IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V ^ // // i< * c?- €P, €/. m. e # 1.0 I.I ^- m 12.2 It itf 2,0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" — ^ m> <^/ V, # '^A c-: -^ ^' "■ry (Pm ^;. ^^j /^ ^.^ / O 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation m ak s V \\ "9) V ^^^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grace d la gdndrosit^ de: D.B. Weldon Library University of Western Ontario Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de Texemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim^e sont film6s en commenqant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. 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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 » Lft (St j|otefi from Ijur |og in ^outlt Mica; A \ I) ON FOOT THROUGH THE COLONIES AT Tlir: I'ARls KXHIlilTION. \.\ HARRIET A. BOOMER, Authvy r/"0\ Trek in tiie Tkanswvai.." l-'onbon, (Dnt.: I'-KKK I'KKSS I'RIXTINC; COM I'AN V, RICHMOND iirKEliT. lS8o. 42809 INTRODUCTION. I cannot launcl.1 my tiny ban[Ue upon Oiinadian waters without a low introductory words to explain wliy 1 ;uii venturesome enoui;]i to launch it at all. First and foremost, then, must come mv excuse. I want monev ; indeed, T want a L;ood deal, t') enaljie me to carrv out an object verv dear tn mv heart, and one in v\hich many friends in Kngland, and in this, our London, have already sliown much kindly interest, viz. : the foundation of a Divinity Scholarship m our own Huron College here. The long vacation is close at hand, and in the few intervening months ^^'hich must elapse l}efore the next term opens, I hope by strenuous effort, and through the continued help of generous friends, to have so added to our little nest-egij of somewhat over SGOO tliat a fitting candidate may Ije selected to receive sume measure of assistance from it, awaiting tlie better time when the egg shall have pro- IV. TXTliODUCTIOX. diiced its iull-i,no\vn cliick, and Ihu Huron Scholarsliip .sliall have become ai) established fact and worth y ol' its name. When my " Notes " were pul)h'shed in TIi' Colonics ami I)u]ja. a vahiable paper only too scantily circulated in Canada, people knew com})arativel}' little of South African travel- lin,u', nor is much wn^vc now known of that far away settlement ol' the Transvaal, the Haupt Busch IJerg. I venture to think, then, that althouLih a fev\' vears have ehi])sed since my scribble Avas written, it may luiATSome measure of interest for tlio>e who m\x\ care to read it ibr the first time no\\-. Xor can 1 believe that while the rockv koitjes of South Africa still resound with the horrible din of that terrible war, and the dvino- cries of r»iir own dear countrymen are yet echoing (jver Bei*'' and A^eldt. or whde that sad-hearted woman, the vidowed mother of the late Prince Imperiid, is absent there upon her self-imposed, most melancholy pil- grimage, there an> mtm} who would to-day, as they mij^ht have done Ijefore all these things came to pass, throw aside as unreadable even so modest a little record as this of travel in the Transvaal I IXTIIODUCTION. V. One word more and 1 have done. To my Soiitli Airican Jottings, 1 cannot resist this opportunity of adding' a few more made M-liile in Paris at the Kxliihition of 1878. T choose, naturally, those entered in my note l)Ook wliilst in the Canadian Department of that great World's Sliow— a Department ar- ranged and filled so creditaldy tliat it carried off the palm from tliose of all otlier colonies. Perhaps this last entry may have a value for some of my friends who, although tliey might not care mucli for far-away, poor, distracted .S(Hith Africa, may yet huy my little book for the sake of giving my small vessel a friendly shove off the docks into smooth v.\aters, and thus help me and the object so dear to me, i. t\, the foundation of the Huron Scholarslii]^. HAPcEIET A. BOOMEPt. .*:.* NOTES FROM OUR LOG IN SOUTH AFRICA. A THIl' TO TIIK IfArri T.USCII liERC. ••♦♦■ I • CItAITKK T. Ill'^IiE were live of us, all told, when the ijt. Ciiptaiu of our little party counted heads ^^ before starting : lirowne senior, who is my brother, Urowne junior, who is his son and n\y nephe\\', Hetty Browne, who is myself, and an old college cliuni of niv brother's, who has knocked about with him iu many lands, and whose most undeserved nickname of "Grim" will serve our i»nrpose as well as his i)aternal one, which it does not in the least resemble. Lastly, the Captain, an old campaigner in fields of peace as well as war, whose geniality, fund of general and practical information, and never- failing flow of good humour, render him a charming companion anywhere, but more especially when, as now, he forms one of a free-and-easy party all bent upon taking the largest amount of pleasure from, and making 8 A Til 11' TO TIIK IlAUrT I'.USCII UKUC as li^lit iiH possilJe of, any littlo (li'a\vl)ack M'liicJi may arise to mav tlie ]Kii't'('ct ciijoynu'iit of tlie tri]) wo luul loiiLi; promised ourselves to the (lovernmeiit forests of tlie Transvaal. These forests, we had heen told, were well worth visitinii", and that having' already seen so much of South Africa under other as])ects, W(^ cer- tainly ouL»ht not to turn our faces homewards witliout l)eholding her undei' just one as})ect more. "Let me pioneer you to the Haupt iJusch riern," had said our Captain, "and your log shall tell of other things than hare iiats and treeless wastes, dry river-beds and stony ascents. Of the last the least said the better certainly ; your river-beds will l»e full enough and to spare when vou return to Natal a little hater in the year ; the l)are Hats only need tlni magic <^f man's la])Our, blessed as such labour is sure to be, especially on this fruitful soil, by bounteous old INlother Nature, to blossom as a garden ; and wlieii you have seen one of onr forest scenes you will retract what you remarked in page dash of your log — ( you see 1 know all about it, Mis Hetty) that she was " niggardly " in this one good gift, so needful to man's com- fort and well-being in any clime. Wood, yes, plenty of it. Come, and judge for yourselves." This, and talk kindred to it had led us to decide upon taking one more trip before we left the Transvaal, the promise of our Captain's I A TKIP TO Till' IIAIPT I'.USril WVMi'r. \) 'k i^'uidanco iiinl coiupaiiioiislii]) liaviiiL;' turned the .scale ill favom* of our doin^ so. See us, tluui, WAidy \'ov our start tVnin tlie little luiuiui*" settlement <»r Mcrsteliu'j', iu the towusliip of Alarabasladt, ahout 150 miles From Pretoria, \vlii(;li had ix'eii Inr a while our tem- porary home. Our caini) liad lu'cn pitfdied not far from the shadow of the ''rand old Iron ^Mountain, arouiul wliich the thunder liad growled so often and so threateningly, hcforo roUiuii- awav to <»rumhle elsewliere, to return anou to bestow upon us another touch of its spleen, yet not having liurt us one whit aft(!r all. '' Good-hye, old growler!" cried Geoff, our bftv, sliaking his list at it l>v way of parting salute. " i should Just a1)out like to have one mon; dive into your (^aves and hidinii' hohi.^!, to unearth some of th(^ mysteries of whi(di you hold the key. What about those bones and skulls, old chap, those signs and synd)ols indented ujxm your cavern walls ^ AVhat about " '' Geoff, don't rhapsodise," I exclaim from inside our l(S-feet-long canvas-covered house on wheels, " but hand me the bag of tea, the rusks, the butter, ( I wish we could get more of it!) the six tins of preserved milk, and the Brand's essence of beef." My brotl^er and Grim, his dear familiar, as we call him, have gone on wdth the dogs and our two surviving horses, hoping to have some- 10 A TRIP TO TlIK IlAUri BUSOH BERG. tiling ill their game-bags for us, even if tliey do not come across a buck, before we overtake tliem at oui lirst outspau at jNIarabastadt proper. I sav " their game-bau.s. " but if dear okl Grim's bag is full it is certain he will not have filled it himself, except he has done so with the precious lailbs of wliicli ho is so untiring a i>rubber. We liave a pleasant fiction that Grim could shoot anything he liked if he chose, but that he does not choose, he being tender of heart. Once in the stew-pan, Grim ceases to com- miserate its victims, and blessed as we all are, with a good ap})etite, enjoys his meal as heartily as if their fate had never cost him a thought. It was a lovely morning late in August, 1875, when we heard the last puff, pulf of the engine as it crushed the golden specks out of the quartz which the Kahrs were ceaselessly shov- elling into the greedy old mill as we passed it on our way out of the settlement. We rumlded by the shafts, with their busy workers above and below liround, and the st'~>ne-laden carts on their ^\'ay to the ^^■()rks ; and we startled the grou]> of tame ostriches placidly feeding around the last of the Katir-lmilt huts, occupied by the oiiplofjes on the estate, nothing coming amiss to their palate or injuring their powers of digestion. The sky was almost of a royal l)lue — not a cloud flecked it ; but as we rounded the kopje (koppy, or small hill), clouds we saw which arose from the earth, and warned us that A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BU8('H liERC. 11 we were nearing- a grass fire, or rather the scene of where that element had been hohlino- liigh carnival just before. Enough remained to liave done us a mischief if the road liad been less beaten, or had the wind brought the reniainini;- flames straight towards us, instead of only crosswise, leaving us but a narrow belt at a time to get over. Tlie oxen plodded on with undisturbed tramp over the I turning ground, whilst the Kafir forelooper simply changed his action from the noiseless pad, pad of his naked feet upon the sandy track, to an almost graceful dance, as he, never losing his hold of the trek- tow, every now and again avoided l)y a boun(i a more angrv-lookin^- i)atcli of Idaze than anv winch had Idtherto checked liis course. "What jolly fellows those Kalirs arc 1" remarks Geoff, wiio admires pluck heartily wlierever he sees it, and who had before been struck with their seeming indifference to pain. " Why, tiie red- hot plough-share of the old trial by ordeal would be a joke to them ;"' The Captain, who has been busily employed meanwhile giving an extra toucli of polish to his faithful old rilie in the half ol' the waggon devoted to the use of the gentlemen by day, and partitioned ofl' from my sanctum by a canvas curtain removable at will, bids us draw it now and look over the heads of cur oxen for the first ]3eep at Marabastadt. " Do not expect too much, uood folks ; it is earlv times for the <« If If 12 A TRir TO THE ITAUPT JIUSCII BERG. Transvaal, and the so-called towns are eaeli but a nucleus of the cities they will certainly become by-and-by, especially if the longed-for annexation brincjs from Em-land that l)est of wealth — people — to cultivate her fruitful soil." ^larabastadt certainly did not hjok very impos- ing as we entered it. Some six or eight houses — only one or two of any pretension whatever, one belonging to tlie landrost, or magistrate, and the otlier to a gentlemen from the (Jape, who had settled there as mercliant, land-owner, &c. — two or three stores, and a kind o*' round house or jail, form the whole town. Hei'e a tent and tliere a waggon, here a group of Kafir women thrashing out the corn after their primitive fashion upon tlie ground by tlie roadside, and there a herd of oxen and horses grazing under the side of the hill. These L>ave the life and colouring to it winch otherwise as a picture it would liave sorely needed. "Is it climate or people," I imjuire, " which one should blame for the sleepiness which pervades every little Dutch M)orp' one sees ?" "A little of both," I ain told, " with the stag- nation whicli naturally ensues from isolation and want of the stir excited by competition. Why, even our little cavalcade (our two riders having meanwhile joined us) will probably be the last, as it has been the hrst, to arrive for a whole week at least !" My brother gives the order to outspan — i.c.y ' A TlilP TO TIIK HAUrX liUSCIl HKRd. .3 unyoke our trusty oxen for a two hours' graze and rest, for we liave l)een fullv three hours on trek since we left our (quarters in tlie niornino-. Dick, oar driver, witli the aid of the young " Oomfan," a snuill Kafir who acts as odd johber and general servant, i)roceeds to the usual bus- iness of "cooking the kettle." I hunt out our stores from the large canvas pockets which line the waggon on either side, and wliat we do not diti'nifv by the name of a meal, but wliat is recognised amongst us as " a little feed," is in processs of preparation. We are to liave a feast bye-and-bye, for one game bag lias a corpu- leiu'c wbiich compensates for the leanness of its fellow, giving promise of a savoury niess, whilst the other has a rattle of ominous sound wliich miv Ioniser hanjj.ini'' ; we are in no areat hurry, so we let tlie tire have its way witli them, assured that its way will be a good one, and thattlie tln-ee brace of partridges and tlie Koorhaan will have a sorry look al)out tliem ])resently. Our ])ot deserves mention, for it is an ini])rovement u}x»n tlie usual thing of its kind in use bv travellers in South x^frica. Our Captain lias fasli'^ned Ins "digester" (a. mucli more soundimi; uue tlian its original of Kaiir pot) so that tlie lid fits just tightly enough to exclude dust, whilst it admits air. It hangs underneath th.e waggon, where it would, lidless, be speedily full of sa]id and dirt; therefore, this improvement is of great value. After a meal, it the stew be not consumed, the remainder is left for next time, all and sundry being added thereto. *' Dishing up " is a refine- ment of life V e dispense with on trek, a large ladle supplying each plate as its hungry owner cries out for "more." Side by side or very near to it, is usually slung the water-barrel " i\[isbus," says Dick just at this juncture, " I think ^\■e forgot the water-barrel ! or else we ]nust have dropped it in that nasty spruit we came througli this morning."' One would thiid\ A TRIP TO THE llAUPT BUSCH BERfl. 