Prinsloo of Prinsloosdorp

A Tale of Trans vaal Officialdo m .

BEING INC IDENT S I N T HE LI FE O F A

T RA AA O FF C A AS T D B! NSV L I I L, OL

SON - IN - LAW HIS ,

S AREL E RAS M US , Jﬂ

La te P u bl ic P rosec u tor o P r i n sl o osd o r M a r k et M a s r f p, te

' o Ko a l ko Sm a l l - ox Ta x Co l l ec to r o Schoo n s r uz t f p, p f p ,

etc . , etc .

LO N DO N AN D S OUTH AFR I CA

D R RO U NBA B S .

N N : 2 HANC AN ! W . LO DO 7 , C ER L E , C . LON D O N

RI NT E D B! T H E B O U VE RI E RE SS P P ,

1 B LAC KFRIARS OAD S . . 59 , R , E C ONT E NT S .

PAG E AUT H O R’ S N OT E

T R C HAP E I .

T H E UPBRING I N G OF PI ET PRI N S LOO 1

T R C HAP E I I .

TH E VOORTREKKER

A T R C H P E I I I .

LAN DDROST OF

T R C HAP E IV .

T H E JEALOU S! O F N ICK GROBL E R

1 39 41 1 0 — d CONT ENT S co n ti n ue .

PAG E

C HAPT ER V .

FO R PRI NC I PLE AN D PATR I OT I SM

C HAPT E R VI .

F I ELD CORNET AN D STOREKEEPER

C HAPT ER VI I .

T H E FOU N DIN G O F P RI NSLOOSD O RP

P C H A T E R VI I I .

M I NI NG COMM I S S I O NER O F KAAL KO P

C HAPT ER I! .

AT THE DOOR O F T H E RAADZ AAL

C HAPT E R ! .

’ P I ET P RI NSLOO S LAST TREK G LO SSAR! O F D U T C H WO RD S

U S E D I N TH I S WORK .

I L N G— B TO Strips o f m e at dried in the sun . — COMMAN DO A party o f Boers commanded for

ﬁghting or any State service . — COMMAN DEER T o c o mmand personal service or fo r material State use .

I —A DR FT shallow ford .

I LD N —Ah f F E COR ET important O ficial who , in addition to being chief of the fighting force o in his district, performs every branch f administrative duty fo r which no special f o fi cer is appointed on the spot . I n outlying districts he is a veritable Po o h ” f O Bah , holding all the O fices there are . n proclaimed go ld fie ld s he ranks below the

Mining Commissioner . r Gl o ssa y .

— GRON DWET T h e Constitutional Law o f the

State . I D E — D . . . I llicit iamond Buying . — I N DABA Ka fﬁ r name fo r a se r io u s conversation , o r conference ; largely u sed in conversa

tion by Afrikanders . — l NSP AN T O put h o rses o r oxen to the cart o r

waggon . L— A KERE fellow ; as mooi kerel , a nice fellow .

KWAAI— Strict , particular, sharp .

AN S —A L DDRO T chief stipendiary magistrate . — M I NI N G COMM I S S I ON ER T h e chief Government o n r o ld ﬁ e ld Ofﬁ cial a p oclaimed g , having control over all matters relating to the o n soil . I s the Government nominee r eve y representative body . — NACHTMAAL T h e quarterly celebration o f re li i o u s g worship , to which Boer families o travel l ng distances . I t i s the one

- o universally Observed s cial gathering, and o is made a general h liday, lasting two or

three days . — NEEF Nephew ; used by elders in addressing

youths familiarly . O — OM Uncle . Elderly men are generally addressed

as Oom by juniors . — O P RE C HT . Sincere , reliable — O UTSPAN T o unharness and release horses and

oxen . r Gl o ssa y .

— PRED I KANT A minister o f the D utch Re formed T h e t Church . Predikant is held in grea o o reverence by the B ers , the Doct r ranking next

RAA —T h e D Parliament .

Z — RAAD AAL T h e Parliament House . — ROO I N EK Re d neck ; a contemptuous name for

Englishmen .

ROOI BAAT E — Re d J jacket ; British soldiers .

CH L - A o S E M r gue ; a rascal .

I — A S CH R CK sudden fright .

A B —A SJ M OK switch of rhinoceros hide , always “ s h a m carried by a Boer ; pronou nced bo k .

— Ka fﬁ r fo r SKOFF word food .

LI — S M Cunning, artful , tricky . CH —A S MOU ER pedlar.

SOUP I E—A o f tot liquor . — ANDS 0 0 ST Building plots , 5 feet by 5 feet , or 0 1 5 feet by 00 feet . — STERK Strong . — STOEP T h e raised portion surrou nding all South African hou ses forming a verandah ; the o f o most frequented part the h use .

— ’ T AAL T h e a t o z s Dutch p spoken by the Boers .

T — ANTE Aunt . Elderly women are addressed ” familiarly as tante . r Gl o ssa y .

— T ICKIE A threepenny piece ; the smallest coin T circulating in the ransvaal . — T T - REK o journey by o x waggon . — T REK C HA I N T h e chain by which the oxen draw

the waggon . — T RAN S PORT RI DER O ne w h o conveys go ods by o r o T r ox mule wagg n . ansport riding was the main source o f income to farmers before o f the construction railways .

T N —T h e RO K jail .

L —T h e VE D Open country .

N R! — V . ER EUKE Low, petty cheating ; knavery

— ' VRAC HT E R Really T ruly ! A much - used i n t e r e c io n j t .

— “ Nata T he V in Dutch i s always pro nounce d “ F D t he e n d o f rd s i s , the at wo always “ ” “ ” T . T d i s r o o pronounced hus , Vel p n unced “ ” Fel t an d r F reed ed or . ; Vrededo p , p T OR’ OT AU H S N E .

T O South Africans generally, and U itlanders

O f w particularly, no explanation the follo ing pages is necessary, but for the guidance of readers only slightly acquainted with the T ran svaal and the

Conditions of life therein , it has been thought desirable to give some idea of t he scope and character O f the book which would help them to a proper understanding O f it . For this purpose I think I cannot do better than quote the following from a notice of the coming volume which appeared some time ago in a T ransvaal newspaper “ It has long been a matter for surprise that the o fﬁ cial side of the T ransvaal has never yet been laid under contributi o n fo r a literary work of more than transient interest . Considering the rich store o f virgin material to hand and the vast clientele interested , directly and indirectly, in the country, the market is assured and su fﬁcient to tempt any ’

ii . Autho r Nole s .

T h e f fa r publisher. di ﬁ culty, so , has been the want of a man capable of handling the subject .

o o c an N newc mer, whatever his literary gifts , be trusted t o describe the T ransvaal Boer in his many

T o o n e aspects . know him , must have lived with

l a n d him , speak his anguage, have at once a

o f broad sympathy for his limitations , and a sense humour to present them in an attractive form . T h e task has at length been undertaken by o n e e minently qualiﬁed , and we have been favoured with f O M . a perusal the S of his work, which , under the

‘ ’ P rin sl o o s d o r title Of Prinsloo of p , will shortly

b . be published y Dunbar Bros , of London and ﬁ Johannesburg. It is absolutely the rst a ttempt on the part O f a qualiﬁed writer to depict the

T a s i s n e w ransvaaler he under the dispensation . Globe trotter s by the score have given ' m ore or

c o n a less inaccurate pi tures of the Boer the f rm s ’ ! o el a o and the of Cape C lony, but no one has s hown him in the town and i n the o fﬁ cial ring t h e Boer that is destined fo r a l ong time to loom sl i m l arge i n the public eye at home ; the , n wh o i s arrow, yet interesting, Boer our lord and m aster and the incubus on the p rogress of the

T ransvaal . “ T h e book takes the form of a biography o f Piet

voort r ek k er m who P rinsloo , a fro Cape Colony,

r See Glo ss ary fo r m e an i n g o f D utch wo ds . ’ Au thor s No te. iii .

goes through the mill o f T ransvaal o fﬁ c i ald o m

C C i s from Field ornet to Mining ommissioner, the fortunate vendor O f a gold farm and t h e

o f d o r T h founder the p that bears his name . e ’ a or h author, who knows the p , Pretoria, and t e R d and equally well, gives us a elightfully vivid a n d humorous picture of the ways that are dark and the tricks that are not always vain of s l i m P iet

o h d and his congeners, and , alt get er, has produce the truest and best T ransvaal sketch we have yet

T h e seen . bio graphy is supposed to be written by

- i n - o f v w d the son law the defunct Piet , and his a o e Object is to vindicate the memory of his much

T h e r maligned relative . autho has admirably c aught and illustrated that artlessness and delight ful inconsequence of reasoning and judgment that i s so characteristic of the unsophisticated Boer f O fi cial, exemplified in such verdicts as that given by the Boer jury the other day who acquitted the d efaulting Florida postmaster on the ground that he only stole £400 out of a possible and the never - to - b e - forgotten apology of President Kruger in the wire scandal My o fficials are not

n o too well paid , therefore there is harm in their

’ h as s peculating with public money . Never before the ‘ civilised Boer and his ways been so effectively ” an d faithfully pourtrayed . T E H AUTHOR.

O R WO R F E DS .

T h e - i n - removal of my father law, Piet Prinsloo,

o O f o to a better world by dr psy, and myself t Rhodesia by the machinations O f the Hollander clique in Pretoria, have given me occasion and leisure to write and publish in safety much that is necessary for the vindication of the character o f a father o f his country and founde r

' O f a or the p that bears his name . At the same time I take the opportunity to Show h o w the presence o f the Hollander and Uitlander in the T ransvaal has ruined the Character of the Afri kander. Of the wicked conspiracy by which I was forced to resign my positions of Public

- T ax Prosecutor, Market Master, and Small pox Collector I shall have something to say in a later chapter ; fo r the respect which we Afrikanders bear fo r our seniors comp els m e to set aside my o wn B F reword s. VI . o grievances in favour of the greater ones of my

r o d o dead relative . I am particula ly anxi us to

o f this without delay, because the Uitlander Press the Rand and many reptile journals in Cape r Colony and the Free State have repeated , unde

o o the guise of an Obituary n tice , many Of th se calumnies which Piet Prinslo o w a s t o o magnani

mous and proud to deny o r avenge when livin g. And here it is proper to state that the true reason which induced 00m Piet t o rem o ve fro m

a s the T ransvaal to Rhodesia was not, wickedly

! a n d a n d Vo l /é t o suggested by the newspaper, obliterate himself and shirk the action he b ro ught

r r r against that pape , but athe that he might, by

o u t o f o r o r residing the c unt y, the m re easily esist the temptation t o have his traducers dealt with by

T o a court of justice . h se who know the strained state o f feeling existing in the T ransvaal at the

t o n o t o 00m time referred need be t ld that, had Piet gone o n with h i s pro secution o f the editor the punishment awarded wo uld have been so

o ro s evere, and w uld have a used such bitter

feelings among the Uitlanders, that trouble would

t o have resulted . I t was save his beloved country

o o from reproach that Piet Prinsl , as a true patriot

o f R o r and member the New ef rmed Chu ch , genero usly fo rgave h i s enemies and refused to take

shelter behind the new Press Law. i i . Foreword s . v

So nu m erous are the base inventions o f his enemies that I feel at a l o ss h o w to begin to deal with them ; and were it n o t for the literary repu t at io n I gained a s the P ri n sl o o s d o rp correspondent o f the Vo l/ess t em and a frequent contributor to

m Vol /é n o t 0 , I should hesitate to place the task in other hands . But I fear that were I to do that the enemies o f my late father- l n - law would say that I was afraid to Speak o u t o n matters o f which

I best knew the inside . After great consideration I have decided to tell all the chief events in the

o f life Piet Prinsloo , leaving the story to refute the many wicked and libell o us sayings that cling to h i s name, and to put to shame his detractors by

a s telling the truth as far in me lies . I am aware that in telling t h e sto ry as I purp o se I shall lay m y s e lf o p e n t o be much misunderstood

n o t o f indeed , I shall be surprised if I be accused doing the very thing that I have complained of in

— o f o f others namely, revealing secrets the career

- i n - my father law best left untold . But if I should so err, it will the more surely assist me in my

w t o great Object, hich is show how the character O f the T ransvaal Afrikander has been inﬂuenced fo r evil by the combined wickedness o f the English Uitlander and Hollander—particularly the

- . o r ec/z t latter I think that the fair minded , p man will be bound to Confess that if Piet Prinsloo had B 2 Foreword s.

faults—and although I married his daughter and — taught him law, I admit he had many yet they

o f were not part his nature, but came from the

o f seed bad example, from temptation to which

O f he had not been used , and the smallness the T salaries paid by the ransvaal Government . It i s always hard to persuade those wh o judge us Afrikanders by the spoiled samples o n t h e

R o and that we are by nature h nest, upright and

hospitable, and always addicted to making no charge fo r fo rage o r food when we know that the traveller who o utspans at our farms has no money

o u r to pay . I ndeed , in the early days of inno

o r cence there was very little money in the c unt y, and a stranger who showed that he carried gold was Ofttimes wro ngly suspected of bein g an

T h o s it English spy . hus it came that we were p l ' ab e and made no charges, for we had not learned

u s e the of money, but took cattle , sheep , and pro duce in payment for our services or o u r kindnesses freely bestowed . Since I have lived amongst the Uitlanders and learned to know them I have thought that our pe o ple made a great mistake in bein g kind to them in those early days, for they have given us

a re Boers a bad name , saying we foolish and

fre s h c o m e rs unlearned , which encouraged to rob us , a custom they have maintained even to this day .

x. Foreword s .

s attained to wealth, for I hold with tho e who say there is no excuse for a full man to steal his

’ bil ton neighbour s g . I cannot forget that a great Englishman named Lord Bacon did what Piet — Prin sloo was accused of doing h e took money to give judgment in favour Of the briber. Lord

Bacon was a Chancellor, which is even higher than a Landdrost, and much better paid, yet he was n o t so severely abused in the papers as Piet T Prinsloo has been . hese spiteful criticisms and

exposures caused Piet great sorrow, not that he cared what people said o r thought about himself ; what most angered him was to know that these exposures caused the Uitlanders to think evil of

T o f the ransvaal, and write untrue things other f T o ﬁ cials . his is why he worked so hard to get

o the new Press Law made , th ugh I am thankful that he has not lived to see the great failure o f that necessary law against the taking away of men ’ s

characters . Prinsloo of Prinsloosdorp

A TALE OF TRANSVAAL OFFICIALDOM .

T R C HAP E I .

H E B I N GI N G OF I IN SL T UP R P ET PR OO .

T HERE is little need to remind Afrikanders that the family of Prinsloo is one of the best known in

T h e South Africa . original Edict of Nantes

o o served up n J acobus Piet Prinsloo the Huguen t,

o t r ek c mpellin g him to to South Africa, exists to

P ri n s l o o s this day, preserved in the Bible of the

lk O o o As svo e . of g p , Cape C lony Pe ple learned in the histo ry o f the Colony know that wherever

o r there has been action , civil martial , there was

a Prinsloo to be found . Lest, however, some may blame Piet Prinsloo fo r some of the discreditable acts of those members Of the Prinsloo family who

R 1 680 I betrayed Graaf einet to the English in , 2 P rm sl oo of P ri n sl oosd o rp . would mention that there are two branches of th e

R o family, and that the Graaf einet trait rs belonged t o o o n e - i n - the ther , as my father law has Often explained . T h e birth O f Piet was attended by circumstances o f sadness and depression . He was the thirteenth child by the third wife of that Hans Prinsloo who led the Burghers against the English tax co llector

’ O T h e whom they justly killed at liphant s Kloof.

