ELAGOA 
 
 BAY
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORMA 
 RIVERSIDE
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 BlRKP 
 
 ffitr JRN, W.C. 
 
 T. No. 1002 llullnrn.
 
 ;- 1 - : RROOD, RS.I. 
 
 Arrltitril vv* ^nrbnior 
 
 BIRKBECK BANK CHAMBERS, 
 HIGH fiULBORN, V/.C. 
 
 T. No. 1352 Holbtrn. 
 
 DELAGOA BAY: 
 
 ITS NATIVES AND NATURAL HISTORY.
 
 6 Deudorioc Dinocharea, 
 
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 I! OQ 
 
 Delagoa Bay 
 
 Its Natives and 
 
 Natural History 
 
 Rose Monteiro 
 
 With 20 Original Illustrations after the Author s 
 Sketches and from the Natural Objects 
 
 BY 
 A. B. AND E. C. WOODWARD 
 
 - 
 
 LONDON 
 GEORGE PHILIP & SON, 32 FLEET STREET 
 
 LIVERPOOL : 45 TO 51 SOUTH CASTLE STREET 
 1891
 
 TO 
 MY DEAR BROTHER, 
 
 HENRY BASSETT, F.C.S., F.I.C.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 SOME few years ago many circumstances com- 
 bined to make me determine to revisit the 
 benighted region of Delagoa Bay. My affairs 
 here were certainly not in a flourishing condi- 
 tion. My pretty " Butterfly Cottage," built for 
 me in happier times by my dear husband, was 
 untenanted, save by white ants, and sadly 
 required the supervision of its mistress, and I 
 confess I was longing to resume my old occupa- 
 tion of collecting insects. 
 
 *_^ 
 
 Before starting, my friends made me promise 
 to tell them all I could about the place and my 
 doings. "You must write a book," they said. 
 So I promised to try what I could do, and the 
 following medley of "everything in general and 
 nothing in particular" is the outcome of that 
 promise, originally written in the form of letters 
 to my home friends, but since then gathered 
 together into its present shape, with many
 
 viii .PREFACE. 
 
 additional recollections ; and this must be my 
 apology for an occasional change of tense. 
 
 I have purposely refrained from touching upon 
 the delicate and difficult subject of political 
 matters, nor have I ventured upon any geo- 
 graphical description of the country, leaving 
 such subjects to be gathered from works com- 
 piled by wiser heads than mine, but have simply 
 endeavoured to truthfully represent my own 
 actual observations and experiences, I fear in a 
 most erratic and unscientific manner. 
 
 Many improvements have taken place from 
 time to time in the town of Loureuo Marques 
 since I began this little book and since the 
 advent of the railway, itself the greatest im- 
 provement ; and mention of these will be found 
 in Chapter XII. 
 
 I have thought it best not to give the names 
 of any friends, but my sincere thanks are due 
 to them for the many kindnesses shown me 
 during my five years of solitude. 
 
 R. M.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Town The Bay Nationalities Seasons Cyclones 
 Storms Gardening Troubles Kafir Servants 
 Feathered Pets Kafir Cooks 1-26 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "Stray" Arrival: the First Night Settling down 
 
 " Stray's " Jealousy Open-air Life Mists Birds . 27-46 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Invaded by Swallows Cries of Birds Kafir Cruelty 
 Marketing Provisions Buyi ng Caterpillars Bats 
 Astonishment at Piano Kafir Mangle Winter 
 Work 47-67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Fevers Snuff-taking Drunken Habits Dress Hair- 
 dressing Water Carriers Small-pox Burial Cus- 
 toms Mourning Disposal of Property Marriage 
 Ceremonies Dislike of Work .... 68-93
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Winged Ants Insect Excavators Insect Industry Veno- 
 mous Flies Dragon-flies Monkeys Dislike to 
 Hospital 94-110 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Snakes Zorillas Simbas Game Lizards Spiders- 
 Scorpions House Pests White Ants Stupidity of 
 Ants 111-134 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Huts Native Game Neglect of Animals Native Beer 
 War Scare Presentation of Flags Baskets Boat- 
 building Produce Exports .... 135-156 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Scented Flowers Cruelty to Birds "Papalata" Flowers 
 
 Medicinal Plants Creepers Pine-apples Fruits 157-181 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Charaxes Tipsy Moths Rapacity of Mantis Spider 
 and Mantis Tenacity of Life Insensibility to Pain 
 Rearing Caterpillars Caterpillars Remarkable 
 Instinct Noise made by Caterpillars Scarcity of 
 Food-plant Cocoon-making Lively Pupse Stick 
 Caterpillars 182-211
 
 CONTENTS. xi 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Insect Habitations Ichneumon Fly Caterpillars Intel- 
 ligent Chobi Varied Flight Butterflies' Enemies 
 Mosquitoes Centipedes Ticks .... 212-231 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Manifold Uses of Sand Burglary "No Servant "- 
 Alarm of Fire Mending Roof Another Burglary 
 Bad Grooms "Fritz' 1 Pursued by Mule Musical 
 Instruments Songs and Chants Superstitions . 232-256 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Making a Will Improvements Quillimane Mozam- 
 bique Inhambane Need of Protection . 257-274
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FULL PAGE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. NEW AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES . . . Frontispiece 
 II. DELAGOA BAY facing 
 
 III. NATIVE SNUFF BOXES, BASKETS, &c. ... 
 
 IV. A KAFIR KRAAL , 
 
 V. POULANA VALLEY NATIVES MOVING HUT . . 
 
 VI. CATERPILLARS, &c 
 
 TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 EULOPHIA DISPERSA Title-page 
 
 OXYANTHUS MONTEIRO.E, ALETIS MONTEIRONIS, LARV.B AND 
 
 MOTH 
 
 LANDOLPHIA MONTEIROI 
 
 BUTTERFLY COTTAGE 
 
 STROPHANTHUS FETERSIANUS 
 
 FINE- BRANCHED EUPHORBIA 
 
 BBEVICEPS MOSSAMBICUS 
 
 SOLPUGA FATALIS 
 
 EUMENES SP. AND NEST 
 
 CEROPEGIA MONTEIRO.E . 
 
 MANTIS DINING 
 
 MANTIS NESTS AND OTHER INSECT HABITATIONS 
 
 KAFIR BOY 232 
 
 ANCYLANTHUS MONTEIROI 257
 
 DELAGOA BAY: 
 
 ITS NATIVES AND NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ^ 
 
 DELAGOA BAY is the 
 southernmost Portu- 
 uese possession in the 
 Province of Mozambique, 
 uth -East Africa, situated 
 outside the tropics in 26 
 Louren9o Marques, the 
 town, or city as it is sometimes called, is cer-
 
 2 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 tainly much improved since my last visit in 
 1876-78, as all the bouses now have zinc or red- 
 tiled roofs instead of thatch, and the yards or 
 quintals are enclosed by zinc palings instead of 
 being fenced in by canifo (a long slender cane), 
 as formerly, and consequently fires are not so 
 frequent. A church and hospital have also been 
 built outside the town walls on the first gentle 
 slope of the hill, and the Eastern Telegraph 
 Company's station is established in a lovely 
 house and grounds on the top of the cliff, not 
 far from the lighthouse. 
 
 The approach to the town by water is most 
 picturesque ; the shore on the left low and 
 covered with trees and bush, whilst on the 
 right, from Port Reuben, where stands the 
 lighthouse, is a high cliff of red sandstone, with 
 patches of bright green foliage sloping down to 
 the beach, dotted here and there with a few 
 palms and banana-trees. The town itself also 
 looks picturesque, with its white houses and 
 bright roofs, an occasional yellow or blue painted 
 house giving an additional bit of colour, and a
 
 THE TOWN. 3 
 
 few clumps of coco-palms raising their feathery 
 heads above the houses. 
 
 The town, consisting of a square and several 
 narrow streets, is built on a spit of sand not a 
 mile long by less than half-a-mile broad, and 
 is surrounded by a marsh, which, however, has 
 been drained within the last few years, and 
 a sea-wall built ; so now, except after heavy 
 rains, it is dry, and the town is consequently 
 healthier. Two hard roads have been made 
 across the marsh,, and beyond it rises a hill 
 which appears to be very low when seen from 
 the town, but which is in reality about 150 
 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Many of the small retail traders and canteen- 
 keepers have established themselves in two 
 roads leading up the hill, and in course of time, 
 as new roads are made, there will be quite a 
 large suburb outside the town walls. A new 
 township was, in fact, planned in 1887, and 
 looked very nice on paper : new roads were 
 made ; that is to say, miles of sand were ex- 
 posed to view and much money wasted, and
 
 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 then with the first rains all was again covered 
 up by grass and weeds, and has since re- 
 mained so. 
 
 It is about a mile and a half from the town 
 to the top of the hill, and as the ground is 
 composed of loose sand, the walk is rather 
 troublesome and fatiguing. The view from the 
 top, however, amply repays one fur the un- 
 pleasant walk, and I am glad to say my pretty 
 cottage commands one of the finest views. The 
 town certainly looks its best when seen from 
 above. Then the lovely Bay itself, the water 
 generally perfectly still, and of a deep blue, 
 small fishing-boats dotted about, and occasion- 
 ally sailing-ships and the monthly mail-steamer, 
 the opposite green wooded country of Tembe, 
 with its yellow, sandy shore, and the distant 
 range of the Lebombo mountains, especially 
 when these are brought into relief by the setting- 
 sun, make altogether a most delicious picture. 
 
 The Bay is decidedly the finest seaport in 
 South Africa, and as even at low water there is 
 never less than twelve or fourteen feet of water
 
 THE BAY. 5 
 
 on the bar, large ships are able to cross it easily 
 and anchor within two hundred yards of the 
 town. The Seine, a vessel of 4000 tons, was 
 able to anchor three hundred yards from the 
 shore. 
 
 I need not say how anxiously all the mer- 
 chants here are looking forward to the proposed 
 line of railway to the Transvaal, when the good 
 qualities of the Bay will be more generally 
 known and appreciated. 
 
 Occasionally, however, a very strong south 
 (or S.S.E.) wind blows, and completely changes 
 the calm aspect of the Bay the water becom- 
 ing the colour of lead, with breakers visible 
 everywhere, rendering rowing extremely diffi- 
 cult. Fishing- boats not infrequently capsize 
 in these wind-storms ; even fully laden lighters 
 have been sunk, and the work of digcharonno- 
 
 ' O O 
 
 cargo is often much hindered. The sand too is 
 blown about to such a degree that the town is 
 only visible through a reddish mist. 
 
 There are five rivers flowing; into the Bav, 
 
 O J 7 
 
 the Uncomati, Manissa, or St. George's River,
 
 6 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 as it is variously styled, being at the extreme 
 north ; and, next in order, the Matollo, the Um- 
 voloos, the Tembe,* and the Usutu, or Maputa. 
 
 A few traders, who sell rum and handker- 
 chiefs to the Kafirs, have settled on the banks 
 of the St. George, Tembe, and Maputa ; and I 
 am told that many hippopotami are to be found 
 in the Rivers Urnvoloos and Maputa within 
 four or five hours' sailing, and that the scenery 
 presents a most beautiful and tropical appear- 
 ance. 
 
 There are a great many nationalities repre- 
 sented among the small European population 
 English, French, German, Austrian, Belgian, 
 Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese, the latter pre- 
 dominating, of course. Chinese, Arabs, Goanese, 
 and Banians also have their representatives, 
 the Banians carrying on the greater part of the 
 retail trade. 
 
 * The River Tembe is navigable for about sixty miles, and in 
 1883 a waggon-road was made from Tembe Drift leading to the 
 Transvaal. With a fair wind and tide cargo-boats make a quick 
 passage, and many traders prefer this route on account of its being 
 healthier, and also being nearer for New Scotland, Heidelberg, &c.
 
 NATIONALITIES. 7 
 
 The soldiers, numbering about seventy or 
 eighty, are usually Goanese, Inhambane and 
 Quillimane Kafirs, and a few Loan da negroes, 
 mostly commanded by Portuguese officers. At 
 present there is no regular police staff, but some 
 of the soldiers are told off for the duty, and more 
 than once a rumour has reached me that they 
 are not infrequently mixed up in some of the 
 robberies that occur ; or, at any rate, are con- 
 veniently out of the way at the time. I was 
 also told, on good authority, that some of the 
 sentries were armed with most wonderful old 
 guns, which they did not in the least know how 
 to load or fire off. The pay of the common 
 soldiers is very scanty ; they are entitled to 
 receive 220 reis a-day a little less than a shil- 
 ling ; but many deductions are made for food, 
 clothing, &c., and for pen and ink for the ser- 
 geant ! so that they only receive not quite 
 threepence a day for their services. They are 
 a miserable-looking set of men, and are con- 
 stantly in hospital. Of course, they get drunk 
 on every opportunity, and when I visit the
 
 8 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 town, which is not very often, I almost always 
 see a helplessly drunken soldier being carried off* 
 to prison by his comrades. 
 