15 the " l^oy " knew that I was writing in my log about that barrel ! Yes, sure enough, there is no barrel, and Dick miglit almost as well have come away without his head as without tliat most indispensable article. The oxen often have to go a weary while without a drink; but bipeds who need water equally and can more easily provide for its supply, have only themselves to blame if they go thirsty. The water may frequently be hot and mnddy, but it is better than none, and ^\'llen presented to tlie parched lips in the shape of refreshing tea — warm or cold — or fragrant coU'ee, one thinks verv little of its oriu;ii)al shade, or of v.diat horrible things the in([uisitive microscope would surely reveal if permitted to meddle with it undiluted. A barrel is lent us at tlie farm close by, so to-morrow we can go on our way rejoic- ing. Wednesday. — A black paw hands me in througli the waggon curtain my early cup of delicious coffee while tlie oxen are being in- spanned. Geoff has shouted out to me "(iood- bye. Aunt Hetty, you can have another snooze in the wa^uon till breakfast time. We are off with our uuns. I dare sav we shall have the lire lighted and all ready for you by the time those fourteen old snails reach the camping- ground." And so they had; for they had not wandered far atield, and they had chosen for our resting-place a. very lovely spot, close by a IG A TIJTP TO Tin: HAITT IJUSCil P^EEC farm, with its garden and orange grove, pic- ture.s(|iu!ly situated 1)eneatli a large irregular "l)Oss"'* or kopje, a hill, all boulders of dazzliugly- white elear ([uartz. JJetween these l:>oulders grow lovely plants and heaths of every description, many like the tree trained over wire in our old lionie garden, bearing a red berrv, wlien tlie Hmver, a small lavender one, has died away, (rrim brings several specimens of flower and leaf ( Jeolf, who fancies he sees gold in every stone, de}>osits about a small wheel- j »arrow-full, or thereabouts, of them, by my side in a heap, expecting me " to stow them away somewhere ; " the Ca])ti\in brings a contribution of oranges and some large lemons; and my brother unslings liis qame-bau' witli an air of triumpli, for it contains a medley of victims wliirh liad l\dlen to his gun and tlie Captain's during their two hours' tran)]) soon after day- break. '^AVe came upon them down by the Mei (pronounced Flay), so it was almost a case of wholesale slaughter. We must not expect such luck every dav- Those dogs are first-rate, and Druno is learning his lessons splendidly. He'll beat his elders 1)efore long 1 " Brnno wags Lis tail furiously at the praise his master gives him, and there is not much doubt tliat if it was a hard time to-day for the poor, bonnie wild birds, whose lovely plumage he has somcAvhat mauled in his youthful eagerness, it will be a still harder time to-morrow. A TKIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCII BERG. 17 CHAPTEE 11. Our journey for many hours has alternated between hills and Hats. We saw constantly smoke and Hames in the distance, the high winds of the previous week having spread theni farther than the hand wdiicli started them had originally intended. This is one of the usual seasons for grass burning, the object of it being to procure good crops for the coming year. A wasteful enough plan it seems to be, but, under the present condition of things in this thinly populated country, the only one feasible. A great many burnings are occasioned bv carelessness, and even wilfulness, a Kafir loving a blaze, and not being particular how near lie may be to cultivated lands or home- steads when he creates one. His own liut, constructed as it is of such light materials, just twisted tM'io's and lono- coarse grass, often not even daubed over with mud, ma}^ burn down and lie does not waste a sigh over its ashes. His wives will soon fetcli Idm material for another, and his share of the reconstruction thereof will probably consist of a lazy w^atch- ing of their labour when lie is not either sleeping or snufHng. " House-building made easy, with a venge- ance," says my brother. " What a first-rate 18 A TKTP TO THE IIAUIT JaTSCII 15ERG. climate this is, when you are nearly as com- fortable without a roof over your liead as with one. Better, I tliink, for tliis roughing it and these constant drauuhts of Heaven's own pure air " " So long as you keep clear of the fever dis- tricts, old fellow/' unex])ectedly puts in Clrim, who, witli ills pickaxe ])y liis side and Ids puggaree-covered old felt tilted over his nose, lay at full lengtli seennngly asleep, hut wide enough awake to hear what we were saying. "I beg your pardon. Jack ; you were going to remind Miss Hetty how much the open-air life and this temperate climate have, thanks to their (liver, done for herself and Geoff, strength- ening their lungs (people at home shook their heads over them both, asserting prematurely that they had not a pair between them), and G'ivini'' them a new lease of life as it were. When I get back to England I shall advise every one I may meet Imving that premonitory symptom usually called a ' hacking cough/ to bring it out here and leave it here also. ' When found, make a note of/ so, put that in the log, Miss Hetty." At 2 ]^. m. we outspanned by the farm of a Dutch Boer. We had planned a short stay only, but the fires around us, which seemed at a safe distance, came on at a gallop, making it evident that we must take precautions to save ourselves, our animals and waggon without A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT HUSCII UYAUi. 19 delay. Grim had as usual started off to explore, and it was while we were watcliing for liis reappearance at the foot of the Kopje, from behind whicli tlie fire was advancing'', that we perceiv^ed at wliat a startling pace it travelled US-ward. Our men rushed off to collect tlie oxen, which were peacefully gi'azing on the Hat, so soon to hecome a blackened mass. Tlie Dutchman's son and Kafirs went out to drive in their live stock, the horses coming at a canter, with their colts careerinu ijlavfully after their manner by their sides, Grim, with his little dog "Bo," bringing up the rear. A conscience prick reminds me that I have not introduced " Bo" to you before, an omission for which I cannot readily forgive myself. "Bo" is everybody's dog and pet, with his long- ears, softly speaking eyes, and ostrich feather of a tail, which curls somewhat saucily over his back, and to touch which he considers an impertinence. Picture us grouped around our temporary home, all who are classed under the head of able-bodied being actively employed. I am snuffed out as one not knowing her place on offering my services, so I retire in dudgeon to the shelter of the waggon, and console myself with telling you all about it. Some have sacks, some have boughs and bushes, indeed anything they can lay hold of, where wdth to beat down the flames they themselves have kindled within 20 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT UUSCII BEKd. a safe circle about our camp, so as to island us oft' from the bii»' recl-flariiifj sea whose fire waves threaten us on nearly every side. The birds are wheeling ovc^rhead, disturbed from their haunts, uttering weird cries, which have in til em more of rejoicing than of lament, for this is a rare harvest-time for them. As the snakes, lizards, and other creeping things flee Irom before the element they dread, the fowls of the air pounce upon them and make them their prey. Oh .' it is a grand sight ! Except just close to us, but near enough for their hot breath to fan cur cheeks, we are surrounded bv Hames. They come at a gallop, they come at a CTdwl ; now in a straight line, now in single file, as tlie inecjualities of the ground and the growth which covers it may determine, but wind-driven, eddv-chased ever. Some hu<:>e boulder, some thread of a running spruit, some small hillock checks them for a brief space, and then more flames " to the rescue," the boulder is leaped, the spruit laughed to scorn, the hillock surrounded, and tlie fire- demon reigns supreme. " Has it not reminded you of a cavalry charge, Miss Hetty ? " asks the Captain, as, panting with his exertion and grubby as any sweej), he joins me, followed by Jack and Grim. IC Gentlemen," I r nianv other things espon besides d, " it does, and of :;'* but I really can A TRIP TO THE IIALTT HUSCII BEKG. 21 discuss nothing with becoming gravity with either of you until — until — well, until you have washed yourselves ! Allow me to liand you the pewter basin and the soap and the towel. The kettle boiled without an effort on my part, and I have taken tlie li[)erty to add a little wasliing soda as an aid to cleanliness." My "chaff" is taken in good part by the trio, Jac-k only saying, as they carry olf the kettle and basin, *' 'Let those laugli wlio win,' cliild. If we had become less Idack, you might have been a very burnt and shrivelleo had looked up at me with his pretty speaking eyes, streaming with tears, as were my own, and with a reproachful expres- sion, as much as to say, '' How could you be so unkind as to give me this extremely unpleasant sensation." Up to the last possible moment he had ])ee?i. enjoying great sport, chasing the escaping frog, lizard, &c.; but his romps had been ruthlessly cut short at his first personal contact with the fire itself. His bark had died away into a dismal howl as he limped to me for protection, with damaged paw, singed tail, and the depressed and dejected air of a 22 A Tiur To Tin: iiaui'T r.uscni heik;. dog who IkkI certniiily got tlie worst of it. We iiispaniied wliuii tliu lo.ad was sulliciently clear to admit of our making a start, ami travelled for hours over tlie Inirnt ground, frecjuently crossing still burning patches ; w hich seemed to have been set alight as by an at'terthought wlieu tlui more pressing business oF the fire-kino's messengers liad been accom- ])lished. For miles and miles we could see flames, the liorizon aglow everywhere. The grass is so dry that it catches lire instantane- ously, but buins itself out so rapidly that mimosa trees and even nnieh smaller shrubs escape with only a scorching. Two of the [)arty rode on to select a camping })lace, and \\e found all ready for us as we huubered up to oui' (piarters for the night. Tlie bare br<»ad track separated us from tlie enemy's l)roadsides ; the wind favored our position, and their amumnition was, so to speak, well nigh spent, but enougli remained to keep both sides on tlie nlert. " How liobgoblinish we look, don't we ? " enquires Geoff of the party gen- erally, and indeed not only do we look weird and uncanny, but so do our surroundings. The very oxen, as they lie each in its place, fastened as usual to the trek-tow (or chain), taking no notice of wind-howls or liame, and placidly chewing the cud before dropping off to sleep, seem twice their size, and tlieir horns, as they clatter them together every now and again, A TIlIl* TO TIIK IIAUI'T JiU.SUII HEliri. 