’ year O f Piet s birth ( 1 8 35) was the one wickedly chosen by the British Government for the ruin

of the Colonials by freeing their slaves . Hans

Prinsloo owned many, and according to the rate of compensation awarded , he should have

600 . o f received £ But the Government, instead

o o paying in h nest g ld , did what all Englanders are fo nd Of doing to this day : they gave t h e “ T ” owners pieces of paper called reasury Bills,

No w payable in London . , it was foolishness to

o o f expect po r Boers to travel to En gland , which

o s o they knew n thin g, and cash these bills , they fell victims to the rascally Englande rs w h o went ro und the co untry Offering to go to Lond o n and

o co llect the m ney . Hans Prinsloo was deceived

’ o n e o f Roo z rz ek s t by these , who told him tha the

Go o English vernment had no m re money, which

a s w why they paid in paper. He so frightened 2 him that Hans sold him the bill for £ 0 . Some ' A Ta l e of Tra n sva a l Oﬁi cza ld o m . 3

’ years afterwards he heard that the Rooz n ek wen t

600 o to London and got the £ in good g ld , besides ’ large sums more o n bills that he had vern eu/eea T out of other Boers in the same way . hus it was that when Piet came into the wo rld h e found his family so poor that they had to farm with hired

Kafﬁ rs , and even had sometimes to work them selves . Little wonder that the name of Englander was hated by him all the days of his life, and that he distrusted all kinds of written papers l Piet grew up with his brothers and sisters on the farm at the Paarl , and early gave signs o f having great courage and love of liberty . He was

k ere l a bold young , and did many things that caused his father loss and sorrow . It was he who , when there was no fresh meat o n the farm for many

t o o weeks , because it was dear to buy, would break

o f o x - the leg an in the trek chain , and tell his father that the beast had struggled and himself

T h e o x caused the break . bein g no longer any

o fo r l go d pulling he would be kil ed , and the family had fresh meat . F o r a short time Piet was taught at a farm G school by an Old erman teacher whom he hated , n because he pressed him to learn cypheri g . But

fo r o n e the schooling did not last lon g, day Piet

o n e h o w ﬁnished the master, though no knew then it happened . It came about this way . Piet P ri n sl o o P ri nsl oosd o 4. o f rp and the old German were riding to a distant farm

h ad T h e o ld when they to cross a river in ﬂood . man could not see well and had t o ask Piet which h i were the bad places I n the ford . Piet showed m a place where the current w a s deep and stro ng

s o and the teacher was carried away, there was n o

o m re schooling . In the after days Piet Often regretted that he had done this thing, for, said he Had I been able to cypher and read writing

o as the Old teacher wished , I sh uld not have been ' ’ ” ver a e a /éea n ek s by s o many Ro oz . He always believed that these visitations came

fo r as a punishment the accident to his teacher, and he taught h i s children always t o treat thei r scho o l teachers kindly, even if they did not like them .

o f He would Often tell them stories his youth , and strove hard to make them honest, because it was more proﬁtable . O nce when he was a small k erel he went with his father to sell fo rage at a store twenty - fo ur

h i s r hours distant . While father ba gained the

o f price, young Piet ﬁlled his pockets with tins

r sardines . But the storeman saw him , and g ew

’ so angry because Piet s pa would n o t chastise h i m a s Ka fﬁ r n o t if he had been a , that he would buy

t r ek s ix r the forage . Hans therefore had to hou s

o n further, and the way the lightnin g struck the l ’ A Ta e of Tra n sva a l Oﬁ cz a ld om . 5 waggon and killed four oxen ; which shows the s wickedne s and danger of stealing even sardines .

Piet often told this story to his children , with

O f many others a religious nature , and none of his sons have ever been imprisoned for theft . Piet remained o n the farm until his eighteenth

O f year, when his father and brothers and most his relati o ns quarrelled with him o n grounds perfectly

t r ek /red unjust, as he has often assured me ; so he with a borrowed waggon and oxen across the

Ka r O range River. Bein g short of fﬁ s to go with him , and having n o money, he wrote a letter in the name Of his uncle, who was Field Cornet, ordering the j ailer to give him four Hottentot

o T h e pris ners to help get in the mealie crop . jailer, bein g able to read only the name, gave up “ o fo r o the b ys , and Piet kept them nearly f ur years

o a e with ut p y , t lling them that if they made trouble he wo uld send them back fo r breaking out o f j ail SO g re a t was the moral inﬂuence Piet had upon “ ” these b o ys that when a m o nth late r he was wro ng fully impris o ned a t Bl o emfo ntein o n a charge o f stealing the waggon and oxen with which he made t h e i r e/e fo r , they stayed in the town workin g w a t o O ges , which they gave him . ften , too , they wo uld help him in the difﬁ cult and tirin g task o f

o r fo r r w king on the roads, which he voluntee ed while staying in the jail 6 P ri nsl o o of P ri n sl oosd orp

T h e story o f his escape has often been untruly

T h e told . truthful version , which I have had from

o wn his lips , is this T h e jailer was a man who had learned from E nglanders to drink French brandy in large quantities, a habit for which Piet frequently

' a s rebuked him , it was not patriotic to use

e D o import d drink when p brandy, made in the

O o n e o f country, could be had . n the occasions when he had accompanied Piet to visit a canteen

o o in the t wn , the jailer, n twithstanding his solemn promises to Piet not to forget himself, but to

t r on /e return early to the , got very drunk . Piet tried his hardest to get him back to the jail , but in vain so by way of punishing him for his want o f o moral c urage , Piet gave him a thrashing with

' h i s o wn s a m bo k j , and refused to take him home . “ ” o I nstead , he gathered his b ys together an d a

’ o t rek k ea Scotch cart and four xen , and across the

T T h e r Vaal into the ransvaal . d unken jailer lay

weld in the all that n ight, and was punished by

Bo sh o ff being removed to , where he was made

Chief of Police .

8 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl oosd or p

found a l o t o f stray o xen o n h i s t r ek from Bloem

s o h i s w a s fontein , that, with waggon , he very well

o ff o o o f o fo r , and s n became a man imp rtance , there were n o t many Boe r s in those parts wh o

o w a s had two hundred s vereigns , and he pointed

o u t a s t o r the right man be Field Co net, which

wel d o f h i r lighted the s desi e .

r t o o Kat ina, , desired much that her man Should

o fo r be Field C rnet, young Nick Keet, who should

r h e r sh e w a s o r have ma ried when f u teen years Old ,

o n e s h e t o had been made , and wanted much

SO s h e spite the girl he had married instead .

r gave her man no est, but day and night talked Of h o w great a thing it wa s fo r a man t o be Field

w a s o o Cornet, which m re true in th se days than n o w i s , when a Mining Commissioner the greatest

T w a s fo r man . hen the pay small all Officials, and o ften they had t o wait many months fo r something o n r account . But Kat ina said “ What matte r s it if the pay i s small and u n certain ? I s it n o t a great thing t o be able t o call o u t o n co m m a n d o men wh o have n o t been friendly t o o u a n d t o Ka ffi rs y , compel them fight when they are afraid And d o es n o t the Field Cornet take charge o f the go o ds o f peo ple wh o die strange r s in the land until their fr iends c a n co me fo r i s r ? i s n o t them , which gene ally never And a Field C o rnet a man th at all desire t o be fr iendly m A Ta l e of Tr a n sva a l Offici a l do . 9

with lest he sh o uld make them Obey the law ? And d o e s he n o t receive presents fro m those ” wh o m he excuses from servin g ?

d a T his w a s h o w Katrina talked y and night ,

r till Piet g ew angry . ” “ H o w can I , said he , be Field Cornet while

O o m a a n t e i s i s n o j j yet living, and there empty place

fo r vr o u w s n o t But it availed nau ght, will listen t o words Of reason when their hea rts are s e t o n

o things . At last Katrina s aw the wisdom f what

s h e o f her man said , and asked all her relation s ( which She had hundreds) if they knew o f a Field

wh o w a s o r o Cornet Old likely t die .

r s h e After much inqui ing heard that her uncle,

a n o o f R w a s J C etzee, Field Cornet ustenburg, n o t o l d o f only , but had learned the vices the

t o o Englanders , and drank much French brandy

O s h e . and whisky . S made a plan ” “ s h e o u o t o R Piet, said , y shall g ustenburg

r and stay with my uncle , and take cases Of b andy

r and make him d ink heavily . T hey waited till a transp o rt rider wa s going t o

o t o Port Elizabeth , and gave him ten s vereigns buy a s much French brandy a s the money wo uld

s i o o get . I n x m nths Piet g t the brandy and

' z rzsp a rm ed h i s o xen into his best waggo n and t ek r k ed t o Rustenburg . To Pr i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

O om Jan was pleased with the present , and sat

s o h e up late that night with Piet drinking , that

f r had no prayers for the ﬁrst time o many months . No w Oo m had married fo r h i s third wife Ka a tj e

Liebenburg, who was but you ng, being only

s o sixteen , and without experience , that she could n o t v r o u w master her man like an Older . At ﬁrst s h e s h e would have broken the bottles , but was in

O o m a n s o s h e fear Of j , went to bed and thought o u t plans “ u s h e Why, tho ght , does my nephew come with cl ear French b r andy if it is n o t that he wants to get favo urs from my man while he i s ” drunk ? And s h e made a good plan t o talk with Piet and ﬁnd o u t from his o w n mouth what he

a s o w d ing . Next night sh e made no trouble becau se the t wo s a t r long d inkin g, but stayed with them and

t o t o o w a s pretended drink , though it from a bottle s h e had well weakened with water . J an

o t o g drunk very s on that night, and while he lay

o n o o Kaat e o sleeping the ﬂ r, j w rked her plan

w a s t o o o o upon Piet . She very pleasant l k up n , and had a way o f making all the yo ung k er el s d o

as h h e r o a ro m . S e will , even th ugh they had made Piet d r ink yet more brandy and then

t o wa s n o helped him talk about himself, which t

’ fo r w a s hard , Piet s tongue always in harness i a ld m I I A Ta l e of Tr an sva a l Oﬁ c o .

' t rek ready for the , which caused him much e T trouble in lif . his night he must have told

Ka at e j all his plan to be Field Cornet, thou gh he

‘ says he did n o t ; but when men are full O f d op

vr o u w s o f and young full curiosity, it is always

o the w men who win . Next day Ka atj e kept Piet hard at the bottle

T Ka at e till he took sick . hen j secretly sent a

fo r messenger the Predikant . Now it happened that this minister was what in “ ” t o s English they call teetotal , and u sed aying

O f hard things all who drank , even if they did not have to sleep after it . While the messenger was

Kaat e riding j came to Piet . “ ” “ N ee s h e f , said , I have heard that the Predikant is coming to beg your brandy to give to the sick . He is a great hypocrite , and drinks it

a s n o t all himself, and makes if he does know the taste . I want you to make him ashamed , and talk to him as if all the Boers in the

T o f ransvaal know his drunkenness, for we

n o t fo r dare talk as we would wish , he is ou r Predikant ; but you are not in his district and ” need not fear . SO Piet said he wo uld s ay all that sh e wished

Ka at e and more . And j kissed him and gave him

' s o a z e a big p Of brandy and then another, and waited for the Predikant . 1 2 P r i n sl o o of P r i n s l o osd or p :

’ When the minister came Piet was like a Roo z n ek

o fo r n o ise and drunkenness . Bef re the Predikant “ a a i t P could s ay H o a g t Piet began . He called

k r a a l w h o o n o t him a jackal in the , c uld stand

w a s SO o f because he full brandy, and made the

o f room smell it . “ n o o u o - We k w Of y and y ur brandy drinking, ” P o o even in otchefstr m , said Piet .

i s n o t What he said in all fully known , but

r a s s neve w a Predikant o foully traduced .

I s Ka a e he Often like this ? he asked Of tj .

A h a s s o lways , Predikant ; at least he been all ” i s the time he here .

’ An d the P redikant went away and SO did P iet s

r F R r Chance Of eve being ield Cornet Of ustenbu g, fo r r i s o n o o n e r the P edikant a str ng man , and da e vo te fo r a F ield C o r net wh o m he said w a s n o t ﬁt t o o t o r bel ng the Chu ch . When Piet grew s o be r next day Ka a tj e t o ld h e r

P t o man all that iet had said the Predikant, and h o w that he had c o me to s p y the nakedness o f

F O the land and be ield C o rnet . S O o m J an said

' t o P wh o z m a rm ed t r e k k ed hard things iet, p and

t o o h o w back Potchefstro m , thinking hard he

o r fo r sh uld make himself clear with Kat ina, he

h i s e r had lost the brandy and chanc , and Kat ina

' w a s k w a a z v r o uw o n o t t o a , and Piet f und it easy

T wa s make her believe what w a s not true . hat a A l T l O ci a ld m I T a e of r a n sva a fﬁ o . 3

t r ek o u bad and sorrowful , but it made Piet think t

h n o w a fresh plan , Of whic I Shall tell .

After he had made peace with Katrina, which

o to k many days , he told her what he had thought

r R o n the road f om ustenburg . I have said that Piet had s a t quiet while the rival parties in the cou ntry fought fo r the m astery T O in the ransvaal . n the way back he learned that the P o t c h e fst ro o m e rs were making the most

s o h i s headway, after talkin g it over with wife, as

o o d o h i s l o t all go d B ers , he threw in with them by lending the Gove r nment £2 5 to pay fo r the

o o transp rt Of cartrid ges they had b u ght in Natal ,

n o r o f bu t could o t get through f want money .

o n : 60 Later , Piet did more he lent them £ to pay o ff arrears o f salar ies t o the Field Cornets and

r R the State Secreta y, which saved the epublic, fo r if these Ofﬁ cials had n o t been paid they would

L d e n b u r e r s a s have gone over to the y g , and they had o ver 600 cartridges am o n g them this would R have given the victory to that epublic .

I n the ﬁghting that n o w broke o u t P iet did n o t

take a part, but secretly lent money in small sums t o s o o n all parties , that whichever w would be indebted to him and would have t o give him som e

s o Ofﬁce, that he might get back h i s loans and

’ o som ething ver . Piet s aid at this time w a s very

a fo r u t o v luable, cartridges had gone p fourp ence 1 4 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl o osd or p

apiece , which made war very expensive and a thing

n o t . to be lightly undertaken Still , matters moved very slowly, because , having few cartridges , the

o Boers had to talk m re than ﬁght, which ﬁlled the time very Slowly, and made it that Piet was

r t o obliged to ide transport earn money, for all

n o w he had was lent to the Governments .

P o iet was very s re at this , but the end showed

o o d t h at that it was g he was not paid , for when the diamond ﬁelds were found he made more money than he could have done, even if he had been

Field Cornet . It was the illicit trade that ﬁrst brought big money to him , as it did to many men

o n R n o t now great and rich the and , but by fraud and wickedness , as in their cases . Piet had been riding transport to Kimberley

o n two years , and one mornin g he was the market — ’ with his waggon when two men English Roo z n ek s came and said

o u 1 Piet, do y want to make £ 5 ” a J, said Piet, for he now loved to make

money . “ T “ hen , said they, if you will take us to Bloemfontein in your waggon we will give you ” that, to which Piet quickly agreed , for it was good money for going so short a distance out of

his road . Bein g quite honest he did not think it strange that men should wish to pay the same

P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl o osd or p

S s a t . T Still Piet made n o ign , but quiet hen his

fo r o heart gave a great jump , he felt a hand g into

o f his side pocket, and he knew that the parcel diamonds had been passed to him . At ﬁrst he

o u t o would have cried , but, when he th ught, he knew no harm c o uld come to him a s the police did not suspect him . When the detectives came up they ordered the

o f waggon to stop , and while two them made the

o ff two strip every bit Of their clothin g,

o the others searched the wagg n , even u nder the iron tyres and the nut bolts . Meanwhile the two men stood and laughed , and asked the police if they had searched the horns o f the oxen and

o t h e other imp ssible places , which made police very angry, especially when they could ﬁnd

T h e o nothing . chief detective to k Piet aside and asked him in Dutch if he had seen the parcel . ” P a s h e Nay, said iet, he truthfully could , for

n o t had seen , but only felt, the parcel , when the man slipped it in , and when he himself secretly put it in his tobacco pouch . T hen the police rode away amid the jeers of the two men , never having searched Piet, whom

o a s o n e they thought was as go d of themselves . When the detectives had been go ne half an ‘

’ hour o n e o f the men put h i s hand into Piet s p ocket, saying m 1 A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Oﬁ ci a l d o . 7

! o u have earned your ﬁfteen quid , and then

c r gave a big y . “ Where i s my parcel he asked . ? What parcel asked Piet, with a very grave face .

T h e man told how, on hearing the police

o coming, and knowing the waggon c uld not get into safe ground over the Free State border before they came up , he had passed the parcel into

’ Piet s pocket . “ answered Piet , that explains why that police k er el felt in my pocket and hastened behind the waggon . He has your f diamonds and would not say so to his o ﬁcer . T h e men began t o bluster and make a great

o n ise , but Piet was ready for them . “ ” “ ! o u s ck el m s o u r t o , said he , y t ied get me into trouble by putting the diamonds o n me and

o u O ff fo r now y quarrel with me . Get my waggon ,

a s I will not travel with such you .

n o t Piet was afraid , for the police had taken

’ t o o away the men s pistols , and they were small t o o Ro oz n ek s SO ﬁght with their ﬁsts like c mmon .

' Piet took up a y ok es k z and beat them o ff the waggon and s aw them with pleasure start to walk back to Kimberley . When they had gon e well away Piet go t under the tilt and unfastened the parcel . He nearly I 8 P r i n sl oo of P r i n s l o osd or p : fainted when he saw over one hundred beautiful large stones , which he knew were worth many

o f hundreds pounds , for he had seen many such f in Kimberley, and had o ten wondered that such small things should be so highly valued . He could not eat n o r sleep for thinkin g how he should turn them into money without bein g

ve r n en k ed fo r himself , he was no match for the

J ew diamond buyers .

O f At last he thought a plan . He knew that

Ha rt o h Dirk g , who kept a wayside store on the

R s o Kimberley oad , was said to deal in stones , he

- vel d buried all but two in an ant hill in the , which he marked so that he might ﬁnd it again , and

’ went on to Dirk s store , carrying the two stones in his mouth , meaning to swallow them if the police should change their minds and come back .

fo r n o w o ut o f But nothing happened , he was D ’ o t t o . their jurisdiction , and he g irk s place

o t When he g word in private , he said “ r o u o o n Di k , if y f und two diamonds the

l o market at Kimber ey, what w uld you do with them P ” h Dirk laug ed as he said , I Should go to D irk Ha rt o gh and a s k him what he would give me for them . T hen Piet showed the sample stones to Dirk , who was very pleased and Offered £30 apiece . He T sv a l O ci a l d m 1 A T a l e of r a n a fﬁ o . 9

’ brought o u t the money and put it into Piet s

fo r w a s hand , Dirk often honest when he bought

h e stones , knowing that if were not he would earn a bad name , and have no more cu stomers .

r But being himself a Boer, like Di k , Piet knew the ways o f those who had been spoiled by the

' Ro o z n ek s h i s , and it was a long time before faith in

Dirk grew stron g. At last he told Dirk that there were over a hundred better stones in a place known only to

n o t n himself, but he would tell where it was u til Dirk brought o u t a bag with o n e thousand

o h e sovereigns , and t ld Piet they were his if pro duced the stones .

