Rarely a burgher touched his hat before speaking to an officer, but he invariably shook hands with him at meeting and parting.

It is a Boer custom to shake hands with friends or strangers, and whenever a general visited a laager adjoining his own, the hand-shaking reminded one of the President's public reception days at Washington.

When General Joubert went from camp to camp he greeted all the burghers who came near him with a grasp of the hand, and it was the same with all the other generals and officers.

Whenever Presidents Kruger and Steyn went to the commandos, they held out their right hands to all the burghers who approached them, and one might have imagined that every Boer was personally acquainted with every other one in the republics.

It was the same with strangers who visited the laagers, and many a sore wrist testified to the Boer's republicanism.