0*1 a])])ii{ii' iilrnost nuniueiii*^'. Tho grim and gaunt FAiphorbias, with their odd ghostlike arms, luive a come-near-me-if-you-dare air enough tochiunt the timid soul, but they have for (feolf and me a kind of faseiniition of which neitlier is ashanunl, as we confide to one another the fancies which possess us, and tell one anotlier of what we have seen witli our mental eyes during the titful silences into which we lapse. "Good night, Geoll';' 1 say. "My thoughts have travelled Lack to the dear old home. Don't break the spell, old boy, I want to carry it to roost with nie, that J may have; ha])py dreams, and forget that I am in South iVfrica for just one little while." " That is odd, Auntie ; I have been at home too for full five minutes, and I want to stop there as nmch as you do. I'll just hel]) you to tundile up into your perch and hand you the lantern, and then I'll turn in, as 1 see JJad and Grim have done already. Tlie nu^n have done so long ago, and tlie Captain, 1 know, only wants to see all safe to follow their example. Good night." CHAPTER III. Thursday. — Who does not know the cliill feeling which creeps over the senses on visiting at day dawn the scene of a last night's merry- 24 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT PUSCH BERG. P !' > II makiiifr, whether of ball or of banquet, or of the mistletoe-crowned, holly-decked hall of the laro'e family gatlierino- ? Wliat a glamour had come from the lights alone I Half of the fun and the ri])])ling laughter it gave birth to had been owing to the warm encouragement tliey gave, as tliey ..lade bright eyes brigliter, and merry hearts merrier "At it alreadv, vou dear old scribbler?" cries my ])oy, peeping over my shoulder. '' Well, it is liard to come down from the clouds to this work-a-day world again, I must confess, and such a black and cinderv wilderness of a world as this is, too. T believe we really were in Wonderland last night, Auntie, and that this is some sort of a penalty for trespassing there ; but Dick must hurry u]^ those laz}' cattle, to get us out of this dismal old hole, and into soniethinu' more worth looking" at. Hulloah ! what is he up to ? we're off the track ; " and he leaps over the tail-l)oard of the vraggon, Bo after him, to join the beckoning figures in the distance, whose signals had caused our driver to change his course. Grim had, as usual, started off for what is termed amongst us his " preliminary canter/' and the Captain and Jack had gone \\ith horses, dogs and guns in search of game, yesterday's fire having been a sad spoil-sport. One of them had just shot a fine " riet-bok," or reed buck, and the waggon was wanted to come and fetch IT mmmmmmBmm A TRIP TO THE HAUPT liUSCH BERd. 25 it. It was an animal of fair size, weiuhina' about 85 or 90 lbs., fawn coloured, and about 34 inches high. Its horns were ringed at their base with a circular curve towards their tip. The Captain told us that it was not so swift as many of its near rekitions, and tliat it had an absurd habit of scpiatting until the hunter gets so near tliat it becomes an easy prey. "What a duffer:" says Geoff ;^" but it is good Ibr us that this specimen was no wiser than its fello^vs, for I have a notion that the Digester liad nothing to speak of left in it when I took my last dip last night, and unless I get those two pheasants lUuno and Turk are put- ting up at this very moment we'll be vn short commons ere lono." The Ca})tain's shot had l>roaght down the birds before Geoff could get near tliem, thouuli he was off like an arrow IVom the bow ; but it was with full hands he joined us at our next outspan, under the lee of a grand iiigged-look- ing kopje, overgrown between its massive bould- ers with vegetation of every kind, from huge trees to the tiniest fern. Opposite it, witli a large plain between, was its twin brother, oi. the same granite formation, and clothed ])y mother Nature in garments of the same shade of colouring, and after the same bountiful man- ner. Altogether, the scenery through which we have passed for the last two or three hours has been very lovely, tropical as it is bound to (1 26 A TKIP TO TilK IIAUPT LUSCH BERG. I) ; 1)6, and therefore C|uaint and unliomelike. Aloes are plentiful, and so are the eupliorljias, with their fleshy branches turned upwards, bearing an odd resemblance to candelabras, the candles of which it would certainly puzzle any one to light, so fenced around are the sockets (to carry out the metaphor) with what has the appear- ance of bristles. A milky-white poisonous juice exudes from the euphorbia tribe gener- ally, which it is ascertained can be turned to useful account, as it takes the consistence of an india-rubber-like gum. The lvafir-l)oom, with a scarlet bloom on its leafless bouohs, caught my eyes every here and there, the foliage fol- lowing, instead of preceding, the flower, as do other trees and tioweririii shrubs in South Africa. At first I imagined some large red bird had settled on the gnarled-looking, dark-barked tree, or that some balloon of crimson silk had, all ribanded and torn, ^^'eary with its long llight from other lands, come to a pitiful ending in tliese ^vilds ; but, as we neared first one and tlien another, I could almost count the large, long flowers ^^'hich formed the clusters, and recognized thai it was only another wonder upon which, my eyes had lighted, and w^hich it required but a little longer experience to make me thorougldy and heartily admire. The sugar- busch, fig, mimosa, cacti, orchids on the ground and up in the trees. How- er after flower, tree after tree, shrub after shrub. Grim brings me speci- T A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCH BERG. 2 / mens, seeds, bulbs, &c., some of wliich will reach England safely, I hope. How gay our sln^ubberies would look if even some few of these productions which grow so profusely liere could be prevailed upon to live undei* our cloudy skies at liome ! " Do you see tliat gorgeous plant yonder, Grim ? " says the Captain. " That is the Gi'eya- Sutherlandi, so called after Sir George Grey and Dr. Sutherland, of Xatal, wdiicli lias only just bloomed in England at the Duke of Sutherland's, oddlv enough after having failed at Kew." Grim started on his hobby, carries off the Captain with him, and the pair get soon beyond our reach. I try to follow at a humble distance, hoping to glean a crumb or two of real know- ledge about the natural products of tlie couritry ^vorth transcribing in my log. Wlien they speak of the Arduinia grandiflora, I have not at first the least notion that they mean the Natal j^lum, with its shining, polished leaves, and large white stars of fragrant blossoms, or that it belongs to the Apocynaceous family of plants. (" I defy you to spell that," whispers Geoff.) " All succulent plants which yield a milky juice are called by the Dutch Milkbosch, and the Cinchonaceous family, which comprises over 2,000 species, is largely represented in South Africa." " JFhat kind of family may that be with the long surname ? " I modestly ask. |[ i> Iff i: w^ T 28 A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT ]iUSCH BERG. i i!i! 'IJ "A var;t variety, amongst them — ipecacuanha, quinine, Jesuit's bark, and coffee — claim it as theirs, many of them bearing flowers of great beauty. Then there are the scaiiet Loranthus or the South African mistletoe, the repulsive Stapelia or Carrion Hower, which attracts flies bv its most (lisai»Teea]jle odour, and which is looked upon with intense disgust and almost loathin^^, and yet wliich lias i>r(^at interest for the true lover and learner of Nature, and the cucurbitacecO (gourds, Miss Hett},) are in many varieties likewise. You are not likely to forget the tliorned mimosa, Grim." . . . Here Bo, who had been lazily snapping at Hies and basking in the sun, set up a howl of such appealing pathos that we all gazed at him in terror, Geoff's being of a quality so exaggerated that I, who knew him so well, scented mischief, the others creditiiiu' Bo witli a rarer iutellio'eiice and instinct than dog e^er possessed before. " Nor is Bo likely to forget it either," said Grim. "The very name inspin^s him with terror, you see, ever since he was so cruelly impaled on that terrible 'wait-a-bit' or 'wagt eiii Ijeetji,' as tlie Dutch liave it: he gives a wide berth to any of its kind, as, indeed, do bigger beasts tlian himself We who rescued him have scars to show n()\\', and Miss Hettv had a hard time of it with her needle and thread tliat day." " Besides the mimosa trees with spikes, witli hooks, and with straight spear-like thorns, A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCII BKK(i. 29 -) there is the sickle thorn," continued tlie Captain, " which actually cuts sharply as any knife into the animal's very skin." At this juncture Dick's voice announces that our meal awaits us, and an uncommonly good one it is, though Mrs. Glasse, Mrs. Eundell, or even Soyer liimself would have been aghast had they seen the variety whicli formed its component parts. " I. believe," said Grim, with the serio-comic look which improves him so much, '*if we did not keep a sharp look-out \^'hen Dick and Oomfan are preparing our stew they would pop in fur, feathers, and all ; and what is more, that we should eat them too with our ever-ready appetites. I must say they have outshone themselves to-day, or is it tliat I am even hunorier than usual ? Ve^etaldes also. What a large onion ! " A ghastly pallor over- S[)read his face, as after a second's contempla- tion (tf the seeming vegetable he gasped, " Not anotlier mouthful, for your lives. It is my Ha:^manthus, a bulb of deadly poison. How could it — liowever could it have got into the pot ? " " Calm yourself, Grim, and go on witli your dinners," quoth tlie C^aptain. " Blame your near sight for the unnecessary alarm. It is not the poison bulb you take it for, but that of tbe true lily, which is perfectly innocuous, though I should be sorry to recommend it as a pot-flavourer to any one." Grim looked so disconcerted and Geoff so Ji- ll •t At i b I V I 30 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT P.USCII BERG. repeiitiint that I rejoiced when Jack — whose thouglits liad been elsewhere and thus had fortunately taken no note of wliat had passed — started a suLJect of conversation without any touch of apropos to it, i.e., some of the odd customs of the Dutch of South Africa. " Dick has been telling me," lie remarked, " of a curi- ous ijroof of filial atiection shown bv a son to his father, with wliicli tlie latter was highly pleased, viz., the gift of the planks needful for his coffin whenever the old gentleman should require one. T]ie idea seems ghastly ! " " At first sight I grant it does," answered our Captain, " but it is not without some reason and excuse, and after all, ' Evil be to him that evil thinketh.' " We are now nearing the large forests of the Transvaal, and find it more difficult to realize the many inconveniences occasioned by lack of timber, than when we were traversing tho^e long weary miles of veldt with its far-apart homesteads and treeless "wastes. The Dutch nearly always keep coffin planks ready for tlie emergency which comes to all alike, and T do not think their equal spirits are in the least affected, nor their appetites lessened Ijy the knowledge that the solid rafters overhead of their "fore-huis" or living room, support the wherewithal to build them that other house they will certainly need some day. The gift is no mean one either, for distance and the difficulties of transit make A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCII BER(.;. ol wood very costly. To offer to purchase of a Boer any of these specially reserved planks is almost deemed an insult, wldcli onlv vour ignorance of the customs of Ids people could excuse ; but liere come the cattle, and Dick will want to inspan, so I vote we lend a hand to j\[iss Hetty and then talce to our saddles, that we may more speedily seek out a. good camping ground at the Haupt iJusch Berg, which we shall reach at our next outsnan." It ii! !»■ It : 1 II. CHAPTER lY. At 2 p. ni. we reach the Wood Busli Village, the last settlement in the Transvaal, in whicli, except for a short time in each year, it is safe for the white man to live. It verges closelv on the tsetse-fly region so destructive to cattle. I had heard so much of the death-dealing power of this insect pest, that I was astonished when the Captain told me how small it was as to actual size. "Hardly more than half an inch long, Miss Hetty, but almost always fatal to the beast, however large it may be, which it attacks. I have seen its poor victim with drooping ears, watering eyes, and swelled tliroat, pinJng away gradually, succumbing to the poison in its system at last, even if a certain tenacity of life which some animals, like some people, possess i 32 A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCil liEKC. 'I 111 in greater degree than others, enables it to con- tinue the struggle from weeks into months. At first it eats ravenously, hut only for a while. Appetite once gone, kindly death soon comes to its rescue. Its very skin is found punctured if removed from its fieshless bones afterwards. Horses and oxen which have survived this blood poisoning, as well as those which liave survived the other diseases of the country, are called ' salted,' and rise immensely in value in consequence. We are on the safe side where we are now, but a little fartlier on we sliould assuredly lose every animal we have. The hunting grounds of tlie tsetse are well known fortunately, and the increase of population will do much towards their extinction hereabouts, for tliey follow tlie larger game mostly, and as civilization drives the latter farther afield, so will tlieir foes go with them. There is one peculiarity by which this llv can be recognised. it/*/ U CD It folds it wings one over the other, making the two look like one. The Delagoa Bay route is closed, fur the present at least, by the prevalence of tliese obnoxious little creatures, for man is too dependent upon liis animals on trek to risk bringing them througli a belt of country infested by them, however little x»ower they may have to injure himself" The village is beautifully situated on a well- w^ooded hill, the vallev and surrounding hills being dotted abijut Ijy the huts, tents, waggons. A TJUP TO THE lIAbTT BUSCTI BERG. and houses of the residents, temporary or other- 'wise. The sun is too hot for nie to venture out of tlie shade, so I scribble lazily with my back against the waggon-wheel, while Dick lights the tire, puts up the tent, and Oonifan busies himself over minor preparations for our coming meal, suljmitting without audilVle remonstrance to what sounds a trilie like bullying on Dick's part. There is in the daily intercourse of our " boys " such an odd mixture of (quarrelling and playfulness, downriglit anger and practical jok- ing, jocular thumps and sounding " wliacks," that I am often at a loss to separate the meaning of the one from the other. " Fun and fisticuffs," Geoff calls it ; adding, " wliichever they begin with, we may Ije sure they will end with its vice versa.'' The cjuieter Oomfan