Piet had never seen so much gold before , and he agreed to take Dirk to the ant heap ; which

‘ D o o he did . irk t ok the stones he f und there ,

o n and handed over the money the spot, and Piet went to his farm very happy and glad that there was although before he had said

n o t hard things about it, havin g made proﬁt

o u t o f . it Still , being honest by nature , he was sorry that he had not given the ﬁfteen pounds back to the men who had brought him such

n o t fo r fortu ne . Katrina, however, did agree , , said she “ T hey were great rogues and would have go t ” o u y trapped . 2 0 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

When Piet counted the money paid by Dirk he

20 w a s o fo und it £ short, and he no longer s rry that he had n o t returned the men their passage money . Piet now s a t down quietly ; for why should a man work who has a thousand p o unds H e still

o t ok no part in the quarrels , not even in ﬁghting

Ka fﬁ rs fo r the , , said he “ T here are many burghers who have don e

fo r nothing the country, while I have lent money, ” which I have never had back .

O o u t co m m a n d o ften he was called on , but each time he was excused from serving o n grounds “ ” fo r provided in the Grondwet, and becau se of the

t o ﬁnancial aid he had given the country . T h e way he escaped under the shadow Of the

law shows h o w useful it is to be able to read . d Although he could not read writing, Piet coul read p r inted papers and some books if n o t in t o o

D o s o a s High utch , th u gh not well his neighbours believed ; but a s none o f them co uld read at all

n o t o they did kn w that he was deceiving them . When the Field C o rnet ordered him o n co m m a n d o P iet would bring o u t a big co py of the

G o r ndwet and Show an article in it . “ R o u ead it , says Piet, and y will know that burghers who have lent money to the State

o u cannot be called t . 2 1 A T a l e o f T r a n sva a l Oﬁ ei a ld om .

o ld And Han s Scholman , the Field Cornet ,

t o who hated Pie , would take the book and lo k

a s hard at it , and make if he were reading it, moving his lips and l o oking as a Landdrost does when he reads the law - book handed him by an T attorney . hen , when he thought he had looked long enough , he would say “ n ee You are right, ! , I had forgotten that ; we must obey the law . And Piet would be excused . T his caused his enemies to be jealou s and spiteful , and to make false Charges that Piet escaped service in the ﬁeld by unworthy tricks , which was foolishness , for he did not understand the workin g o f them until those who imputed them to him showed how they were planned . T his slanderin g o f his good name grieved him much at the time , but when in the afterdays Piet

w a s himself became Field Cornet, he glad that

fo r these false charges had been made , he then knew all the wiles o f the burgher who would

o n co m m a n d o fo r escape serving the State , they

v had themsel es taught him , and they were sorry,

m o r for he ade all serve according to law, pay heavily to be excu sed . It has been often thrown at Piet Prinsl o o that

d o he never fought for his cou ntry . Such critics not seem to u nderstand that a man may help h i s 2 2 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p :

fo r country in other ways than by bleeding , as,

o instance , as Piet did , by lending it m ney . I t is Z true , that during the ulu war he was in the service Of the English , against whom we then had

o . E no quarrel , so there could be no repr ach ven then he inﬂicted injury upon them . He had a contract to supply oxen , and Often has he told

fo r how he brought cattle in by day, got paid “ them , and then stampeded them at night, only T to catch and sell them again next day . hus he

o u r spoiled the Egyptians , who were so soon to be greatest enemies . Much has also been made of Piet’ s absence from

’ a s Laing s Nek and Maj uba, if every Boer in the State co uld have been there ! I t happened that

co m m a n d o Piet had volunteered for that . He

’ w a s at P aardekraal at the D eclarati o n Of I n d e p e n

H i s h . dence , and made a stirring and great speec assurance of his resolve to shed his blood fo r the independence o f the T ransvaal had a great and encouraging effect upon those Boers who were lukewarm and anxious about their farms and their vr o u w s , and who thought they had done their share by placin g a stone o n the heap that to - day

o NO f rms the famous monument at Krugersdorp . o n e w a s o m re ready to ﬁght than Piet, although he was afraid the English would win . But the

’ night before Nick Smit s com m a n d o started for the

R C HAPT E I I I .

LAN DDRO S T OF VREDEDORP .

! A o A E R later, Piet gained the great ambiti n

o n o f himself and his vr o u w Katrina . He hit

a s a plan that w great, though Katrina always said it wa s her thought and not his . However, he went to Pretoria when he knew the Government had n o money t o spare and made a great outcry fo r h i s l o ng overdue loan . “ o u If y have no money to pay me , make me ” a Field Cornet, said Piet . But h o w c a n we make y o u a Field Cornet if there i s no vacancy P said the State Secretary . “ ” “ ! o u a sk Easy, answered Piet . mu st any Field Cornet to give an account o f the money he has not paid to the State , and if he cannot do so , ” r discha ge him . P r i n sl oo of P r in sl o osd or p

Would you not rather be a Landdrost ? asked “ r fo r the State Secreta y , it is much easier t o ” o u t o ﬁnd a Landdr st than a Field Cornet . Piet knew that this was said because the Go vernment could not afford to quarrel with men

who can command votes as Field Cornets can , and he was more than ever resolved to hold o ut

for a Field Cornetcy . But the State Secretary

L a n d d ro s had a glib ton gue , and pressed the t sh ip

so hard that Piet began to grow weak , and said

vr o u w he would ask his . So he went back to the

farm and talked to Katrina . ” “ s h e Piet, said , you are a great fool . I s not a Landdrost higher than a Field Cornet ? And

look at the ﬁnes you handle . “ “ But, said Piet, I cannot read writin g , c a n neither I write more than my name, and a

r Landdrost has much w iting to do . “ ” “ c a n c Nay, said Katrina, you have a lerk

and get part o f his wages .

s i x T his decided Piet , and within months the Government asked the Landdrost o f Vr ededorp

o n o t to Show his books , which they knew he c uld

o fﬁ do . So he was sent away and Piet had his ce and his house . For a long time Piet was sore that he had

o f fo r f listened to the advice Katrina, the o ﬁce

- fo r was well nigh worthless , except the salary, A T a l e o T r a n va a l O ci a ld m f s ﬁ o . 2 7

n o t which was sometimes paid for months . And the burghers turned good o n purpose to spite

o o l Piet, wh m they disliked for getting their d

Landdrost sent away, and they would not prose

Ka fﬁ rs cute their , but ﬂogged them themselves . Piet read up all the local laws that the burghers had forgotten o r did not know Of ; but even thi s

o brought in very little . I f he ﬁned a B er fo r

o n shooting game a Sunday, the man never had

d o t o any money to pay, so all Piet could was take

a s an ox o r some eggs . If he did this the Boer w sure to come i n a day o r two an d borrow the o x fo r o r ploughing transport ridin g, so that Piet lost

o f count the ﬁnes , which were scattered all over the country . T T hen there was another great drawback . here was no j ail at Vrededorp , and if there had been there was no money to pay a jailer . Piet turned

o a stable int a jail , but it was only wattle and

Ka fﬁ r s daub , and when drunken were inside , they

s o fell against the wall s and tumbled outside , that there was much repairing, and the guard had to keep his riﬂe and hammer going all the time .

O o f f course , the papers made great fun this , P which made iet very angry, u ntil a good thin g

- o n e came along . It was a wind storm , which

o Ka fﬁ rs night carried the jail away and l st ﬁfteen ,

o r who were worth two sovereigns each f ﬁnes . 2 8 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p :

r At the same time the g eat cattle stealer ,

t r on k Scotty Smith , was in the weak . He came to Piet an d made a great stir because he had been hurt by the fallin g walls , and said he

o P would bring a law acti n against iet . “ ” T his same Sco tty w a s the cau se Of great

P w a s o f laughter against iet , and this the way it, though I would s ay there w a s n o shame t o any o n e i n being ve r n en k ed by a clever man like “ Scotty .

’ o t o P He dr ve up iet s farm in a smart spider,

o o t o with f u r ﬁne h rses , and a lame gelding tied “ ” r w a s o the back boa d . I t sund wn and Scotty “

o u ts a n . a fo r asked if he might p J , said Piet,

’ he s aw that the Ro o z n ek c o uld pay fo r all he might “ ” SO o o u ts a n n ed have . Sc tty p and came in to

supper, and asked such a beautiful blessing in the

T a a l w a s that Piet greatly pleased , and brought out the fresh beef which he had at ﬁrst denied

having. So pleased and inn o cent wa s he that when h i s

Ka fﬁ r o u t B a a s , Sixpence , called him and said , ,

‘ r o that is the g eat Scotty Smith , the h rse thief

w a s r fo r I know him well , Piet ve y angry, he th o ught that a thief like Scotty c o uld n o t a sk a

SO blessin g before meat . he tied Sixpence up

s a m bok and gave him a dozen with a j , and made

b o him unsay his slander, which the y frankly did . A T a l e o Tr a n va a l U ic i a ld m f s /Z o .

n o t Piet was suspiciou s until next morning ,

a n Fo u ri e o n when j , the Field Cornet , rode to the

o o u t o n h i s farm , and told Piet to keep a close lo k ”

a s w a s . horses , the great Scotty in the district ” o ? Shall y o u kn w him by sight asked Piet . ” “ a k ra a l J , said J an , there he is by the ; he is

' o s ck z m m e l lo king which he shall steal , the blue

o r o o the r an . I kn w him well , and shall go and ﬁnd so me k er el s t o catch him while y o u make him ” f i s fo o r 0 r . drunk , there £5 reward him “ ” “ o u Nay, said Piet, y shall stay and make

fo r him drunk while I ride , I am Landdrost . “ T hen must y o u stay and keep him prisoner ” c om m a n d eer while I ride and a guard , said Jan , “ ” fo r I am Field Cornet . And he rode away . T hen it w a s that Piet wished still more that he

o fo r wa s s t er k k er el were Field C rnet, Scotty a ,

o f t o and had no fear Landdrosts , but preferred

’ steal their horses above everybody s . Piet called “ Scotty ” and asked him to drink

d o some p , but he would not unless Piet drank

h o w also . So Piet weakly agreed , forgetting

h i s o T s a o n brandy had once been und ing . hey t

s t P the oep and drank much until iet grew sleepy .

n o t ro He did then know that Scotty, being f m

Scotland , where they drink only whisky, was hard .

k a r os s Piet lay down in his and slept heavily . When he awoke it was near su ndown and he

C 2 30 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

P o t c h e f felt very sick . Katrina was away at

o r . stroom , it would not have happened He

a fﬁ rs called the K , but none came so he went out

’ ’ Roo n z ek s and s aw that the spider was gone, and instead o f there being his o w n three horses in the “ ’ ” w a s stable , there only Scotty s lame geldin g

o t o fo r and three b ys tied up the manger, this was “ ’ 3) Scotty s way o f leaving .

fo r Piet waited long J an to come back, but he “ ” fo r o f did not , he was in great terror Scotty .

’ At sundown who should ride u p o n Piet s o w n ’ “ ck z m e blue s m l but Scotty himself. He came

s ee up to the t p as if nothing had happened .

“ ’ o u . So y are awake , said he I m glad , for ! want some money, and could not ﬁnd it while you were drunk . Come and show me where ” it i s .

’ s ck r z ck Piet had a bad , but he thought out a plan . “ “ Scotty, said he, I know that it would be

s a I foolishnes s to y have none, for you would do to me as you did to the postmaster at

D u t o it s , make me crawl into my own oven . T h e ” money is in here . k “ t r on . He led the way to the Scotty,

n o o thinking it was a stable , and k wing that B ers always hide their money in strange places , went

T o u t in . hen Piet ran quickly and shut the door,

32 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

Fo u ri e o t fo r Jan g applause , he lied greatly, “ wa s o saying he chasing Sc tty all night , when the truth was that he took his best horses and

k l o o O ff hid them in a f four hours , lest Scotty should come for them .

o o u t o f fo r But g od came evil , the Government

t r o n k o f built a strong , and paid a couple white guards . About a year afterwards a y o un g German doctor

’ a o u tsp n n ed at Piet s place . He was a learned young man , and was looking for gold and other

fo r things in the earth , and selling physic lung sickness in cattle . When he had drunk some water he was very much excited , and put powders into it and looked hard and long . ” “ Meneer Prinsloo , said he , Show me where

o t ﬁ d this water is g , for there shall I n iron and ” coal , and you are a rich man .

SO T h e o Piet showed him the well . doctor t Ok a bucketful a n d put part o f it in a bottle and carried it away to be seen by the people in

Johannesburg who understand such things .

Ka When he had gone , Piet sent a fﬁ r d o wn the

o well , thinking he might ﬁnd the c al and iron fo r

. o himself I nstead , they f und the riﬂes and hand cuffs and keys which Piet thought had been “ carried away by Scotty . T his is why Piet had no belief in the learned ’ m A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Oﬂl ci a ld o .

fo r o n men who came to prospect gold his farm , T i n later years . hey are frauds , he would say, “ ” and do not know ru st from coal . I t i s only when o n e knows how often and h o w cruelly Piet was robbed by the Uitlander that o n e can u nderstand the great bitterness he always felt

T h e o f towards that greedy n ation . silliness that German doctor embittered him against scientiﬁc

s o men , that he refu sed to let his farm be i prospected fo r s x years .

Wh o o n en a gold reef was at last f und it, and

o ve r n en k ed he s ld the farm , he was again by science . A J ohannesburg syndicate had Offered him for the property, and he was goin g R t o ride into the and and get the money, when

wh o i s n o w i s the great J ohn B rown , what called a millionaire , came to the farm . ” “ Piet , said he , I will give you for the far m ; not in pieces o f paper like those

o swindling J ohannesburg U itlanders , but in g lden ’ V ’ ” sovereigns , Kruger s and ! ueen ictoria s , and B rown showed him a bag full Of more gold than P he had ever seen . Next he showed iet a lon g

T a a l o writing, which , being in the , he c uld almost

’ fo r n o t u nderstand , it was like the Uitlanders

w a s u o f agreement , which in English , and f ll

o O o c o n strange w rds . S Piet signed it with ut

lt i n s u g Katrina . P r i n l o o o P r i n sl o osd or 34. s f p

Brown counted out the money . First he counted o n e wh o hundred sovereigns , and Piet, could not

r o ut o n write a ithmetic, laid them in rows the

o f table , like spans oxen , sixteen in a span , for he knew that six spans made one hundred , less four.

o ut Next B rown counted one thousand , which took Piet a very long time to check , for one

- thou sand is sixty two spans . “ T ” “ here , said Brown , goes one hundred ; — ” there goes a thousand one hundred thousand .

fo r Piet did not quite understand , he thought one hundred thousand was more than that, but

Brown counted twenty - ﬁve thousand in the same

S h o w wicked way, to how much greater his offer was , and confused Piet till he could see only the

o f glitter the gold , and , growing greedy, he took it,

o and signed the receipt, which Br wn had cunningly made o u t fo r I f Piet had n o t b o asted to Jan P ourie that h e had s o ld his farm for it would have been well but again his free tongue brought him trouble . When Katrina came home she counted

ver n en k ed the money, and told Piet he had been ; but he would not believe it till the Predikant came T and counted also . hen Piet saw what had been done . T h e Predikant wrote to Brown and asked him

’ O f to bring the rest the money, but Brown s A T a l e o T r a n va a l O i ci a ld m f s ﬂ o . 35 lawyer replied that Piet was a thief and was trying

O f to swindle Brown , and that he could bring lots witnesses who could swear that Piet had told them he had received besides which they

’ o w n had Piet s receipt for that amount , all Of which Piet knew was tru e , and he was sorry that

o he had boasted so loudly . But he res lved that all his children should learn arithmetic, and he was more than ever sorry that his school teacher had been drowned . Piet was not the only Boer who was foolish in money matters because he did n o t know arithmetic .

