She Was Mighty Proud Of Her
Needlework And A B C Performances.
It is such a luxury to sleep on a real mattrass - not stuffed with
dirty straw; to eat clean food, and live in a nice room.
But my
cough is very bad, and the cruel wind blows on and on. I saw the
doctor of the Naval Hospital here to-day. If I don't mend, I will
try his advice, and go northward for warmth. If you can find an
old Mulready envelope, send it here to Miss Walker, who collects
stamps and has not got it, and write and thank dear good Lady
Walker for her kindness to me.
You will get this about the new year. God bless you all, and send
us better days in 1862.
LETTER IV - JOURNEY TO CALEDON
Caledon, Dec. 10th.
I did not feel at all well at Simon's Bay, which is a land of
hurricanes. We had a 'south-easter' for fourteen days, without an
hour's lull; even the flag-ship had no communication with the shore
for eight days. The good old naval surgeon there ordered me to
start off for this high 'up-country' district, and arranged my
departure for the first POSSIBLE day. He made a bargain for me
with a Dutchman, for a light Malay cart (a capital vehicle with two
wheels) and four horses, for 30s. a day - three days to Caledon from
Simon's Bay, about a hundred miles or so, and one day of back fare
to his home in Capetown.
Luckily, on Saturday the wind dropped, and we started at nine
o'clock, drove to a place about four miles from Capetown, when we
turned off on the 'country road', and outspanned at a post-house
kept by a nice old German with a Dutch wife. Once well out of
Capetown, people are civil, but inquisitive; I was strictly cross-
questioned, and proved so satisfactory, that the old man wished to
give me some English porter gratis. We then jogged along again at
a very good pace to another wayside public, where we outspanned
again and ate, and were again questioned, and again made much of.
By six o'clock we got to the Eerste River, having gone forty miles
or so in the day. It was a beautiful day, and very pleasant
travelling. We had three good little half-Arab bays, and one brute
of a grey as off-wheeler, who fell down continually; but a Malay
driver works miracles, and no harm came of it. The cart is small,
with a permanent tilt at top, and moveable curtains of waterproof
all round; harness of raw leather, very prettily put together by
Malay workmen. We sat behind, and our brown coachman, with his
mushroom hat, in front, with my bath and box, and a miniature of
himself about seven years old - a nephew, - so small and handy that
he would be worth his weight in jewels as a tiger. At Eerste River
we slept in a pretty old Dutch house, kept by an English woman, and
called the Fox and Hound, 'to sound like home, my lady.' Very nice
and comfortable it was.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 20 of 73
Words from 9856 to 10385
of 37925
