Yet to be noted is the small commissariat needed for Boer horses and mules.  These are accustomed to subsist altogether on grass, and when it is plentiful, during summer and fall, to keep in good condition, working six to ten hours daily, if only allowed to graze during the rest of the time.  They are then usually knee-haltered, i.e., one foreleg tied to the halter, with about eighteen inches space between.  A few feeds of dry mealies (maize) will be amply supplementary when the pasture is inferior, or if the animals have to be picketed much.

As said before, alcoholism does not prevail among the Boers, and any tendency to it is sedulously checked by legislation and public reprobation.  President Krueger is an absolute abstainer from intoxicants, and even at banquets he will sip water only when joining in a toast.  His contention is that the effects generally go beyond a harmlessly exhilarating point; the action of alcohol unbalances the nervous equilibrium, producing in most cases an excitement above the normal level, followed by a corresponding depressive reaction below it, creating an appetite for repeating the potation, with exactly similar and progressively aggravated results.  Then man’s moral standard and general efficiency and dignity become impaired, to the serious damage of his own welfare and involving the common weal as well.  When at the outbreak of the war the sale of intoxicants became totally prohibited the measure was received with willing submission and hailed with general approval, which speaks volumes for the burgher population and without doubt also tends to preserve their efficiency and stamina.

PRESIDENT KRUeGER

Stephanus Johannes Paulus Krueger is about the most accessible President on record.  Every morning—­except Sundays and holidays, after family worship, that is to say, from 5.30 in summer and 6 in winter to 8 o’clock—­he gives audience to Boer and Uitlander, rich or poor alike, and also on each afternoon, from 4 to 6 and even later.  His residence in the west end of Church Street, Pretoria, is quite an ordinary modest building of the bungalow type.  The only distinction observable is two crouching lion figures, life size, on pedestals about three feet high, at the balustrade entrance to the front verandah.  A lawn of about thirty feet across extends to the street limit, where at a very unpretentious gate two armed burgher guards are constantly stationed.  These will receive an intending visitor’s name, an unarmed domestic guard will then come forward, who, after a short scrutiny, if the person is a stranger, will report to the President and will immediately return to conduct you to that dignitary, who may be sitting under the front verandah or in the adjoining reception-room.  There the President will readily shake hands and point to a chair, rather near by because he is slightly hard of hearing, the domestic guard standing or sitting between,