T o B a n t i e s here was J ac bu s j , who had the farm

a n t ie sd rif t o B j t . When the Uitlander came him

fo h and asked r o w much he would sell his farm , he

t o a sk fo r did not know what , he had only

o f o . heard big m ney, but had never seen any “ ” T o f o b e here is lots g ld there, said , though he did not know if there was or not . “ ” “ a J, said the Uitlander, there may be and there may n ot be What do you want P”

T wo . millions , said Coos ” “ a J, said the Uitlander, but the Gold Law says that two million s must be paid in paper and

o n o shares . Will y u t rather have this knapsack ” full o f sovereigns P

I shall ask Sonnie , said he , and called in his vron zv , to whom the Uitlander showed the knap 36 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

T o sack . hen he wrote some ﬁgures n a piece o f pape n “ T i s o u hat two million s , said he , which will y take P “ T o i s ake the knapsack , Co s , said Sonnie , it

o the most ; an d they did , and f und there were only ﬁve hund red sovereigns . A B o er cannot close his eyes wh en the gold

. n o t s o o u r o shines Were it , people would n t have given away their r ich gold far ms fo r knap

o f sacks sovereigns , but would have held o n fo r

o fo r milli ns . I t is a punishment their greed . P iet was caught by the same fever as soon a s

fo r h i s w a s the gold he got farm put away . Katrina wanted it put in a chest and buried

o P w a s fo r under the kitchen ﬂo r ; but iet wiser , he knew that if he gave it to the Netherlands Bank

o r r pe o ple it w uld g ow . He had a ha d task to

o f fOr make Katrina come to his way thinkin g, , said s h e “ Why sh o uld these pe o ple pay you fo r taking

o r ? T o u o care Of y u money ruly , Piet, y gr w

o n o t o . f olish , and will get wisd m P iet go t the P r edikant t o make it clear to

r s h e o Kat ina, and agreed , th ugh at ﬁrst She would have Piet bring the money back every Saturday,

o o n lest r bbers should break in Su nday, when the

o Ke r k T h e t o bank pe ple were at . Predikant ld ld m A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Oﬁ ci a o . 37

d her that Piet would lose by this, so she yiel ed , though she gave Piet great trouble , making him go often to the bank to hear if the money was

o n e still there , till he grew tired , and day brought all the money back and gave it to Katrina to hide ,

s h e n o t when was happy, though Piet was , for he knew he was losing his interest . “ o u Why do y want interest, said Katrina, when you c a n go to Pretoria and get the money ” y o u have lent to the Government ? And sh e gave her man no rest until he went

o n e after the money, which was hundred and twenty pou nds .

T h e State was now rich and could pay Piet, but

o the years had gone by and no m ney had come , s o Sl i m F r i c k k i e he travelled to Pretoria . Keiser wa s T s o in the reasury then , Piet told hi m what

fo r he had come . “ ! o u n o o f o ld T have need g , said the reasurer,

fo r o u y are a rich man , and should be ashamed

fo r so s u m to trouble the Government small a . I f y o u are wise you will give me a receipt fo r that

t o s e e money, else the Govern ment may want ” o o your b k s and know all about the ﬁne money .

T P wa s fo r n o t hen iet very scared , he had kept good account o f all the money he had received fo r ﬁnes . So he gave Keiser a receipt in full for the hundred and twenty pounds which he had P r i n sl oo of P r i n s l o osd or p

never had , but Keiser collected it from the

T reasury and kept it . Nay, worse , for when he was candid ate fo r the First Raad he told the burghers that he had paid the debts o f the

’ Government, and showed them Piet s receipt .

fo r T his gained him many votes, burghers are foolish , and believe all that is told to them if the

T a a l lie be but in the . T here was another thing that made Piet hate

O o u ts a n n ed Englanders . ne day two Of them p

’ o n at his farm their way to Magato s country,

N o w where they were after mineral concession s . it happened that Piet was very good frien ds with that great chief, Magato , and he told the Englanders this ; also that a word from him would help them much , as a bad word would spoil them ,

’ for he meant that the Ro o z n ek s should pay him for his good word . He also told them that . he had a concession from the chief to bring boys t o

R 1 fo r the and mines , getting £ premium each

a fﬁ r o K he brought, which was true , but f olish to say, for a Landdrost may not do this

— f o ut i he be found . But Piet loved to make

’ Ro o z n ek s O himself to be rich and great before . S in the end the men paid him £ 1 0 fo r his good

n word , which they themselves wrote a d Piet

o o f Signed , th u gh he knew well that it would be small account, for Magato was a strong chief and

40 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

' z n d a n a mad , and sent an to Piet to bring back the

’ 1 o n ek s £ 0 and the twenty oxen paid to the Ro z .

fo r o Piet paid them , he feared he sh uld lose his

o fo r c ntract boys if he did not . A nd what he

fo r o feared came true , Magat took away the contract and gave it to the German missionary,

2 whereby Piet lost over £ 00 per month . R I C HAPT E V .

T H E AL S! F I C GROBL E R J E OU O N K .

P I ET PR I N S LOO had enjoyed his ambition fou r

r years when I mar ied his third daughter, Sannie , and was made Public P ro secutor o f Vreded o rp in

G ro bl e r w h o s o n the place Of Franz , was Of Nick

Gro bl e r o f , Landdrost Schoonspruit , and stole postage stamps . I t was Nick Gro bl e r who w a s the great boulder

’ - - in the road o f my father i n law s happiness .

w a s J ealous, vindictive and greedy by habit, he

o n e like an Englander and Hollander in , and he hated Piet Prinsl o o a s much a s Piet despised the

o h i s nations whose vices Nick p ssessed in big,

G ro b le r vain body . I am persuaded that N ick w a s Of o f T in the pay the enemies the ran svaal , fo r no true patri o t would s o often and so wickedly expose the weakness and mistakes o f an P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

A r a s - - f ikander he did those Of my father i n law,

o t o r in additi n speaking English , even in cou t,

o f T a a l T instead the . hough I cannot prove it, there i s n o doubt that he inspired all the maliciou s ar ticles ab o ut Piet Prinsloo which often appeared

i i c P a t r i ot f Cr t . o in the and the I am sure this , because Nick wrote a very much better hand than

- i n - my father law, thou gh I know that when he was ﬁrst made Landdrost he u sed t o s it up at night to practise writing, which was why at ﬁrst he always

Ka fﬁ rs f t o sentenced , whatever the Of ence , three

o r months, two pounds ten lashes , because he had not yet learned how t o write other sentences .

But in the end he wrote very well , as I must

fo r A confess , the State ttorney told me he could Often read nearly the whole Of the evidence taken

w a s n o t s o in cases by Nick , which with my

— - father - i n - law until I became his s o n i n law and

‘ T wa s Public Prosecutor . hen it agreed that I should make my writing very much like his , and — write o u t all h i s judgments a long and weary

fo r n work , Piet had a loose to gue and ﬁlled many

long pages . A s s o on a s Piet Prinsloo wa s made Landdrost

o Gro bl e r t o h i s Of Vreded rp , Nick started Show

wi c ked nature against him , and continued so to do

until Piet left the T ransvaal . His ﬁrst spitefulness

was to publish in the T ransvaal P a t r i ot a letter A Ta l e o Tr a n va a l O ci a l d m f s fﬁ o . asking if it were true that a certain Landdrost had

o t r o n k fo r o r been in the Bloemf ntein cattle theft , had been refused membership o f the Gerevor m ed e

t o Piet, very foolishly, made me write a letter

n o t the editor, sayin g that the libel could apply to him , and that he wondered who could be meant . He also made grave charges again st

r l e r T h e P a tr i ot Nick G o b . editor of the did not

int the letter, but showed it to Nick, who went

a law agent, and the agent wrote Piet a letter o f demand fo r payment o f £ 1 00 and an apology in a lot of papers .

What shall I do P asked Piet of me , after he had blamed me fo r writin g the letter and causing all the trouble .

! o u o r mu st refuse to pay apologise , said I , and prove that he took money from the wives o f

Ka fﬁ r s to let them off ﬂoggings, and does not pay into the Government all the money he gets for

ﬁnes . You must tell me the dates when he did all this, and the names of the Kafﬁ rs who have ” paid him . T his made Piet very angry, and he Spoke foolishness , as he always would when he let his tongue run fast . “ ’ “ n o r I don t know the exact days , said he ,

o f Ka fﬁ rs can I remember the names the , but I P s l s 44. P r i n sl o o of r i n oo d or p

o h a s fo r n o t kn w that he done th is , am I myself a Landdrost ? F o r a lo n g time I stro ve with him to Sh o w him that such a case would be given against him , even

P o r s aw by the judges in ret ia , an d at last he r o s o w a s eas n , I drew up an apology, which the same o n e I kept in my desk t o write o u t fo r B o ers

r r wh o slander their neighb o u s . I always cha ged

2 fo r o u t o o f £ writin g it , and the edit rs the papers where it w a s printed paid me half what they go t f f o r w a s o o r . publishing it, which very pr ﬁtable me T h e ap o l o gy was the u sual o n e that is always in D the utch papers every week , and said “ P P r o o f I , iet insl o , Landdrost Vrededorp , declare that when I said Ni c k l a a s G ro bl e r had sto len m o ney fr om the G o vernm e nt and had

r r Ka fﬁ r o taken b ibes f om women , I sp ke what I

wa s n o t fo r Ni c k l a a s Gro bler o o knew true , d es n t

a m take bribes , and I confess , with Shame , that I

r o i s o a great lia , and cann t speak what true ab ut

o wh o o Ni c k l a a s Gro b l e r pe ple are h nest like .

I T P I NSL (Signed) P E R OO .

Witness .

T here w a s at ﬁrst a little trouble ab o ut the

1 0 0 w a s w h o £ , but it arranged by Hans B reda, s aw P r Nick , and told him that iet had w itten t o

’ the Government to a s k fo r Nick s b o o ks t o be

n o t examined , but that the letter would be taken A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Oﬁ ci a l cl o m 45

t o Pretoria if N ick gave a receipt in fu ll fo r the

1 00 o f £ , which he did , being guilty an d afraid an

h i s examination Of accou nts .

t o a s Piet often had sign this apology, for, I have said , he had a slipping tongue and said many untrue things about people who made him angry . But, like all B oers , he was always ready to apologise when fou nd in the wron g, as the

T a a l fo r papers in the can testify, they have

i s many such apologies , which a good practice , making men and women pause before they s ay slanderou s thin gs . Piet was himself a great believer in this way o f settlin g quarrels u ntil h i s dau ghter married Sacke

T e n Keet, the law agent . hen he no longer c Ou ra e d t o g it, but advised the disputants consult

w o a lawyer, unless he knew they ould g to the

w a s s o n - i n - t o Attorney Beyers , who law Nick

Gro bl e r , and a much cleverer man than S acke , and would have go t much more practice in o u r co urt if Piet had n o t always given j udgment in

’ o f favour Sacke s clients when he could , and

’ advised Beyer s clients t o compromise o r

s a o apologise , which habit , I must y , he carried t o

fo r Cr it i c o far, it gave the s mething t o write

o r ab ut him nea ly every week , and Often caused h i s t o o n cases be upset appeal , which i s ve ry a n t o T h nnoyi g a Landdrost . e editors o f the Cr i ti c 46 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl o osd or p and the P a t r i ot never let pass a chance o f having

o fo r o i s a sh t at Piet any err rs he made . I t true that while Landdrost he made s o me mistakes

h i s o f a s wh o through want Of knowledge the law, does not, even the judges Of the H igh C o urt at

? o Pretoria Piet would , for in stance , never listen t cases quoted from law books . ” fo r It is only a trap me , he would say to me

they want to show me up . SO when a case was quoted by a young attorney

’ - i n - who did not know Piet s custom , my father law would a sk “ Who said that ? When he was told he would answer “ ’ T fo r a hat might do his court, but I m L nd ” o u drost here, not the man y are quoting, and

then he would give j udgment as he pleased . T hat was h o w yo ung Keet got into favour with

him . He would never quote cases unless they

o f agreed with the Opinion the Landdrost, and Piet

said he was the smartest lawyer in the district ,

though he was not . T here was another mistake he made which

cau sed him and me to be m uch laughed at once .

He would put too great faith in J im , the native

o s l i m Ka fﬁ r interpreter Of the c urt . J im was a ,

' a n d t h o u gh he was thought t o kn o w most Ka fﬁ r t o ngues I think he only kn e w o n e o r two ; and the

8 P 4 r i n sl o o of P r i n sl oosd o r p :

real culprits were let go - the most astonished and pleased Ka fﬁ r s ever seen We did n o t ﬁnd it o u t till the four had been

ﬂogged , and even then Piet would n o t h ave J im

o punished , but said the inn cent Ka fﬁ rs deserved

fo r n o it , he had doubt they had lied about the robbery and would have dese rved ﬂ o gging s o me

. o ff day However, Piet let them after they had

o r fo r o o n h i s w ked a m nth farm .

T h e Cr i t i c P a t r i o t o t o f and g hold the story,

w a s n o fo r but there Government inquiry, the

Executive neve r t o o k n o tice Of what the Cr i ti c

s a o w a s fo r m ight y ab u t Ofﬁ cials , which just, why sh o uld a Landdrost be punished for the stupidness o f a Ka fﬁ r ? Nick Gro bl e r made great delight o u t o f that

s t o h i s mishap , and u ed make people lau gh in o w n c o urt by asking h i s o w n interpreter if h i s

Ka ﬂir name were J im , when he began to interpret

i s o o evidence . B ut it always danger us to rej ice

o r o i s ve an enemy bef re he dead , and Nick

ro bl e r o r o r w G f und it t ue a few m nths afte , hen he w a s made the laughing stock o f the wh o le

o r w s : w l d . It came about in this i e

Nick i s a big and str o ng man and ve ry vain

h i s s o h a s t o s a Of strength , that a lawyer but y

nice things ab o ut h i s powe rf u lness to make him

h i s O ll wh o friend . f course a the lawyers p ractised A T a l e o T r a n va a l O ci a l cl f s ﬁ o m . 49

h i s s o in cou rt knew this , and he had been much ﬂattered that he vainly believed he was the

o n was strongest man earth , which his undoing ,

as pride always is . T here was a white man charged with stealing a

a a l N o w w a s big calf fro m a l o cked up k r . it

k r a a l clear that , the bein g locked , the thief must

have lifted the calf over the wall , which would

T h e have been a feat Of great stren gth indeed .

r o w a s D i e l e n wh o p is ner defended by Paul van gg , w a s s l i m s aw o fo r very , and a g od plan throwin g

o dust in the eyes Of Landdr st Nick .

“ 0 0 Landdrost , said he , that calf weighs 5

o p u nds . I s there any man who c o uld lift a live

animal Of that weight u naided o ver a s ix - foot wall P

o n e d o i s I only know man who could it, and that

—m . r o s a yourself J u st look at the prisone , Landdr t

o u o fo r poor, miserable mannikin that y c uld eat

r b eakfast . Will y o u all o w the P ublic Pro secutor t o sc o ff at y o u by saying that a Ro o i n e k like that c a n d o o u P r i s what y can Lan dd ost , it an in sult ” t o a s a s o u . the court , well to y

When Van D igge l e n had go t thu s far the Public Pro secuto r s a w that a great point had been made

fo r against him , the Landdro st winked at Van

D i e l e n a s gg , he always did at the attorney he had

h i s t o made up mind favou r . 5 0 P r i n sl o o o f P r i n s l o osd or p

“ l o o . D i e e n Landdr st, said he , d es M r van gg ” mean that y o u stole the calf P

Fo r a moment the Landdrost was thoughtful , but h i s great vanity would n o t let him s e e beyond the c o mpliment t o his strength to which he had been used .

“ “ D i e l e n Nay, said he ; Mr . van gg means that ” I am the only man who could do it .

“ ” Very well , answered the Public Prosecutor, if you are satisﬁed so am I ; but strength does not always go with a great, ﬁne body like yours .

fo r Even this small thing may have stron g arms ,

Ro o i n eks is he not an Englander, and all are taught to u s e their arms that they may knock down policemen and other respectable p e O p l e ? k T his man is a Ro o i n e and has very strong arms . “ ” “ I t may be , said Nick but he is short and ” t o could not reach up the wall .

Vr a ck t er o u , Landdrost, y are right, said “ D i e l e n Van gg ; he is short, like the Public ” Prosecutor .

T fo r his was a very cunning hit, the Prosecutor was a small m an and was always angry when

s o vr o u w people said . His was very big and was h i s f o f o r . master, and people made fun him it He replied very shortly

I am taller than you , anyhow . m 1 A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Ofﬁci a ld o . 5

n o t Va n D i e le n I am sure you are , said gg ; P ” what say you , Landdrost

t “ a o u a re J, y not so big as my Public Prose ” cutor, answered Nick .

n D i e l e n n o t T his Va gg would agree to, for he

a had a sharp tongue, and was not fraid of any

So . body . a long wrangle began It is time to adjourn ; let u s go to the Police O “ fﬁce next door and be measured , said he and ” the Landdrost shall be judge .

T h e Public Prosecutor was afraid of the test, and objected becau se it was not u sual . “ I knew he would be afraid , said Va n

D i e le n gg , very sneeringly, which made the Public

Prosecutor very angry . He replied he was not

o f Va n D i e l e n afraid gg or anyone else , and moved o ut o f court, saying

Come on , Goliath , and all the court went into the Police Ofﬁce .

When the measuring was over, the Landdrost

a n gave the verdict for his Prosecutor, although V

D i e le n - a n - gg was quite half inch the bigger. A great quarrel began , which Nick stopped by ordering them back into court . ? ” Where is the prisoner asked Nick, when he had taken his seat. And all saw that the man had slipped away u nseen during the dis i c u ss o n . 5 2 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

a Va n Di e l e J ; where is your man , gg n ? asked the Prosecutor .

He is not my man , but yours, answered Va n “ D i e l e n n o t h o u gg ; I did bring him ere, but y . I ” h a s o o u t t o expect he g ne be measured .

ve r v All in court laughed loud , especially the policeman , whom the Prosecutor angrily asked should be c o mmitted fo r contempt o f court fo r

o o letting the pris ner g .

T w a s o his done, but they had t let him o ut to

fo r search the runaway, who never came back to

wa s learn which the taller .