 The bugle-calls are very varied, and most 
 cheerful and pretty, even an attempt at har- 
 mony being made in some of them ; but they 
 are completely spoilt by the very bad instru- 
 ments provided, and often by the bad playing 
 of the buglers, who are generally small Inham- 
 bane boys. The calls are played many times 
 a day, beginning at daybreak, and the constant 
 practising that goes on is most distracting. 
 What it must be to those living near the Fort 
 I cannot tell. 
 
 There are supposed to be two seasons here, 
 the wet and the dry. They vary very much, 
 but most certainly within my experience the 
 dry predominates, and the country in the wet 
 or summer season often presents a miserably 
 parched appearance. The coldest months are 
 June, July, and August, and the rains ought 
 to set in about October. I find that the rain 
 often falls gently all night fortunately for me
 
 SEASONS. 9 
 
 the day being bright and clear, and the 
 ground smelling sweet and fresh. The mornings 
 and evenings are very chilly and cold in winter, 
 the thermometer often registering only 51 in the 
 early morning once 1 remember it 48 ! 53 
 or 56 is very usual ; and as there are no stoves 
 in the houses, and very often the outer doors 
 open into the rooms, you can imagine the cold 
 is a reality. The middle of the day, however, 
 when the sun is shining, is always pleasant 
 except when the south wind is raging. In the 
 hottest months 1 find 85 to 98 about the 
 usual temperature in the house in midday. 
 
 This is a most wonderful place for high winds. 
 A clay without wind is a rarity. The prevail- 
 ing wind is from the south-east, but often it 
 rages violently from the north, and is most 
 unpleasant, scorching everything up, and mak- 
 ing the skin feel dry and uncomfortable. Some- 
 times, after a most painful day of raging north 
 wind, after sunset it will suddenly veer round 
 to the south or south-east (a sweet " whiff 
 of the sea" being the first indication of the
 
 io DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 pleasant change) and rage and tear with equal 
 violence, but bringing great relief to one's 
 (generally) irritated feelings. I suppose the 
 cool winds are good from a sanitary point of 
 view, and they are certainly most refreshing in 
 the hot sun, but they interfere sadly with my 
 constant occupation of butterfly collecting, it 
 being sometimes quite useless even to try and 
 use the net, besides injuring a great many of 
 the insects. The hot north wind generally lasts 
 three or four days. Then the thermometer will 
 go up to 1 02 to 104 degrees, and very often 
 a thunderstorm follows. All animals avoid its 
 scorching influence, and the very butterflies 
 keep close to the ground under the thick leaves, 
 only flying a very little way when disturbed ; 
 the numerous family of "red-tips," however, 
 seem to defy it, and jog along in the open, close 
 to the ground, in their usual erratic fashion, 
 quite unconcernedly. 
 
 Sometimes a cyclone visits us, and the sand 
 is whirled about, and great trees broken or com- 
 pletely rooted up, roofs are lifted bodily off the
 
 CYCLONES. ii 
 
 houses and outbuildings, and palings blown down 
 in every direction ; but luckily such visitations 
 are rare. One which occurred lately on a Good 
 Friday was accompanied by a violent thunder- 
 storm and deluging rain which inundated every 
 house in the place, the water blowing up and 
 under the widest verandahs in a most curious 
 manner. My cottage, which is always dry 
 during the rains, was literally running with 
 water, and I had the greatest trouble to keep 
 my collection of insects safe. My anxiety about 
 that, however, luckily diverted the fear I could 
 not help feeling, for every minute I expected 
 the house to go, and the force of the wind 
 rendered it quite impossible to open the doors 
 and go outside. My pet dog and cat wt-re 
 thoroughly frightened, and after crying pite- 
 ously for some time, crouched down close to- 
 gether and trembled in silence, the cat nestling 
 almost under the big dog. This storm was 
 followed by one of the loveliest sunsets I have 
 ever seen. 
 
 Sudden and unexpected winds in whirlwind
 
 12 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 fashion often occur, driving all before them 
 papers, indeed everything light, being scattered 
 all over the place and out of doors, even pic- 
 tures often being unhooked and thrown down 
 from the walls. 
 
 It is a carious sight to watch the beginning 
 of a storm ; first the fast gathering angry -look- 
 ing black lurid clouds, tinged with a reddish 
 hue ; then the furious, whistling wind ; and then 
 the rain pouring down in torrents, travelling 
 quickly along, and by degrees completely shut- 
 ting out the Bay and shipping from view. 
 At last the town is hidden by the curtain of 
 water, and sweeping up the hill it reaches the 
 house, when it is time to rush in and securely 
 fasten all doors and windows. 
 
 The storms here are often circular, and many 
 a time, when one is fondly hoping all is over, 
 in three hours back again come the wind and 
 rain, raging with unabated fury. 
 
 On the approach of the milder thunderstorms 
 the storm-cloud often looks like a long grey 
 sausage low down by the horizon, but it travels
 
 STORMS. 13 
 
 with such rapidity, spreading out as it conies 
 along, with the edges becoming more and 
 more ragged and angry-looking, that it is as 
 well to hurry home or to a shelter, as the rain 
 often pours down within twenty minutes of the 
 first appearance of the cloud. Sometimes the 
 wind is so high that the cloud is blown right 
 over to the opposite horizon without a drop 
 of rain falling. 
 
 Hailstorms also sometimes occur, and I re- 
 member one in November 1876 when the hail- 
 stones were as large as walnuts, and as it had 
 been a very hot day, we immediately rushed 
 out to secure some for "iced drinks," although 
 our heads suffered much from the hard knocks. 
 
 I have twice since seen these hailstorms, but 
 the stones were never again quite so large. 
 The violent rushing noise heard when they are 
 approaching, and before anything very threaten- 
 ing is to be seen, is most alarming. 
 
 My first thought during a storm is always, "I 
 hope my cottage will not be struck by light- 
 ning," as it stands so high ; my second, " Are any
 
 i 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 of the tiles travelling?" and the third, "How 
 nice to get a fresh supply of rain-water ! " 
 
 The scarcity of water, especially to the resi- 
 dents on the bill, is one of the greatest draw- 
 backs to the place, every drop having to be 
 fetched from springs at the bottom of the hill 
 which I need not say renders the attempt to 
 make a garden very disheartening and almost 
 an impossibility. It is also most disheartening, 
 just as you have planted some favourite flower- 
 seeds, perhaps procured after much delay from 
 Natal or Cape Town, to find that your neigh- 
 bour's chickens have taken it into their stupid 
 heads to pay you a visit, and finding the ground 
 nicely watered, have immediately scratched it all 
 up in the hope of discovering some delicious tid- 
 bit in the shape of a grub ; or perhaps a donkey 
 
 
 or two will get loose, and besides serenading 
 you at an unearthly hour in the morning, will 
 nibble oft' some cherished lily-bud which you 
 have long been anxiously watching, and other- 
 wise damage your pet plants. Then, again, it 
 often happens that a whole drove of oxen will
 
 GARDENING TROUBLES. 15 
 
 march in, their attendant Kafir meanwhile being 
 fast asleep in the shade of a tree; pigs, too, 
 often escape from their sties and push through 
 the fence of course going every way but the 
 right when an attempt is made to hunt them 
 out ; and last, but not least, the enormous num- 
 bers of fat slugs that generally appear every 
 season (in such myriads that branches actually 
 bend with their weight) complete the list of 
 unwelcome visitors to a garden. 
 
 The washing of clothes is carried on at the 
 springs ; one favourite washing-place being under 
 the high red cliff to the left of the town, and it 
 is amusing to stand on the top of the cliff and 
 watch the various occupations going on by the 
 little streamlet below ; the pots being filled 
 where the water first trickles out lower down 
 the clothes being washed ; and lastly, the women 
 bathing and washing the little ones, throwing 
 the water over each other out of gourds and 
 tins their shining brown bodies surrounded by 
 bright green bauana- trees and patches of high 
 flowering cane with feathery tops forming a
 
 1 6 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 pretty picture ; and the sound of their laugh- 
 ter and merry voices making the scene quite 
 cheerful. 
 
 It is not so cheerful, however, to watch the 
 process of washing the linen, and one soon ceases 
 to wonder why clothes wear out so fast in Africa ; 
 for, after being soaped, instead of being rubbed 
 they are smashed and thrashed on big stones or 
 pieces of wood .till thoroughly clean, and after- 
 wards spread in the sun to dry. 
 
 The women are all smokers, and many a time 
 the linen comes home with holes burnt through 
 many folds, caused by the burning tobacco falling 
 from the pipes during the process of folding. 
 
 The water-springs just behind the swamp arc 
 a favourite rendezvous of the Kafir servants for 
 gossip, and many are the quarrels and fights that 
 take place there, all wanting to fill their barrels 
 or garrafaos (large bottles holding nearly five 
 gallons) first ; and many are the scoldings given 
 to the " boys," us they are all called, whether 
 young or old, for being such a long time gone 
 for water.
 
 KAFIR SERVANTS. 17 
 
 Very often the boy, after being absent an 
 enormous time, will bring back a broken garrafao 
 instead of the water one is anxiously waiting for, 
 with a piteous tale of a soldier pushing him, 
 or some one else's boy kicking his bottle over, 
 which may or may not be true. 
 
 Kafir servants are a great trial, and an enor- 
 mous amount of patience must be exercised if 
 one wishes to go on at all smoothly. To begin 
 with, they are very, very slow in all they do, 
 and do not seem to understand the meaning of 
 the word hurry or the value of time. Many 
 are also habitual thieves and liars, and most are 
 very artful. A Kafir boy I know told his master 
 openly that all Kafirs steal if they dan find the 
 opportunity, and that they expect the white 
 man to see that they cannot in fact, to look out 
 for himself. They will even appropriate little 
 things that can never be of any use to them, but 
 penknives and small bottles fit for holding snuff 
 t have an irresistible charm. Food or drink (espe- 
 cially drink), and cigars and tobacco, are equally 
 tempting to the Kafir mind, or fingers, and it
 
 1 8 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 is astonishing how quickly they will conceal 
 things under their scanty dress. When dis- 
 covered and taxed with theft they never seem 
 ashamed of themselves ; but if much anger is 
 shown or they get a richly deserved beating, 
 they usually run away. A boy in the service 
 of a friend was one day seen leaving the room 
 with his jacket-pocket suspiciously bulged out, 
 and on being stopped hit out at his master's 
 face, a most unusual occurrence, and was so vio- 
 lent that he had to be tightly bound ; and when 
 the police, who had to be summoned, arrived 
 and unbound him, he flew to an assegai that 
 happened to be standing in a corner of the room, 
 and tried to stab the sergeant. He had secreted 
 a whole bundle of cigars, and, I believe, other 
 little things besides, his master sitting in the 
 room all the time. He was imprisoned for some 
 months, and no doubt made to work on the 
 roads and carry water the usual form of "hard 
 labour " imposed here. Another boy in the ser- 
 vice of the same gentleman was stopped taking 
 out a full bottle or two of champagne among
 
 KAFIR SERVANTS. 19 
 
 some empty ones ; some visitors were in the 
 house at the time, so I suppose the young rascal 
 thought it would pass unnoticed. 
 
 I was told by a man, whose house is situated 
 inconveniently close to some Kafir huts, that it 
 was no unusual thing for his servants to steal 
 his dinner, pots and all, during his absence at 
 his business, and of course declare they kne\v 
 nothing about it ; and once, when he had given 
 out rice to be boiled for the dogs, he found, on 
 accidentally going out into the kitchen, that they 
 had killed a fowl and made a delicious curry with 
 the rice. He gravely told them that curry was 
 not good for dogs, but gave it them, and saw 
 them eat it all up, much to the chagrin of the 
 Kafirs, who fully intended to make a nice meal 
 themselves. 
 
 Kafirs never think it necessary to feed their 
 animals, so if you keep pets it is as well always 
 to give them their food yourself ; and I soon 
 found that the only way to get the rations of 
 rice or mealies (Indian-corn) served out for the 
 pets brought in without decreasing instead of
 
 20 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 increasing in the boiling process was to have 
 them cooked in securely tied bags, or else much 
 time would be wasted in cooking a second 
 supply. Poultry and eggs, unless you keep the 
 key of the fowl-house yourself, they are certain 
 to steal, either to sell or to eat. 
 
 At one time I had fifty fowls, kept only for 
 eggs, as I have an aversion to killing for food. 
 They were almost all pretty specimens, many of 
 them a pale grey with brown crest ; all were 
 tame, and would feed from my hand, and it was 
 quite a pretty sight to see them trooping after 
 me in grave procession wherever I turned. Some 
 of the younger ones and one or two invalids 
 always perched on my shoulders or arms as soon 
 as I made my appearance, and then the cocks 
 would fly at me and kick me, thinking I was 
 taking too many liberties, I suppose. 
 
 I often collected a large tinful of slugs for 
 them, which they highly appreciated, and used 
 to carry my invalids round the garden and allow 
 them to help themselves to the dainty, calling it 
 their oyster lunch. I tried to keep guinea-fowls
 
 FEATHERED PETS. 21 
 
 with the hens, but one day discovered a speckled 
 beauty deliberately visiting each sitting hen and 
 pecking at her cruelly, so my guinea-fowls had 
 to be given away. 
 