is at the moment, the more sure is he to be planning a retaliation in kind, so 1 have a notion some mischief is brewing now. My men folk are off exph^ring, following their several bents. My brother and the Captain have a notion of look- in u; at some of the farms hereabouts ; whether with a view to purcliase or only to form a com- pleter judgment of the capabilities of this grand country, I know not; but farm-hunting they are. Grim is botanizing, and Geoff, with his gun and dogs, will bring a pot contribution presently. " Ah ! here they come ! " Grim, with Bo at his heels, and Geoff with crest somewliat less 1 1< I I' II ; 1 I 1 . I i i' I y i I "I 34 A Tiai' TO THE IIAUIT BU.SCII HEHG. Ir I i 18 li erect than usual. " Just my luck," he cried ; " 1 should have bagged such a lug paauw but for that little wretch of a Ho starting up when he wasn't wanted." Now the paauw is by no means l»ad eating even when one is not nn trek, and 1 must confess that I am angry w ith Ko too, and share in Geolt "s disap})ointment. This bird, which is commonly called the wihl turkey, is really the l)ustar(l. It has been termed the " wild peacock " also, but not correctly so, I fancy, unless, like Bo-peep's slieep, those we iiave seen have " left their tails behind them." From ti]) to tip of tlie extended wings the paauw lias i)een known to measure seven ieet, wliilst its proportionate height lias lieen live feet. The feathers are white, soft, and downy, and its ilesh, which is perhaps a little coarse and nuich too dry, reminds one of an elderly pheasant which had commenced life as a wild duck. The meat of the breast being brown and that of the limbs white, favours this fancy, and, as Geofl' has it, " at least gives some colour to the notion." The koorhaan is a bird much smaller, of the same species, and one which oftener finds its way into our pot than the paauw, which is more coy, and " takes more shooting." Dick has busied himself with the preliminary process of cleaning the horns of the reed-buck for which I have asked, not from their be- ing especially befiutiful, but in memory of A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BU8CH HKKO. t tlie place and day of their l)ein^ i>rociii'ed, The Ciiptaiu and Jack liave returned, accom- panied l)ytlie Itev. ^Ir. Pickhardt, a "real Hol- lander," who in the short time lie liad l)een their pastor lias done wonders amonii,'st the inhabitants of the Wood Busch Villai'e, i^ivinii' tlie i>arents some sense of tlie l)eauty and comfort of clean- liness, and the chihlren a taste for knowledge. His school is well attended, and it gave us (piite a home feeling to hear the merry voices of tlie youngsters laugliingly echoed to iis on the hill-side as they scattered to their homes below. Not the least of tlie l)enelits conferred by their minister must l)e this somewhat new element in Dutch family life in South Africa, which si^ems, as a rule, to have too much of gravity and decorum for the ease of true ha])- piness. 1 cannot think the Dutch have no sense of humour whatever, l)ut I am sure lacy have no synonym for the word "fun." The children apparently know no " games." They do not " play " as do the little ones of other lands. A boy is rarely seen without the long whip in his hand, which he cracks at intervals. This is his one notion of amusement, and it l;as the further merit of being good training for the waggon driving he will take to in due time as a fish does to water. There is variety in our camp scene to-night, for there is more of human life around and about us ; the kindly blink of lamp and candle 3r. A TIUl' TO THE HAUPT 15USCII BEIKI. IS I -.1 from tlie small mtid ciottage, round liut-tonts, the temporary liome o( frail construction with its l>aml)oo sides and canvas roof, and the buck- wa^uon of travellers likeourselves,all contribute to tlie sense of ^ood conniideship each in turn im[>arts. The light has ditnl out almost suddenly as is its wont. ^NFy brother's interest is great in all our visitor can tell of this tine country, whose ])raises the Litter evidently likes to sound, and to whose sliortcomings he is indul- gently blind: so tlie candles nearly die away, and subside into the necks of the two black bottles which serve as our candlesticks, before Jack can part, ^\'ith our guest, of whom we hope to see more on our return Irom the forests which we ex]^ect to reach to-morrow. 13Tii. — We agree to breakfast comfortably bef(.'re starting, and during, as well as after, our meal are variously " interviewed " after a kindly fa.^liion enough. J)ick interprets readily any little interchanue of civilitv whicli falls to mv share, but dund)-sliow does the rest, and althoiigli as a rule I object to being gazed at stolidly or otlierwise, it seems surlv to show signs of dis- ap] »roval , and I do not now, as at first, nervousl}' ])ut the salt into the sugar-bag and the rusks where the cartridges ought to be, but I look up at intervals with a little nod or smile as if on the whole I was as well entertained as mv visitors. A young Yorkshireman, a member of the ^ '* A THIP TO THE IIAITT HUSCII llKItC. 37 only English Family in tlio ])ljice,uii(lei'takes to guide us up the l»erg, siddinn- six more oxen to our ten, whicli, as wo are travelling liglic, sulliee for our usual needs. The ascent of the l)erg will commence almost at once after we have crossed the noisy, rocky little s[)ruit at the base of the hill, so T am left alone in the waLjiJon — the men-folk m)ing on fdiead.as thev usuallv do. "Lazy Hetty," they call me; l>ut, indeed, it is tlie sun which makes nie so, if lazy I am, the tilt of the waggon being a most welcome shelter, and one which I am loth to leave until the tierce ravs have done their worst, and the rare shadows fall invitini>lv across the sandv, boulder- studded track. The Haupf Bui^cli Brrg. — The scenery of this day's trek has been grand and beautiful. The l>erg once })assed — our borrowed oxen being sent back in charsie of a Katir — we had still severe climbing before us. The ascent was more graihud, indeed: Init it was ever up, u]), until we reached our destiiuilion some 3,500 feet above the sea. ^lountains btd'ore, mountains behind us ; peaks here, peaks there ; then table-lands ; then kloofs and ravines, thickly wooded, and now, at all events, well watered. " Miss Hetty," had said Dick, once on coming to a standstill, " the master is beckoning. I ex- pect he wants you to look down into the hollow yonder." Dick had guessed rightly; for, on my joining I. I. 38 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCli P.KRC^ I' M Ik r ;! 'if 11 1 iff I' I- ri "I ■ i ifi Jack about 100 yards in advance of the waggon, where he was standing l)y what seemed only a little cleft in the hill-side, he took me by the hand and silently pointed into the depths beneath. What a solemn hush was there ! broken only by the faint trickle of the fall into tlie stream below, which to us looked just like a little silver thread instead of the broad belt of running, lea])ing water it really was. The chasm was of great width and depth, and nol>le trees lined its inaccessible sides. Where pos- sible, trees had been felled, and some lay ready for carting awa}' neai' what witli difficulty we could discern as a wao^on track at the base. " Still as it is, there is life in plenty there, we may be sure — both vegetable and animal," said my brother, " and I should not wonder if the old lion which has eluded the hunters for so long until he deserves to elude them altogether now, does not own a lair here- abouts." At the fartliest drift or ford of the " Brothers '' Elvers, so called from twelve brothers and brotliers-in-law having made it a meeting-place, we had seen the tree-fern for the first time. It is astonishing to what a size this fern ^tows, the trunk being as large as many an oak or elm. We passed over one wide foot-bridge constructed entirely of its wood. It is not the season now for this fern, so we can form no just appreciation of its beauty ; but we are told that A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCH BERG. 30 it is beautiful and graceful too wlieu in full leaf. Now it looks almost grotes<[ue. Our tent being pitched, and what I dignify by the somewhat anomalous name of my " household duties " being performed to my satisfaction, I, pending the return of my com- panions, strolled down to the verge of the forest and crossed its belt, a little irregular streamlet of the clearest water. The sun had lost some- what of its power; but even had it not, the bit of open glade I had to cross was of no extent, and the brisk healthful mountain breeze which fanned my cheek under the wide flap of my faithful old l3road-brini, almost tempted me, as it triuhipliantly tempted Bo to a regular scam- per, to ''let off" our high spirits. 1 came back w'^hmy hands full of specimens of the most lonelv ferns, flowers, and ])lants wliicli grow luxuriantly everywhere, and which I had obtained in spite of brambles and thorns, to say nothing ot snakes. Some small nephews of mine, and cousins of Geoff's write us, " Do have some adventures," but it seems as if nothing worthy of that sounding name would come in our way : but who knows what mav be in store for us ? The men followed the spoor of a tiger a day or two ago ; the old lion cannot be very hir off; the hvaaia Jack wounded so near to its hole that it ran to earth to die in peace ; and " Who thinks anything of a jackal or a snake ? " ask Geoff. HI 40 A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCH BERG. i; t 1 '111 i: ill ii.l' " Jules Yerne, Kingston, Ballantyne, &c., spoil these youngsters, Nothing short of a life and death encounter serves their turn ; but we'll astonish them yet, Auntie, see if we don't. This is no end of a place, is it not ? " lie ran on. " We — that is, Pater, Grim, and 1 — liave had a glorious dip, and, as T had the prospecting basin with me, I had a try for gold." " Did you find any ? " I inquire. " Well, not much, I found ' the colour,' and that counts for sometliin but until there is a more thorouL>'h organization for forest management we must be content to be in ignorance of even the amount of treasure store we have." " Some plan exists, does it not ? " ([ueries Jack. " Yes, to some extent, certainlv ; but under existinu' circumstances, one of which is that fatal bar to all progress — a low exche([uer — not much can be done. The forests are Government property, and you or 1 or any one who likes may pay a small fee, per axe, per annum, for permission to cut and carry away what timber we like. But here we are, Miss Hetty. There seems something like an opening and signs of labour, marking that we are not the only human l)einL'S here to-dav." Before crossinu' the " Tree- Fern lirid^e " we had observed a round mud liut and a small Kafir herdinii' <>oats close to it, and therefore felt less surprise at being greeted by a " Good morning " as we, blinking from the glare out- side, stepped, half blinded until our eyes got more used to the dimmer light, into the grate- ful shelter of the noble trees. The voice came from the depths of a saw-pit, and a second sufficed to bring first a head, then a j)air of arms, and then the whole body of its owner to a level with ourselves. Mr. I) , whom life's vicissitudes — " dropping money " at the Dia- mond Fields, misfortune, »jcc. — had converted into a sawyer, although the first step in his career was, I was told, something very difl'erent. ii< ! ■ ii 44 A TPtlJ' TO THE IIAUPT BUS(JII BEKG. i> m kindly constituted himself our guide, and showed us where we might enter and follow up an opening without losing ourselves, where the loveliest ferns grew below and the orchids above us, what was the girth of such a tree, what the hei^lit of another, answerino- all Grim's questions with a good-natured patience w^orthy of all praise. Had I paid more atten- tion to their talk, 1 might have more to tell you now — more of real information, I mean — but my whole heart seemed tilled by the gorgeous yet almost solemn l^eauty around and about me. I had felt something like it before upon first stepping into the stillness of some grand old cathedral, or when alone on a sea-shore with its monster rocks towering above and its mysteri- ous caves behind me, and the longing was (a selfish one enough) to be alone witli it all just till I could realize it. That thought passed, and soon Geoff and I, and even the Captain and Grim, were scrambling about treasure- collecting, to the evident amazement of the Kafir, who, having delivered his mail-bags, was now to remain with us, and who himself formed no mean feature in our forest scene, as, with the i>un slung ovei- his bare shoulder he stood erect and majestic, his lithe, well-formed limbs motionless, as if sculptured in polished black marble. He was a tine specimen of the noble savage, a man of many inches, but yet a very pigmy, for his proportions, like our owui, were A Till!' TO TIIK HAUIT IJUSCII L'.KKC. 45 dwarfed by the lordly stature of the foi'est moiiarclis wliose domain we had so unceremon- iously invaded. " Oh ! if only old Turle were here ! " cried Grim. " Wouldn't Grey revel in it ? " asked Jack, and " and how our fellows from Ihi shy's would astonish the apes!" cried Geoff, as he swung himself from coil to coil of tlie " ape's tow " or monkey vope, which festooned the lower as well as tlie liiLilier brandies to en- tangle ment — a very Paradise of swings for children. Even T, Hetty, had