Nick G ro b l e r w a s always pleased t o sneer at the ignorance o f Piet P rin sl o o in the matter o f

r writing, yet, though he could w ite much better

P w a s t o o than iet , he several times made l ok very fo o lish over the very thing that made him vain and maliciou s . T here w a s once a case in which he had given h i s a s usual foolish judgment with a wink , we s a y , and the man who lost carried it to appeal in P retoria . When the judges came to read the

o evidence taken d wn by Nick, they could not

o f fo r make anything it, the writing that Nick w a s SO pro ud o f was n o t s o plain as if wr itten by

Ka fﬁ r T h e a s l i m . judges were very angry, and said things about Nick that made the co untry

o t o laugh when they g into the papers , th ugh A T a l e o T r a n va a l O ci a l cl / ‘ f s ﬁi o n . 5 3 t h e Chief J ustice did also sensibly s ay that it would be better if the Government would appoint

- m aSt e r o e a writing to instruct Landdr sts . T h

wa s sting, however, in the judgment . Said the Chief J ustice : “ T his is an appeal from a j udgment o f the

o Landdrost o f Sch onspruit . I n the ordinary co urse we should dismiss the appeal o n the

i s u s ground that the evidence not before , but I n Vi ew o f the fact that we have never had a case from that cou r t which we have not found necessary

o o u r t o o o f t reverse , inability read the n tes the

i n o o n o Landdro st s Of imp rtance , and we have ” hesitation in uph o lding this appeal .

T o o fo r his made N ick lo k very fo lish , he hated

w a s t o be laughed at . B ut he even more ridiculed

over the case Of J an M eyer . T h e story t o ld is this Nick had been promised £50 by J an if he gave

T o judgment in his favour . make sure that the

o n e n o t judgment should be a sound , and reversed

’ o o u t r o n appeal , J an s attorney wr te it befo ehand , telling Nick that he m ust c o py it o u t in h i s

s a t o wn handwriting to make it lo o k real . Nick up very late the night before the trial and

Copied o ut the judgment he w a s t o give . Next day he heard the case and made a s if he were wa s taking large notes of what was said , but he all P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl o osd or p the time thinking that he ought to have had more

0 w a s . than £5 , for the judgment a very large one T h e moment the attorney fo r the defendant sat

o u t down , Nick opened his desk and took the

o f j udgment in the sight all the court, and began to read it . Everybody looked very surprised , and

’ J an s attorney turned red and swore, but said nothing else . Neither did the other attorney till he heard judgment given again st him , when he

: t . lost his temper, and said Landdrost, I pro est T ” hat j udgment is not you r own , meaning that it had been written for him . “ O ! o n this Nick got red in the face . u are a ” “ great liar, Beyers, said he, and you have no ” respect for the court . Beyers was bold and cared nothing for the

o f dignity the court of j ustice, like Nick did .

” “ ’ o u Landdrost, said he, y could not write ” that j udgment, you have been too busy, meaning that Nick had been taking d o wn the evidence all the time .

T fo his made Nick very wrathful , r in his blind vanity he thought Beyers meant that he could not write .

Look for yourself, said he, throwing the “ judgment at Beyers, and never tell me again I

. T o cannot write hat t ok me till four this morning, ” while you were playing cards .

P 5 6 r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

o f o a s fewness my err rs in spelling, I wa s by the

State Attorney .

N o t P being a great penman himself, iet pre

t o s e t o o n tended small st re writing, and when cases o f forgery and o ther writing frauds came

o o s a bef re him he w uld y rather unwise things , — “ such a s I t i s n o t the prisoner who should be ” here, but the man who taught him to write,

o t P remarks that g iet laughed at in the papers .

fo r Yet, all this , he secretly knew that the man wh o c o uld write well had most chances of making

o o m ney, particularly if he were an fﬁcial . I f, as w a s o o o the case bef re Piet c uld tru st me, a Landdr st h a s t o h i s carry letters to be read by others , he

o u often lets t secrets which would be best kept . O ften , after giving a judgment in a case, Piet would receive a letter something like this “ A AN S —I o u DE R L DDRO T, thank y ve ry m uch fo r o o f giving judgment in fav ur me, but I think

i s t o o o your price high , and I want to kn w if you ” 2 o u will return £ 1 0 o f the £ 0 I gave y .

N o w o , when a Landdr st receives letters like this ,

h a s t o which he get the Predikant to read , it

fo o fo r i s makes him look lish , it hard to convince P redikants that members o f their church are

o T ‘ h nest . hese letters used to be written by Nick

ro bl e r fo r w a s G , I am certain , the stamp always

o f put on carelessly, after his manner doing all his A T a l e o T a n a a l ci a l d m f r sv Oﬁ o . 5 7

T business, except what was bad . hese letters cost

- i n - o f fo r a my father law a lot money, he w s obliged to give those wh o read them fo r him a

s m good u to hol d their ton gues . Even then the Cr i t i c learned all about them ; but I advised Piet to take no notice, which advice he wisely acted upon . B ut the thing that made Piet most anxious to

n t o f lear read writing, and which had that ef ect, w a s a misfortune that happened before he had

o been Landdrost t w months . H e had to try a case wherein o n e Uitlander sued another for

o o n r m ney lent a p omissory note , which was a kind o f writing that Piet did n o t then well u nder

w a s stand . While the evidence being given , Piet paid very little attention (a s he o ften did when

w a s r only Uitlanders were concerned), and tea ing

w a s h i s up paper into very small pieces , which

n o habit, being much like a woman and setting value o n papers . Presently the advocate asked fo r the n o te to

o f Show t o a witness . Piet never thought the

Ka fﬁ r tearing up , but made the J im and the

o r o o n e o f attorney hunt f the l st paper, till them fou nd a piece o f it to rn small “ What matters I t said Piet, it was but a dirty piece o f paper . “ o n e . But it was my case, answered attorney 5 8 P r i n sl oo of P r i n s l oosd or p :

T r o u hen a di ty case y had , said Piet . ” o o I cannot g on without it, c ntinued the attorney .

“ ’ “ So much the better, was Piet s reply, fo r

o f o f such pieces paper are the root all evil , and he gave judgment fo r the other side because that atto rney had made no trouble about the d e s t ruc

o f tion the note .

T o here was the usual appeal, but bef re it could be heard Nick got hold o f the man who had lost the case and told him to sue my father - i n - law fo r the note he had destroyed . Although it was unjust, I could see that if it came before the judges Piet would perhaps lose his place, so I

1 00 showed him it would be better to pay £ , which he did , and the appeal was withdrawn . P eople who do evil Often forget that they will certainly be punished , and quickly, as was the case

ro bl e r 1 with Nick G . H e made Piet lose £ 00 and

- i n - t get laughed at, bu t my father law brough

o o judgment up n his head very sh rtly . I t cam e about that a ﬁ ne Government residence at

a s o Schoonspruit w t be sold . Piet learned that Nick had made a plan to buy it fo r himself very

h o w cheaply, after the manner of those who know

T h e t o d o these things . sale was advertised in

a a ts o u r a n t the S t C , which mattered little, as few see the Government paper, but most people see A T a l e o f T r a n sva a l Ofﬁci a l d om . 5 9

the notice that the law says mu st be pasted o n the T place t o be sold fo r eight days . herefore Nick

“ had this pulled down as soon as put up , and all

fo r would have gone well Nick , who could have bought the place fo r next to nothing in the absence

o f bidders . But P iet Prinsloo would n o t allow this great R wro ng . He put advertisements in all the and

papers in English and Dutch , praising the

o f pro perty very much . When the day the sale

w a s came there was a crowd of buyers, and Nick

o f far outbid . B ut the sting the punishment lay in this : Piet had sent the advertisements o n

Government letter paper, and when it was found that the Government had n o t authorised the

t o a s advertisements , Nick had pay for them , he

n o t h o dared quarrel with the newspaper people, w knew even more about him than did my father

- i n law . But the greatest visitation received by Nick at

the hands Of Piet wa s in the matter o f h i s s o n

G ro bl e r young Klaas , who was in the telegraph T ofﬁce at Schoonspruit . hough he could hardly

send messages properly, he always knew when any business was go in g o n that his pa could

snatch away from the rightfu l people . P iet laid

a very clever trap to catch both the wicked s o n

and his yet more wicked father . He telegraphed D 60 P r i n sl o o o f P r i n sl o osd or p in the name o f a mine manager at Johannesburg

o to a labour agent at Sch onspruit, giving him an order t o tak e 500 Ka fﬁ r s t o the mine at £2

r premium apiece . Piet ightly thought that Nick wo uld n o t resist the chance t o make s o

o easily, which came true . Y ung Klaas s o meh o w

r o o t o h is stopped the teleg am , and t k it father,

o o o r who made a l ng j urney int the Magaliesbu g,

o and , with trouble and expense , c llected the 50 0

o o o o b ys , and sent them int the mine , nly t learn

r n o t n o that they we e wanted , and that wire had

w a s been sent . Piet almost satisﬁed with this

fo r o vengeance, and Nick lay quiet a l ng time, and

n o - i n - did harm to my father law, who , however, sent an anonym o us co mplaint t o the Chief o f

T elegraphs, which ended in young Klaas being sent away to an ofﬁ ce where he had small chance

o was r o f making money, alth ugh he raised f om

o junior clerk t o second in c mmand . C T E R HAP V.

FOR I N CI L A D I I S PR P E N PATR OT M .

ALTHOU G H my father - i n - law always triumphed

o f over the imagination s the wicked , yet he began to grow very sick o f the many cruel attacks upon T him in the Uitlander Press . here was hardly a

w a s month that he not wickedly held up to ridicule, so that, when he went to Pretoria, the President “ hims e lf would laugh and s ay : ! o u are a nice k erel , Piet ; you make all my Landdrosts jealous . ” You get all the notice .

T O HTC C hen , again , the did not make Katrina so

vro u w Sh e fo r great a as had hoped , Vrededorp wa s in a proclaimed go ld ﬁ e l d where the M ining Commissioner i s the chief man and makes most

s o money . Piet had made very little, for he had often been suspected o f taking bribes that people in whose favou r he had given judgment were afraid to make him even the smallest present,

D 2 62 P r i n sl o o o f P r i n sl o o sd or p

fo r o o o t o f o r s meh w the papers always g hold it, ,

r t o . at least, enough Of the sto y make Piet angry SO fo r a l o ng time he wished that he were n o

o o h i s t o l nger Landdr st , and desire went back

F n o t be ield Cornet, but in a place like Vrededorp ,

w a s P a t r i ot where there a newspaper like the , but a

r o n e long way up No th , where no would trouble him

w a s - if he made a mistake, for he so kind hearted

wh o and ready to help people asked him , that he o ften got himself into the papers from this cause alone . I f ever he could help anyone who was not

Roo i n ek o r a Hollander, a , a J ew, he would always

o f Show the charitable side his nature , even if he

o t n o g payment for his great kindness . And this,

n d ro st s hi in the end , caused him to lose his L a d p

. wa s D r at Vrededorp I t over . Coetzee an d the

ﬂ o in s V gg g at the rededorp Jail . It happened like this When the young doctor was appointed as

District Surgeon he was not married , so that his

income was sufﬁ cient . B ut, being very foolish ,

Ro o i n ek he married a girl , who, being born in

England , had wasteful tastes, and was a very bad a wife, m king her husband take her to Johannes

burg to the theatre and other gay, disturbing places When in England , Dr. Coetzee had

t o learned play at cards and billiards , and to

s o drink whisky, that he neglected h i s patients

64 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

M rs o o t s h e When . C etzee g home fou nd that a

Roo i n ek friend had paid the debt . Being a and

s h e o n s h e greedy, said n thi g about the money

o t o n had g from the Landdrost , but spent it

n o t o u t o herself, which did come till many m nths h P D afterwards , w en iet quarrelled with the octor fo r n o t h i s o f paying share the ﬂogging fees , and

o f T h i ti c . O . e r demanded payment the I U . C go t hold o f the story and threw o ut wicked hints that made Piet unhappy with Katrina and caused Dr . Coetzee to send his wife away . But this did not happen fo r a long time after Piet

o had been kind to Mrs . C etzee . H e kept his

‘ Ka fﬁ s promise , and sentenced so many r to the lash that the papers said Piet was “ brutal and ” inhuman , when all the time it was only o u t o f

fo r . O pure kindness Mrs Coetzee . ne day the Doctor came and said “ Landdrost, I have been thinking that t h e Government will kick when I send in my bill

r fo the lashings . I have bethought a plan which h will make us both rig t . I will send in a complaint to y o u that the prison i s t o o small and

o u Ka fﬁ rs r unhealthy, and advise y to ﬂog rathe

o f than imprison them , as the cost feeding and d o ctoring them will be greater than the fee for floggi ng .

T hat is good , said Piet, and it was done, so T a l e o T r a n va a l O ci a l c m A f s ﬁ l o .

that when the Government, as was expected , wanted to know why the D istrict Surgeon ’ s bill had

s o suddenly jumped up high , Piet sent in a Copy

’ o o n e o f h i s o w n o f the Doct r s letter with , advising that a new jail be built, and ﬁxing the cost at a s u m s o large that he knew the Govern

A n d o d o n o . a s D r ment w uld thing it all came .

C o etzee said it wo uld ; and all would have gone

o happily, but the D ctor grew greedy and would

o o f s o n o t give the Landdr st a share his fees, trouble came , as I have told .

T h e end o f this story shows how foolish it is for

o men wh live in glass houses to throw stones .

P a t r i o t D r. Coetzee went to the and told them that Landdrost Prinslo o wanted a share o f the D fees o f the istrict Surgeon , and the editor put in a small paragraph that anybody could see was meant for Piet, who foolishly retorted by sendin g to D e B u rg er a letter asking h o w much the District Surgeon o f Vrededorp made by taking bribes from Kafﬁ r wo m en to certify that their husbands were not ﬁt for the lash , which charge was true , except that Dr . Coetzee did not let

o ff o r them all the lashes, he would have got no

fo r fee the examination . All this go t into the

o papers, and for once the G vernment wanted to

o w a s kn w what truth there in it, which made P iet very angry, particularly that the Government P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd o r p

E should listen to what an nglish editor had said .

T h i s o his made him let loose t ngue slip , and when next he had a case fo r lashing a Ka fﬁ r he said

a s G w a s s o o o that the overnment f lish , he would

Ka fﬁ r fo r send the to jail three months, so that ,

o being very sick , he w uld have to be doctored at

Government expense , and give nothing back in

T o n s a return . hen Piet went to y “ I have seen in an English paper a scandalous

o thing ab ut myself, a thing so wicked and untrue that only an Englander o r Hollander could say

I sh all n o t fo r n o t i t . deny it, it is worth a

’ i T moment s not ce from an honest man . hi s shows the great mistake the President makes in letting these Uitlanders print papers , for they tell

r nothing but lies about us . I shall go to Preto ia

a sk and see the President, and him to allow no

fo r ' more papers , they are enemies of the State ,

o d and have bro ught us nly trouble and wicke ness.

k r a a l T hey are the scabby sheep in the , and will give the disease to u s who are clean and honest T hey will make o u r children like

fo r to themselves , throu gh calling us ignorant,

o u r and unﬁt to govern , children begin to

fo r believe it true , they are poisoned with the ways o f the Uitlander and de spise us who fought and bled fo r the country and shot d o wn the Rn o i ba a tj es at Majuba and at Bronkhorst Spruit m A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Oﬁ ci a ld o . 67

T h e Ro o i n ek s buy o u r farms and make gr eat

o f riches, but give u s no share the wealth they

T o o make . hey are a u seless , f lish nation these

Uitlanders , who can only travel in a railway

o r carriage an American spider, and drink whisky

T a r c a ro s all the time . heir are very feeble things that cannot do anything fo r their men

o o u r but spend m ney, and make young men

t o n o t o wish marry them , which they have c urage to do, knowing the silly way the Uitlander women have to be sought and have money wasted up o n

s o them before they are married , that their husbands may leave them very much alone after

An d they have made wives Of them . when they

o t n o t o have g wives , these Uitlanders do kn w how to use them any more than they know h o w t o treat

Ka fﬁ r a . H e never consults her in his bu siness , and having m ade himself no man to her before

n o fo r marriage he is man afterwards, he lets her be

o f his master all the time . None these Uitlanders read the Bible , because they have these scandal sheets in which they pay men t o write foul and wicked things against o n e another and against o reck t n o t o m p bu rghers . Why does O Paul co m m a n d ee r Ka fﬁ rs them to ﬁght , which they cannot do , and would all be killed as a ju st punishment for their many wickednesses ? T hey

u s o f cannot ﬁght ; but they lie , tellin g the 68 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

o o f th usands soldiers they have in England , which i s r o f only a small state , where they have fa ms

o r o f o a s ﬁfty m gen , instead three th usand , we

T e have . h land i s n o t big en o ugh t o hold o n e

r r o f o s a qua te the s ldiers they y they have . But

Ro o i n ek s D O all are liars . they n o t lie when they

o o o s o e c me int c urt , that I nev r believe an

ive u d m e n Uitlander , and always g j g t against him ? I o nce read in an English book that there were

r o Englande s in pris n . We have n o t ﬁve

t r o n k s o r T hu ndred in all the in S uth Af ica . hey have t o keep hu nd reds Of judges t o punish ” criminals , but we have but ﬁve in all the State . T here was a great deal more which w a s n o t

w a s r a s fo r taken down , which pe haps well , the

r r speech made a g eat sti in the country, being

r r r printed in nea ly all the pape s , the pat iotic

o edit rs putting it in because they were pleased , the enemies o f the State printing it only t o d o Piet an

