Yankee Girls in Zulu LandSheldon, Louise Vescelius
History
Yankee Girls in Zulu Land
Sheldon, Louise Vescelius
South Africa -- Description and travel
We met the President and his wife, who invited us to call at their
residence, a large, two-storey "White House," as it is called,
surrounded by extensive grounds in the prettiest spot on the outskirts
of the town. We were told by residents that our visit would be very
formal, but it did not prove to be so. We found them both most charming
and affable people. A luncheon of delicacies and choice fruits from
their own orchard was laid for us, and Mrs Brand, or "Lady Brand," as
she is more generally called, was so bright and witty that an hour
passed away very pleasantly. She is a large, striking-looking woman of
noble features, and with a mind capable of assisting her husband in
matters of state. Her best sympathies are with her people, and no one
deplores more than she the lamentable ignorance to be found in the
remote districts. It rests with the people themselves to remove this
ignorance; excellent boarding-schools, both government and private, are
established in every village throughout the country. She has unbounded
confidence in the capabilities of the Dutch to govern themselves.
Certainly, if the country can produce more such people as her noble
husband and herself, they will have no difficulty in finding a leader.
The President seemed greatly interested in us as being Americans, and
asked us question after question about our customs and form of
government. A special session of the Volksraad was called while we were
in the town, to discuss the condition of the Transvaal, which was now in
open revolt, and we had an opportunity of seeing the representative men
of the country. They came to town in all sorts of vehicles, European
and American carriages, Cape carts and ox-wagons. The many vehicles,
all drawn by handsomely matched horses, made the town very bright and
gay.
The men who gathered together were, many of them, aliens by birth, but
all showed signs of more than average intelligence. The question they
had come to discuss, viz, what should be the attitude of their country
in the present state of affairs in the Transvaal, was important, for the
people of that territory were united to them by many ties. News was
brought by post cart that the Boers in the Transvaal, who had long
wished to govern themselves, had risen up against English rule, had come
riding into Potchefstrom from all the country around, and had taken
possession of the town. There we were in the midst of people closely
related to the Transvaal, which was but a few days' ride from us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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