my Somebody whom I just longed for, one little wliile, to share in the exldlaration of spirits and intense deli^lit wldch had succeeded to that first hush of alnjost solemn enjoyment with wldch I had been inspired. I wish 1 could describe it all faithfully ; but my pen angers me by its inca- pacity to convey the picture to others wldch must ever remain photographed in my memory. Nature had been so lavish, and yet liad shaded, softened, and toned do'vn with such a nunute perfection that the smallest leaf, reed, or feathery grass was as lovely and complete of its kind as the seven or eight-feet liigh fern, or the monster tree whose orchid- graced crown towered so loftily above us I Then the sun, wldch w^ould not be shut out, gave such tints and warmth of colouring, such teeming life to everything, that nothing of detail was w^anting to that glorious whole. I have seen pictures of tropical forests r Hi 1 1 I: t 46 A TEII' TO THE HAUPT lUSClI BKK(;. I I il il I 1 If; I' -I i ■' i! . f ■ m li which in my i,L»norance I liave deemed over drawn ; but no painter's wildest flight of imag- ination could overstep Nature's own beauteous bestowments in a tropical clime. The catalogue would be too long to write even did I know the names of all we saw, as we sat by the clear little stream which bubbled and danced over the pebl)les, some of which liad tiny golden specks, or what looked wondrously like them, as they sparkled under the busy waters ; or of all we heard as we listened to the "bird talk " — the occasional scream of the gaudy ])arrots, which cleverly hid themselves amongst the greenery around, the chatter of the monkeys, the buzz-buzz of tlie winged insects, tlie whirr and hum of the green, sober-coated, but gay waistcoated grasshopper, and of the faint rustle of the long grasses as somdhinr/ glided by which had a sound so suiJiiostive that it was not all fun which made CJeoff' say warningly, " 'Ware snakes ! Lo(jk where vou et back as far as the Wood Busch Vil- lage to-night, intending to pass a quiet Sunday there, the plan being to diverge from our X TRIP TO THE HAUl'T liUSClI BKRG. 49 original course soon after leaving it ; thus, if you care to follow nie, you will have a few more pages of my note-book to read, and I a few more to transcribe, before I close my tale of this section of our experience of life on trek in vSouth Africa. CHxVPTEli VI. August 14 — I write at odd intervals and under difficulties, so if mv scrawl is somewhat rigmaroly and scrappy, remember that I am not without my excuse. That very clever essayist the " Country l^arson " chose for an impromptu writing-table his pet horse's nose. Now I do not choose the enamelled hand-basin turned u|)side down or. the water-V>arrel on end for mine, but each serves its turn as such on occasion. I am now writing on my knee in the very remotest corner of the waggon, against the tailboard of which I have Ijeen hurled without ceremony as the vehicle was literally tilted upon end in the midst of the river, the "Brothers' Drift," and there left, the trek-tow or chain having broken, and set the oxen free. The only use the creatures have made of their freedom has been to walk gravely forward, double file, and, missing their load, to stand perfectly still in the track, blinking their eyes, twirling their little stumpy tails, while lazily wondering what has happened. 50 A TKIP TO TlIK IIAUI'T liUSCll m\\lG. mi hi 1 1 1 I' 1 am almost on a l(3vel witli tlie clear stream into wliicli I long to ]ilung(», 1)ut cannot, so I must content myseli' witli a dabble in it only. Tlie soap hit me in the eye as it leapt (Tom its pocket, and the towel, witli a due sense of the litness o! things, followed it shortly after, so I liave made the most of my o])portiinities. ''Ahl I thought we should not Mnd you very seri(nisly discomposed after all your experiences," says the Captain, who, with the others, had ridden back to see what caused our halt. A very little tinkering has mended our breakage, and in a few moments we are to start once more Before in spanning, Dick and Oomfan came to the tent door, and showed me how the Kafirs make a fire. Oomfan gathered together a heaj of light, dry grass. Dick took two pieces of a fig-tree branch, separated at the joints. Select- ing a smaller section and one considerably larger, he inserted the lesser into the greater, and rub- bing the former vigorously Ijetw^een the ])alms of his liands (^sherry-cobbler fasliion), friction produced sparks, which, dropping upon the heap beneath, soon produced a blaze. Sunday, Ioj^ii. — Arose later, luxuriating in a less hasty toilet than usual, liaving plenty of water from a stream running close by, the mur- nmring of which had lulled us to sleep last night. Our tent and w^aggon are fixed under the shelter of trees and rocks overlooking the village ; the liill opposite, which we shall skirt A TRIP TO TIIK HAi;PT 1?US(J1I r.KKG. J I it to-iuoiTow, frowning down n])nn us with its faco blackeneil by the fire.s of tlie hist week. Mim- osa and other trees cover tliis hill, except wliere the rock a])poars, relievini;- its otherwise funereal blackness. Jack attended the hutch inorninij;' service, not a word of which he could understand, and returned uearlv deafened by the verv heartv, but most unmusical, singiuL;' of parson and people. The rest of our i»arty had a short service in our tent, and another in the evening, with a sermon at Kay's Cottage, i. c. the village store. The Kays are the only English family here. A much lar^jer conoreiiation assembled than the room would liold, including the Dutch minister, who, with his elder, arrived, from a clock mistake, somewhat late. Grim could not see to read, from ihe dimness of the lights, so I found to my horror tliat my voice was ihe sole one to respond during the readiTig of the Psalms. I was clerk and people in one, until the reinforcement arrived, when hymns and responses were Warmly joined in and seemingly enjoyed. All around the room on shelves and pegs were the goods offered for sale in the store — ^Bannels, calicos, prints, saucepans, tobacco, beads, &c. T misbehaved on coming out, treating my friends to a fainting-fit. The heat and! closeness of the room, the smell of fustian and corduroy, being rather trying to one's olfac- tory nerves after breathing the pure air of 52 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCII BERG. Heaven night and day for so long. I was laid down on the grass in the moonlight, and, by means of the combined influences of a thorn- bush scraping my neck, my comb, which had had several fractures already, being driven into my head, the furious barking of the big dogs, which started up from everywhere, the little dog Bo licking rny face, and the " j^erfect cure " of Geoff's own invention, namely, literally tweaking nn^ nose fan unfailing remedy, safe to cure a fainting person, whose first sensation on "cor ing to" is that of being all nose, and that a swelled and aching one), I was (quickly my- self ai>ain. o MoxDAY, IGth. — To-dav tlie trio are off to visit a farm, partly the object of our trip. The captain has l)orrowed a second liorse to enable himself and Grim to travel "ride and tie/' They are to return aljout tvv^o or three o'clock, and we are to have the tent struck ready for a start soon after. ]\leanwhile I am all alone in my glory ^^'riting in the tent, using the large canteen as a table. Jack wanted me to have one of the Kay girls as a companion in case I should l)e afraid of the Kafirs ! A kind offer, which 1 declined witli thanks, for I luxuriate in a quiet time, especially when my diary lias got into arrears. The big pot witli some excel- lent buck stew stands by me ready for my din- ner ; and talking of dinner makes me think I liad better have some, which I do ! A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT DUSCII liEUG. 53 A Kafir flourishing his assegai (or spear) has just passed by the tent door. I watch the blankets, lest he should take a fancy to liave one, as they are temptingly spread out to air on the grass; but my watchfulness knows no other cause. Moreover, I liave Carlo, too lame to go a-hunting with his master, and plucky little Bo, to protect me and my belongings also. Now in watchin<^ that Kafir I did liim woeful injustice. No doubt lie would have liked huL^elv one of our gay-coloured ruo'S ; but I tJiinl: he would not have stolen one now, and I k/iou' he would not had tliey 1)een left in his charge. To the savage mind there is no great crime in ijieking }vp as a waif or stray anything hds heart covets, even althouiih he knows it to ' CI? belong to another, l)ut place him in charge of vour belongiugs and no mastiff guards liis master's property more valiantly than will he. Dick, wlio has been oxen-seeking or other- wise employed, joins me now and says laugh- ingly, "Why, missus seems always to like sit- ting Kafir fasliion" (for 1 refuse the rickety water ])arrel, or that unbearably warm seat, /. e a roll of rugs, which he ofiers). "Does missus know why a Kafir won't never sit on a cliair even if he u'ets the chance ?" 1 venture the shrewd guess that possibly he finds the ground safer. Showing a row of exceptionally white and even teetli, Dick grins approvingly. "That's it, missus ; a Kafir says 'tis only Erg- M 64 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCH BERG. p. r ■ ill I M w 111 f i ! { ; i t lishmen and cliickens what want perches !" I am in for a talk with Dick, that is plain, so I drop my note-book for awhile and indulge him ; and, indeed, myself at the same time, for Dick is intelligent and observant, and has much to tell at times worth listening to. On my naming to him my momentary distrust of the Kafir, he s])oke of the pecidiar honesty of the Zulus. "They love money dearly, missus, Ijut you may trust them with anything — and many's the chance of stealing they have — but they (hr/if even if thev are sure not to be found out. I think the Zulus are kind of (jnitlcmcn Kafirs^ . . After a pause a new piece of informa- tion strikes Dick, and he adds : — "Would missus believe it now, but Kahrs liave their fashions like white folks. Sometimes they must have their beads all round-shaped, then kind of flat, tlien long. As to the colour of them, why one time they'll only have blue, and at another they wouldn't have a blue, no not for aw/JiuKj! then 'twill be red and then a kind of no-colour, or whitey-brown, then they'll mix them, tlien they won't; its enough to make you laugli." And we do laugh ; Dick, because he cannot help himself, and I, because it gives him such pleasure to have his eloquence appre- ciated. The chuckle over, Dick adds, "Why sometimes a chief will choose what kinds of beads his peoj^le shall have ! " Feudalism with a vengeance, think I. Dick walks away for A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCIi BEKG. 55 awhile, liavini,^ an innate sense of wliat I cannot help terming delicacy; but he hopes to be recalled, I know. vSeeing a tiny winged thing flit by I ask wliat it may be, never thinking a creature so small can be a bird 1 It is one nevertheless. " The honey-bird missus. That's the way the Kafirs find their honey. They just follow it, and it is safe to lead tiiem to wliere the bees have l)een hidinu' their store." Dick is in two minds to follow the pretty tiling then and there, to surprise us with honey for our next meal ; but a new idea strikt^s Idm, so he continues his gossip instead. "Missusjknows how the Kafirs up this way " (as if they were quite a peg below those he was more acquainted with) " make that horrible noise when they sneeze ? " Missus does, for her ears are fairly accustomed to the unearthly sound. So she is told the Natal Kafirs, or they of the upper ten thousand at least, " don't do that, not if they can help it. They'll snuff and snuff till the tears roll down their hices in streams. Oh ! they like that — fine ! " " V liat do they make their snuff from ? " I ask. *' Aloe ashes pounded up with tobacco — tlicy do I but these fellows crush up almost anything. So long as it tickles their noses they're well enough satisfied I " TuESDAy, 17TII. — The explorers did not return yesterday quite as early 'as they had planned, they having been decoyed somewhat further on by their extreme interest in all they saw. The 56 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCH BERG. li ? •; general opinion was highly in favor of the great fertility of the soil and the infinite resources of the Transvaal, not only as a wheat-growing, but as a grazing country. "Surely, where nearly every fruit of the temperate zone can be produced, steady industry ought to liave grand results for him to reap who does not spare its bestowal on tliis fruitful land. The Transvaal is the great grain-supplier, or h;is been, of the Orano-e Free State and Natal. It can produce sugar, tobacco, and coftee also. The rapidity with which the dry bed of a river will become full makes amends for its inconveniences, if due care be taken to hoard a su])ply at tlie proper moment. Tlien the minei'al wealth is £ireat, as all tlie world knows," &c. This was the neneral chorus: but whether anything tanuil)le is to come of all this, in tlie shape of farm-purcliasing or such like, T am mucli too discreet to inquire. Geoff, who, boy-like, thinks more of the sport than of any- thing else, wishes that Dad would " let him off Oxford and let him take to Transvaal farming instead." "You could keep house (or hut). Auntie, and