 One night there was a great commotion amongst 
 the fowls, and when I went in I found that some 
 Kafirs had forced their way through the canigo 
 paling, broken open the door of the hen-house, 
 and had stolen many of them, others being tied 
 up ready to be taken away. Amongst these was 
 a little red cock who, though the smallest, had 
 hitherto been lord of the community. I untied 
 him and soothed his wounded feelings as best I 
 could ; but he never was master again, and ever 
 afterwards walked about in a most crestfallen 
 manner. 
 
 I lately tried keeping a few chickens loose 
 about the quintal, hoping that their continued 
 scratching would keep down the white ants, but 
 they worried me so by coming into the rooms 
 and stealing the food and breaking the crockery, 
 that I wished them anywhere else. They used to 
 wait in a group for me outside my door, and when
 
 22 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 I opened it there was a rush, and my head, 
 shoulders, and arms were at once covered with 
 fowls. It was very interesting to watch the 
 hens with their baby chickens feeding them, 
 protecting them from sun or rain, or the cruel 
 hawk, and fighting with rival mothers, and 
 cruelly pecking at the stranger brood; but, un- 
 fortunately, my kitten also took a deep interest 
 in the fluffy little balls, and many, therefore, did 
 not arrive at maturity. 
 
 The wages of the Kafir servant, of course, are 
 according to his age and the value of his services, 
 varying from 33. to 303. per month of thirty 
 days, and usually at the end of perhaps twenty- 
 five days the boy will show you a piece of 
 string with thirty knots, or a piece of wood with 
 thirty notches cut in it, and declare his month is 
 finished. 
 
 This almost always goes on, no matter how long 
 he stays with you, although you explain over and 
 over again that the white man's almanac makes 
 no mistakes. It is, therefore, a common and a 
 good plan to give a ticket when each day's work
 
 KAFIR SERVANTS. 23 
 
 is finished, and when the boy produces thirty 
 tickets he gets his pay. 
 
 Kafirs think nothing of taking a holiday for a 
 day or two, without permission of course, to go 
 to feasts, weddings, &c., or because they are too 
 drunk to appear, so the ticket system does away 
 with the trouble of noting down these absences. 
 
 The small boys and girls soon learn to wait 
 at table very nicely, but the girls will not keep 
 in service when they are beginning to grow to 
 womanhood they think it derogatory to their 
 dignity, and prefer the regular woman's work of 
 tilling the fields, &c. The Kafirs also soon learn 
 to cook pretty fairly ; but it is necessary to show 
 them once or twice how you like a dish pre- 
 pared, or you may have very unpleasant sur- 
 prises when the dinner or breakfast makes its 
 appearance. They will gravely assure you they 
 know how to cook different things, when in reality 
 they are totally ignorant, saying, " Ipsone " 
 (" All right"), with an upward toss of the head, 
 to everything you tell them. 
 
 I had a woman cook once for a month, who
 
 24 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 came as a favour, as I was without a servant, 
 and she fried some macaroni in oil to a dry 
 chip, instead of boiling it, as I had directed, 
 and skinned some wretched prawns alive, and 
 served them up in all the water they were 
 boiled in, as soup ; and a Kafir boy who had 
 long been in the habit of making toast and 
 boiling eggs for my breakfast one day brought 
 me the bread nicely boiled in the saucepan, 
 leaving the eggs uncooked on the kitchen table, 
 I suppose in a severe fit of absence of mind ; 
 but his terror seemed so great when I told 
 him how angry I was that I could not help 
 laughing, and then, of course, he knew my anger 
 was over, and laughed also. 
 
 I hardly need say that it is always necessary 
 to insist upon cleanliness, or else, as Kafirs do 
 not seem to mind a little sand with their food 
 themselves, you may chance to get more than 
 the "peck" of dirt said to be swallowed during 
 a lifetime. 
 
 In many households it is customary for one 
 boy to be entrusted with the keys of the store-
 
 KAFIR COOKS. 25 
 
 closet, aud one would naturally suppose that 
 he would tell his master when supplies ran 
 short; but no such thing he always waits till 
 the last moment. Perhaps when you are wait- 
 ing for your breakfast the boy will come and 
 say gravely, " Coffee all finish," or wait till 
 dinner is on the table, aud then say there is 
 no wine, or bread, or something equally annoy- 
 ing; and scolding makes very little impression 
 on them. The most common and most irritat- 
 ing instance of this is to hear "No matches" 
 when you are just ready for your much-longed- 
 for and necessary morning coffee. 
 
 It is no use being very harsh with the Kafirs ; 
 for if you are, as it is a rare thing for them 
 to form any real attachment to their masters, 
 or to evince the least gratitude for kindnesses 
 shown them, they run away, as I have said 
 before, without giving you the slightest notion 
 of their intention beforehand; perhaps putting 
 you to the greatest inconvenience. In many 
 of their ways they are painfully like monkeys, 
 squatting about and touching everything with
 
 26 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 their hands in true monkey fashion. Their 
 hands too are always icy cold on the hottest 
 day, even when their bodies are streaming with 
 perspiration monkey-like again. 
 
 Personally I do not dislike them, and have 
 hitherto generally managed to get pretty well 
 served. After all, they are but Kafirs, and too 
 much should not be expected of them, and I 
 always try to remember the old and true pro- 
 verb, " It is no use trying to make a silk 
 purse out of a sow's ear."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EIR01 
 
 I THINK I may as well 
 now give some idea of 
 the manner in which I 
 spend my days, which are so fully 
 occupied that I really have no time 
 to feel lonely. 
 
 I landed the day before Christmas Day, after 
 an exceedingly pleasant voyage in the Spartan 
 as far as the Cape, although she rolled so 
 much (31 degrees) that it was quite fatiguing
 
 28 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 trying to keep still, and one or two of the 
 passengers were tossed out of their berths. 
 Dressing also became a work of skill ; but we 
 had fine weather and agreeable passengers, so 
 the rolling was always treated as a joke. At 
 the Cape I was delighted to find the African 
 waiting under orders to proceed direct to Dela- 
 goa Bay, a most unexpected bit of good luck 
 for me, as the regular mail -service contract 
 with the Union line of steamers had long been 
 ended, and communication \vith this place was 
 so irregular and uncertain that I fully expected 
 my voyage from Natal to Delagoa Bay would 
 have to be made in a steam- tug. After a run 
 on shore, therefore, where it was a treat to 
 hear the birds sing and listen to delightful 
 insect conversation after the everlasting sound 
 of the sea and the monotonous thumping of 
 the screw, my pleasant voyage recommenced, 
 and continued uninterruptedly till Delagoa Bay 
 was reached. 
 
 A grand thunderstorm broke over the ship 
 as we neared Natal, and I again saw the
 
 " STRA Y." 29 
 
 wonderful fireballs shooting as it were from 
 the vivid flashes of lightning, just as I had 
 seen them when anchored off Fernando Po 
 some years before. 
 
 In the African I met with a dear dog, a 
 big black-and-white fellow, like a Newfoundland, 
 who was discovered looking very frightened 
 and unhappy in one of the cabins after we 
 had started ; evidently forgotten by his master 
 in the hurry and bustle of clearing the ship of 
 visitors. As he was homeless, and 1 wanted a 
 guardian and companion, I asked him what he 
 thought about the matter, and he immediately 
 sat up and gave me first one paw, and then 
 the other. From this I concluded that his 
 ideas agreed with mine, so I adopted him and 
 gave him the name of "Stray.;" and if I may 
 judge from his behaviour in general, I don't 
 think he has ever regretted the arrangement. 
 
 Although, of course, I had written to say I 
 was coming, I arrived about a week before I 
 was expected, and when I landed was told 
 that I could not go up to my cottage, as
 
 30 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 it was totally unfit for a lady to occupy ; 
 indeed, I had already seen from the ship that 
 there was very little glass left in the windows. 
 As, however, there was no hotel I could 
 possibly go to, I preferred taking my chance 
 and roughing it for a little while to giving 
 any one the trouble of accommodating me and 
 my big dog ; so, after waiting nearly all day 
 for carriers for my necessary baggage, I at 
 last got into my cottnge about an hour before 
 dusk, glad indeed to know that my journey was 
 over, and to see again the place so endeared 
 to me where I had passed some of the happiest 
 hours, but also the saddest period, of my life. . 
 
 It certainly did not look very inviting or 
 comfortable, as there was hardly a pane of 
 glass unbroken in the windows or doors, and 
 it was very dirty and spidery, and large pieces 
 of the canvas ceiling were half-torn down and 
 flapping about ; but I, being an old traveller, 
 had hammer and nails in one of my cabin- 
 boxes, and very soon nailed some box-WTappers 
 across the bedroom windows.
 
 ARRIVAL THE FIRST NIGHT. 31 
 
 Luckily there were hardly any mosquitoes, 
 and I spread my ulster on a cane sofa I had 
 managed to get brought up, put my revolver 
 within reach of my hand, and although very 
 hungry, was able to sleep soundly all night. 
 In the early morning a cheery voice outside 
 my window wished me a "happy Christmas," 
 and I then found I had one kind neighbour 
 at least within five minutes' walk. Soon his 
 cook appeared with hot coffee and toast, and 
 surely never was coffee so welcome or so de- 
 licious, for I had just been wondering where 
 I should get any food or drink. Later on 
 breakfast and dinner arrived from the same 
 kind source, but it certainly was the strangest 
 Christmas I ever passed. 
 
 Owing to the festive season, I suppose, I was 
 unable to get my heavy luggage, consisting 
 of furniture, kitchen utensils, tinned provisions, 
 &c., through the Custom-House for a week, by 
 which time I was heartily tired of my hard 
 narrow bed, and really do not know what I 
 should have done without my kind neighbour,
 
 32 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 who not only provided me with food during 
 the time, but helped me in many other ways, 
 and found me servants a woman to cook, who 
 only stopped a mouth, declaring she did not 
 care to be in service ; and a " Chobi " boy to 
 fetch wood and water, &c., who remained with 
 me about two years in fact, proved himself a 
 true friend in need. 
 
 In a few days I of course became acquainted 
 with the very few English-speaking gentlemen 
 here, and they all gave me what assistance 
 they could, one sending a few panes of glass, 
 another a few planks for shelves, another some 
 paint and whitewash, and a busy time of 
 repairing and general cleaning then began. I 
 was amused to see the Kafirs wash the very 
 dirty floors. The cottage is fifty feet long, and 
 divided into four good rooms and a store-room ; 
 so I got three Kafirs and set them to work, 
 and they literally squeezed the dirt out of the 
 boards with the palms of their hands, occasion- 
 ally making use of a dry mealie (Indian corn) 
 cob to scrape up the thickest dirt, but quite
 
 SETTLING DOWN. 33 
 
 despising the scrubbing-brush. They used plenty 
 of water, and the planks soon looked quite 
 white. A Chinese carpenter was also kindly 
 lent me, a wonderfully clever workman, who 
 was very useful, and amongst other things made 
 me two capital tables of the packing-case which 
 had contained my mattress : the turned legs for 
 these I had brought from home. My other 
 cases had been purposely made with hinged 
 doors, so that they could be utilised as dressing- 
 table and cupboards when emptied of their 
 contents. 
 
 By degrees I unpacked and hung up my pet 
 pictures and photographs, and covered shelves, 
 &c., with chintz, so that soon everything began 
 to look home-like and comfortable. 
 
 Then I had to fence in my ground, and for 
 this purpose used branches of a very resinous 
 thorny tree, bearing pinkish-white flowers and 
 red berries, which readily took root, making 
 in time a handsome green fence. I also planted 
 many other large branches of various trees, 
 some twenty feet high, as many -take root
 
 34 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 easily if put in at the commencement of the 
 rainy season. 
 
 One day, when I was searching for suitable 
 trees, I noticed my boy chopping half-way 
 through the stem of a young banyan - tree 
 growing out of a cavity in another tree, the 
 seed probably having been dropped there by 
 a bird. On asking the reason for this, he 
 told me that rootlets would spring from the 
 severed part, and that then he would fetch 
 it home and plant it ; which I found to be 
 correct. . 
 
 I had great trouble to make him dig the 
 trench for the green fence in a straight line. 
 It seemed impossible for him to do so, even 
 though I had stretched a string to mark the 
 line ; it ivould go in serpentine form, like all 
 Kafir paths, which are never by any chance 
 straight. I believe that Kafirs are too lazy 
 to stoop and remove little bushes or stumps 
 of grass when a new path is wanted, preferring 
 to go round them. The next-comer follows 
 the first slightly indicated path, and so by
 
 "STRAY'S 1 ' JEALOUSY. 35 
 
 degrees it gets trodden down into a path double 
 the length of one in a straight line. 
 
 My dog proved himself a faithful guardian, 
 and hardly ever left my side, never allowing a 
 strange Kafir to enter the cottage, and even 
 insisting on being in the house when visitors 
 came, instead of lying outside on the verandah, 
 as usual ; but I soon found lie was a terribly 
 jealous dog, and that I must never notice an- 
 other in his presence. 
 
