But
Few Of The English Will Do Anything But Lounge; While They Abuse
The Dutch As Lazy, And The Malays As Thieves, And Feel Their
Fingers Itch To Be At The Blacks.
The Africanders (Dutch and negro
mixed in various proportions) are more or less lazy, dirty, and
dressy, and the
Beautiful girls wear pork-pie hats, and look very
winning and rather fierce; but to them the philanthropists at home
have provided formidable rivals, by emptying a shipload of young
ladies from a 'Reformatory' into the streets of Capetown.
I am puzzled what to think of the climate here for invalids. The
air is dry and clear beyond conception, and light, but the sun is
scorching; while the south-east wind blows an icy hurricane, and
the dust obscures the sky. These winds last all the summer, till
February or March. I am told when they don't blow it is heavenly,
though still cold in the mornings and evenings. No one must be out
at, or after sunset, the chill is so sudden. Many of the people
here declare that it is death to weak lungs, and send their
poitrinaires to Madeira, or the south of France. They also swear
the climate is enervating, but their looks, and above all the
blowsy cheeks and hearty play of the English children, disprove
that; and those who come here consumptive get well in spite of the
doctors, who won't allow it possible. I believe it is a climate
which requires great care from invalids, but that, with care, it is
good, because it is bracing as well as warm and dry.
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