we'd have prime times" ; with a royal disregard to my feelings on the subject, or knowing that he is secure of me any when or anywhere, God bless him ! Grim and I ended horrible. day jally The sun had been very fierce. I had felt it so "^ r A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCII BKKG. 57 in the tent, and Grim ditto whilst imdemoinLi- unwonted exertion, even for him. Ihit neither of us woukl listen to tlie suggestion of sunstroke ; and, but for " they stwons ! they stwons ! " as Geoff quoted, which cruelly jarred our nerves as we jolted over the vrack, the cool night air would have carried away our aches and ])ains even sooner than it did. Wliat the briglit moonlight showed us I must keep for my next chapter. CILVPTEli \\l. if a d o August 18. — '•' Oli 1 what a relief:" both Grim and I had exclaimed when tlie waggon came to a halt at our nine o'clock outspan last nio'ht. '* Xow von two can ' take it easv,' " had cried the trio, " whilst Ave get you a good cup of tea, after which 3-0 u can enjoy this glorious moonliu'lit to vour heart's content." It was a glorious moon ! Xo one who has never left Old Eni>iand can conceive of such beauty, size, or irroimuivAty. Tliere must have been a peculiar beauty in its rays last night, or we, who liad all been so well accustomed to the glories of a South African sky, could liardly have been so severallv alive to its inliuence then. Another waggon had outspanned close to us, and it stood out in the light with an almost startling vividness, whilst the very ■1 i 58 A TRIP TO TliiC HAUPT BUSCH BERv 1^ H- blades of grass appeared as if magnified by a microscope. All sentiment was dispersed to the winds (and what a trifle suffices for that !) by our hearing the shrill cries and chattering of a lot of KaHr w^onien, who advanced towards us from their distant kraals to fetch ^V'ater. Their vessels w^ere Ijorne upon their heads as they walked with their usual firm tread, single tile, after their manner. Unfortunately our own dogs, down to little Bo, beliaved most inhospitably, setting a bad example to those of our neighbors. Tliey rushed after the new comers with a zeal which would have been praiseworthy in a better cause, but highly un1)ecoming under ex- isting circumstances, for the women had a higlier right than ourselves to the water close by. No calling back of the dogs, no assurances of Dick and Oomfan, wdio, I am afraid, made some jokes too hard to be put up with, at the same time, could induce the fugitives to return. I w^as the more sorry for them when I heard Dick say, " I expect, Master, their husbands will give them a greater fright still when they go back without any water." " Dick is too good- natured not to mend matters bv deeds," I surmised as I saw a figure disappearing in the distance with what looked suspiciously like tlie water-barrel ; and when, later, a far-away chatter, chatter, and then a nearer ditto, with, really soft laughter, which could only come A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCII BERG. 59 I y b. from souls quieted and pacified, reached my ears, I was satisfied tliat the amende honor able had been made and accepted. Once during tlie night our dogs made a frantic raid ; but, from the answering yells, there was no doubt they were after legitimate prey, probably jackals, if not worse, prowling round our camp, lio leapt off our joint bed to share in tlie fun, and howled dismally at finding the curtain of the wau'^on fastened with a close inpenetrability, over whicli I rejoiced. I am used to noises ; therefore, IJo's excitable fit over, the jackal chased beyonil our limits, and our neighbor's dogs once more asleep, I had but the rattlinc^ horns of the oxen and the see-sawing of the waggon as it was pulled now at one wheel, now at another, by the horses tethered on either side of me, to act as my disturbers, and was soon in the land of dreams, neither hearim? nor heedino- the cries of the jackals nor the positively depressing sighs for emancipation heaved by the steeds almost into my very ears. Talking of the dogs' misbehaviour at break- fast this morning, the Captain remarked that some of them have a peculiar antipathy to Kafirs, flying at them, pinioning them down, and standing over them until called off by their master. The very same dogs will fawn upon white folks. Kalir dogs return the compliment, flying at a white, but caressing a black man. 1 1 tf GO A TPiir TO THE IIAUl'T LUSCII BERG. t; i !'f i'^ At 7 we had just a cup of coffee only, be- fore inspanniiig — trekking till 10, when we made excellent breakfasts of bucksteaks, bread and tea. Jack's horse had contrived to free itself from the wheel and had roamed away ; but we are ho])ing to find him at the farm ahead, wliere tlie sensil)le creature lias on pre- vious occasions met liospitable reception, and is probably in liaste for a repetition thereof. His "spoor" is visible on tlie trac^k, and we have only to note the marks to catch tlie truant. Jack with his gun, and Grim his chum, have started on afoot, ^vith a Kafir to carry provisions and game bag. They hope to meet w^itli a buck or birds, this being a promising place for sport. We are to join them at the farm by -and -by. The Ca})tain and Geoff are conversing in the waggon, whilst I am scribbling this sitting on a saddle in the very small bit of shade afforded by the vehicle itself There is just a little breeze, but the sun is very powerful. The Captain laughs at our complaints of it, wonderim.r how we shall bear the iournev back to Natal a little later on in the season. I trust by then we shall have l)ecome more used to the dried-up, tight-skinned feeling this constant baking and glare produces. A very fine-looking Kafir came up to the fire a few minutes ago, entering into conversation with our small black attendant, and looking with hungry eyes at the porridge-pot, his dog A TlUl' TO THE ILVUIT liUSClI UKUd. Gl on led ^lie it, Lck ust to ant fire ion ing llog snuffing round it witli a view to breakfast also. Oomfan oflered liini nothinu', <'-oin<'- on with his occupation of stirring tlie porridge with the end of one of the tliree sticks from wliich the kettle is usually suspended, occasionally wiping its end upon his black paws, before licking them, with a great air of enjoyment. Tired of this, he took up tlie Kafir gun, pointing it here and there, evidently picturing himself a great brave all the time. I made the boy a gesture to stop his antics, and so perfectly has his pi'evious mistress trained him to obey, that he dropped the guo instantly. It is now close upon in- spanning time, so I must stop for awhile. 12.15. — A man with a waggon has brought word that " the horse has been found," that " the Boss " has shot a buck, and that we are to make all speed to meet him at the little settlement a few miles further on, formed ])y a colony of Dutch relations, one member only of wdiom has married an Englishman. Wliat we see there, and any tritie which may befall us by the way, I must enter into my trusty note- book as occasion offers. 4 p.m. — A very short " occasion " offers be- fore we leave this interesting little colon v, but I will make tlie most of it, and a beginning, at all events. Our tirst visit was to the house of Mr. i\I , the Englishman, where w^e received a most kind welcome from himself and his Dutch wdfe, wdio showed by signs her pleasure 62 A TKIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCII WEllVr. Ill: I • Hi at our call, begging lier husband to express her regret at lier inaV)ility to converse with us. The Captain lias sc fair a knowledge of Dutch that lie is at no loss, and Mr. M 's broken English helped us considerably. Our host owned to beini'- forgetful of his mother-tonoue — and it was not difiicult to realize the possi- bility, so rarely an opportunity offers for hiin to utter a syllable of it. We had been told that a lady from the Cape had undertaken the post of general instructress to the children of the colony ; but she was engaged in the duties of her office, and so we missed shaking hands with her. Mr. M said, " I wish we had a doc- tor. We need one sadly ; distances are so wide, and the impossibilty of obtaining medical help we feel deeply." Pressed as to possible stipend a medical practitioner might count upon, our friend became somewhat incoherent, and fenced the cjuestion ; but his need is that of others, and new comers, whose advent the Transvaal soon looks for, will surely include some doctors, who might, at all events, combine other avoca- tions for awhile wherewith to eke out an in- come, payment in kind, after the favourite Dutch fashion, in that case not proving a bad one. First to come will be first to win, at all events. There ! I have used up all my spare time in digression, and the remainder of my visit must be scribbled about at our next outspan A TllIP TO THE nxVVT BLSCll liERC. G3 Our second call at tlie liouse of sonic quite iJutcli peopl(i plea^^ed us best. Mr. Momis is a l)rotlicr of tlie Boer who owned tlie farm upon wliicli we have out- spanned when the tire occurred. The rooms were very clean, and of a good size, with far more comforts tlian the Dutcli usuallv have. Many of tlieir peculiarities prevailed, however, such as the closets havinii; ilities; and, allhoutjli the additions to niv usual attire were no other than a pair of hnen eull's instead of the inevitable paper affairs I occasionally indul,L>'(i in, and just a tiny Ijhio how upon my hoUand iacket under mv coUai', I felt attired riglit royally, and prepared to enjoy to the lull the remain(ler of my visit to this really nice Dutch family, of our further ac(juaintance with wlioni I hope to tell you presently. CHArTEK Ylll. August 20. — Eersteling once more. Xo quiet moment has offered for me to continue my jottings until now, and indeed I believe you who may care to read them will not quarrel with the fact. You will gain in one thing at all events ; they will not cost you halt the effort to decipher as if they had all the ups and downs and involuntary iioarishes I would have avoided nuiking hitherto if I could. Try writing " on trek," and see if you could manage much better. But to my tale. I left myself making a kind of stage entrance in a perfect elation of spirits at having dis- pensed with pounds of dust, and having laid what Geoff impertinently termed a " veritable sliine " upon my sunburnt face. I found those w !;tH ■MM Ui' I 11 pi i V^ ^t h^'. It! 66 A TKIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCH BEKG. of the party who coiihl converse, i. c, tlie Captain, Mr. M., Jack witli a rare monosyllable, and nice Mrs.]Morais,all talking amicably; while Geoff, whose enforced silence was by no means to his taste, was making a bo-peep by-play with one or two small tilings who had crept in to have a share in tlie show. Creoff's only Dutch words are "Ja" and " Mooi," or pretty; but it is astonishing how elorpient lie manages to be witli them, and how far he makes them oo. The remaining guests satcpiietly as listeners, but manifesting mucli interest when now and again a question was put as to the outside world, intelligent and pleasant to answer if one could judge by the Cajjtain's air of animation and interest as he replied. Mrs. Morals placed me a chair close to her own, wliicli was awaiting her at the head of the table, so tliat she might till our cups — some of them with tea — herself, instead of having the tray upon a side table, and the details of its management attended, to by a third person, the mistress being treated as a guest, as it were. It was *' o-ood to see " her dainty handling of her pretty china. I could Pi cture her careful l)rinuin(i Lo Africa of those valued relics from her far-away old home, as I am sure she must have done by her loving toucli upon each. A fair white napkin lay ready to her hand foi* use after every cup was dipped before filling, into a china bowl close by, really benefiting by its batli instead of suf- ' II A TRIP TO THE ILVUPT BUSCII BERrj. 67 fi fering tliereby, as fre([uently, nay, invariably, happens during a coffee-drinking ceremony in the ordinary Dutch Boer's house — a ceremony which so painfully detracts from one's appre- ciation of the hospitality intended. Tea over, the men-folk strolled about the place whilst I saw all my hostess could sliow of her own domain. The want of wood makes fencin'' an almost unheard-of process, and in ])lace of it Kahr herd-bovs tend the cattle and Lruard the crops from in, jury. Talkini>' over the fire incident of which I have made mention, I o1:)served to Mrs. Morals my surprise at the calmness and etpianimity with wldch her l>rother-in-lan' had awaited what seemed to threaten certain destruction to his property, only bestirring himself at tlie last moment, lie liaving previously simply looked on whilst his Kafirs belabore.l the tlames. Slie SQiiled as she replied in her ])retty foreign tones, " Ah ! he had plenty to do after you had all g^niQ. The wind broun'ht the fire round to the back of his place, where they haef tak-ju no great care to protect tliemselves, and even the house liad a narrow escape. It was with great labour and difficulty tliat his corn-stacks and cattle w^ere saved, and not without danger too. His wife worked liard to rescue the voung colts and calves, which would keep running back again and again into the verv places from which she liad snatched them. My [)rother-in-law," she i i m I 68 A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BUSCH BERG. added with an involuntary smile, "had the whiskers singed away from one side uf his face. He must liave gone pretty nigh the lire to do that ! " Eyen a phlegmatic Dutchman must he moved sovicichat by so personal a loss as his \\'hislvers, I should fancy, especially as in all probability he might own no razor wherewith to make all ''' fair and even " once more. It was witli unaiTected regret and real reluc- tance that we parti^d from our new friends; and I have now another treasured memory- mosaic to add to my store of unj)ainted pictures, in that little group of isolated Dutch home- steads, that land-islaud on the Yeldt, inhabited by calm and peaceful souls seemingly so con- tent vrith their lot tliat nought of the outer world could touch or move them, wishing for nothing more than just the return kindly Na- ture e\'er gives to human toil, and never unmindful in their simple piety of the Giver, without whose blesoing earth, even to the most industrious of her labourers, cannot yield her increase. Our outriders had gone on ahead to select our next camping-place, and we were called to a halt somewhat earlier than usual for a short rest only, and for a more hearty meal than we had taken in '' the colony." Two fires were lighted by way of expediting matters, that the men might, as soon as we were served, betake themselves to their own repast. 