 One day a Portuguese gentlemen called on 
 me about some business matter, bringing with 
 him a large pointer. I naturally put out my 
 hand to stroke it, but "Stray" could not stand 
 that, and flew at it savagely a regular fight 
 ensuing. Of course I interfered, and held a 
 dog by the collar in each hand no easy task 
 considering the size of the beasts. The pointer 
 bit me in the wrist, but I only wound my hand 
 the tighter into the collar. Its master stood 
 quaking with fear, begging me to let them go, 
 afraid to touch his own dog, but feebly try- 
 ing to kick it. At last he mustered courage to
 
 36 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 take hold of the collar, and led his dog away. 
 " Stray " was not in the least ashamed of 
 himself, though he was very sorry I had been 
 bitten, and for some days after, when I showed 
 him my bandaged wrist, would come and lick 
 me. 
 
 Another time I did not fare quite so well. 
 My "Stray" was violently shaking a smaller 
 dog because he ran to me to be patted, and I 
 tried to drag him off, but before I could do so 
 the poor frightened stranger, who was wildly 
 snapping at anything, made his teeth meet in 
 one of my fingers, breaking the joint. The 
 craunch was rather sickening, and I feared my 
 work would be put a stop to for some time. 
 A friend helped me to splinter it up somehow, 
 there being then no doctor in the place, and I 
 hoped it was healing ; but in a few days the 
 splints slipped, and I had to set it again by 
 myself with hand and teeth. In time it healed, 
 but has remained a stiff joint. Luckily no dogs 
 go mad in Africa, so there is no fear of hydro- 
 phobia.
 
 OPEN-AIR LIFE. 37 
 
 New Year's Day I spent in mending my 
 piano, which had sustained a good deal of 
 damage during the voyage. I was horrified 
 when I unpacked it ; hardly a note would 
 sound ; and when I took it to pieces the inside 
 seemed full of loose bits and in a hopeless state 
 of confusion. However, a little glue, patience, 
 and cogitation soon put all to rights, and then 
 I only had to tune it. 
 
 All these necessary duties took up a great 
 deal of valuable time, and more than a month 
 elapsed before I was able to begin my regular 
 occupation of collecting insects. 
 
 I wish it was possible for me to describe the 
 charm of this wild, free life in the open air 
 (and there seems so much more air to breathe), 
 untrammelled by " society " forms or dress. It 
 is so delightful to wake in the early morning, 
 often before sunrise, throw open all doors and 
 windows, and drink in deep draughts of the cool 
 morning air, and listen to the singing aud twit- 
 tering of the numerous lovely little birds with 
 which this country abounds, whilst watching the
 
 38 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 sun rapidly peeping over the brow of the hill, 
 making its warmth felt almost as rapidly, and 
 lighting up the tiny cloudlets with soft pearly 
 tints which are even more beautiful in my eyes 
 than the generally more pronounced colours of 
 a sunset. 
 
 One morning was especially beautiful and 
 strange, for in the west I saw the pale full- 
 moon just setting, and in the east the glorious 
 sun rising, both seeming to be the same distance 
 from the horizon when I first noticed them, 
 and I could not help wishing I had eyes in 
 the back of my head, that I might fully enjoy 
 both. 
 
 Some mornings, however, nothing is to be 
 seen but a dense white mist which completely 
 shuts out every object from view, even hiding 
 my back kitchen, situated about twenty feet 
 from the house. As a rule the mist disperses 
 within an hour of sunrise, presenting a very 
 pretty appearance as it slowly lifts and drifts 
 away, gradually disclosing landscape, town, and 
 shipping, forming itself into clouds of many an
 
 MISTS. 39 
 
 odd shape exquisitely tinted ; but sometimes it 
 hangs about the earth for some hours, and 
 I have even known it to drift away and 
 then be all slowly drifted back again. The 
 natives declare it is ai mushla (no good), 
 and very unhealthy to be out in ; and when 
 they are obliged to defy it, huddle themselves 
 up in their blankets and look most miserable 
 objects. 
 
 I found a quantity of millet growing at 
 the back of the cottage when I arrived, and 
 although I was often advised to cut it down, 
 as it would harbour mosquitoes, I let it remain, 
 for twice a day the birds used to come and 
 feed on it ; and many a half-hour have I spent 
 watching their pretty ways, much amused by 
 the fights and chatterings, and billing and coo- 
 ing, going on during the meal, they not mind- 
 ing my presence in the least. Sometimes five 
 or six little creatures would cling on one head 
 of millet, their united weight hardly causing it 
 to sway about. 
 
 The little "bigodns" (Crithagra ictera), in
 
 40 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 appearance very like a mule-canary, are very 
 numerous in this country, and sing most 
 sweetly, their note much resembling that of a 
 canary, but softer. Then there are finches and 
 shrikes of many sorts, and of every shade of 
 yellow ; and it is pretty to see the behaviour of 
 the long narrow-tailed black-and-white whydah 
 finches (Vidua principalis), who, whilst their 
 wives are feeding ou the ground, hover over 
 them in flocks at a height of about three feet, 
 singing sweetly to them all the time. I have 
 also noticed many species of sun-birds with 
 lovely metallic patches of colour, their long 
 slender curved bills searching deep into every 
 flower ; one of them (Cinnyris jugularis), a 
 beautiful large black fellow, with a bright 
 crimson patch on his breast ; blue jays ; black- 
 and-white crows ; starlings (Lamprocolius), 
 bluish-green, with bright yellow eyes ; a lovely 
 little black, red, and grey bird ; another (Lani- 
 amus sp.), about the size of a thrush, olive- 
 green and salmon-colour, looking when flying as 
 if the wingrs and tail were bordered with salmon- 
 
 o
 
 BIRDS. 41 
 
 colour ; and many crested birds, including the 
 handsome metallic green and indigo plantain- 
 eater, with deep crimson tips to the wing-feathers 
 and scarlet crest (Corythaix Living stonii). 
 These crimson-tipped wing-feathers are brought 
 for sale here as well as on the west coast. I 
 believe they are regarded as " Fetish." The 
 red colouring matter is remarkable from its 
 containing a considerable amount of copper. 
 One very beautiful species of Coly, a rich 
 rufous brown, with two long tail-feathers and 
 a black crest, abounds in the woods, and is a 
 great rival of mine in collecting insects ; many 
 a time have I seen one chasing a butterfly I 
 particularly coveted, which sometimes fell to 
 the bird's share and sometimes to mine. I 
 shall never forget the cry of horror my boy 
 gave, nor his look of consternation, when one 
 of these birds darted out and captured a rare 
 butterfly he had been endeavouring to net for 
 more than an hour whilst patiently seated in 
 a most uncomfortable position on the top of 
 a tree.
 
 42 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 I have also some small black and white rivals 
 who are very active in the pursuit of their 
 food, hovering about and suddenly making a 
 dart at an insect on a tree-stem with lightning 
 rapidity ; and some little brown fellows who 
 keep on the ground in flocks and pick up the 
 moths hidden among the leaves, chattering in- 
 cessantly all the time. 
 
 The lovely blue and drab waxbills (Habropyga 
 ccerulescens) are also very numerous, and during 
 the love-making period the male has a very 
 pretty habit of taking a little piece of grass or 
 twig in his beak and dancing up and down with 
 it, singing all the while to his sweetheart, who 
 sits by and listens quietly. 
 
 To the right of my cottage, in front, there is 
 a large tangled bush composed of several small 
 trees and a species of very fine-branched Eu- 
 phorbia ; the whole woven together by creepers. 
 In this bush I have seven or eight varieties of 
 birds nesting, ranging in size from a beavy, 
 lumpy (the only word capable of describing him) 
 black or brown fellow (Centropus Natalensis),
 
 BIRDS. 43 
 
 called lierc the bush-pheasant, who flies as if it 
 were too much trouble to use his wings, and 
 who will sit on a low bush and stare at me, 
 letting me get quite close to him before he flies 
 away, to a brown-aud-red mite (an Estrelda) 
 even smaller than the blue waxbills, which are 
 constantly hopping about so close to the house 
 that I am always fearing my kitten will catch 
 the poor little darlings. Bigodas, of course, 
 inhabit my bush ; also some slender greyish- 
 browii birds with black crests and a dash of 
 yellow near the tail, who sing very sweetly, and 
 two families of black and white shrikes (Lanius 
 coronatus] ; but these List I never can like, for 
 they have an unpleasant habit of impaling 
 beetles, grasshoppers, and even small birds alive 
 on the thorns of the hedge round my ground, 
 and there eating them at their leisure. Their 
 only redeeming point is that they sing very 
 sweetly for hours together quite close to the 
 house, but they also have a very harsh, dis- 
 cordant cry. The young birds especially make 
 a hideous noise, continuing to scream all the
 
 44 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 time the parents are hunting for their food, the 
 screams increasing in power till a large delicious 
 grub is dropped into the expectant little 
 mouth. 
 
 Many small light brown Colys also nest in the 
 bush, and in the rainy season regularly take 
 their morning bath in the guttering round my 
 cottage, taking not the slightest notice of my 
 close proximity. 
 
 In the woods I see many green pigeons and 
 bronze-wing doves, and listen to their sweet 
 cooing. Sometimes a big bustard starts up ; and 
 once, when 1 was standing very quietly waiting 
 for a butterfly, I turned my head and saw a 
 beautiful little mottled grey owl (/Scops Capensis) 
 sitting on a branch quite close to me, watching 
 me intently, and he did not fly away for some 
 time, allowing me to admire him at my leisure. 
 One very large grey owl was brought me, which 
 was captured just as it was carrying off a young 
 chicken. I gave the Kafir sixpence for it, and 
 when night came let it fly away. I suppose 
 that in strict justice it ought to have been
 
 BIRDS. 45 
 
 killed, but it felt so soft, and kept turning its 
 head quite round to look at me in such a 
 pathetic way, that I was obliged to take pity 
 on it. 
 
 Another time, just as I got near my favourite 
 wood, I saw myriads of little birds evidently in 
 a state of great excitement ; so I crept softly 
 quite close to them, and found that a swarm of 
 ants had just got their wings, and the birds were 
 pursuing them in the air and eating them as 
 fast as they could cntch them. They very sel- 
 dom missed their aim, but when they did, the 
 impetus of their flight carried them a long way 
 beyond the object aimed at, and I could not 
 help being reminded of the description of the 
 old game of Quintain. Many of the birds were 
 on the ground fast picking up the ants whose 
 wings had fallen off. It was a pretty sight, and 
 as I remained quite motionless, the little things 
 went on with their breakfast as if I had not 
 been there. 
 
 None of the birds seem very timid. Wood- 
 peckers will continue their tapping whilst I am
 
 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 looking on, and I have seen many a nest built 
 by the industrious weaver-birds, who evidently 
 are very sociable, as sometimes a tree will have 
 two or three pendent nests on every branch. 
 
 /v_ N-
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SWALLOWS 
 are very 
 numerous, 
 and a curious 
 incident occur- 
 red one day connected 
 with them. It was in the 
 beginning of March, and 
 
 o o * 
 
 the rain had poured in tor- 
 rents all night, and continued 
 the whole of the next day, the wind blowing 
 a perfect hurricane, the thermometer suddenly 
 dropping to 63 About 1 1 A.M. a drenched,
 
 48 DEL AGO A BAY, 
 
 miserable swallow flew into the house and 
 perched himself on one of the partitions of 
 the rooms ; then one flew into the kitchen, 
 and my boy caught it and brought it to me. 
 I held the poor mite in my hands for a 
 little while, to warm him, and then let him fly 
 up to his companion in misfortune, by whose 
 side he- at once nestled down. In a few minutes 
 more began to come in, at first singly, then by 
 twos and threes, some fluttering helplessly among 
 the white window curtains and beating them- 
 selves against the glass. These I caught and let 
 fly up to their friends, and was surprised to find 
 that they were not in the least alarmed at being 
 touched, but seemed to like the warmth of the 
 hand, and would perch quite confidingly on my 
 finger, and not attempt to move when I stroked 
 their little heads. 
 
 Many were brought me half dead by women 
 and boys, who had picked them up from the 
 ground, and who all wanted a "pen" (three- 
 pence) for them ; but for answer I only pointed 
 to my fast-filling house, so they laughed and let
 
 INVADED BY SWALLOWS. 49 
 
 me keep the birds, which soon recovered in the 
 dry room. 
 
 One poor little thing I found suspended in a 
 large spider's web, aud although the wings of a 
 swallow seem so powerful, it was quite unable 
 to extricate itself. They continued to come in 
 all day, and before five o'clock more than a 
 hundred had taken shelter, and the twittering 
 and fuss that went on was most amusing. 
 
