Boers

That reflects the very Dutch history of the food, so the way the settlers mixed their own dried meat with some of the indigenous techniques that they found upon arrival.

And later in the 19th century, the Boers, as the South Africans of Dutch descent came to be known, took it to the hinterland when they went away from the Cape.

And it became part of the mythology of that group of South Africans as they went on what's known as the Great Trek.

For a while under apartheid, biltong was perhaps often seen as a white snack.

Like they, it, it had, it accrued tremendous wealth, tremendous power, and the kind of wars and practices, um, of maritime trade and other things that were, uh, uh, kind of founded by, by the Dutch became just, you know, normative across Europe, okay? Uh, the Dutch were the ma- they were master shipbuilders.

They have, they had a strong and proud military tradition, which is one reason the Boers were so damn tough in South Africa.

But primarily, I mean, they, if, uh, like, like what the Germans were to warcraft and like what Italians are to like fine food and, and sports cars, the Dutch are to, you know, the maritime trade.

Look at it that way, if, uh, you want a somewhat silly analogy.

South Africa is a young country.

It's established in its modern guise in 1910, when two Boer republics and two British colonies get forced together.

And, you know, it doesn't really fit.

So why did the union hold together? for only one reason, that there was immense power and authority in Pretoria that forced it to stay together.

It was like Shepard's Hotel at the top of the season, but only six hours after that dinner we looked out of the car windows we saw galloping across the high grass like men who had lost their way in silhouetted black against the red sunrise, countless horsemen scouting ahead of our train and guarding it against the fate of the armored one lying wrecked at Cervelli.

the darkness was still heavy on the land and the only lights were the red eyes of the armoured train creeping in advance of ours and the red sun which showed our silent escort appearing suddenly against the sky-line on a ridge or galloping toward us through the dew to order us with a wave of the hand to greater speed one hour after sunrise the train drew up at colinso and from only a mile away we heard the heavy thud of naval guns the hammering of the boar pom-poms and the maxims and colt automatics spanking the air we smiled at each other guiltily we were on time it was most evident that lady smith had not been relieved This was the twelfth day of a battle that Buller's column was waging against the Boers in their mountain ranges, or disarranges, as someone described them, without having gained more than three miles of hostile territory.

He had tried to force his way through them six times and had been repulsed six times, and now he was to try it again.

No map, nor photograph, nor written description can give an idea of the country which lay between Buller and his goal.

Section 8 of Notes of a War Correspondent

THE RELIEF OF LADY SMITH.

After the defeat of the Boers at the Battle of Peters Hill, there were two things left for them to do.

They could fall back across a great plain which stretched from Peters Hill to Buona Mountain, and there make their last stand against Buehler and the Ladysmith relief column, or they could abandon the siege of Ladysmith and slip away after having held Buehler at bay for three months.

The conflict pitted the British Empire against the Boer Republics, principally the South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State, the Orange Vreestat, because Dutch is nothing but phonetic English.

The Boers were largely descended from Dutch-speaking settlers who had established their own communities and political institutions in southern Africa.

Britain wanted to expand its influence, and the discovery of gold in the Transvaal had made the region even more important.

If you want to know where apartheid and all of that starts, you can trace it all the way back to the Dutch coming to South Africa.

Yep.

Fort Edward lay in the Spelunkin district, a remote and volatile part of the northern Transvaal.

Earlier incidents had included the shooting of Boers who had come to surrender, looting and insubordination among members of the carabiners.

The unit was supposed to suppress guerrilla activity, but its own conduct was becoming a problem.

There was the stately tomb where slept the great politician whose blood, whose name, whose temperament, and whose genius he had inherited.

There the sound of his title was a spell which had, through three generations, called forth the affectionate enthusiasms of Boers and artisans.

The Dutch language was the language of his nursery.

Among the Dutch gentry he had chosen his early friends.

Like, it had accrued tremendous wealth, tremendous power, and the kind of wars and practices of maritime trade and other things that were kind of founded by the Dutch became just, you know, normative across Europe, okay? The Dutch, they were master shipbuilders.

They had a strong and proud military tradition, which is one reason the Boers were so damn tough in South Africa.

But primarily, I mean, they...

Like, when the Germans were to Warcraft, and, like, when Italians are to, like, find food and sports cars, the Dutch are to, you know, the maritime trade.