T h e o r o f w a s inj ury . part they made the w st that wherein P iet said that he never believed Uitlanders

h o o h i s w a s n o t fo r w came t court . I t wise him to

o u t s o u fo r speak truthf lly, it made him a marked

h i s man , and when the litigants appealed from even

t h e u d e s P fo r just judgments , j g gave it against iet,

wa s o n h i s o wn they said he , admission , prejudiced

— T h e o f against Uitlanders which wa s true . worst it all w as that whenever a fo olish thing was said A T l a n sva a l O ci a l d m a e of T r /ﬁ o .

by a Boer Landdrost, the English papers always

n o t put it on to Piet, whether it was true or . Piet wanted to deny that he had made the speech , but

n o he could t well do that, becau se he had read over the copy made by the young man who took it in shorthand , and had signed it . Besides, he let such a long time go before he took notice , that

o it was not easy to disprove it, as we c uld not ﬁnd the young man , whom Piet might have talked to , and shown how harmful it was fo r a Landdrost to be so criticised . When Piet went to Pretoria the President called him a great fool , and said he was his stupidest

fo r Landdrost, he was always getting the State into the papers .

o o w Piet replied with anger, and s n after ards he

o o o f V resigned his p sition as Landdr st rededorp , for he was not the man to be treated like a child

o f s aw besides, he was tired the ofﬁ ce , and that he might make more money a s a Field Cornet and go into trade . T here are those who maliciou sly say that the true reaso n fo r the outgo in g o f Piet Prinsloo was T that he had taken bribes . his is a great and

fo r o wicked u ntruth , thou gh he was asked ab ut it

T h e by the Executive , he denied it . true r eason wa s that he refu sed t o m arry e

t o Boer girl an Uitlander. Piet had very 70 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl o osd or p

o n strong thoughts this subject, and never would encourage the dau ghters o f the soil t o take hu sbands from am o ng the strange peoples who T o ve rr un the ransvaal . I f a B oer wished to marry

Ro o i n ek r w a s n o t s o fo r s h a gi l it bad , e became half a Boer by s o doing ; but it wa s n o t s o when

Ro o i n ek u s the wanted a wife from among . Piet always warned such couples o f the gr eat wro n g

t o they were doing their country . But youn g k er el s and girls who want to marry do not think o f patriotism , and this made Piet very a ngry . He talked to th em s o sternly that he grew

o n e u npopular as a marry ing Landdrost, and in case the judges ordered him to marry a B oei girl

o Roo i n ek o t a , which he did , but he said he w uld

s o fo r never do again , and his resolve came true , P iet cared nothing fo r the paltry fees when

T e patriotism was involved . here is , how ver, yet

’ P fo r greater reason for iet s action , the B ible tel l s us that we must n o t take wives from among

n o t strangers, and even the President can set aside that law. T here is o n e great and good thing t o the favour o f the T ransvaal Government : it never deserts it s friends o r allows them t o be hu nted t o the death by their enemies if they are true sons o f the

o s il . When a public servant is u njustly attacked , a s wa s - i n - r my father law, the Government efu ses

72 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p the end o f that time he wa s made Field C o rnet

o o f o Ka alk O D and C llector Cust ms for the p istrict,

o o ld ﬁ e ld which , th ugh not a proclaimed g , was a

o w n fo r place after his heart, there the Field

Cornet was an even greater and m o re - to - b e considered man , because he had also the Cu stoms , which all men try to evade . T R I C HAP E V .

I L N AND F E D COR ET STOREKEEPER .

I N the time that Piet was waiting fo r h i s

wa s s o appointment there little money coming in ,

o t o o n o t he res lved go int a wayside store , though

h i s o w n fo r in name , he might any day be made an ofﬁcial , and if, as he hoped , he was made

o Customs Collector as well as Field C rnet, the law would n o t allow him t o be a storekeeper also . T h e way he contr ived it was this Ever since the ﬁrst days when he came to the T ransvaal Piet had seen that all traders wh o mad e

o m ney and kept stores were Jews , and whenever he had been ver n e n k ed it was mostly by such people . So he ﬁxed it in his mind that if

o r o ever he traded had a st re , he would have a Jew

fo r for a partner, , said he 74 P r i n sl o o of Pr i n s l o osd or p

I t i s not right that a man wh o stands well in the Ke rk sh o uld do s o much villainy a s mu st be perfo rmed by those who wo uld make m o ney in a ” o st re .

o n e I t happened that day, before Piet had been

o s m o n ck e r made Field C rnet, a young J ewish

’ bro ke h i s leg by falling down a shaft o n Piet s

place , and had to lie up at the farm for many

weeks till the limb was well . Before this

o n e o n happened Piet day pe ed , by mistake , a

t o o letter belonging the J ew, which had c me from

o t fo r a lawyer in Pretoria . When Piet g it read him he learned that the young k er el wa s planning t o b ring a law acti o n to make P iet pay fo r the

o accident . He said n thing, but laid a great plan . First he made o u t a great bill against the J ew fo r

o o f o r o the l dging and f od , also the f rage eaten by

the two horses belonging to the Jew, and

’

t o . wa s gave it him I saac, which the Jew s

wa s name, made a great noise , and there a

fo r fo r o f quarrellin g all that day, the amount

’ P iet s bill was m o re than I saac had purp o sed to

s u e fo r . w a s o Piet When the storm ver, Piet made an offer to I saac that they sh o uld go into

r o wa s pa tnership with a st re and canteen , which a

o P r w h o g od plan , since it gave iet a manage

o n t underst od trade . I saac was o long in saying “ ”

t o . yea, and it they went m A T a l e of Tr an svaa l Oﬁ ci a ld o .

Now, Jews are always successful , and I saac was

al l h i s like nation , and brought great proﬁt, and

’ - i n money came fast . But Piet s foolishness came

o up n him , and he was near to spoiling all , throu gh h i s h i s religiousness, just as patriotism caused him t o l o se the L a n d d ro st sh ip through the affair o f the marriages . J ust when they were doing better even than Piet had hoped he w a s taken up with a foolish notion to make a Christian o f I saac . Knowing that if J ews eat pork they nearly cease to be

Hebrews , he made Katrina put pork secretly into the food , when I saac thought he was eating

o f some kind buck . But he was always particular o f r o o r what Kat ina cooked , and f und the p k ,

- although he was short sighted , and he made almost as much noise as when Piet gave him his

o bill when he had br ken his leg .

n o t Finding he could convert I saac in secret,

d o Piet tried to it Openly, telling I saac he ought t o o f be ashamed himself. I saac had great gift Of

s o the tongue , and would talk well that had it been possible he would have converted Piet to be a J ew, but before that came Piet would grow angry and strike I saac , who ran away and hid in ’ w the stable till Piet s anger was over, hich made

s a d n o Piet very , for he could t u nderstand why

r s w a s I saac would not be a Ch i tian , but content 76 P r i n sl o o of P r i n s l o osd or p t o come to a bad end rather than say that he

o o liked p rk , which , in secret, he no d ubt did .

o n o t Still Piet w uld cease to try, and many were

o w the quarrels they had t gether, hich always ended in Piet getting the worst o f the argument

a m kok o n e and I saac the s/ , until day something happened by wh ich Piet himself w a s nearly c o n

r verted . He and I saac were crossing the iver by

T h e o the drift . rain had c me very heavy and

’ w a s suddenly and the stream strong . I saac s pony

o h i s fo o a r o t l st thold and w s car ied away . He g h o ld o f the rocks in the middle o f the stream and

o u t fo r P clu n g tight , calling loudly iet to save

fo r wa s him , he very greatly frightened , the more

s o a s o P t o he hated t get wet . iet rode fast the

far m and go t a r o pe and the Ka fﬁ r s t o help him . O n the way back a thou ght struck him . As

w a s s o n o t I saac much afraid , why make him be a Christian ? SO Piet stood o n the bank Opposite where I saac clung and shouted nearly dead with

r fea . “ “ I saac , said Piet, before I throw the rope, will y o u be a Christian P “ Nay, said he , I cannot . ” T hen must y o u drown .

' n o t B ut I saac was very obstinate, and would

give way . Piet threw him the rope . “ ? I f I hold tight , will you be a Christian l T r a n va a l O ci a l d m A T a e of s /ﬁ o . 77

asked Piet . Still I saac would not, so Piet talked

o fo r o kindly t him over the bank , and nce I saac

t o fo r did not try answer his arguments , he w a s weak with fear . At last he said !

Piet, I shall let go and drown , then what will you do at the store P” “ I shall get another J ew and convert him , answered Piet . “ “ o . o u ! u talk foolishness , said I saac Did y not make me your partner t o bring you Jewish m oz s l e ? I f you make a J ew into a Christian his ” o u P luck goes , and where are y “ ” Hold tight, said Piet , and he pulled I saac o u t as fast as he could . But while he w a s helping him up the bank P iet

w a s himself fell in , but whether it that I saac pulled

i s f him he never knew . I t su ﬁcient that Piet was carried over the boulders and broke his arm , while

I saac had no hurt at all .

Fo r t o a long time they u sed argue about this , I saac saying I t was a judgment o n Piet fo r trying

o a u d m e n t to c nvert a Jew, while Piet said it was j g o n T him for not completing the conversion . hey o c uld never agree who was right, but Katrina had

o , an ther explanation . It happened that the p o ny

o r o o which was w th ﬁfteen p unds, was dr wned at h t o t e time, and , as the loss had be shared by P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

w a s o both , it proved that Piet wr ng in trying to

w a s convert I saac , and I saac wrong in needing

s o . conversion , they left it that way Later o n P iet had good cause fo r s o r row that

n o t fo r h i s he had let I saac drown , he found that partner used h i s great s l i m n es s r ather fo r him self

fo r o than him . He had a br ther in the K a fﬁ r

o t wo t o lab u r bu siness , and these planned make

o f m ney o u t o Piet . I saac came in from J ohannes burg o n e day and said he had met a man fro m a mine who wo uld give £3 a head fo r ﬁve hund red

o o t o o boys , and Piet f und the m ney send int

’ o Swaziland t get them . But I saac s brother waylaid them o n the ro ad and to o k them o n to

R o the and , thus making ver a thou sand pounds

o a s at no cost t him self. I saac made if he were

t o very angry, and persuaded Piet send for ﬁve

r T o hundred mo e . his the f olish man did , and

’ o o again they were st len by I saac s br ther, and the wicked pair prospered . But although this only showed the foolish

o f ness doing good to Uitlanders and Hollanders , there were times when he proﬁted greatly by the s l i m n s s o e f I saac . It always happened during n a ck t m a a l that the vr o n z vs who came t o the store would steal many small things but I saac, having

o wh o n o religi n himself, always suspected those

P r had , even the redikant, and kept an ext a sharp

8 0 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl oosd or p

i s o f o u t o o f and it very kind y think him , I saac went o n .

o u w Ko k o n o t t o Vr w uld have liked take it, but when I saac mentioned the Predikant s h e grew

2 1 0 s . fearful , and paid the £ T here w a s an o ther time when he punished D irk

D r Hertz fo r being dishonest . i k used to bring in

t o o n o t oranges sell , but he c uld count high

s o : numbers , I saac caught him in this way When

o r o n e hundred anges had been counted , I saac put

h i s fo r r o . a ﬂo in int hat, and another each hundred

l o t w a s s o D r When the counted , irk would eckon the ﬂ o ri n s and know h o w many hund reds he had t o be paid fo r . While the last hundred wa s being

o w a s reck ned , I saac pretended that he wanted in w the store and ent away, leaving the hat full o f

D r o o . wo m ney i k , being f olish and greedy, uld

o f ﬂ o ri n s n o t steal a handful the , seeing he was

o fo r o n e o r bbing himself, hundred ranges were

i x r wo rth s o eight shillings . Old Hans B o tha w a s cau ght and punished in

o w a s n o t o r the same way, th ugh he foolish

o o w icked enough t steal m ney . He w a s ve ry

o f r s o fond peppermints , like all Boe s , I saac used them a s c o u nters instead o f c o ins t o check the

- a - o bundles o f fo rage . Half d zen times I saac wo uld go into the sto r e and keep Hans waitin g till the o ld man grew tired and sucked the a a l i ci a l d m A T a l e of T r a n sv Oﬁ o .

o peppermints , and ften I saac made twenty bundles o f forage fo r threepenny worth Of

wa s o sweets . And thu s greed and theft pr perly chastised '

n o t B ut in the end I saac did proﬁt Piet . T here came a time when the P a t r i o t printed a piece about Field C o rnets who ran private businesses contrary to the law . Piet grew

o n frightened , though his name was not painted

’ the store with I saac s , and in a foolish ﬁt he listened to I saac who advised him , and , by light

o f h i s ing the ﬁre great vanity, made him pay dearly .

P a t r i o t Piet, said he , next day, after the “ came out, I have written a letter to that paper . Listen 1” An d he read it

Sir, My attention has been called to a para graph i n your last issu e wherein y o u insinuate that

P o f Ka alk o Mr . iet Prin sloo , Field C ornet p , i s a partner with me in the bu siness I carry o n at that

o u t o o h a s place . I beg to inform y tha M r . Prinsl

o t o d o n thing with the business , except that when I met with the accident o n h i s farm he generou sly

0 0 . gave me £5 , with which I started the business

T wa s his signed by I saac .

’ Piet s vanity wa s roused by being referred t o in

a s such ﬂattering terms a generou s man ; besides , he had all along been fearful lest I saac should 8 2 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl oosd or p

o fo r h i s s o claim m ney the damage to leg, that he jumped at the chance to prove that he had

: compensated I saac , and wrote beneath the letter “

i . T his s tru e Piet Prinsloo .

w a s o a T h e letter sent t the P tr i o t and printed . T w o months afterwards I saac drew the money o u t o f the bank and coolly to ld Piet that he could get

a s o o w n away, , acc rding to his letter, he was no

n o t p artn er . And this he had to do , for he dare

ﬁght the case in the courts .

Someh o w Piet wa s doomed to be worsted by

Uitlanders , even in matters in which he had great

a s fo r experience , , example , the election of J acob

Smit .

I t is well - kn o wn h o w in the days when the Uitlanders grew b o ld with pro sperity and d i s

t o contented even to revolution , they tried hard r o b the country o f i t s beloved independence by putting into the Raad men who had been bribed

o a s o T to d they t ld them . hey spent large sums

r t o r wh o o in t ying cor upt loyal burghers, , h wever,

o t o nly took the money, promising vote as they

a s o w n o were told , yet voting their conscience t ld

them . At last the Uitlanders grew cu nning and

n o t s a w a s s o would y which their man , that Field Cornets fo u nd it a hard matter to kn o w what t o

w a s o d o . I t als the means Of Piet making a great

fo r h a s . mistake, which he been blamed

84 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

1 00 that he could win £ by workin g to get Smit in , s o he jumped at the bait and began t o work hard

o r fo r J acobus Smit . He t ld the burghe s that he P had had a letter from the resident, telling him

’ that De Wet was an Uitlander s man , which made

t o most o f them d o their best defeat him . When

r n o t t o bu ghers who could write came vote , Piet

’ r ﬁlled in their ca ds with Smit s name , and if a D e Wet man did n o t feel su re whether he w a s o n

o r n o t P o t o u t o the register , iet g the b ok he kept

fo r o o in duplicate that purp se, and sh wed him his

w a s n o t n o name there , and that he could t vote . T his i s o n e o f the great safeguards that a Field C o rnet has t o keep un suitable men o u t o f the

fo r Raad . But this we should have the burghers

fo r r o f o r wh o voting all so ts danger u s cha acters , wo uld vo te even against the President when o nce R they were in the aad . When the vo ting was over it wa s fo und that

o w a s 1 6 6 an d J ac bus Smit elected by 4 votes to 5 ,

Piet and all the loyal burghers were very glad . T hree days later Sam Levy came to pay the

£ 1 00 he had lost . “ “ Piet, said he, you deserve this money, for ” o u fo r o u r y have made it very easy man . “ ” “ Nay, said Piet, but I have made it as hard

o u t . as I could , and we knocked him “ We are quite satisﬁed , said Sam . Go o n m 8 A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Ofﬁci a l d o . 5

o o u t Wi kn cking them like that, and we ll always book y o u £ 1 0 0 to I t w a s n o t until P iet talked it over with Katrina that night that he s aw that J aco bus Smit w a s the

Uitlander man , and that in winning that hundred f pounds he had been fighting o r Sam Levy . T hen he grew so angry at having been defrauded s o meanly that he tied up three o f his Ka ffi rs and gave them twenty - five each before he could read

o r a the Psalms s y a prayer as usual that night . Such base tricks are the comm o n weap o n s o f

o the Uitlanders , who will spend m ney freely to

o o o o n o brin g ab ut their dish n urable bjects , which Afrikander would ever d o u nless s o rely tempted by the want o f money o r the example o f men like

Levy .