 When it began to grow dark they packed 
 themselves up for the night on the partitions as 
 close as they could possibly crowd together, two 
 and three deep. Most of them went to roost 
 with their tails spread out, perhaps in order to 
 dry them thoroughly, and the round white spot 
 on the tip of each feather had a very curious 
 appearance when they were all asleep and quiet. 
 I fully expected to find the bottom row dead 
 from suffocation the next morning, but only 
 three had fallen victims, and these I imme- 
 diately skinned. They stayed with me till about 
 noon, one or two occasionally flying out and 
 returning, apparently to report on the state of
 
 50 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 the weather, and then all leisurely took their 
 departure, no doubt very glad to see the sun 
 again shining brightly. I felt quite sorry when 
 my little visitors departed, but was glad they 
 chose their countrywoman's house in their time 
 of need, for they proved to be English swallows. 
 The fussy little wagtails are very plentiful, 
 and run about quite close to houses, and there 
 are, of course, many other birds represented 
 here, including the useful vulture and the cruel 
 hawk, watching his opportunity to carry off 
 some poor baby chicken, and the game-birds, 
 quails, partridges, guinea-fowl, &c. ; but I care 
 most for the pretty little birds, and love to 
 listen to their varied songs and quaint cries, 
 always excepting that of a goat-sucker, which 
 constantly awakens me from a sound sleep with 
 the most unearthly screeching, the cry sounding 
 quite weird as it rushes past the house and dies 
 away in the distance. I often find these birds 
 half asleep in the woods, either crouching on the 
 ground or on the branch of a tree, lying down 
 flat against the bark. They seem quite dazed
 
 CRIES OF BIRDS. 51 
 
 when disturbed, and only flutter on a yard or 
 two. I have more than once put my net over 
 them, and then taken them up and nursed them, 
 without their being in the least alarmed. One 
 little bird has a curious cry which sounds like 
 " Only a ha'penny a pair," uttered in the most 
 melancholy tones, and he goes on with this till 
 one feels inclined to say, " Pray go away, my 
 good bird ; I really have no halfpennies to spare." 
 I must not forget to mention the very shrill 
 and plaintive cry of a species of hornbill, which 
 flies in flocks so plaintive that it makes one 
 feel quite low-spirited after hearing it for some 
 time. 
 
 The Kafir boys are constantly trapping the 
 little bigodas to sell to the white men. The 
 trap used is a cage made of palmwood, and 
 divided into three compartments, the centre oc- 
 cupied by a tame call-bird, whose song attracts 
 the others. The side compartments are pro- 
 vided with some tempting seed, and have a 
 spring top, which closes on the poor little bird 
 when he ventures in. If the boys would only
 
 5 2 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 trap the bigodas it would not so much matter, 
 as they very soon seem to like their captivity, 
 and sing away merrily ; some even will not quit 
 their cage when the door is purposely left open. 
 One little thing I lately bought without a tail, 
 intending to set him free when it had grown, 
 was quite a trouble to get rid of; and I have 
 known them to fly out and return to their cage 
 again at night ; but the little wretches the boys, 
 I meau catch insect-feeders and the beautiful 
 sun-birds, which soon die in captivity, by smear- 
 ing bird-lime on the twigs, and either thrust 
 them into cages, or bring the poor, frightened 
 little things for sale dangling by a string tied to 
 one leg the leg often broken. 
 
 When they bring the insect-feeders to me I 
 either take the cage (under pretence of carefully 
 examining the birds), and slyly open the door 
 and set the poor prisoners free, or buy them 
 and let them fly at once (a proceeding which 
 always causes much astonishment), and try to 
 make the boys understand how cruel they are 
 quite ineffectually, I need not say.
 
 KAFIR CRUELTY. 53 
 
 The Kafirs do riot appear to know that birds 
 or beasts can feel pain, or if they do know it, 
 they are horribly cruel. They always bring in 
 game for sale alive, and generally very much 
 injured, the legs and wings almost always 
 broken, and one hurries to buy, whether in 
 need of it or not, so as to put the poor thing 
 quickly out of its misery, and not allow it 
 to linger perhaps another ten minutes whilst 
 dragged through the sun to the next white 
 man's house. 
 
 I remember once having a hare brought me 
 with all its legs broken, and the skin of one hind- 
 leg stripped off and hanging down. I was alone 
 in the house at the time, my boys being away 
 on some errand, and could not make the Kafir 
 understand my indignation at the state the poor 
 beast was in, so hastened to buy it, and told 
 him to kill it quickly. In a few minutes he 
 came and said it was dead, and that he had 
 hung it in the kitchen. Some little while after 
 I felt compelled to go and look at it, and, to my 
 horror, found it hanging to a hook still alive ! I
 
 54 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 was forced to knock it on the head myself, but I 
 did not touch that dish at dinner. 
 
 Most of the marketing is carried on before the 
 door. I am often aroused before sunrise by the 
 cry of " Shabelli," which means " I have to sell." 
 Then I open the door, and perhaps find four 
 or five women, all with pipes in their mouths, 
 and heavy baskets of sweet potatoes, ground- 
 nuts, beans, mealies, or mandioca-root tied up 
 in bundles, on their heads. Sometimes they 
 bring a few fresh beans or bunches of cabbages, 
 or Berenjelas (the fruit of the egg-plant, and 
 most delicious when cut in slices and fried in 
 butter or oil), but fresh vegetables are rarities. 
 A good general market-place is very much 
 wanted here, so that one could be sure of a 
 supply ; for many mornings no women take the 
 trouble to call at houses situated a little out 
 of the regular roads, as they are certain to 
 dispose of all their goods in the town, and a 
 boy has to be sent to intercept them on their 
 way. They very seldom will sell anything for 
 less than a threepenny-bit, which they call a
 
 MARKETING. 55 
 
 "pen," and as they rarely have change, one is 
 obliged to try and keep a stock of "pens" in 
 the house, and often these get very scarce. 
 Copper money they do not like, but of course 
 are obliged to take it sometimes. Many do 
 not even understand its value, and thus long 
 explanations have to be made, and after a lot of 
 argument and much time wasted (of which also 
 they do not know the value), they take it and 
 go away, looking anything but satisfied. 
 
 The woman cook I had used to enjoy teasing 
 the market-women, telling them many fibs about 
 the value of the copper money, and the torrent 
 of angry words and gesticulations that then 
 ensued was most laughable. 
 
 I have now and again purchased things for 
 rice or salt, of which latter the women are very 
 fond ; and some people buy with rum, and I 
 believe get things cheaper that way ; but I 
 never will even keep it in the house, except a 
 small quantity, undiluted, for the spirit-lamp, 
 and to preserve specimens ; and I get just as 
 well served as my neighbour?, although I was
 
 5 6 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 told when I first arrived that I could not pos- 
 sibly get on without it ; and now the Kafirs 
 have learned that it is no use asking " Missisi," 
 as I am generally called, for a sope or drink. 
 
 When eggs are brought for sale, it is always 
 necessary to put them in a basin of water before 
 purchasing, when those that are bad rise to the 
 top, and those that are partly hatched stand up 
 on end ; duck eggs, however, sometimes stand 
 on end when perfectly fresh. The Kafirs do not 
 mind eating eggs that have been taken from 
 under a sitting hen, and seem quite surprised, 
 and sometimes indignant, when the m'lunga 
 (white man) refuses to buy them. 
 
 Fish is sometimes brought to the door by men 
 or boys, but the supply is very uncertain outside 
 the town, and it is best to send your own boy 
 down to meet the fishing-boats as they come in. 
 
 Tomatoes are generally brought in three-cor- 
 nered baskets, or rather envelopes, made from 
 a piece of palm-leaf split and neatly plaited ; 
 they are more often sold by men, who generally 
 bring palm-wine in gourds slung on one end
 
 PROVISIONS. 57 
 
 of a stick, and the baskets of tomatoes on 
 the other. 
 
 Palm-wine is delicious when freshly caught in 
 clean bottles, but when it has begun to ferment 
 it loses all its sweet flavour. The Kafirs are 
 very fond of it in every stage, and buy it eagerly. 
 
 Milk is very rarely offered for sale on the hill, 
 but occasionally a very dirty boy will appear 
 with an equally dirty-looking bottle of milk 
 generally goat's milk, and tasting of goat, so I 
 never buy it, much preferring to use the con- 
 densed milk. 
 
 I am afraid I have made many and long 
 digressions since I began the subject of my daily 
 doings, but one subject so suggests another that 
 I almost forget the original. Now, however, I 
 will try to proceed in a less erratic fashion, but 
 I fear it will not be long before I transgress 
 
 again. 
 
 After the marketing is over and the indis- 
 pensable early cup of tea or coffee enjoyed, I 
 generally have something to do in the shape of 
 pinning up insects caught the previous uight,
 
 5 8 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 and feeding my caterpillars with fresh leaves, 
 which is a long task when I have many varie- 
 ties ; then the pets have to be fed, and the lamps 
 to be trimmed (a duty which a lady certainly 
 never would trust to Kafir hands), and breakfast 
 to arrange (and often cook afterwards) ; lastly 
 the bath ; and although I am such an early 
 riser, it is often half-past nine or ten before I 
 can get out. 
 
 Sometimes in the caterpillar season, just as I 
 have securely fastened up the cottage and am 
 starting heavily laden with boxes and bottles, 
 1 see a troop of women and children carrying 
 caterpillars coming over the hill ; then I have 
 to go in again and find suitable boxes for them, 
 and give the women and children each a hand- 
 ful of salt, with which they are quite contented. 
 Often no food-plant is brought with the cater- 
 pillars, it being extremely difficult to make the 
 Kafirs understand that such things require food as 
 much as they do themselves, and I am hindered 
 still more by having to wait while the proper 
 leaf is fetched. If it cannot be found, I then
 
 BUYING CATERPILLARS. 59 
 
 take the foodless caterpillars out for a walk, and 
 try them with various plants, being much amused 
 by the way the little creatures angrily jerk their 
 heads away from the wrong leaves before eagerly 
 fastening on the proper food. I have had large 
 caterpillars brought me tied tightly round the 
 middle with a piece of grass, they popping out 
 like an indiarubber ball when the grass was cut, 
 seemingly none the worse for the pressure. 
 
 In the busy months, from November to July, 
 I am generally out collecting about seven hours 
 every day, walking or standing all the time, and 
 when I go long distances I am out even longer 
 still, as I then have to make a scramble to start 
 much earlier so as to arrive on the collecting 
 ground when the butterflies first appear ; then 
 when I return I have barely time to transfer my 
 day's catch to other boxes, and lay out some of 
 the best, give out what I mean to have cooked 
 for dinner, and have a refreshing wash and change 
 of dress, before the sun sets and it is time to rush 
 out after the sphynx-moths luckily only in my 
 own ground, where a pretty Indian star-shaped
 
 60 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 flower, Vinca rosea and V. alba, one of the 
 Periwinkles, both crimson and white, grows 
 profusely and attracts large numbers of moths, 
 although to me it has a very unpleasant scent. 
 There I wait, mosquito-bitten, as these pests also 
 appear after sunset, till I absolutely cannot see 
 any longer, often catching the last few moths 
 through the humming sound they make in flying. 
 Some evenings the bats are so numerous that 
 I cannot even hear that, the noise from their 
 great wings is so loud. 
 
 The stridulating noise made by the large grass- 
 hoppers also often prevents my hearing the hum- 
 ming of the moths. It is sometimes almost pain- 
 fully loud, and one only realises how loud it has 
 been from the relief experienced when it suddenly 
 stops. It is as bad as being close to an engine 
 letting off steam. 
 
 My little cat always accompanies me when I 
 am catching moths, and tries to coax me back 
 to the house, as it is near dinner-time, at 
 last jumping on my shoulder to make me 
 leave off work. He is very skilful in catching
 
 BATS. 6 1 
 
 them, and generally eats two or three by way 
 of an appetiser. 
 
 Very often a moth gets its long proboscis en- 
 tangled in a blossom and flies off with it, which 
 looks very curious in the dim light, as no moth 
 is distinguishable, only the flower moving rapidly 
 away. 
 
 The bats are my rivals in the evening, as the 
 birds are in the daytime. The air is sometimes 
 quite thick with them, and they circle round my 
 head so closely that I can feel their wings fan- 
 ning my cheeks. Occasionally one will startle 
 me by flying into the room when I am sitting 
 quietly reading, and after flying about wildly 
 for a little while will usually cling to something 
 near the lamp, as if fascinated by the light, 
 and sometimes one will hook itself on to the 
 back of my chair and remain quiet for some 
 time. These I catch in the net and let fly 
 away, always taking care of my fingers, as their 
 little teeth are very sharp. One rather large 
 bat, with a head very like that of a horse, was 
 captured by a friend, who tried to keep it in a
 
 62 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 cage ; but although it readily ate bananas aiid 
 sweet potatoes and bread, it died in two days, 
 so he gave it to me, and I skinned it at once. 
 
 I find that the best way to preserve large 
 moths is to drop a little chloroform on their 
 heads whilst in the net, and before they recover 
 put them into a little bottle containing cyanide 
 of potassium, which not only kills quickly, but 
 prevents them from becoming stiff. I some- 
 times can get them into the poison-bottle with- 
 out chloroform, and they are insensible at once. 
 Moths should always be touched as little as pos- 
 sible by the fingers, as their scales rub off so 
 very quickly, particularly on the back of the 
 thorax ; they also have a bad habit of spreading 
 themselves out flat and creeping along in the 
 net, instead of folding back their wings like the 
 right-minded and sensible butterfly. 
 
