of dawn, in order to utilize every bit of daylight for their labor.

This habit of "early to bed and early to rise" has become characteristic of the Boers. It is a very rare thing to meet with a family that enjoys the pleasant evening hour, cl.u.s.tered around the fireside or about the center table with its cheerful lights, its books, papers, and other features of comfort and culture.

The daily life of the Boers is of the most primitive character. At the close of the day, or as soon as the sun has sunk below the horizon, the cattle and other stock are gathered into the kraals and places of safety, and the labor of the day is practically over. A short twilight is enjoyed, then follows the evening meal, a dinner and supper in one.

This is the social meal of the day. At its close, the table is no sooner cleared than the family a.s.sembles for prayers; this has been the custom for years in the wanderings of these people. The hour of prayer over, the members of the family retire to their several quarters to enjoy their well-earned night's rest.

The complaint has often been made that the Boers keep their houses untidy, unfloored, and poorly lighted. We must not forget, however, that a house in the country of the Boers is usually the work of the owner's own hands. Such a house was erected under extreme difficulty in a country recently frequented by wild beasts and still wilder barbarians.

Whether we find it located beside some beautiful stream, or standing upon some barren, desolate plain, or nestled under a steep hillside in some lonely and almost inaccessible kloof among the mountains, we may feel sure that it was erected without the aid of skilled labor, and that only the roughest material, found on or near its site, was used in its construction.

It must be remembered that beams and timbers are not to be found ready cut and prepared for the builder's hands. Those that the Boers used to construct their houses had to be brought from very distant points and at an enormous expense.

The extreme difficulty in obtaining heavy timbers made it necessary to change the shapes of the houses somewhat from the most approved plan of dwellings. Necessity is the mother of invention; and the Dutch Boers, in accordance with the trite saying, "Cut your coat to fit your cloth,"

erected their houses to fit the timbers they were able to procure. They had to content themselves with small rooms, and deny themselves the luxury of a broad spreading roof.

Window frames and the gla.s.s to fit them were for years almost un.o.btainable by such settlers as located themselves north of the Orange and Vaal rivers. In many of the houses the windows were not only few in number, but exceedingly small, often seeming like mere shot holes.

The Dutch farmer has been called slow, and he no doubt is slow; for he belongs to a race not noted for its swiftness of thought or action. For generations his ancestors have lived in the wilds of Africa, and such surroundings have not tended to quicken the nature of the average farmer. Yet with all his moderation the Boer makes an excellent pioneer.

The towns in the Transvaal are as primitive in their way as the houses.

In most instances they are mere villages; others are barely more than hamlets, which remind one of some of the drier portions of Holland and Germany.

A town in the Transvaal has generally a square in the center. This is usually the site for the church. There is generally one main street, on which one finds the hotel, several taverns, and a store or two.

The town has usually rather a squalid look. Evidently neither time nor money is ever wasted in mere external ornament. Utility seems to be the plan of life. The one thought of the practical Boer is not, Is it beautiful? but, Is it useful?