Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/263

TRANSVAAL. "205 clescribeil us •• burburiuns " by their F.ngliHh visitors as well a» by their country, men settled in Cupe Colony. It is certain that no recently as the middle of the prestut century many of them were still clothed, like their Katir neighbours, in the skins of animals ; nor did they feel the need of the comforts of civilised life, of which they had no experience. For weeks together they encamped beneath the stars of heaven, without furniture in their wretched hovels, living on the simplest fare, and possestiiig no literature beyond the family liible, which many of them were even unable to read. One cause that most contributed to keep the Boers in their savage isolation was the vast extent of the domains which they had appro- priated to themselves during the early days of the occupation. These allotments, or plaatx, as they were culled, which were assigned to each family of squatters, had a superficial area of 3,000 morgcn, or about 0,000 acres, and as no strict boundaries could be traced between the several estates, many of them were found to cover a fur more extensive space than that officially s|)ecified. The Boer who wus not put in posscscion of one of these enormous properties felt himself aggrieved by the fates, and, like his fathers, went into voluntary exile in order elsewhere to found a little territorial state more in accordance with his ideas of the fitness of things. From encampment to encampment wus thus continued towards the Zumbese the grcut migrutory movement which hud begun on the shores of the Southern Ocean. It was from the Transvaal that went forth the trekkers who plodded wearily for five years across the wilderness from the Limpopo to Lake Nganii and thence to the Cunene, decimated along the route by hunger and thirst and all manner of hardships, until at lust the few survivors reached their present home in the Huilla district on the Atlantic seubourd. The greater part of these emigrants belonged to the sect of the JJo/>pei's, zealous Calvinists, who scrupulously preserve the usages and even the dre^s of their fore- fathers, and in whose eyes the modern ideas introduced into their communities by books and newspapers are an abomination. In general the Boers despise every- thing thut does not contribute directly to the material prosperity of the family group. They ignore music, the arts, literature, all refining influences, and find little pleasure in anything except stock-breeding, bullying the natives, and psnhn- singing. Despite their numerous treks, they hnve contributed next to nothing to the Fcientific exploration of the land. The education of their children and journalism are mainly in the hands of the English, which fact affords some hope for the improvement of the next generation. A solitary life in the midst of his family, his slaves or " apprentices," on a domain stretching beyond the horizon of the surrounding hills — such has hitherto l)een the nonnal existence of the Dutch patriarch. For months together the only stnmgers he set eyes on were a few casual wayfcrers, some Kafir marauders, or occasionally the neighbouring proprietor contiguous to his plaats. But four times a year he felt the need of mingling with his fellow-creatures. Then the Boers saddled their horses, inspanned their waggon teams, and men, women, and children gathering from all quarters, set out for the chapel, the centre of life in the midst of their vast parish from oO to 1 00 miles in diameter. On the day