But, should one sit down to paint the scenes among which he has grown, he will find that the facts creep in upon him. Those brilliant phases and shapes which the imagination sees in far-off lands are not for him to portray. Sadly he must squeeze the colour from his brush, and dip it into the gray pigments around him. He must paint what lies before him.
“We must see the first images which the external world casts upon the dark mirror of his mind; or must hear the first words which awaken the sleeping powers of thought, and stand by his earliest efforts, if we would understand the prejudices, the habits, and the passions that will rule his life. The entire man is, so to speak, to be found in the cradle of the child.”
Several Dutch and Colonial words occurring in this work, the subjoined Glossary is given, explaining the principal.
Alle wereld!--Gosh! Aasvogels--Vultures. Benauwdheid--Indigestion. Brakje--A little cur of low degree. Bultong--Dried meat. Coop--Hide and Seek. Inspan--To harness. Kapje--A sun-bonnet. Karoo--The wide sandy plains in some parts of South Africa. Karoo-bushes--The bushes that take the place of grass on these plains. Kartel--The wooden-bed fastened in an ox-wagon. Kloof--A ravine. Kopje--A small hillock, or “little head.” Kraal--The space surrounded by a stone wall or hedged with thorn branches, into which sheep or cattle are driven at night. Mealies--Indian corn. Meerkat--A small weazel-like animal. Meiboss--Preserved and dried apricots. Nachtmaal--The Lord’s Supper. Oom--Uncle. Outspan--To unharness, or a place in the field where one unharnesses. Pap--Porridge. Predikant--Parson. Riem--Leather rope. Sarsarties--Food. Sleg--Bad. Sloot--A dry watercourse. Spook--To haunt, a ghost. Stamp-block--A wooden block, hollowed out, in which mealies are placed to be pounded before being cooked. Stoep--Porch. Tant or Tante--Aunt. Upsitting--In Boer courtship the man and girl are supposed to sit up together the whole night. Veld--Open country. Velschoen--Shoes of undressed leather. Vrijer--Available man.
Chapter 1.II. Plans and Bushman Paintings.
Chapter 1.III. I Was A Stranger, and Ye Took Me In.
Chapter 1.IV. Blessed is He That Believeth.
Chapter 1.VI. Bonaparte Blenkins Makes His Nest.