1 ,1 I ■: A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCII BEKG. 69 The spot chosen for our temporary camp was ill such contrast to that we had so lately left that I half wished we had passed it hy un- visited. I kept my notions (" fads," Jack calls them) to myself, but I will confide them to you, and I doubt if you will think me fanciful, as he does. We had left smiling plenty, happy homes filled with happy people within, and ample life and animation witliout — weaving corn and sweet-scented oranc^e- trees and cattle in abundance. Here we found what had hecri all that, ruined and devastated, telling of wliat might befall — -Heaven (••rant it never mav! — tliat little Arcadia from whicli we liad but just parted. Had it been fever? Had it been savage war- fare ? or simply just a want, which hope had said might be better supplied a little farther on in the wilderness, tempting the inhabitants away "on the quest." " Now, Hettv," said Jack, "before vou buihl up a story about these ruins — and indeed they look quite imposing in this early moonlight — let me tell you there seems every sign of the failure of an ambitious attempt at irrigation, which lailure lias probaljly been at the bottom of the desertion of this little ' dorp.' Grim thinks so. He has been ferreting about in some dyke-like looking places, and the Captain shares his fancy. How much this country just w^ants enliglitened inhabiting ! I fancv the good folks who built themselves such substantial houses, , ft' ' 1 1' ' • m If' i* til ^ if 70 A TRIP TO THE HAUI'T BUSCH BERG. even going the length of ornamental copings to beautify their mud walls, trusted to the "divin- ing rod" or some sucli simple method only; had they known a little more they would not have been so easily daunted ; but who knows ? " Here, take these," he added wearily to Dick. " I'm just dead beat ; the buck gave me no end of a chase. If the birds had not been pretty nigli at Imnd you'd not liave seen a feather of one of them." Five pheasants, two koorhaan, and an odd rabbit or two were disgorged by the game bag, and m} brother richlv deserved the snooze he took without ceremony by my side. Tired Jack slept through the sliouts, gun- firings, and dog noises which speedily followed our talk. " Look out, Auntie," cried my boy ; " there to the left," for, of course, I looked, woman-like, instantlv to the wrong side. "Yah! stupids" (to tlie dogs, thank goodness). '' You've missed" (just what he had done himself, by-the- by), and the chased liyena ran to earth, panting and pursued, but safe and sound. Geotfs vexa- tion was very great, and I think [ was just a triile sympathetic, because had I even seen the tldng I might have 'uade something of an ad- venture of it for thv^se insatiable children at home. The Captain, over our supper, told us how daring hunger makes these animals. A friend of his, while sleeping on the Veldt, had a piece A TRIP TO THE IIAUIT BUSCII BERO. 71 of mutton stolen from under the saddle upon which his head rested; and in hard times, when otlier prey is scarce or unattainal)le, cowards as they are, they have been known to carry off young children from native luits. They liave a touch of the cannibal about them, too, he added, for they make nothincy of devouring the carcass of a dead companion if they come across him after he lias fallen a prey to man's vengeance wdiich ihey have escaped, biding their time for the feast. ]S"ow Bo and I had been taking a quiet stroll for some distance in the moonlight amongst the ruins, and possiljly this particular beast had licked his lips over the prospect of a dainty meal of one of us. Hither- to I had had no thought of any possible dan- ger in the solitary rambles I loved, but in future I think I may keep nearer to camp ns being the more prudent plan. One more trek (this moonlight travelling, cooler for the oxen, is arranged for where prac- ticable), In'ought us to our last halt for our last night out. Jack wishes to get back to the little mining settlement, where we remain for a short time longer, with no delay, if possible. Our next morning's meal was enjoyed in the near neighborhood of our kind once more, al- though this time we unfortunatelv could make no acquaintance with the good people of the house. Diphtheria had, alas 1 carried off one of their little ones, and others were suffering fi wmmmmm 'i \l I i .■t IN I* lU I l?>i;5 !' 72 A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCII BERG. from it also. We could not well intrude, nor indeed were we invited to do so. The Captain held some friendly talk with them and ex- l^ressed our sympathy in their sorrow. This farm lay somewhat low and was damp, a fact which in some measure accounted for the ill- ness. Griui was especially struck with the productiveness of the place, giving it the palm over the generality of cultivated lands we had passed — hedges of apple trees, the mulberry tree, oranges, lemons, peaches, pomegranates, vine- yards and corn. The grass about had been very carelessly l.>urnt, and the orange trees had been seriously scorched ; but Nature is a quick re- storer in this climate, and I doubt if these traces will long remain. Troops of the prettiest, tiniest, softest, most balw- faced, kittenisli-lool^- inu; and verv lovable little kids, calves and lambs, gambolled alwut us as we drank our coffee, coming temptingly near, answering with yielding bleat our coaxing invitations, l)ut allowing tliemselves to be caught, never. IMarabastadt once more was our next out- span, and there we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. G , a Cape gentleman and his pretty young bride. ]\Ir. O had been a resident of the Transvaal for some time, but his wife, fresh from her more luxurious home in the older colony, seemed determined to make very light of any little roughnesses whicli miaht fall to her share. A TRIP TO THE HAUPT BUSCH BERG. 73 That she would have no more than her husband could possibly avoid was evident, for he had surrounded her witli manv of tliose elegances and refinements whicli can make a home beau- tiful, even in the wilderness; books, too ! aii'l who does not know how they can people a soli- tude anywliere ? One tiling struck me as being particularly noteworthy as we neared our destination — namely, the manner in whicli the track was almost carpeted by locusts, a swarm of which must liave lately passed over it, and have fallen a prey to tlieir usual enemies, the locust-birds, which ever follow in tlieir train. These clever hunters whirr through the tlf>atirig clouds of living creatures, disaliling tliem after a fasliion of their own, probably iiip]>iiig their wings, without which the crijipled insects fall t(» the ground, where they lie lielpless until their as- sailants are ready to devour them alter the attack As I write, here comes, by way of practical demonstration, the big brown cloud itself, with its eauer followers of more kinds than one. The air is thick with the destructive things, almost to darkness. They come in col- umns and ranks; they come in masses ; then the rearguard, and then the stragglers ; tak- ing no note of tlieir falling comrades, but with a dogged stupidity, helter-skelter, pell- mell, anyhow and anywhere, numbers at last dropping down and lying helplessly \f r 74 A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT UUSCII BERG. siJ in heaps on the ground and on the big boulders close to our tent. To see Bo's excitement as he snaps madly at tliem, and his extreme dis- gust at the sensation when he makes a better catch than usual, and gets one whole locust, and enough to hold by of anotlier, is ludicrous in the extreme. The cats (and they swarm here as elsewhere) are half demented with delight, as they tear aljout nuidly, here, there and every- where, slaying their foes by tlie dozen with paws and whisking tails; but sneezing furiously as their noses and throats are tickled by the strugglinrr legs of a victim. The old hens, cluckinu' to their chicks the uood news of the feast spread for tliem, arrive from all parts, leaping to meet the smaller members of the mighty phalanx, and looking inexpressibly comi- cal as they do so. Jack, the big tame buz- zard, and small family of large, ungainly ostriches share in the excitement, a short-lived one happily, or I verily believe tlie infection would extend itself to Geoff and myself, and, our iit of irrepressible laughter over, tha.t we should take to snapping at locusts too. The Kafirs are gathering them in pans and native vessels of all shapes and sizes, with a view to a feast, wdien time permits of their roasting them in the ashes of the fire that will be a-light on all sides when the shrill steam- whistle ol' the Works screams its welcome invi- tation to rest and dinner presently. m A TRIP TO THE IIAUPT BU8CH BERG. 75 But it is time tliat my tale should draw to a close. Tt was late at niglit when the wheels of our waggon awoke the eclioes of the sleeping old Iron Mountain and its comrades niuh at hand. Tlie weary workers above and below ground were all wrapped in slumber too. The whirr, whirr, whirr of the machinery was at rest until — all too soon for our ears, which had lost for a time the memory of ir^ busy nmsic — it should begin its weary round at 5 o'clock on the morrow's morn. We miglit have thouglit it a very city of the dead, but for the uprising, as if by the sign of a magician's wand, from all sides, of dogs little and big, whose furious bark of anger turned to one of pleasure, as they rul)bed noses with our dogs, down to little Bo, and wagged their tails in greeting, as if to bid us welcome too, and to asK inrpiiringly how it had fared with us during our days of travel to and from the Government forests of the Haupt Busch Berg. I If m i I 11* m • ON FOOT THROUGH THE COLONIES; or, NOTES FROM OUR LOG IN PARIS. <♦> Y old inveterate ]ial)it of note-takiiii:' has again seized me, here in tlie very heart of this great world's show, and I venture to forward tlie result of nry jottings to the same valual)le ])a])er which found room for tliose other jottings of mine in the wilds of Soutli Africa itself. It seemed to follow in natural sequence that we sliould come to Paris — as many of our party at least as could do so — to see the gathered wonders of countries, new as well as old ; we who had travelled so far to seek them where they are, after all, perhaps hest to be seen. AVe had thought it would he good to note in full devel- opment mucli that we had viewed only in the rougli, as it were ; to see as a finished whole what had of necessity appeared incomplete ; there the crude materials, here the vast uses to which they could be put. " What man has done, man may do," and tliose who with thoughtful forecast look well ahead may from even the comparatively few specimens of Colonial products here exhibited predict what 78 NOTES KKOM OUR LO(i IX PAIUS. ti Mi I h.; . '1 a mine of wealth tliey may prove bye-and by to tliose who know how to use them with a wise skill and inchistry. "All very fine, old tellovvs ! " Geoff had said as we had passed one daz/lin<^ vision after another of the Hnished beauties of eountries whose eivilizatiou dated centuries ago ; "all very tine ! but you are old hands you know ; you just wait a bit, and we colonists will astonish you vet!" Geotr, on the streno'th of his South African wanderings, (piite believes that he has a right to his selt-bestowed title, and with a boy's love of taking sides, stands up for old Eng- land's far-away children as if every ])roof of greater excellence born of longer experience and other self-evident advantages were a direct attack upon them. "If I am not a colonist now," he urges l)y way of explanation, " I mean to be one some day, so it comes to the same thing." Geoif has been "grinding" and has well earned his holiday. " Let us go to Paris, Pater," he had said ; "Aunt Hetty can skip a few blank pages in ' Our Log,' and begin afresh one lieaded ' On Foot througli the Colonies ; ' " and thus it came about that I find myself, note-book in hand, wedged in 1 jet ween two blocks of veritable South African timber, the " Boschboerboom " and the " wdiite milk w^ood ;" the eland's thorn, the sneeze-wood, &c., all nigh at hand, the well- made Cape cart, whose familiar friendliness has tempted me to its rear for shelter, aftbrding me notp:s from our loc in taris. the privacy 1 need for my little piipercliat witli you. tc Time is up, Auntie; you must have written liea])S ' ahout al ( V)l( I our more especial i oiony. am you will have none left I'or what vou used to call yours l)etbre we had our little African out- ing. Come to ( 'aiiada, 'tis just next door. The educational ,nd Ladv Duil'erin, \\'ho have found their way, l)oth of them, to the warm hearts of the peojde witli whom they nnist always be now identified. Lady Dulferin, muf- fled in the many folds of that specialtv of Canada, the cloud, looks every inch a Cana- dian, a comparison whicii I am sure she need not resent, for who lias net heard of the beauty and grace of our sisters over the water ? " Com- me elles sont belles ces Canadiennes I " I heard ungrudcingiy remarked by a little bright- eyed French woman beliind rae, who was peep- ing ov'^i my shoulder at the coloured photC'graph of the carnival at tiie skat- ing rink, and at one of two pictures of well - known beauties and people of mark. Her words recalled me from " long ago '* to a sense cf the present, reminding me that tini.e NOTES KPtOM Oril LOC IX PAhMS. 