English rule was remarkably dominant among the women. Many of those who had formerly lived in affluence but were now in comparative want, and subject to all the inconveniences accompanying the insecure state in which they were existing, having lost, moreover, their husbands and brothers by the savage, still rejected with scorn the idea of returning to the colony. If any of the men began to drop or lose courage they urged them on to fresh exertions, and kept alive the spirit of resistance within them.” Sir Arthur Cunynghame has nothing but praise for the Boers. On his way to the Diamond Fields he stopped at Hanover, which, he says, “has a grand appearance, the Dutch minister’s house, standing in the centre, being quite a palace. It was built by the subscriptions of his parishioners. The honours which the Dutch lavish on the ministry are worthy of remark.” Equally worthy of remark is their hospitality and their piety. The farmer gives his guest the best entertainment he can provide, and “before the family retires to rest the large Bible is opened and the chapter appropriate to the day is read.” On another occasion, Sir Arthur’s party encamp near the residence of a rich Dutch farmer, who refused admission to his house and would not even sell them an egg; yet he records the fact that, “late in the evening the sounds of the Evening Hymn floated over the plain, the nasal twang of the patriarch being distinctly heard leading the choir, while female voices, with their plaintive notes, chimed in. It is pleasant,” adds Sir Arthur, “to hear in these lone lands such evidence of a religions sentiment pervading the community, and it is an assurance that the people are contented and happy.” Sir Arthur writes:—“There are no finer young men in the world than the young Dutch Boers, who are generally of immense height and size, and very hardy. Their life is spent in the open air by day, and frequently at night they sleep on the veldt, with no tent or covering. Men more fit for the Grenadier Guards, as to personal appearance, could not be found. Some of them are plucky. A Boer had part of his hand blown off by the bursting of his gun. Having no doctor near, he directed his son to bring his hammer and chisel, and shape off his fingers.” As an Irishman, Captain Aylward is enthusiastic as regards the personal charms of the ladies. Many of the elder ones even, he admits, are not uncomely, and in the wild neighbourhood of Lydenberg itself, he tells us, are to be seen some bearing traces of beauty of no ordinary character, whose lives, he says, somewhat unnecessarily, are useful, adorning, and cheering the homes of their husbands and children. These people are somewhat unlettered, and very phlegmatic. “They do not wish,” writes Sir Arthur Cunynghame, “to move ten miles from their own door, nor to see one who comes from ten miles beyond it.” Their moral discipline also seems somewhat severe. “In the little fort,” writes Captain Aylward, “was an