It Is
In A Lovely Spot; But Do You Remember The Schloss In Immermann's
Neuer Munchausen?
Well, it is that.
A ruin; - windows half broken
and boarded up, the handsome steps in front fallen in, and all en
suite. The rooms I saw were large and airy; but mud floors, white-
washed walls, one chair, one stump bedstead, and praeterea nihil.
It has a sort of wild, romantic look; I hear, too, it is
wonderfully healthy, and not so bad as it looks. The long corridor
is like the entrance to a great stable, or some such thing; earth
floors and open to all winds. But you can't imagine it, however I
may describe; it is so huge and strange, and ruinous. Finding that
the mistress of the house was ill, and nothing ready for our
reception, I drove on to the inn. Rain, like a Scotch mist, came
on just as we arrived, and it is damp and chilly, to the delight of
all the dwellers in the land, who love bad weather. It makes me
cough a little more; but they say it is quite unheard of, and can't
last. Altogether, I suppose this summer here is as that of '60 was
in England.
I forgot, in describing my journey, the regal-looking Caffre
housemaid at Eerste River. 'Such a dear, good creature,' the
landlady said; and, oh, such a 'noble savage'! - with a cotton
handkerchief folded tight like a cravat and tied round her head
with a bow behind, and the short curly wool sticking up in the
middle; - it looked like a royal diadem on her solemn brow; she
stepped like Juno, with a huge tub full to the brim, and holding
several pailfuls, on her head, and a pailful in each hand, bringing
water for the stables from the river, across a large field.
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