8 8 P r i n sl o o of P r i n s l o osd or p :

s o f him elf, though Afrikander born , and otherwise

o o much g d sense , took up many foolish and

s n o h i . s unmanly habits He lept more in clothes , a s h i s r o father and g andfather had bef re him , “ ” r but wo e thin things that he called pyjamas , both winter and summer, which would have pro ved seriou s if he had been called suddenly t o

Ka fﬁ rs defend his farm against , as his grandfather had often been . He also drank French brandy

o f d o instead p , smoked cigars and made no kil t o n o g , but bought fresh meat fr m the butcher ,

All these wasteful customs cau sed great expense ,

o and Katrina never ceased to righteously c mplain , which made Piet go into town , where he learned to play billiards , and always lost money to

Uitlanders , who are tau ght to play and gamble at their schools . F o r many months Piet had bee n thinking o u t a

t o r fo r n o t plan get ich , alone the seriou s talking o f Katrina made him thoughtful , but the envy he

s aw G W o lh u t e r felt when he men like rey, , and Caled o n selling fo r large fortunes farms which had

’ o f w a s cost them only a span oxen . Piet s farm a long way o ff the line o f reef that had made the

o o f o n R s o f rtunes the farmers the and , that pro spectors wo uld n o t come to l o o k fo r go ld there , and Piet had made up his mind that there

o n fo r was no reef his farm , he no lon ger had i l m 8 A T a l e of T r a n sva a l Oﬁ e a d o . 9

wh o faith , through knowing so many Hollanders

o o have no religi n . But a great chan ge was c min g , th o ugh he kn ew it not . O ne day he was at Pretoria t o s e e the Govern

s o n n o w ment . His Hans was nearly seventeen , and was wanting to marry . So Piet thought it would be go o d if he could get the young k er e l made Postmaster of Schoonspruit .

P o wh o w a s At ret ria he met Hans Breda,

n o o f M ini g C mmissioner Vrededorp , and was making s o much money that P iet was very

o fo r o envi us, nly three years before Hans was so p o or that Piet had t o lend him oxen to plou gh

w a s with . I t the time when Piet J oubert was

fo r O running the Presidency against om Paul . ” For whom shall you vote in Ka a lk o p P asked

Hans, who was a great Kruger man . “ Says Piet : I shall not vote fo r the man who

refuses t o consider the son o f a burgher w h o h a s

fo r bled his country . “ B ut you never bled says Hans ; y o u were

s l i m too . You bled it . T his made Piet very angry , for he hated t o have such things said yet he was ever talking o f having

fo r bled his country, although everybody knew he had n o t fought except with his to ngue to get

back the money he had lent the Government . “ If my boy is not made Postmaster o f Schoon 9 0 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

o fo r s l i m P spruit , I Shall v te iet, and make all my ”

r r d o s o . bu ghe s , answered Piet

“ ” “ k e rel o But, said Hans , the you ng cann t

o u h a s t o read , and y know the President come s e t great store o n reading and writing in G o vern ” ment ofﬁ cials .

w a s T his made Piet yet more angry, for it not tr ue that yo ung Hans could n o t read ; he could read many words , if they were not too hard ,

n th o ugh he could o t read writing well .

“ i s n o t k e re l It that my cannot read , said Piet, but becau se the President gives all the posts to

o fo r H llanders , and forgets those who bled their

Ko k country . Can Farnie , the Pass Inspector,

o r o ? write , a d zen others who have fat billets T hen why not give my son a chance P”

w a s n o t t o B ut Hans be moved . ” “ Nay, Piet , said he , a Landdrost need not

o r fo r h a s d o ‘ read write , he a clerk who can both fo r o him , and a Field C rnet need not be able to

o o f read , though I am in fav ur their being able to

P o s o . s o do But a stmaster, who has to do much

h o w o r with letters , must know to read writing,

o o n o r h o w how can he tell when treas n is going , shall he kn o w that claims are to be pegged and

? No k er el business done , Piet, if your cannot read he will miss many chances for makin g money ” in the Post O fﬁce .

9 2 P r i n sl oo of P r i n s l o osd or p

to vote for him , and make all you r burghers do ” the same .

o i n d a ba Piet promised gladly, and , after a l ng , he went back to his farm very happy, yet withal very perplexed, for he could not see how Hans Breda could do what he had promised by ﬁnding gold where it was not, which showed that my father- i n - law had not yet learned all the wickedness

that the Uitlanders have brought into the country . His ﬁrst work was to tell the burghers what his T opinions were about the Presidentship . his was easy with those who always came to him to ask how they should vote , but there were a few obstinate men in the district who read L a n d en Vol k and other papers which were disrespectful to O om Paul , and said that he was only a friend to the Hollander.

T h e o f d u T t worst these was Jan oi , who had a quick tongue, and made thereby much discontent, fo r he could read both print and writing, and sub

i L a n d e n Vol k scribed to several papers, espec ally , which he would read to the burghers, and told them that all it said was true . Piet called the burghers together and told them

f r O they should all vote o om Paul , otherwise

Ka fﬁ r o there would be another war, and he w uld have to co m m a n d eer all who had brought it abou t by voting for General Joubert . A T a l e o T r a nsvaa l i a l f Oﬂi c cl om . 93

Although Piet had tried' to keep J an d u T oit away from the i n d a ba by holding it when he

an thought J was in Krugersdorp , his plan s fell

through . J an came , and made great trouble by asking Piet why he had so suddenly changed his

mind about Piet J oubert . Piet answered that he had learned many stran ge things in Pretoria which had made him

resolve that Oom Paul was the proper man .

Jan told the burghers that they were all sheep ,

a m b k T and ran just as Piet cracked his sj o . hen he read from a paper that Oom Paul had said

Ka fﬁ r there would be no war, as the chiefs had paid hut tax ; so there would be no need o f a c o m m a n d o , which had been brought about entirely

volk by General J oubert, who loved his , and hated “ wh o ﬁghting . So , said J an , it is Piet J oubert has saved y o u from co m m a n d o and not OOm

o u fo r . Paul , so y should vote him T his speech had great effect, and Piet saw that

d u T all were going with J an oit, so he made a master stroke .

All law - abiding burghers are supporting Oom ” Paul , said he . “ An d am I not a law - abiding burgher ? asked Jan .

“ ’ I don t know whether it is obeying the l aw ‘ to keep eight families of Kaﬁi rs on a farm to do E 2 9 4 P r i n sl o o of P r i n s l oosd or p

your farm work , when the law says you shall not ” have more than ﬁve .

fo r - T his was a very sharp cut, it was well known that Jan had m o re Ka fﬁ rs o n his farm than the law allowed , and it was the duty Of the Field C o rnet to move them away and prosecute the farmer .

w a s fo r J an quite conquered , if he lost his Ka fﬁ r s n o w he would n o t be able t o get in his mealie crop ; s o fo r a little while he was very quiet . At last he said “ ! o u o n e i s are right way, Piet . I t right that o u r President should make good laws . We have

O s l i m seen what om Paul can do , but Piet has n o t s o t o yet made any laws , , perhaps , it is better trust the man we know best . T his speech turned a great many who would

o O P have v ted against om aul , and all went well

’ fo r P e iet s man , and he waited with great impatienc fo r the carrying o u t o f the promise o f Hans

Breda . O ne day a man they call a “ prospector came

’ to Piet s place , bearing a letter from Hans , saying

o he had c me to ﬁnd the gold .

o f veld I nstead goin g right away into the , he

fo r a s ro d o asked whisky, all p spectors , and sat d o wn o n the s t oep and began to drink and smoke

t o and talk Piet in very bad Dutch . He drank all

96 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl oosd o r p

a sk fo r But he did n o t dare to questions , the prospector said so much that was not clear about the need o f silence that Piet could only say n ix and wonder. T h e prospector went back to J ohannesburg next day, and soon after Hans Breda sent for Piet . ” “ ver d o m d e Ro o i n ek Piet, said he, that found t o o much gold . He must go back and ﬁnd better ” stuff.

Piet was astounded beyond words . How could a man ﬁnd too much gold ? “ A ck Roo i n eks , man , the in Johannesburg are ” “ . c o not fools , said he Would you buy a w if the seller told you she gave a hundred bottles o f milk every morning PWould you not know that he lied P

Still Piet was in the dark, and could not under stand anything except that they had to go to

J ohannesburg and ﬁnd that prospector .

With very great trouble, they fou nd him at a

r di ty hotel , where he had been drinking ever since

’ he left Piet s farm . H an s talked long to him in

o u t private . When he came he said “ 200 He wants £ before he will go again , and we must pay all that he owes here .

Piet grew very angry, and said he would not ”

t i ck i e . pay a Let u s get another prospector,

b Ut said he ; Hans laughed, and said it was

impossible . A l T a n va a l ci a ld m T a e of r s Oﬁ o .

But in a big place like J ohannesburg there ” mu st be m a ny .

Nay, there may be many, but there are ” prospectors and prospectors, answered Hans , a sayin g that puzzled Piet amazingly . Hans explained that they must employ this same prospector, otherwise he would say there was no gold o n the farm . “ But what matters it what he may say ; have we not seen the gold with our own eyes P”

Han s laughed again .

You do not understand these U itlanders, “ T said he . hey go much on names, and they will buy your farm if this man tells them it is good ” otherwise it will never sell .

When Piet learned that he . had to ﬁ nd £2 00

o f he came near to drawing out the enterprise , for

2 0 o f o f £ 0 was the price four spans oxen , and took a lo t of collectin g together in the form o f presents from people who wanted favours . But

Hans at last overtalked him , and he paid the

1 6 money, together with £ which the prospector T owed to the hotel for whisky . hen they set out for the farm . I t was again nearly a week before the prospector

o o u t w uld quit whisky and start to ﬁnd gold , but at last he went, and again he took the gun with

o f him , and brought back specimens rock ; but 9 8 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl oosd or p :

Piet noticed that they were not s o rich as the ﬁrst one s

o n t o Piet remarked this the prospector, who explained it “ ! o u see , said he , the stuff I got before was

- i ~ o n l twenty two carat ; this s y eighteen carat . I t

’ S doesn t do to how your best stuff at ﬁrst, because ” you keep that fo r you rself. T his satisﬁed Piet at the time, because it explained much that was before mysteriou s . He asked the prospector to show him where he had found the gold , and he took him to a cutting that had been made in the early days of the gold

o n R discoveries the and . Piet had often been there , but he never saw before the wonderful T Shining specks in the rock . hey were there in

' He thousands . asked the prospector why they

r had never been noticed befo e . “ I f I o u v told y that, said he , I should gi e away my business . It is all science , and this is the branch o f it they call salting but whatever

’ you do don t show this to anybody wh o under

o r o u stands science , y will never sell the farm .

T h e o f o t o price g ld would go down nothing, as ” o f this property yours will glut the market . P iet believed all this because he was honest, and he gave the prospector so much whisky that

o it t ok him four days to get well again .

I OO P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl oosd or p :

fo r cost much money, many ofﬁcials were poor at

’ o f the time Piet s visits to Pretoria, and borrowed money o r go t him to sign papers as security fo r

o f money they owed , all which Piet did , thou gh

s a d n o t with a heart, for he was satisﬁed that these

o d o T men c uld what they promised . hen Han s

Ka fﬁ r was like a hungry , coming time and again fo r fo r advances for this and that, without which he said the wh o le thing must collapse . Piet had by this time spent nearly and had signed securities fo r ofﬁ cials to the extent o f nearly a

o thousand more , and he stayed much in Pret ria, fo r he w a s afraid to go home and tell Katrina that nothing had yet c o me fo r all this trouble and

s a o f outlay . She would y hard things Hans

o t o for B reda till Piet w uld begin mistrust him , the

’ co nstant creaking o f a vr o u w s tongue makes men T suspect their best friends . hen Katrina would

sk o n o t a questi ns that Piet could answer, wantin g t o know why he did n o t sell the farm if it had so

o f much gold , instead letting others come and d ig

w a s it . Piet tried to make her believe that it because he w a s afraid o f bein g r o bbed a s he w a s

h i s t o o R when he s o ld ﬁrst farm Br wn , the and

o milli o naire ; but Katrina called him fo lish , and

o said that s h e would count the m ney this time ,

which was an answer to his excu se , and made him

an gry that he could not think of a better . l ci a l cl m A T a l e of T r a n svaa Oﬁ o . 1 0 1

J ust as Piet was beginning to think that he had suffered enough he received news that the farm n T had bee proclaimed . here was a big advertise

S ta a ts o n r a n t - ment in the C , and within twenty four hours the farm and all the adjoining country had been overrun by men from J ohannesburg who came to peg off claims . I t was a great day for

Piet, and even Katrina ceased to grumble, for she had counted up and fou nd that the claim licences 00 would bring in £3 a month , which was a very

ﬁne sum of money . But next day, when the Predikant had gone over the ﬁgures and made it out even more , Katrina began to abuse Piet for not having sooner had the farm proclaimed . Piet e gave her a great answer full of sharpn ss . Said “ : he I should have had it proclaimed before, but I had not talked it over with that s c/z el m Hans ”— Breda; which was the phrase Katrina had always u sed when she spoke of Han s .

1 0 4 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl oosd or p :

Field Cornet, and even lau ghed at him ; but it

M fo r was not so with the ining Commissioner, he

i o f was as a k ng, having command all the gold claims in his district and chances of making hundreds o f pou nds where a Field Cornet got

’ o r only a few shillings or a stray ox two . Besides , the Mining Commissioner was the Government man on Licensing Boards and other public bodies

vr o n zvs that controlled much money, and their were always richly dressed , which Katrina never

’ ceased to call Piet s attention to .

O Ka alk o ne day, when all the claims on p had been pegged out by people from J ohannesburg, V Piet went to rededorp to see Han s Breda, and told him how much he wanted to be a Minin g

o o C mmissioner, and to have a t wnship after his name like Kruger of Krugersdorp and Klerk of

Klerksdorp .

a ‘ Now, as it happened , this was the great mist ke

’ o f Piet s life , and shows us how foolish it is not to be content when we have got all that we ought to want ; which is another of the many curses brought upon the land by the greedy Uitlander and Hollander . When they had smoked for a long time and dru nk coffee without speaking, Hans said “ o u Do y not know, Piet, that the Gold Law will n o t let a m a n be an o fli c ial on a go ld fie ld A Ta l e o Tr a n svaa l a 1 0 f Offici lcl om . 5

and still hold claims ? I f you would be a Com ” missioner you mu st sell you r proclaimed farm . d id Piet not like this , but having begu n to know that such laws were made in such a way that loyal and op r eck t bu rghers could break them if it gave them advantage over an Uitlander, he

asked Hans if this were not so . “ “ a O s l i m J, said Hans , om Paul is and good to his burghers . He has thou ght of all this, and I will show you how you can hold your farm and

yet be a Commissioner . But, Piet, it will cost ” you a lot of money .

Piet knew this, for he had not forgotten the days in Pretoria when he did little but pay the debts of the ofﬁcials who helped to get the farm proclaimed “ “ s l i m k e rel Hans, said he , you are a , and ” know enough to be President, which speech

pleased Hans much , being greatly vain of his

cunning . T hen he told Piet how he Should plan it all . ” “ ! o u will , said he , sell to a man your farm and rights fo r

And who will he be ? asked Piet . ” My nephew, J an Kemp .

t i ck i es But he has not a thousand , said Piet,

much surprised . “ T hat speech shows how little y o u know o f Pr i n slo o of P r i n sl oosd or p

“ business, answered Hans . He will be what the

‘ ’ Uitlanders call a nominee, which is a man who

o wn has no money or will of his , and does only what he is told . He gives you no money, neither

o u does he take your farm , for y still hold it in

‘ T h e C o m secret, and when people say, Mining

’ o f missioner is the owner the land , you say, I t is

fo r I s o l d false , it to Jan Kemp , and there are

’ t o o writings pr ve it . “ r ? But whe e do I gain asked Piet, who was not yet quick at business . ” ! o u gain , said Hans , by being at once the

o f owner the land , who receives half the claim

o licence money, and the Commissi ner who shows purchasers where the best Open claim s are for a

c o m present , and has a big Share in secret when ” a n ie s o p are ﬂ ated to take over the claims .

T h e o f wa s end it that Piet agreed , and signed the writings that Hans got an attorney t o prepare . O nce again did P iet ’ s slippery tongue bring him

o fo r o h o w tr uble, he t ld several people he had T sold his farm for much money . his got into the newspapers, an d brought great worry, for the people to whom Piet o wed money would no longer

h i s o f o ff take excuses . But he put many them by telling them that being a burgher, the Land drost who tried the case must give judgment in

1 08 P r i nsl o o of P r i n sl oosd or p

T h e f great day. Uitlanders rom J ohannesburg attend in large numbers, the great ﬁnanciers send

S a man to buy for them , the railway run s a pecial train to the nearest station , and altogether it is

n a ck t m a a even a greater day than l . Piet and Katrina were very happy when the day came , for they had reckoned that the stands 0 would average 5 apiece , which would make them very rich , for there were six hu ndred of them , and they would bring All of this money f would not go to Piet, for so many Of those O fi cials who said they had brou ght pressure on the Government to proclaim the township would have d to receive a share of the profit . But Hans Bre a said that this would n o t amount to more than as he had brou ght his great influence to bear to make them less greedy than they would otherwise have been . I have said that Han s had been of great service

h o w to Piet in his plans , but I have now to show even men like him can ' be spoiled by the corrup

o f tion the Hollander .

