round, exempt from prolonged winter rigours and excessive summer heat,
is not found anywhere else in the world, or only in rare privileged
spots. It is withal most healthy, promoting the highest possible
physical development and even longevity.

Under such favoured conditions the hand of man only is needed in
providing good habitations, planting trees, in the culture of the soil,
and some irrigation labour, to transform nearly every little farm within
five to ten years from a bare pastoral monotony to a really idyllic
spot. There are many such already in Basutoland, the Orange Free State,
and the Transvaal, as well as in the Cape Colonies and Natal--veritable
Eden-like places, as it were bits dropped from heaven. With a
continuance of peace these could be multiplied to any extent each year,
thus rendering those sparsely inhabited tracts the most beautiful areas
in the world, with a prosperous self-sustaining population, quite apart
from considerations of mineral wealth.

The foregoing description of the high-veldt climate points to clothing
composed of woollen fabrics as the only _rational and safe_ attire for
men travelling or taking the field. No constitution could be expected to
hold out against the ever-changing temperature and weather if depending
upon being clad, for example, in a cotton suit; this would only do on
warm days for men who are certain of being safely housed at night and
sheltered during rainy weather. Horses and mules in the open should be
provided with woollen rugs during winter and spring.




BOER PREPAREDNESS FOR WAR