DE AAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4734, 16 August 1902, Page 2 (Supplement)

DE AAR.

“Do Aar.” and tho Africander guard flung himself out of Iris brake-van. Be Aar! After -IS hours of soini-starvation in a brake-van, tho name of tho junction, in spite of tho ill-natured tones which gave voice to it, sounded sweeter than the chime of bells. It meant relief from confinement in a few square feet of board; relief Iroin a senu-putrid atmosphere—oil, unwashed men, and stale to. baceo smoko; relief from tho delicate attentions of a surly .Africander guard, who resented the overcrowding of his van; relief from tho pangs of hunger; relief from tho indescribable punishment of thirst. Yet at its best Bo Aar is a miserable place. Not made —only thrown at tho hillside, and allowed by negligence and indifference to slip into the nearest hollow. Too far from tho truncated knees - to reap any benefit from them. Close enough to feel tho radiation of a sledge-hammer sun from off their bevelled summits—close enough to be Jhe channel, in summer, of every scorching blast diverted by them; in winter, every icy draught. Pestilential place, goal of whirlwinds and dust-devils, ankle deep in desert drift —prototype of Berber in a sandstorm—as comfortless by night as day. But ns in nature, so in the handiwork of men, even in the most repulsive shapes it is possible to find some saving feature. Do Aar has one —one only. Its saving feature is where a slatternly .Tew boy plavs host behind tho bar of a fly-ridden buffet. Here at prices which if it were not a campaign would be prohibitive, you can purchase food and drink.—From “On the Heels of Bo Wet,” in "Blackwood's Magazine.”