T here was a goodly attendance of the public , mostly speculators from Johannesburg, for it was

L a n d k oo m the season of what they call the , and , inasmuch as P ri n sl o o s d o rp wo uld be the capital

Ka alk o of the new p Goldﬁelds , all were eager to buy land . So the sale began, and Piet grew A T a l e o T r an svaa l O ci a ld om 1 0 f ﬁ . 9

gladder and gladder as the ﬁrst lots of stands in

0 0 the least desirable positions were sold at £4 , 5

and £60 apiece . Hans Breda was biddin g up the

price as he had promised . Presently came the

turn of the stands in the centre of the township ,

T h e which are always most valuable . bids began 0 at 5 , and the Johannesburg men bid boldly by tens ; but Hans was always close on their heels

0 o ff until , when he bid £35 , the Uitlander left , and

the stand was knocked down to Hans Breda, while

Piet marvelled , being strangely puzzled . But there was greater cause for wonderment awaiting

him . How many will you take P” asked the

auctioneer. “ T h e o f whole block twenty, an swered Hans , as coolly as if buying half a load of forage on the

market .

h e Piet grew sick and faint, for had believed that Hans spoke truth when he had told him he

was not a buyer but a bidder. Besides, how could he pay P Piet did not know that a wicked

ver n e uk scheme was afoot to him , but he learned

it soon . I n the condition s of sale there was a provision that if a purchaser did not pay for his stands by

’ two o clock , they would be again put up for sale .

’ s b Now, all had been old y shortly after one o clock, 1 1 0 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl oosd or p :

and there being a return train near that time, all T the people from J ohan nesburg left . hen , when there was less than a dozen people on the spot, Hans B reda went t o the aucti o neer “ ” “ fo r I am sorry, said he , but I cannot pay the stands I have bought .

So the auctioneer, according to the rule , put u p for sale all the stands surrendered by Hans, and there being n o one left with money, J an Kemp

1 0 bought them all in at £ each .

And the real purchaser was Hans Breda, who

n ext day sold all the stands , so wickedly and 200 cheaply purchased , for £ each , and gave Piet

o n e fo r not shilling his share .

Piet was very wrathful . ” o u s o P Why did y serve me badly he asked .

Because, answered Hans , quite unashamed ,

I deserved to make a bit for myself. I f I had not shown you how to ‘ salt ’ the ground you ” l s d o r - would not be Prinsloo o f P ri n s o o p to day .

“ ‘ ’ ” Salt the ground , asked Piet, in amaze ; what is that P “ Making it taste better, answered Hans , with

l a h a u g .

Fo r T hen a great light burst o n Piet . the ﬁrst time he understo o d why that pro specto r b o rro wed

a shot gun , but no shot, and he knew that the gold dust had been ﬁred into the rock o n purpose

I I 2 P r i nsl oo of P r in sl oosd or p there are a large number of ignorant but religiou s

Boers who heard the story, and it made them very angry with Paul Kruger that he did not prosecute

wh o T the men caused the guns to be ﬁred . hen

o u t o f there came it another trouble, for it was reported that the cherubim with the broken win g

O o m was being taken to Paul at Pretoria, and that the waggon would pass through Mulder’ s

T h e t wo Drift . result was that nearly hundred Boers rode six and even ten hours to see what

Bibl e s b ut they had often read of in their , when they got there no waggon was found . T h e J ohannes burg papers said they were a large Boer co m m a n d o marching o n Pretoria to compel Paul

Kruger to grant reforms to the Uitlanders . Now, as all the Boers who rode o u t were Kruger men it was hard that they should be thought to be frien dly to the Uitlanders . Still , it was not easy to explain why they had all ridden so long and so

fo r m far, they were ashamed to own that they ca e to see a cherubim whose wing had been broken by profane U itlanders . So they went back very gloomy and angry that they could not think o f a

o proper excuse . Within the next month f ur Field Com ets and several min o r ofﬁcials who were with the party were discharged fo r being suspected o f sympathy with the Uitlanders, and when the Predikant of t h e Dutch Reform Church at B o oms A T a l e T r a n sva a l i a l 1 1 of Oﬁi c d om . 3

dorp preached one Sunday about cherubims , most

o f the Boers left the church , and there was a great

uprising against the Predikant, whom they sought

to have removed . O ne o f the men who laughed much at the story

Gro bl e r of the wounded cherubim was Nick , h e

being a great inﬁdel , as was proved by his burning

sulphur over his mealies to keep away locusts ,

which are sent as a punishment .

But o n e o f the greatest proofs of the grief that awaits the wrongdoer was supplied by the great

P ri n s l o o sd o r and rapid growth of p , and this in spite o f the jealou sy and wickedness of Nick

Gro bl e r V , who tried hard to make his own rede dorp better and more prosperou s than my father

’ - d o i n law s rp . Althou gh Schoon spruit was twenty

P ri n sl o o s d o r years old when p was proclaimed , and had the best water supply and the largest

Reformed Church in the district, yet as soon as Nick Gro bl e r listened to the voice of the inﬁdel

o H llander and tried to bring Piet Prinsloo to ruin ,

’ d or his p grew small and Piet s larger. First came

the great schism in the church , brou ght about by

’ Nick s dau ghter going to a dance during n a ck t

a a l m . Nick refused to see that she had done

a great sin , being a teacher in the State school ; and when the Predikant reproved her an d dis

missed her from her post, Nick , instead of being 1 1 4 P r i n sl oo of P r i ns l o osd or p :

’ humble and contrite , impounded the Predikant s

o n cow for grazing his farm , and put up the Sanitary I nspector to analyse the milk sold by the Predikant , and ﬁnding it half water, Nick T ﬁned him the full penalty . his was very bad ,

o f but he did worse . He gave leave t o the owner a skittle alley t o put up his gambling tent on the

r n a ck t m a a l ma ket square during , so that the young Boers gambled for and lost the money given them to put into the collection box , and stayed away gambling instead o f being at church . When Piet Prinsloo heard Of this he w a s stirred t o great anger, and publicly declared that Nick w a s in league with the owner o f the skittle alley and received half the proﬁts fro m money that

o t o . O r rightly bel nged the church f cou se , he

n o t o t h o u h I n o o could pr ve this , g have d ubt it

s o o o was true, he had to sign an ther apol gy and

1 Ke r k pay £ 0 to the fund . SO while Nick Gro bl e r was daily chastened fo l“ h i s P ri n s l o o s d o r o wickedness , p grew and ﬂ urished

T o like the green bay tree . here was a jail , f u r white canteens a n d seven Ka fﬁ r canteens al o ng

o f the line of reef ; and Piet, being chairman the

o fo r Licensing Board , had great opp rtunities

T h e o f making money . j ail being always full

Ka fﬁ rs , he had as much work free as he wanted for his garden and his farm , which was a very

1 1 6 P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl o osd or p :

P new ass Law was made , the boys were afraid to leave without their passes , for if caught they

fo r O would be flogged having none . S they would stay and take the flogging from their ka a s rather than lose their money and get a flogging at the jail besides .

But Nick was a match for this . He would give the b o y his discharge pass and an order t o take to some distant Field Cornet to give the bearer

- ﬁ ve twenty for laziness an d impudence . He

Ka fﬁ r would explain the letter to the , and start

o ff him early in the mornin g . I t was very rarely that the boy delivered the letter to the Field Cornet or came back fo r his money ! T hu s it came that Nick Gro bl e r paid no wages

o f to his boys, yet always had plenty labour, for he promised them £4 a month , which was the mine wage . M ‘ rs . Keet told this to me and I wrote to the

Cr i t i c . o n e about it What was better, we caught of the boys with the ﬂogging order, and Nick was thoroughly exposed . But he got free labour just the same . T h e thing that made Piet even richer was a great and clever plan which Hans B reda showed him . I have told h o w O o m Hans ver n en k ed Piet over

o f the sale the stands, which made them no longer aa l ci a ld A Ta l e of T r a n sv Ofﬁ om . 1 1 7

n e great friends . But o day, two years later, Hans

o f lost the mother his wife , and this made him

SO feel to want to forgive his enemies . he came to Piet, whom he had not spoken to since the sale . “ Piet, said he, I did you a great wrong Over

s t a n d l a n ts en that p sale , and I want to show you ” that I am sorry .

- i n - My father law was still angry, and secretly sorry that Hans had no longer his wife ’ s mother

ru fﬂ no t to trouble him , so he replied g y , as if ready to forgive him , until he heard him say

Piet, I want to show you how to get back that

o money y u lost . ” verd om d e s ck el m Hans , said Piet, you are a ,

s l i m but you are . Show me how I can get back my money and we shall again be friends .

T - hat is good , Piet you are a good Bible read ” : “ ing man , said Hans , and he went on ! o u have a lot of stands on the outside of the town which are no good becau se they are away from

d or the p , and nobody will go there to build ” houses and live . T ” hat is so , said Piet ; for he had always been angry when he thou ght how Hans had got the best stands an d he the worst . “ Well , suppose the Government Ofﬁces were to

a s be burnt down , big buildings often do . Would 1 1 8 P r i/n sl oo of P r i n sl oosd orp

it n o t be patriotic if you offered to give for n ix su fﬁ cient o f your outside stands to rebuild the o fﬁ ces on ? And would it not make all the rest ” o f the stands outside go up in value P

Piet had by this time learned more business, and was quicker to see an advantage . ” Hans, said Piet, shaking hands with him for the ﬁrst time for two years, I am quite and truly

- i n - glad that your mother law is dead , though I was sorry when I ﬁrst heard it . Now we can be

o n e friends again and forgive another, and make

k oos P some money together. Eh,

And they had a long i n d a ka together o n the s t oe p , and Katrina listened at the window and heard it all , and was gl ad that her man was no longer unfriendly with Han s Breda .

s to e About three months after this talk on the p , the court - hou se and the ofﬁ ce o f the Mining

Commissioner caught ﬁre in the night, and , water

o f being very scarce , the whole the block was burned down . Piet and Hans went over to Pretoria and offered the Government ten stands o n the outside of the ffi town on which to rebu ild the public o ces . “ I t is making the Government a present of ” five thousand pounds , said Piet, to the members “ o f the Executive , for the old stands are worth f that now for building stores and private o fi ces .

P r i n sl oo o P r i n sl sd f oo or p . the district said in the Raad that it was just like the Uitlander to ﬁnd fault with a patriot like Piet

Prinsloo , who had generously given the stands to the Government .

T a hus was Piet exalted s a great and good man , and the wickedness of Nick Gro bl e r was of no effect . Piet had a great joy about this time in seeing his enemy humbled in the dust once again . Nick

Ka at e had but one daughter, j , and she was married to a Hollander, who Nick got made

o f R Postmaster ooidam . After he had been married to Kaatje only nine months he borrowed 00 £5 from Nick , stole all the postage stamps and fﬁ money in the o ce, and ran away to his own

Kaat e cou ntry, leaving j with her father, where she is even to this day . And the very day that this great calamity and

Gro bl e r righteou s j udgment visited Nick , my father- in - law was presented with a memorial signed by ﬁfteen burghers of the district asking him to stand as their candidate for the First Raad at the next election I! C HAPT E R .

AT T HE OF T HE RAA Z AAL DOOR D .

T HE causes which made a chance for my father i n - law to stand as candidate for the First Raad were

o f brought about by the folly Hendrick Walker, member for the Groot Plaats District . He was a

o o f C lonial English descent, and thou gh he had

vr ou w married a Boer , he was not to be thought T as good as a true ransvaaler .

s l i m He thought himself very , yet when he took presents fo r his votes he would boastfully speak of it in canteens, and wrote many foolish letters saying how much he wanted for his good services

o when c ncession s were being voted upon . Piet P rinsl o o always mistru sted Walker becau se

Ro o i n ek of his name, and he was very rejoiceful when he got hold of a copy of a letter Hendrick 1 2 2 P r i n sl o o of P r i n s l oosd or p : had written t o a Hollander at the time that

Ka alk o wa s o ld ﬁ e ld o o p proclaimed a g , pr mising t get him the Mining Commissionership if he gave him £20 per month .

Being a patriotic burgher, Piet resolved to make a plan to punish Hendrick, not so much

Ro o i n ek becau se this half had tried to injure him , as for the reason that he had wished to beneﬁt a Hollander at the expense of a son of the so il who had bled for his country . Piet said nothin g u ntil the requisition had been signed . Hans Breda had the gettin g of it up , and , as we afterwards found , many of the

s o names on it had been written by Han s himself, that he might keep the ten shillings that Piet was

wh o prepared to pay each burgher signed freely . When the requisition was published in the

t o r papers , Piet went Pretoria, and saw Hend ick R Walker in the aadzaal . “ o u fo r ? w Have y come my seat said he, hen he saw my father - i n - law lookin g round the chamber . “ ” “ a J, answered he, I am tired , Hendrick , and R ” want to rest in the aadzaal . “ But why would you pu sh me out ? I have ” never done you harm . “ Not when you tried to get a Hollander as M inin g Commissioner of Ka alk Op P

1 2 4 P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

ff he could a ord to pay higher for votes than he . s Besides, he was greatl y afraid of the letter , though he did not know that Piet did not have

fo r the originals, only copies , the owner wanted

£500 for them .

i n d a ba So the two had a long . ” “ Look here , Piet, said Hendrick . If you become a member of the Raad you may no longer be a Mining Commissioner—it is against the law R that ofﬁ cials sit in the aad . Which would pay you best—to take money from the Uitlanders and

o r 2 stand in with their company schemes, draw £

o f per day, and have to live in Pretoria at a cost nearly £1 0 per month ? I f you will let me stay

20 on I will give you , in addition to the shares , £ a month , for I think we shall have a good year, as so many concessions and other favours have to be granted and well paid for . So it was agreed that Piet should keep the

20 an d letters as security for the £ per month , at the last moment, when it was too late to put u p another candidate, he was to retire from the election , and leave Hendrick to walk in unopposed .

And it was so done . R ! C HAPT E .

’ PIET P RI NSLo o s LAS T T REK .

T HE events which led to the retirement of my father - in - law from the M ining Commissionership o f Ka alk o u n d i n iﬁe d p , and the nu merous g charges made in connection therewith , are too fresh in the public memory to need more than a very brief reference . I have sometimes thou ght that the remarkable series of misfortunes that followed the re - election o f R Hendrick Walker for the aad , was a provi dential chastisement on Piet Prinsloo for permit

a R ting man like Walker to remain in the aad , even thou gh the £20 a month was faithfully paid up .

G ro ble r It may be that Nick , by means of

- mole like planning, contrived to bring about the undoing o f my father - i n - law ; but whatever th e P r i n sl oo of P r i n sl oosd or p

cause, he, all at once, became the target at which the bullets of the unj ust and sinfully jealous were shot without ceasing . First, he was accused o f making a big proﬁt out of the mealies sent by the

Ka fﬁ rs Government for the starving in his district . T hose who say these things do not know so well as Piet Prinsloo that a Ka fﬁ r despises a white man who makes him gifts ; therefore it was that he made them pay what they could afford for the e m alies . It has been untruthfully said that he

1 T had charged as much as £ 0 for a bag . his I can emphatically deny, since the highest price paid by any Ka fﬁ r to my father - i n - law was

1 5 o ut £9 0 . It is u seless to attempt to point to prejudiced people that if the Ka fﬁ rs had not been made to pay for the mealies they would have held the Government in low esteem , and spent the money in buying cattle that were certain to have died from the rinderpest . T h e great ﬁnal blow came when the Govern

o f ment, acting, doubtless, under the advice certain Hollanders, who are like the lion , ever seeking whom they may devour among the sons o f the soil , appointed a new and u nnecessary ofﬁcial , whose very existence is an insult to the burghers who serve the State . He is called an

s Of I n p ector of Public ﬁ ces, and , like the secret spy and jackal that he is, he creeps round the

P r i n sl o o of P r i n sl o osd or p

o the writers . Piet was quite prepared t leave the

u n d i n iﬁe d charges alone, deeming it g to enter into explanations with Uitlanders . But there were Hollanders in Pretoria who hated Piet Prinsloo because he had never spared them , and had rightly done his best to get them pushed aside for T sons of the soil . hey brought great inﬂuence to bear upon the Government, and Piet was ordered to prosecute the editor of the most wicked of the papers that had made charges against him,

a n d en Volk namely, L . Piet had been told in conﬁdence that if he let the Public Prosecutor loose o n the editor he would be certain to run away ; so my father - i n - law swore an information against the man , who, instead of running away, printed the summons in his paper, under the heading I AT AS GOT H M L T, which shows h o w bold this class of man grow s when left alone by a too merciful Government . Piet consulted with me and other friends capable

o s and h nest enough to advi e him , an d he decided not to continue the prosecution ; not that he feared the result, but because so many innocent people would be dragged into the case, and mentioned in a way that would cau se them great annoyance . “ “ Sare l - l n - , said my father law to me, I have served the State for forty years ; I have bled for A Ta le of Tra nsvaa l Ofﬁci a ld om . 1 29

my country, and I have lent it money, and yet the

Government insults me by counting my cash . T hey further insult me by wanting to count t h e

h as — cash that passed throu gh your hands you , my

- i n - f M own son law, whom I myself raised rom arket

Master to Public Prosecutor. I f we sat quiet

Sa re l under this insult, , people would say we deserved it . Let u s leave the country . I have long wished to see if Rhodesia is as good as they say it is . We will buy a farm on the border, so that if the Roo i n ek s again invade the T ransvaal from that side, we shall be on the spot to ﬁght

ro ve th at them , and so p , though our country has

. Sare l treated u s so ill , we are still patriots And , , if they are too strong for u s to ﬁght, we can hurt them in another way. We can sell them ou r transport cattle and our forage, and so spoil the ” Egyptians by getting their gold . And thus it came about that we t r ekk ed north wards .