 I think you will allow that by the time the 
 moths are disposed of I have well earned my 
 evening meal, especially as I rarely taste any- 
 thing all day but a morsel of dry biscuit or a 
 handful of roasted ground-nuts, and generally
 
 ASTONISHMENT AT PIANO. 63 
 
 liave been on my feet about thirteen or fourteen 
 hours without a break, for I seldom sit down 
 even to my breakfast, as I find I can do so many 
 things whilst eating it. 
 
 After dinner I either play or read a little, and 
 often cannot help falling asleep over my book ; or 
 perhaps I have a visit from a neighbour or two, 
 and then the piano is sure to be put into requi- 
 sition ; but there is not much visiting up on the 
 hill during the hot season, and I often do not 
 even see a white face for more than a fortnight. 
 
 My piano is a never-failing source of wonder 
 to the raw Kafirs, and whenever my boys have 
 a friend from afar to visit them they always come 
 and ask me to allow the visitor to see and hear 
 the white man's instrument. I once played a 
 lively tune to a very little, shrivelled-up old 
 woman, eighty years old at the very least, and, 
 to my astonishment, she became so excited that 
 she began to sing, and danced all over the room. 
 
 Ladies are very scarce. I believe there are now 
 two or three Portuguese ladies living in town ; 
 but as I speak very little Portuguese and they
 
 64 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 speak no English, and do not even understand 
 it, and are, moreover, very particular about eti- 
 quette in dressing, &c., visits of ceremony would 
 be a farce, even if I had daytime to spare for 
 the purpose ; so unless a lady happens to pass 
 through the place to or from the Transvaal or 
 Mo9ambique, I have no chance of a gossip with 
 one of my own sex. 
 
 I always try to go to bed early, but often just 
 when I am preparing for it I find that moths are 
 beginning to fly in, attracted by the light ; so I 
 sit up a little longer to catch them, or if the 
 night is not too windy, put a candle-lamp on the 
 verandah with a sheet under it, and taking out 
 my net and a chair, wait for them outside. 
 
 One evening, whilst thus waiting, I walked to 
 the end of the verandah to look at the lovely full- 
 moon (which always seems brighter and larger 
 than in England), but, to my amazement, I saw a 
 new moon ! For a moment I thought I must be 
 going to have an attack of fever, as I knew I had 
 been watching the moon at its full the previous 
 eveniug, and remarking how huge it looked and
 
 KAFIR MANGLE. 65 
 
 how rapidly it rose over the brow of the hill. 
 Suddenly I thought it must be an eclipse, so, leav- 
 ing the moths to the bats, I watched the beautiful 
 sight until the shadow passed, and the full-moon 
 shone out brightly again in all its loveliness. 
 
 Of course, there are many other things besides 
 those I have mentioned which have to be done 
 in the course of the day, and for which time has 
 to be made somehow mending dresses and nets, 
 which are constantly getting torn by the many 
 thorny plants and creepers in the bush, and 
 many little household matters a lady is forced 
 to see to herself. 
 
 In the busy season I must confess I often put 
 on linen, and even dresses, rough dried; but when 
 I have leisure I sprinkle and fold the clothes and 
 pack them up neatly in canvas, then I call the 
 boys to dance and stamp on the bundle, and 
 after about half-an-hour's stamping the clothes 
 look as if they had been nicely mangled. I call 
 this my "Kafir mangle." 
 
 In the cool season I make all the boxes in 
 which to pack the insects for shipment ; some I
 
 66 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 make out of cigar-boxes freely supplied by smok- 
 ing friends, lining them with cork or the soft 
 palm-wood, but the greater part I make of the 
 palm-wood entirely ; then I paiut over the wood 
 with carbolic acid, paper them all inside, and 
 insert a little piece of glass into the lids, in order 
 that the Custom-House officers in London may 
 not wrench them open to know their contents, 
 which happened once, alas ! when I omitted this 
 precaution. 
 
 I often feel quite pleased to see a wet or cloudy 
 day, as I know that I may then spend the whole 
 of it at home, and try to reduce the number of 
 odds and ends of work that have gradually ac- 
 cumulated in spite of my efforts, because even 
 in the cold season 1 try to go out some part of 
 the day, and am sure to find something worth 
 preserving. In these winter walks, if I find no 
 insects about, I search for their nests and pupas, 
 and also for bulbs and creepers to transplant to 
 my ground, which I must not yet dignify by the 
 name of garden, or collect the various seeds for 
 my friends and Kew Gardens.
 
 WINTER WORK. 67 
 
 A large collection of flowering plants was dried 
 and sent to Ke\v during my last visit here by 
 my lost and most dear companion, but I am still 
 finding others, and hope to complete the work 
 that he began. 
 
 This busy life, giving occupation both for mind 
 and body, keeps me in perfect health, and, I be- 
 lieve, prevents me from having attacks of fever. 
 Perhaps, too, the carbolic acid I am constantly 
 inhaling may act as a preventive, and fortunately 
 the hottest sun does not affect my head.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I CONCLUDED 
 
 -" the last chapter 
 with an allusion 
 to the fever of 
 the country, and as 
 many have heard from 
 other sources what a bad name 
 this place has indeed it is 
 often called the " white man's 
 grave " I think it only right 
 to say that it is by no means 
 so black as it is painted. 
 Of course, there is a good deal of fever here, 
 as in most tropical and semi-tropical coast 
 
 
 68
 
 FEVERS. 69 
 
 settlements, but certainly not enough to give 
 it such a very bad reputation. An attack of 
 simple fever and ague, which, if treated in time, 
 ought not to last more than three days, is not 
 so unpleasant to the patient as a bad influenza 
 cold in England ; the effects soon pass away, 
 and people seem to get accustomed to it and 
 take it as a matter of course. 
 
 In my opinion a great deal of fever is in- 
 duced by the ordinary way of living here, the 
 residents in general taking very little exercise, 
 and eating more meat than is necessary in a 
 hot climate ; and many, again, are not so tem- 
 perate as they might be. With these the fever 
 is more likely to take a bilious form, and then 
 the cure is not so speedy. There are not so 
 very many deaths from fever alone, but often 
 a man is very ill or dying of some other disease, 
 and fever sets in at the last. Then death from 
 Delagoa Bay fever is the verdict ; and I have 
 known instances when that verdict has been 
 spread abroad when not a trace of fever has 
 appeared all through the time of illness.
 
 70 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Many miners, too, and others, come into the 
 town exhausted after tramping from the gold- 
 fields or Transvaal, perhaps having endured 
 many privations and hardships on the road. 
 Only lately I heard that some had arrived who 
 had lost their way and had wandered about 
 without food for five days before they struck 
 the right road. Naturally such people are apt 
 to drink more than is good for them when they 
 arrive in civilised parts, and if they get an 
 attack of fever the place gets the odium of it, 
 and no mention is afterwards made of the cir- 
 cumstances that produced it. 
 
 Occasionally a person is attacked by " per- 
 nicious fever," which is generally fatal, some- 
 times carrying off the sufferer in twenty-four 
 hours ; but fortunately such cases are very rare. 
 
 If treated in time, simple fever is nothing 
 to be alarmed at. A feeling of weariness or 
 headache is often the first symptom, and a 
 slight aperient then will sometimes prevent the 
 fever appearing ; but if it does, quinine must be 
 taken, after the fever has abated, in sufficient
 
 FEVERS. 71 
 
 quantities to prevent its recurrence. Starvation 
 for a day or two does much to cure it, but a 
 very little fowl soup may be allowed. Many 
 cannot take quinine in large doses, and then it 
 must be given in small quantities at frequent 
 intervals. Great care must be taken not to get 
 a chill when the fever is passing away, and on 
 no account must the false appetite which usually 
 accompanies convalescence be indulged, or a 
 relapse is almost sure to take place. 
 
 The natives are sometimes attacked by fever, 
 but they seem to suffer most from consumption 
 and rheumatism, caused, I expect, by the sudden 
 changes in temperature a drop of 20 to 30 
 being of common occurrence and the scanty 
 clothing they wear, most of them making very 
 little, if any, difference between winter and 
 summer. 
 
 The native dress of the man is very simple, 
 consisting of a string round the waist, to which 
 is attached a bunch of tails, or pieces of hide 
 twisted to resemble tails, hanging in front, and 
 either another bunch at the back or a monkey-
 
 72 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 skin or square piece of goat or deer skin. This 
 attire is called a tnoutje. Some rich Kafirs 
 wear many monkey and other skins tied all 
 round the waist. Many wear a bright-coloured 
 handkerchief tied over one shoulder and under 
 the other arm, and a necklace, often made with 
 animals' teeth strung together, and one or two 
 bracelets of twisted brass or iron wire complete 
 the costume. They are fond of sticking two 
 or three feathers, or sometimes a bright scarlet 
 flower, in their wool. 
 
 The full or war dress is rather more elaborate, 
 with a large head-dress of feathers and fringes 
 of hair tied under the knees and above the 
 elbows, skins on the shoulders, and an oval 
 shield of ox-hide and several assegais and sticks 
 carried in their hands. 
 
 The more important middle-aged men of a 
 tribe, counsellors as they are called, shave the 
 wool, with the exception of a circle round the 
 head, which is drawn tightly up and sewn over 
 a foundation of beeswax and indiarubber, form- 
 ing a hard shining ring.
 
 
 XATIVK SNUFF BOXES, BASKETS, CTC.
 
 SNUFF-TAKING. 73 
 
 All Kafir men carry a snuff-box, usually 
 made in the shape of a small bottle, carved out 
 of bone or wood, and worn hanging to the 
 necklace. Some make them out of a piece of 
 cane, ornamented by carving, and stick them 
 through the big slits it is fashionable for both 
 men and women to make through the lobe of 
 the ear a glass stopper from an oil bottle worn 
 in the same manner being considered a great 
 ornament. 
 
 I have some snuff-boxes most beautifully 
 carved out of rhinoceros horn, the prettiest 
 having a small cup for the snuff, and two or 
 three slender spines leading from it about nine 
 inches long ; these are carried stuck through the 
 wool. Small gourds pierced and ornamented 
 with fine brass and copper wire or beads are also 
 used for snuff. 
 
 The Kafirs are inveterate snuff-takers, ex- 
 changing pinches when they meet, and paying 
 visits for the purpose of taking " sclmiff," the 
 majority leaving the pipe of tobacco to the 
 gentler sex.
 
 74 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Men and boys working in and about dwelling- 
 houses generally wear a piece of handkerchief, 
 called a capalane, as waistcloth, and a shirt ; 
 preferring to wear the latter outside the waist- 
 clotb, unless made to reverse the order. 
 
 When out of service they usually return to 
 the native moutje, often making a comical mix- 
 ture of the two, and the effect of a shirt worn 
 over a large moutje is very funny. A waist- 
 coat, worn without a shirt, is a very favourite 
 costume. Sometimes a very little boy may be 
 seen wearing a large man's shirt reaching to his 
 heels. I saw one hideous Kafir with a large felt 
 hat and a huge bunch of yellow everlasting 
 flowers stuck through each ear. 
 
 They are fond of wearing white man's clothes, 
 and those who have been working in the Cape 
 Colony or Natal generally come back clad in 
 complete European costume, looking anything 
 but nice in it. They also very often come back 
 with a choice selection of English oaths and bad 
 language, most unpleasant to hear, and are 
 often inclined to be very insolent, which does
 
 DRUNKEN HABITS. 75 
 
 not say much for the teaching they have re- 
 ceived or the company they have been in 
 whilst away. 
 
 When the noble Kafir goes for a walk he 
 always carries a knobkerry or a stick ; the latter 
 generally carried resting on the shoulders behind 
 the neck and held by both hands. I have tried 
 this fashion with my butterfly-net when walk- 
 ing long distances, and find it a very comfort- 
 able and easy position. When he is drunk, a 
 not very rare occurrence, he dances and shouts 
 and sings most unmelodiously as he goes along, 
 carrying the stick or knobkerry standing upright 
 at arm's-length. 
 
 Both men and women are terrible drunkards ; 
 they will do anything for rum, and they get 
 drunk so early in the morning, too it is quite 
 disgraceful. I often see them come reeling 
 and shouting up the hill, after having disposed 
 of their market produce, before ten o'clock. 
 Mothers will actually give rum to their sucking 
 children. Many begin to drink on Saturday 
 afternoon, and keep it up all Sunday, which
 
 76 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 is a great day with them for dressing up and 
 visiting their friends. 
 
 The rum sold to the Kafirs is a strong fiery 
 spirit, even after the copious dilutions of water 
 it receives before reaching them. They tell you 
 candidly they like their drink strong " strong 
 enough to make them dance and sing." One 
 woman told me she had a " good head," and 
 could drink four wine-glassfuls without feel- 
 ing it ! 
 
 There are numerous canteens kept by small 
 traders, and besides these there are innumerable 
 native huts where rum is sold, distinguished by 
 having a coloured rag tied to a long stick stuck 
 in the roof to serve as a flag and the supply 
 is always equal to the demand. 
 
