he word.

The "Blue Paper" issued by the Union of South Africa presents a distinct
contrast. In the third paragraph of the very first page of this weighty
document, which deals with the recent rebellion, is the following
unusual sentence:

It is not surprising, then, that in the ferment aroused by the
gigantic struggle in Europe, which seemed to be shaking the
world to its foundations, young men began to see visions and
old men to dream dreams of what the outcome might be for South
Africa.

And this is followed by a still stranger passage:

The times were not without their signs. There was a seer in
Lichtenburg who had visions of strange import. Years ago and
long before any one in this country had dreamed of war he
beheld a great fight of bulls, six or seven of them, engaged
in bloody combat; a gray bull had emerged victorious from the
contest.

The bulls signified the great nations of Europe, and the gray
bull was Germany. Thousands had discussed this strange vision
and had remembered its prophetic character when, later, war
actually broke out. The vision seemed ominous. Germany was
predestined to triumph.

The seer is Niklaas van Rensburg, and he runs through this Government
report like a scarlet thread through gray homespun. It is around his
influence that the uprising of Sept. 15 is built. It is under his roof
that all manner of lurid conspiracies are hatched. Not only do his words
carry with the crowds that gather before his house to hear his prophecy,
but his warnings shape the actions of some of the Transvaal Generals.
The Government report will not go so far as to brand "Oom Niklaas" as a
hoax. Says the preface:

It is desired to point out that the narrative of events has
been compiled in as objective a manner as possible, and that
it contains no statement which is not borne out by evidence in
possession of the Government.

Evidently, to denounce visions of gray bulls as hocus-pocus would be to
describe a puzzling situation much too subjectively, since the
Government has apparently no evidence that these are not genuine
prophecy. The best the Government can do is to call them "extraordinary
and apparently quite authentic."

But the extraordinary part of it is that an illiterate old soothsayer
should be considered important enough to be included in an official
report.

His most famous and most influ