that the whole world
is against him. He always imagined that everybody was working out
plans of campaign by which it would be possible to annex the Transvaal
to the British Empire. Fortunately there were other matters and other
countries to consider, and if Oom Paul would just study a map of the
world for a few weeks and reflect, he would probably find his position
less irksome. But Oom Paul has a great deal to think about--he must
think for the whole nation. The 'unfortunate affair which occurred
after 1895' seems to trouble him a great deal. Despite the fact that
the country was well paid for it, this incident seems fated to crop up
at least every six months, and it will be handed down to generations
untold, so that it may ever be kept green. It will be nurtured and
well looked after, and the one regret will be that it does not bring
in an annual income in proportion to the original amount.

[Illustration: PRESIDENT KRUGER.]

The Boer's politics are summed up in the single word 'Defence.' He is
not aggressive, but he is strong on Defence. Possession with him is
ten points of the law--it is everything. Let the independence of his
country be threatened, and he is at once a man of action. He
figuratively converts his ploughshare into a sword, although the uses
of that weapon are unknown to him. At the time of the Jameson Raid it
may safely be asserted that there did not exist a single Boer--young
or old--who was not in possession of a serviceable firearm and the
full complement of ammunition. The Kantoors--i.e., the Government
offices--were daily besieged by eager men as eager to possess
themselves of the instruments and munitions of war. Every man was
ready; farmers were no longer farmers, but soldiers, prepared to face
the worst in the defence of their only love--their country.

CHAPTER VI

The Boer is not what one would call a sentimental person; he is
practical in all his ways. If he sees a thunderstorm approaching, he
does not go into raptures over the magnificence of the lightning; he
watches that thunderstorm calmly and philosophically. And if he had
anything to do with the order of the elements, he would have that
thunderstorm come his way, and he would detain it exactly three days
over his particular farm, so that the rain should leave a lasting
impression upon his mealies and forage. The Boer likes wet weather,
probably because he gets so little of it.

I have said that the Boer is practical in a