 I cannot help thinking that the white man is 
 very much to blame for immediately introducing 
 strong drinks wherever he colonises ; but the 
 merchants laugh when I express this opinion, 
 and say it is good for trade. It seems shocking 
 to me to see ship after ship arrive with rum 
 forming the principal cargo. In 1884 nearly
 
 DRESS. 77 
 
 48,000 gallons of " distilled liquors " were im- 
 ported, and I do not think it is a trade that 
 ever decreases. 
 
 There are some few total abstainers amongst 
 the Kafirs who will not even drink the native 
 beers. 
 
 The dress of the women is rather pretty, and 
 suits them admirably. It consists of a capa- 
 lane wrapped round the waist generally only 
 reaching to the knees, but sometimes worn much 
 longer and another round the body fastened 
 over the breast, leaving the arms quite free. A 
 small handkerchief, white preferred, is also often 
 tied round the waist, with the corners hanging 
 behind an embroidered end to a white hand- 
 kerchief being highly prized ; red and yellow 
 mixtures seem to be the favourite colours for 
 capalanes, but others are used. Whilst work- 
 ing in the fields they usually discard the cloth 
 round the chest. 
 
 They wear as many bracelets and anklets, 
 made of finely-twisted brass or iron wire, as they 
 can procure, and the richer the woman the more
 
 rings she displays. Sometimes these reach from 
 wrist to elbow, and from ankle to knee a most 
 heavy and uncomfortable ornament, I should say 
 but the true old saying, " Vanity must suffer 
 pain," applies equally in Africa as in civilised 
 parts. 
 
 It is also the custom to tie a string of beads 
 very tightly just above the elbow, and all wear a 
 bead necklace. Many ornament their heads with 
 a fillet about an inch wide made of different 
 coloured beads worked into pretty patterns. 
 
 Most Kafirs cut their wool almost close to the 
 head, and this the women often cut again into 
 patterns and stripes a piece of broken glass 
 usually serving as a razor. I have often seen a 
 group of women and girls engaged in dressing 
 one another's hair, combining at the same time 
 the friendly task of insect hunting! Occasion- 
 ally one sees a longer crop carefully combed up, 
 looking like a halo, and the fetish-women and 
 men also mess their locks up with red ochre and 
 grease into tiny ringlets, having the appearance 
 of a mass of rusty screws hanging down, a few
 
 small distended bladders being also fixed among 
 them ; they also rub the whole body over with 
 the red pigment. 
 
 This custom of colouring the body red is like- 
 wise observed by women during pregnancy, and 
 for some months after the birth of the child, and 
 when recovering from some diseases. The red 
 ochre is not found in this neighbourhood, but is 
 brought from a distance. 
 
 Women carry their children on their backs, 
 their little legs being stretched across the mother's 
 hips ; in this position they are supported by a 
 skin, tied by the fore and hind legs under the 
 child's legs and over his shoulders, leaving the 
 head swaying about helplessly with every move- 
 ment of the mother's body. They even hoe the 
 ground and chop wood with a child (perhaps but 
 two or three weeks old) slung in this fashion, 
 and I have often marvelled that the infant is not 
 shaken to pieces, as the woman raises the hoe or 
 hatchet with both hands first above her head, 
 then bends nearly to the ground to strike the 
 blow.
 
 8o DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 When the little one thus slung up wants 
 nourishment, he, if old enough, reaches under 
 the mother's arm and pulls the breast to him. 
 Sometimes the woman seats her child astride on 
 one hip, and so suckles it rarely caressing it in 
 any way, but evidently considering the operation 
 a sort of necessary duty that has to be fulfilled. 
 Ihave occasionally seen a man play with or caress 
 his child, but a woman only once. 
 
 When children cry the women jog them up 
 and down most violently by way of a soothing 
 process. They suckle their children long after 
 they can run alone. Many of the babies are jolly 
 little fat-looking shiny things, but, alas ! they 
 generally have such dirty noses ! 
 
 Many of the women have very fine figures, 
 with beautifully shaped arms and small feet; 
 they appear to me finer in comparison than the 
 men. Their upright forms are shown to great 
 advantage whilst carrying heavy pots of water 
 on their heads, which they balance in a wonder- 
 ful way a bunch of leaves being put in the pot 
 to prevent the water from slopping over walk-
 
 WATER CARRIERS. 81 
 
 ing easily along, and seemingly never giving a 
 thought to their burdens, often stopping and 
 standing on one leg in order to take a thorn 
 out of the other foot. 
 
 Many a time, on a day of scorching hot wind, 
 have I waylaid the women coming from the 
 springs, and, after the usual Chowana (" Good 
 day ") given by all, and returned by me,* asked 
 for a draught of water. One woman would then 
 kneel gracefully on one knee, whilst I either 
 plunged my mouth, like a horse, into a huge 
 pot, or drank from a garrafao, neither very easy 
 tasks. Quite little girls balance large pots of 
 water they can barely lift as easily as the women. 
 
 I like to watch a long file of women and chil- 
 dren coming up from the springs with water, the 
 first woman generally holding forth with great 
 energy, and the others uttering a long-drawn 
 " Ah ! " in chorus after every sentence, and 
 every one, great and small, with the inseparable 
 short pipe in her mouth. 
 
 * The women invariably make two little grunts after the salu- 
 tation Choivana has been returned, perhaps to denote satisfaction 
 at my politeness, 
 
 F
 
 82 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Some women tattoo their faces all over with 
 small pricks in which the juice from the cashew 
 nut is rubbed, and occasionally one sees a 
 Chobi woman with stomach, chest, and back 
 tattood into the most elaborate patterns, and 
 the two top front teeth pointed. 
 
 The language of the country is Landi or 
 Amalandi, and is used and understood fur in 
 the interior. It is very musical and pretty, and 
 has many pleasing modulations in tone. 
 
 Indigo-blue is the colour worn for mourning, 
 and I regret to say that at present it is the 
 prevailing colour, for Machequene, the country 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of Loureno 
 Marques, has just been visited by an epidemic 
 of small-pox, which has carried off a great many 
 of the natives, the number of deaths no doubt 
 due in great measure to the pernicious system 
 of inoculation practised amongst them. 
 
 A great many were vaccinated by the Govern- 
 ment doctor and the British Vice-Consul, and 
 I believe all those so treated escaped the in- 
 fection.
 
 SMALL-POX. 83 
 
 It has now quite passed away from this part, 
 fortunately without any white man falling victim 
 to its dreadful ravages ; but I believe it is 
 generally known that when black races are 
 visited by small-pox, it rarely, if ever, attacks 
 the whites, although it is precisely the same 
 disease that is so fatal to them in other 
 countries. 
 
 The old Queen Regent, Mashenga, called 
 Queen by the natives for want of a better word, 
 but in reality only the head of a petty tribe, 
 was one of the victims, and her son Mahumane, 
 a boy about twelve or thirteen years old, now 
 reigns as chief. 
 
 The poor old Queen paid me a visit soon 
 after my arrival, accompanied by an Induna, 
 or head man of a kraal, to act as interpreter, 
 and a dirtier or uglier old woman I never saw. 
 She sat down in a corner of the room, staring 
 curiously about her at the various things in it 
 and at me, and drank a tumblerful of strong 
 wine with great relish, taking it from me with 
 both hands, and carefully turning her head away
 
 84 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 whilst drinking in orthodox Kafir fashion, cer- 
 tainly looking most unlike a queen. After 
 exchanging a few unmeaning sentences she went 
 away, much to my relief. 
 
 When a Kafir is very ill, all his friends and 
 relations come to visit him, and try to make 
 themselves useful by helping to cook or doing 
 anything that is needful about the kraal, the 
 nearest relatives only going into the hut where 
 he lies, where they simply sit down quietly 
 and look on. 
 
 Immediately the patient dies they hasten to 
 put a little sand under the head and heels, 
 but for what reason they will never say. Then 
 they set up a loud wailing noise, intermixed 
 with shrill cries uttered whilst moving the 
 tongue rapidly up and down, producing a curious 
 rattling sound. This noise travels a great dis- 
 tance, and is done to let the news of the 
 death get spread abroad. The "cry," without 
 the wailing, is also used to call people to a 
 feast or dance, and is passed on from one kraal 
 to another. No noise or " crying" is made
 
 BURIAL CUSTOMS. 85 
 
 wheu a death arises from small-pox or consump- 
 tion, and one or two other diseases that they 
 do not consider natural deaths ; nor do they 
 "cry" when the head of a tribe dies, as they 
 are always anxious to keep it a secret as long 
 as possible, most likely from political motives, 
 and it may be many months or a year before 
 the " wake," as one may call it, is held. 
 
 A corpse is always washed before burial, and 
 dressed in new capalanes, all the old ones 
 being torn into shreds and put into tbe grave, 
 together with the sleeping-mat on which the 
 patient died, for the body to lie on. Every- 
 thing the deceased used in life (pots, pans, &c. 
 should it be a woman, all her baskets also) 
 is broken up and placed on the grave, which, 
 when possible, is made under a tree or bush 
 of the fine branched Euphorbia, and as near 
 the deceased's hut as they can make it. If no 
 Euphorbia bush is handy, a small piece is usually 
 planted on the grave. 
 
 The hut where the death took place is never 
 afterwards inhabited, but is suffered to fall into
 
 86 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 decay, making the kraals look very ruined and 
 dismal. Any new capalanes deceased may 
 have left are taken care of, but near relatives 
 never wear them ; sometimes they are sold, or 
 perhaps given to young members of the family 
 some time after. When the funeral is over the 
 relatives put on the blue mourning cloth, ex- 
 change their brass rings for iron ones, their 
 coloured beads for black, and shave their heads. 
 Mourning is also sent to far-off relatives who 
 have been unable to attend the ceremony. The 
 day after the funeral all the women go in 
 procession to the springs to wash themselves, 
 and when they return to the kraal all begin 
 feasting, smoking, drinking, and even dancing, 
 leaving off at intervals to resume the "crying." 
 Guns are also fired off at intervals, each shot 
 being followed by a fresh burst of wailing from 
 the women. This alternate feasting and sorrow- 
 ing goes on sometimes for three or four days, 
 the duration being regulated by the wealth of 
 the family. They then apparently dismiss the 
 subject from their minds altogether.
 
 MOURNING. 87 
 
 No one seems able to find out if these natives 
 have any fixed religion or belief; it is a subject 
 they will not speak about, and a Kafir is a 
 most silent or prevaricating being when he 
 wishes to keep a secret ; but they evidently 
 believe in some sort of future state as occasion- 
 ally they visit the graves of their ancestors and 
 perform some ceremonies over them.* 
 
 * I have quite recently been told by a " boy " from Maputa that 
 Kafirs have no belief in a future state "all finish when he die ;" 
 so the ceremonies must be purely fetish if this is the case. The 
 same boy accounted for the superiority of the white race in the 
 following manner. When God, " the Big Governor for top," 
 created man, he first made the black man, of whom he was very 
 proud, and afterwards the white man, giving to each a piece of 
 paper covered with writing, telling them to take care of it, and 
 that he would come again in a fortnight and explain its meaning. 
 By-aud-by a deluging rain came down, and the black man (Kafir 
 fashion) hid his paper under a bush and then sought a shelter 
 for himself. The white man, however, would not part with the 
 precious paper, but placed it under his armpit and fearlessly braved 
 the rain. When the storm had passed the black man found that 
 a rat had torn his paper into little fragments and the rain had 
 obliterated its writing, and he was unable to put them together. 
 When the fortnight had elapsed, and the " Big Governor " paid his 
 promised visit, he went first to the black man, but when he saw 
 the damaged state of the paper entrusted to him he was very 
 angry, and said that he was worse than a dog, and like a dog he 
 should remain. This tradition has been handed down from father 
 to son from time immemorial.
 
 88 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 Polygamy is of course practised here, and 
 the wealthier the Kafir, the more wives he 
 buys, some having as many as thirteen. 
 
 The price of a wife ranges from ^5 to .18, 
 according to her birth and value generally. 
 The money given for a wife is never spent by 
 her father, but is stored in the family as a 
 kind of reserve fund, or is used to buy wives 
 for the sons. 
 
 Should the husband be dissatisfied with his 
 wife, or should she misbehave herself, he can 
 send her back to her people, and the sum he 
 paid for her is returned to him. Unlike most 
 black tribes, they are by no means strict in their 
 morals, and a couple often live together before 
 the man is able to find the money necessary 
 for the marriage. Should he never be able to 
 afford it, the woman is at liberty to marry 
 some one else if she feels so inclined ; and if 
 she is the mother of a son she will most likely 
 be sought by a childless man, and a high price 
 given for her, her son taking the man's name. 
 Husband and wife sometimes live apart during
 
 DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY. 89 
 
 the time of pregnancy, but it is by no means 
 the rule. 
 
 When a Kafir dies, all his property goes to the 
 eldest son of the chief wife, who can dispose of 
 the other wives as he thinks fit. If there is no 
 son, everything goes to the brother, or nearest 
 relative, with like privileges. 
 
 The marriage ceremony is rather interesting, 
 and always takes place in the kraal of the bride. 
 After the amount to be given for her is agreed 
 upon, the wedding-day is fixed, and the money 
 paid to the father or person who has the disposal 
 of her. 
 
