TRANSVAAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 15000, 27 November 1900, Page 1

TRANSVAAL.

"DIYATALAWA DUM-DUM."

BOER PRISONERS' NEWSPAPER IN

THE CAMP IN CEYLON,

They call it tho "Diyatalawa DumDum," and date the first number from the camp of Diyata.awa, September 10th. "Dum-Dum" is probably a bit of friendly Boer humour ; at any rate the Boer prisoners in Ceylon who are publ shing this little paper seem as satisfied as exiles should be. A palm tree, a duin-dum winged and flying, and a bullet exploding arc worked into the headline.

The Dum-Dum" is a manifolded foolscap sheet, consisting of leading article, correspondence, advertisements and Jjoetry. Tha "leader" is headed "A Friendly Enemy," and in it the Boers give the.r British guards a testimony for kindness. "Gratitude has been described by a cynic as a proper appreciation of favours to come," writes the Boer editor, ' >>ut .as we are sofdiers and not cynics, we have implicit belief that Colonel Vincent, Colonel Coope, and tho officers and other gentlemen who have stretched many v point to make us happy and comfortable, and- in a hundred kind ways done all that is compatible to discipline to lighten the sadness and monotony of our banishment, will accept our thanks for all that kindness, and we venture to assert, in the name of our large circle of subscribers, that no untoward action on our part wi'l cause tliem 'to regret their efforts on our behalf." That is not quite the whole of the leader, but the rest of it is in a similar vein. The "ads." include one of Transvaal and "Free State" stamps, and another of "celc- , brated light beer and fruit drinks," which shows ihat Dipatalawa is up to date. A certain professor offers to tell fortunes by palmistry, and a gentleman at Hut 14 offers courtesy and first-class hop ale. The poetical contribution is headed "The Exife." The first verse rum: — "Farewell, our dear native land, Oh, fare thee well : Wo leave your shores a mournful band, ' And rhythmic beat of seas on shore Alone can tell The yearning, breaking of each heart, In that dread hour when we must part, Who lovo thee well."