I Have Bought Some Cape 'confeyt'; Apricots, Salted And Then
Sugared, Called 'mebos' - Delicious!
Also pickled peaches,
'chistnee', and quince jelly.
I have a notion of some Cherupiga
wine for ourselves. I will inquire the cost of bottling, packing,
&c.; it is about one shilling and fourpence a bottle here, sweet
red wine, unlike any other I ever drank, and I think very good. It
is very tempting to bring a few things so unknown in England. I
have a glorious 'Velcombers' for you, a blanket of nine Damara
sheepskins, sewn by the Damaras, and dressed so that moths and
fleas won't stay near them. It will make a grand railway rug and
'outside car' covering. The hunters use them for sleeping out of
doors. I have bought three, and a springbok caross for somebody.
April 17th. - The winter has set in to-day. It rains steadily, at
the rate of the heaviest bit of the heaviest shower in England, and
is as cold as a bad day early in September. One can just sit
without a fire. Presently, all will be green and gay; for winter
is here the season of flowers, and the heaths will cover the
country with a vast Turkey carpet. Already the green is appearing
where all was brown yesterday. To-day is Good Friday; and if
Christmas seemed odd at Midsummer, Easter in autumn seems
positively unnatural. Our Jewish party made their exodus to-day,
by the little coasting steamer, to Algoa Bay. I rather condoled
with the pretty little woman about her long rough journey, with
three babies; but she laughed, and said they had had time to get
used to it ever since the days of Moses. All she grieved over was
not being able to keep Passover, and she described their domestic
ceremonies quite poetically. We heard from our former housemaid,
Annie, the other day, announcing her marriage and her sister's.
She wrote such a pretty, merry letter to S-, saying 'the more she
tried not to like him, the better she loved him, and had to say,
"Aha, Annie, you're caught at last."' A year and a half is a long
time to remain single in this country.
Monday, April 21st, Easter Monday. - The mail goes out in an hour,
so I will just add, good-bye. The winter is now fairly set in, and
I long to be off. I fear I shall have a desperately cold week or
so at first sailing, till we catch the south-east trades. This
weather is beautiful in itself, but I feel it from the suddenness
of the change. We passed in one night from hot summer to winter,
which is like FINE English April, or October, only brighter than
anything in Europe. There is properly, no autumn or spring here;
only hot, dry, brown summer, with its cold wind at times, and fresh
green winter, all fragrance and flowers, and much less wind. Mr.
M-, of whom I told you, has been in every corner of the far East -
Java, Sumatra, everywhere - and is extremely amusing.
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