81 ooked it'ted, aiiibi- .'areer I dull a dull found as 1 elleut '-sllOC3 ; fore- nowu have warm nmst , muf- Ity of Caua- i iKied )eauty Com- t >5 U'iLillt- I peep- loured skat- ctures ile of 1) '• ago it tiDi.e was too short for musing- and meniorios. As I turned fi-oni thost^ well-executed groups which livrf/' for nie, I ciiuld almost fancy that the sound of the sleigli -hells died away ujum my ear, and that 1 should have seen the Hakes of snow fall lightly presently could I have stayed to watch the L;rey cloud softlv " unfeather " itself to drive homewards l)y its gentle per- sistence the merry-makers from their ''Line upon the frozen river. Specinuuis of needlework, Szc, exhil>ited hy Canadian ladies, deserve mention. The Misses Stricklancl from Oshawa, contributed largely ex([uisite liuie-work, tatting, Szc. ; jMiss Far- rpdiarson, of Whithy, a ])ianoforte-cover (hdi- cately painted upon >vhite velvet, and Miss Belle liussell, of Ottawa, a pale blue satin ])an- ner-screen trimmed with lace of great breadth ; while Mrs. I^llen \'dliars, of Toronto, sends some painting* on china, executed with delicacy and much artistic taste. There is hardly an industry unrepresented in this department, showing how well on in the race is Canada, and each is e(iually good of its kind. Ceoft' was attracted by the nu:)dels of the canals, lock-Liates, and not a little bv the saddlery, the merits of which have been ac- knowledged by medids won at previous (exhibi- tions. Tbe stoves of the Dominion are excellent without exception, their makers being taught by m 82 NOTKS I'lloM on; LO(i IN I'AIIIS. W: i ml ' i experience how to provide tlie largest amount of lieat witli tlie leant possible outlay. Onrgrates might well be improved after tlie (Janadian model, i. e., so arranged that half the warmth should not esca])e up the chinniey, and so shaped that what is called a " l)lower " should fit, when needed, to tlie l)ars to exclude the air until the dying lii'e has by means of the ga- thered draught burnt up ag^ain. Who does not know the discomfort of those shivering mo- ments of waiting while the maid wdth ]\aper and stick ti'ies to coax back into life the tlame 'vhich seems alike deaf to viitorous efforts and to gentler measures ? Woollen and cotton stuff's, washing-boards and i)erand)ulators, oi'gans and refrigerators, sewing-mnchines and machines of all kinds, turnery, ro})e-making, boot-making and boat- making, stained glass and pottery, &c., &c.; specimens, aninud, vegetable and mineral, all are here, some almost in profusion. There are hats, too, of the IMontreal Felt Hat W^orks, marked at from four and a half dollars per dozen, and, if the glass does not deceive me, of exceptionally fine texture and good workman- ship. Self-iitting skates, and skates of many shapes and sizes shone like glass, and drew many observers. So much were the rocking- chairs fancied by first comers to the Exhibition, that they were all bought up within the first few days. An elegant set of drawing-room -h^^n^ not:.-'. KiiuM ouu i.oi; in i'Aias, 83 amount 11 r grates -anadiau warm til aiul so lould lit, the air the ga- lues not ing mo- ll ])aper le tlanie oils and g-boards gevators, 11 kinds, nd boat- &c., &c.; neral, all 'here are "Works, lars per v^e me, of orkman- of many id drew rockino- hibition, the first ing-rooHi furniture was noticed by many, and the case of confections, with the pyramids of fancifully arranged " popped-corn," caught the admiring eves of others. Pictures ot th<3se triumi/us of enuiiieerinfj skill, tlie railway-bridges S])anning tlie vast rivers of Canada, could be overlooked by none ; and, to name lesser things with greater, neither could the pliotographs of the jialatial hotels of Canada, some of the manv whicli abound in its large cities, ready to entertain right royally any number of visitors who may be tempted across the Atlantic bv seeing here in l*aris specimens of the inhumeral>ie ohjects of in- terest the CVdony can sliow them. Mother Nature, too, has been bountiful in her gifts, therefore the Dominion has need to provide these great hosteiries to meet the ret[uirenieiits of the countless numbers who visit that huge half-continent, attracted, many of them, by the fame of its almost unrivalhMl natural beauties, those grand, broad, majestic rivers, witli their rapid currents, bearing ileet after fleet of rafts, manned by hardy lumberers, who liave robbed the noble forests of millions of century-old trees, yet leaving standiug others to supply the wants of generations yet to come. Has not Canada its Niagara, too ? its sea like lakes ? its liut 1 must " hark back," though sorely tempted to tell sometliiug al)out them ! The marbles, granites, ^sc, 1 observe, are I if-. Ill It' 84 NUTEb i'liUM UUU LOC; IN i'Allltt. nmcli noticed and ci'itically tapped and ex- amined by .several for whom they liave special interest ; but what pleased me best was a modest little Jar of ])rick clay i'rom Stony Mount, Manitoba. Now, in my very young days, when Manitoba v;as but a simple settle- ment w^itli scattered houses and few inhabitants, a brick had never been seen tliere, and when a lady, for whom J had, and ever shall have, a great esteem and regard, urged upon the people how easily they could make them with the wherewithal so ready to their hajids, they understood notliinij; of litr tuachino's, and were well enough satisfied with the solid logs, which certainly made them substantial anut b'ttle elfort of culture there, com])rised, as far as I can see, the whole Manitoban contribution to tlie Kxhibition. Passing out from the Section under the sym- bolic emblems which crowned its entrance — wlieat-sheaves, grou])ed fruits, antlered heads, and smaller animals stulTed and naturally posed, &c. — Geoff piloted me to the great (Canadian trophy in the grand vestibule. There was([uite a crush of ])eople awaiting their turn for ad- mission, too manv at a time nctt bein<' allowed to mount the circuitous stairs from base to top. Upon every landing various specialities of the Dominion were placed, ar.d from the four sides of each gallery wv. could gaze upon the crowds below\ iManv articles shown here we had noted more in bulk in the section we had just quitted, but otliers we saw for the iirst time. The toboLjuin, or long flat sled, upon which Canadian children, and light-hearted grown-up folks too, on plea- sure bent, disport themselves, tlying down the frozen mountain sides with li^litning speed and merry recklessness ; the smaller wooden sled, on runners, the delight of every Canadian youngster's heart ; the snow-shoe, simple and ornamental ; the birch-rind canoe, the Indian si; .XOTKS I'lloM I Hi; LOG IN lAlJlS. li '< II ' U. saddle and bead-woi'ked saddle-clotli, sariiplcs of silk-work Ie,u'giii,^s, moccasins, all brought back in friendly i^uise scenes of "Auld lang syne." (leolT pointed out a i)lough, which to my unpractised eye seemed perfect of its kind, and I think I Vv'as not far wron<>\ for others looked approvingly at it likewise, whilst some also handled the backwoodsman's axes lying around it, as if they too deserved their meed of praise. If there are many trees left like the large exhibited specimen in the «4Tand vestibule, lal)elled, "Canada, Pacific" Coast — Douglas Fir, 100 metres high — '>iji) years old, aged IcSo when Colundjus discovered America," and which, Hag and hatchet crowned, is the observed of all observers, the axes wouLl need to be of vast strenu'th, indeed, to fell them to the earth. The big trophy swiiycd ihiHiateningly as we, with others, reached its summit, but it is erected on too firm a l)asis to cause any fear of its safety. Cn following the stream of out- goers by its otlier outlet, we found that more re- mained to ])e inspecte.l. Two black or dark brown l)ears stood ns sentinels, upon one of whicli was the usual label, " I'riere de ne pas toucher." Alive, the recpiest would certainly have been reversed, but its glass eye, lixed amiably upon vacanc^y, gave Ih'uin an air of lunnble ap}»cal ([uite in keej^ing with its un- spokeji prayer. 1 could not help smiling as a tricksy young sprite lo(d<: or cohunn oi' coal from the Atlantic coast, and the com[)aratively smidl ditto representinj^- the gold found in Caniida, 1 think 1 have only h^.ft myself space to sp^ak of the short visit we paid to Mr. Keeier's oihce, facing u])on the street of model houses, where more particular information about the Colony is readily and courteously ••iven when asked for. Here we met several Canadian friends, and at their re- commendation tasted not only some excellent light wine from tlie Isal)ella grape, a vintage from Kelly's Island, Lake Erie, l)ut some of that speciality of Canada, the maple sugar. " Some people in([uire if this is a model Canadian house — (it is that of an Old English, probably a Chester dwelling). We tell them ' Xo,' l)ut tliat we could show them some quite as good, if not better, over the water, if they would like to come and see tlieni," said young Mr. Keefer, with a merry twinkle of his eye. I think I cannot better wind up my little account of my visit to "Canada," as it is in l*aris, than by recommending those who would like to make a better acquaintance with that grand old Colony itself to ibllow Mr. Keefer's advice ! . . Australia does not neglect her educational department any more than do her sisters. Eorei<^ners cannot fail to be struck with this as they wander through the English NOTKS FROM oUli L0(} IN TAKIS, 8y Colonies on foot in l*iiris. Nor Ciiu they fail to be impressed with the mighty power Enuland has in these children of hers in other hinds, and the power which they also have whilst lov- ingly liidv'ed to such a mother. May the dear bonds never be l)roken ! Does not the ])arent trunk suffer when the branches are rudely lo])ped away ? Is there not pain at heart whoAi the blood Hows from a severed artery / Hoes not the mother shed tears of .sympathy when her child weeps from pain or sorrow ? and does not the child gain strength and courage fr-om the knowledge c^f how ilear it is to that loving heart ? " Hetty," said Jack, my brother, who had Joined us in the Queensland Court, " 1 cannot help thinking what a great pity it would be for this to be the end of it, that aU these collected wonders of nature and art should, when this big world's fair comes to a close, be dispersed — here a little, there a little. What a grand opportunity for continuing the combination — say in London— in the form of a Colonial Museum ! It would be such a linking together of interests — an added bond of brotherhood — an incitement to emulation to those of tlie family far away ; while the liome birds who have nev(;r left the nest would know more of the reidities of the lif(i led by the roving spirits of the brood .' Half the battle has been fought in gathering together hrc these testimonies tu I jl r I ' 'HI \){) NUTKS KliOM OUK UK', iiN I'AltlS. i tlie wualtli 1111(1 power of Colonial KiiL;hiii(l. Suroly the other hall' would be worth the ti^ht to have and to hold them for ever, just where th(iir mission of usefulness eould Ijest he carried out in tlie dear old Moth(!r-country — the * at home ' of the hearts which love tlieir native land the more, rather than the less, that they have left her for awhile. I am Ijecoming almost poetical, which is not in my line, as you know ; but I am sure there is L>ood sound sense at the bottom, at all events, and I only wish some could be found in whose hands this «i;olden opportunity may be made tlie most of and turned to good account. The coming generation at home and abroad would have reason to thank them by and by, and I am not sure whether many now would not rejoice that the foundation stone should be laid and that the scheme (a bad name for it, by the by) — 'should take foi'iii and substance at once.' " " Well, Pater, your Museum need not languish for want of material, that is certain," remarked mv bov as we sauntered wearily homewards after our tiring, but intensely interesting ex- cursion '• On Foot through the Colonies in Paris." I