He Is Another
Of The Kind 'sea Doctors' I Have Met With; He Came All The Way From
Simon's Bay To See Me, And Then Said, 'What Nonsense Is That?' When
I Offered Him A Fee.
This is a very nice place up in the
'gardens', quite out of the town and very comfortable.
But I
regret Caledon. A- will show you my account of my beautiful
journey back. Worcester is a fairy-land; and then to catch
tortoises walking about, and to see 'baviaans', and snakes and
secretary birds eating them! and then people have the impudence to
think I must have been 'very dull!' Sie merken's nicht, that it is
THEY who are dull.
Dear Dr. Hawtrey! he must have died just as I was packing up the
first Caffre Testament for him! I felt his death very much, in
connexion with my father; their regard for each other was an honour
to both. I have the letter he wrote me on J-'s marriage, and a
charming one it is.
I took Mrs. A- a drive in a Hansom cab to-day out to Wynberg, to
see my friends Captain and Mrs. T-, who have a cottage under Table
Mountain in a spot like the best of St. George's Hill. Very dull
too; but as she is really a lady, it suits her, and Capetown does
not. I was to have stayed with them, but Wynberg is cold at night.
Poor B-'s wife is very ill and won't leave Capetown for a day. The
people here are wunderlich for that. A lady born here, and with
7,000l. a year, has never been further than Stellenbosch, about
twenty miles. I am asked how I lived and what I ate during my
little excursion, as if I had been to Lake Ngami. If only I had
known how easy it all is, I would have gone by sea to East London
and seen the Knysna and George district, and the primaeval African
forest, the yellow wood, and other giant trees. However, 'For what
I have received,' &c., &c. No one can conceive what it is, after
two years of prison and utter languor, to stand on the top of a
mountain pass, and enjoy physical existence for a few hours at a
time. I felt as if it was quite selfish to enjoy anything so much
when you were all so anxious about me at home; but as that is the
best symptom of all, I do not repent.
S- has been an excellent travelling servant, and really a better
companion than many more educated people; for she is always amused
and curious, and is friendly with the coloured people. She is
quite recovered. It is a wonderful climate - sans que cela
paraisse. It feels chilly and it blows horridly, and does not seem
genial, but it gives new life.
To-morrow I am going with old Abdool Jemaalee to prayers at the
Mosque, and shall see a school kept by a Malay priest.
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