AN ESTIMATE OF THE BOERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 62

AN ESTIMATE OF THE BOERS.

Writing from Klerksdorp to Mr Tamahau Mahupuku, the Wairarapa Maori chief, Trooper J. Skeet-, of Grey town, says:— You hear in New Zealand that th© Boer can’t fight, but I can tell you he can fight fairly well, especially when he has got plenty of cover. In such places h© is very hard to drive out. It is not always truie about the English, driving the Boers back. I have been in some places where we have had to’ retreat, and I have seen the Tommies driven back by them also. They are very good behind cover of rocks. The Tommies don’t seem to be able to fight the Boer in his own style, but the colonials can; they have got more idea of fighting from rock to rock. The cropping done by the Boer is very poor to what it is in New Zealand. He just grows enough for himself. They get two crops off the ground in one season. The Transvaal is a great place for fruit, especially peaches. My experience about the kind of horse we want over her© is a horse about fifteen hands high. I think the small horse gets about the rooks quicker than a big horse, and he eats less. The cattle over here are very backward. They ar© all head and horns. A good fat bullock is worth £25. The sheep are even worse than the cattle. We wouldn’t kill them for the pigs in New Zealand, and they have the cheek to ask 17s per head. It is a pity that such a nice country should be so backward in th© breeding of stock. There is only one good thing the Boers have got, and that is the Mauser rifle. I think it is far before our rifle—th© LeeMetford.