 On the appointed day the bridegroom arrives, 
 with all his friends and relations, at the kraal, 
 where all are busily engaged in preparing the 
 marriage feast, towards which the bridegroom is 
 obliged to contribute a black goat and the bride 
 a white cock. Some preliminary refreshments 
 are partaken of, and the bride then retires to a 
 hut with her young girl companions, and the 
 bridegroom to another with his young men at- 
 tendants. Then begins a curious scene of abuse
 
 90 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 and recrimination between the two families about 
 the merits and demerits of the betrothed couple, 
 the mau's family insisting that the girl is not 
 worth the money paid for her, that she is not 
 well-born, or is lazy, or cannot work, and her 
 family in return disparaging the bridegroom in 
 every possible way. 
 
 After the storm of abuse has died away the 
 girls bring the bride from her hut covered with 
 a capalane from head to foot, clasping their hands 
 over her head, and surrounding her so closely 
 that they completely hide her from sight. In 
 this fashion they move along very slowly, sing- 
 ing and chanting all the time. When they come 
 to the centre of the kraal the bride sits down, 
 still closely veiled, and commences the " crying." 
 The bridegroom then leaves his hut and sits 
 down near her, but in such a position that they 
 are unable to look at each other, the girls grouped 
 on the side of the bride, and the young men on 
 the side of the bridegroom, it being customary 
 in all gatherings for the men and women to keep 
 apart. While they are seated thus the black goat
 
 MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 91 
 
 is led in, walking on his hind legs, and is pierced 
 through the heart with an assegai by the master 
 of the ceremonies, who afterwards beheads the 
 white cock with the same assegai. The entrails 
 of both are then carefully consulted to find out 
 if the marriage will be lucky or unlucky, and 
 both bride and bridegroom have to taste a little 
 bit of them just as they come from the bodies. 
 This nasty custom concludes the ceremony. The 
 sacrificed goat and cock are speedily cooked, and 
 the marriage feast begin?, accompanied by much 
 drinking of rum and native beer, and the usual 
 singing and dancing afterwards. The merry- 
 making is kept up for two or three days, accord- 
 ing to the wealth in the family, as usual in all 
 feasts. 
 
 The women till the ground, and do all the hard 
 work, and their earnings support the man, who 
 is only obliged to provide them with clothes. 
 Many quarrels take place amongst the wives on 
 this subject -one declaring that another has more 
 beautiful capalanes than those given to herself, 
 and evidently thinking favouritism not fair.
 
 92 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Luckily the fighting is generally with woman's 
 favourite weapon the tongue ; I have seldom 
 heard of their coming to blows. 
 
 Man is certainly lord and master here, and the 
 many wives seem to live happily together as a 
 rule, aud work cheerfully for their owner ; but 
 I must say I do not like to see a Kafir coming 
 up the hill empty-handed, aud his wives filing 
 after him all heavily laden. 
 
 The idleness of black races is proverbial, aud 
 white men are blamed for not spurring them 
 on to work ; but considering all things, one can 
 scarcely be surprised at their laziness. The 
 climate is warm, time never hangs heavily on 
 their hands, and they are absolutely happy 
 lying about in the sun doing nothing. Why 
 should they work? Their wants are few, and 
 those the land supplies. 
 
 These Kafirs are wonderfully independent on 
 the subject of work, and only do what they 
 choose. Should any of them feel a desire for 
 more riches, they can go to the Cape Colonies or 
 Natal, where they are sure to get employment ;
 
 DISLIKE OF WORK. 93 
 
 and a few years' hard work in a place where 
 they are not known, and therefore do not lose 
 dignity, provides them with the means to pur- 
 chase several wives, who keep them in idleness 
 ever after.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SINCE I described the 
 birds' breakfast party, 
 when they were catch- 
 ing the winged ants, I 
 have witnessed two more 
 pretty sights connected 
 with these ants, Palto- 
 thyreus tarsatus, and 
 their numerous enemies. 
 The first was in the same 
 open road leading through my favourite wood, 
 and the ants, as before, were just taking their 
 flight. There were many more of them their
 
 WINGED ANTS. 95 
 
 holes might be counted by hundreds but strange 
 to say, the birds were absent. 
 
 While I was wondering at the immense cloud 
 of ants, I discovered some funny little reptiles, 
 Breviceps Mossambicus, seated by many of the 
 holes, steadily engaged in eating the larvae or 
 workers who were forced up out of the holes 
 by the constant stream of the perfect winged 
 insects. They were something like toads, but I 
 was surprised to find that they did not hop 
 away when disturbed, but ran rather slowly on 
 very short legs. They had very small mouths, 
 and kept putting out their tongues and licking 
 up the larvae with the greatest relish, their 
 countenances expressing the most placid con- 
 tentment. Sometimes one got too many ants 
 on his tongue, and then he would go through 
 the most frightful contortions puffing and swell- 
 ing himself in a manner most amusing to behold. 
 Very often one would leave off eating to scratch 
 his head with his front paw in a most serious 
 way, but every action was so comical that I 
 could have watched them for hours.
 
 96 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 The Kafirs call them Chinanas. In shape 
 they are like a flattened hen's egg, with four 
 little short legs, and a small slit for a mouth 
 at the narrow end. They live underneath the 
 sand, and I often turn them up with my trowel 
 when planting, always quite wet and shining 
 out of the hottest sand. They usually swell 
 themselves out to an enormous size when 
 handled, sometimes emitting a shower of liquid, 
 and quickly disappear backwards into the sand 
 when released. Many little frogs also live under 
 the sand, not a trace of them being visible till 
 rain comes, when they appear as if by magic, 
 merrily singing their happy song till the rain 
 is over ; then they too scrape themselves back- 
 wards into the sand, and all is silent till the 
 next shower. 
 
 After 1 had looked for some time at the dear 
 little Chinanas I amused myself by watching 
 the proceedings of the ants. The females, after 
 flying about for a little while, settled on the 
 ground with their bodies upturned, and in a 
 state of tremor, shaking their wings violently,
 
 INSECT EXCAVATORS, 97 
 
 and remaining thus till joined by the male, who 
 always seized the abdomen of the female with 
 his mandibles ; she then would immediately 
 march off, still clasped by the male, the pair 
 looking like an engine and tender. After going 
 a few paces she would stop suddenly and com- 
 mence digging a hole in the sand, the male 
 then letting go his hold and digging by her 
 side. Sometimes another pair would join them 
 and work at the same hole, but generally each 
 pair worked alone. 
 
 Presently a large black wasp-like insect, a 
 member of the numerous family Pompilidce, 
 came skimming along close to the ground, and 
 seeing the busy community of ants, was imme- 
 diately seized with the general mania for hole- 
 making, and set to work himself in frantic 
 haste, removing pellet after pellet of sand with 
 great rapidity ; and although these insects also 
 make their nests in the sand, I feel sure that 
 he had no intention of making one when he 
 first came by, but had simply caught the excite- 
 ment, for after making a small hole he flew
 
 98 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 away a short distance and returned with a large 
 piece of ground-nut shell, which he stuffed into 
 the hole with much trouble and labour ; then, 
 as if recollecting how stupid he was, he dragged 
 it out again, dropped it a little way off, and 
 then fetched more rubbish, bits of stick or more 
 nutshell, which he carefully stuffed down the 
 hole and as hastily pulled out agaiu. How long 
 he would have continued this foolishness I 
 cannot say, because after about a dozen attempts 
 to bury something he was startled by some one 
 passing by, and flew away. 
 
 These " waspy " insects are very interesting 
 to watch ; I sometimes see one carrying off a 
 grasshopper twice as big as himself, aud much 
 too heavy for his strength, which he has over- 
 come and paralysed. After a while he puts 
 it down to rest himself, generally flying off a 
 little way, and when he returns almost always 
 seems to forget where he left his prey, hunting 
 about for it most excitedly till at last he lights 
 upon it. 
 
 Two species, Pelopceus spirifex, black and
 
 INSECT INDUSTRY. 99 
 
 yellow, with transparent wings, and Synagtis 
 analis, Sauss., a black wasp, with the end of 
 the abdomen bright red, are fond of making 
 their nests, consisting of many little clay cells, 
 in houses, behind picture - frames or in any 
 convenient corner; and as they do not sting 
 unless molested, I seldom disturb the busy little 
 creatures, who never seem to tire at their work 
 when they come into mine. Sometimes when I 
 first open the doors in the morning I find some 
 of them already waiting to come in with their 
 little pellets of moistened sand, and if I prevent 
 them from entering they get quite angry and 
 try to dodge past me. Occasionally they drop 
 the pellet, fatigued with its weight, but quickly 
 fiy off and return with more, generally being 
 absent about four minutes, setting, as indeed 
 most insects do, a very good example of in- 
 dustry and perseverance. I have never seen 
 more than one insect at a time working at a 
 nest, and believe that one individual only (the 
 female) makes it. Whilst at work the insect 
 keeps up a constant humming with its wings.
 
 ioo DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 They seem to drink in large draughts of 
 water for the purpose of moistening the sand, 
 no doubt also adding some glutinous substance, 
 and the pot of water I always keep outside 
 my door for my cat is visited all day long by 
 a succession of these busy creatures (as well as 
 by all the fowls from the neighbouring kraals, 
 the Kafirs never supplying the poor things with 
 water). 
 
 I have a nest made by the red- tailed wasp, 
 which is 5^ inches long, 3^ wide, and if high, 
 the hole for the escape of the young insect 
 being beautifully rounded off and finished. 
 
 As each cell is completed an egg is laid in 
 it, and it is stored with paralysed spiders or 
 caterpillars, which form a supply of nice fresh 
 food for the larva. 
 
 Another species (Eumenes), brown with yellow 
 markings on the abdomen, makes a very pretty 
 semi-transparent nest, resembling whitey-brown 
 paper, composed of a group of cells hanging 
 from a single stalk ; and when the insects 
 emerge from it they cluster on it and never
 
 VENOMOUS FLIES. 101 
 
 quit it till they have either devoured it or 
 carried it off as ready-made building material, 
 which I should thiuk the most probable. At 
 any rate the nest always disappears. The natives 
 are very frightened of this species, as their 
 sting is very severe ; but I have never been 
 attacked by any, although I let them build 
 freely in my verandah. 
 
 The many venomous flies that enter the 
 houses, on the contrary, attack and sting fright- 
 fully without the least provocation, especially 
 one lovely metallic-green fellow ; but fortunately 
 most of the " stingers " make a loud buzzing 
 noise, and so give one warning of their presence. 
 
 The second pretty sight I witnessed was in 
 the heart of the wood itself the ants swarming 
 up into the air as usual, with hundreds of lovely 
 birds, some quite large, chasing them ; even large 
 hawks were so eager for them that they swooped 
 down almost low enough to touch my hat. 
 One greyish-blue bird, with a large red beak, 
 Irrisor erythrothynchus, had varied the feast by 
 catching a huge fat grasshopper three inches
 
 102 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 long, and kept dashing the poor thing against 
 a branch and then attempting to swallow it ; 
 but it took a long time before the grasshopper 
 was sufficiently macerated to allow him to do 
 so ; in the end, however, it was accomplished in 
 one gulp. I once found a very pretty bird just 
 dead choked by trying to swallow a large 
 grasshopper. 
 
 I noticed some very handsome birds among 
 the ant-feeders, about the size of a starling, like 
 animated black velvet, and some dear little brown 
 fellows with red hoods tied under their chins 
 (Estrelda granatina ?) ; swallows were there in 
 numbers. Below the birds were myriads of large 
 dragon-flies, also eagerly devouring the ants, 
 their beautiful bodies and wings shining with 
 metallic lustre in the gleams of sunlight through 
 the leaves. They were most expert in catching 
 the ants, and I could distinctly hear the snap of 
 their jaws as they closed on the unfortunate in- 
 sects. Often a bright-coloured butterfly would 
 add to the beauty of the scene by flitting 
 through the group, but was quite unheeded by
 
 DRAGON-FLIES. 103 
 
 the birds in the presence of the more attractive 
 food. 
 
 Presently I saw a dear reddish-brown ichneu- 
 mon, with a black tip to his tail not the banded 
 species creep slowly into the narrow path where 
 the ants were most plentiful, and after looking 
 cautiously around, begin to eat those on the 
 ground whose wings had fallen off as fast as he 
 could swallow them. He saw me, but evidently 
 thought I was a harmless individual, for he came 
 and ate within eight feet of me, and only looked 
 up occasionally with his sharp little eyes to make 
 quite sure I still was to be trusted. I often see 
 these little fellows trotting about the wood and 
 crossing the wide road, but never had one so 
 near to me before. 
 
 The dragon-flies were particularly numerous 
 that day, and as I entered the wood I had ob- 
 served the curious way they were resting under 
 the branches of trees in rows, their bodies hang- 
 ing straight down and their wings outspread. 
 They were hanging as close as they could pack 
 together, and as a great many of their bodies
 
 104 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 were bright red, at a little distance I could fancy 
 a new species of pendent acacia. 
 
 There are a great many monkeys in this wood, 
 and watching their antics and wonderful leaps 
 from tree to tree forms another of my varied 
 amusements during my collecting hours. I saw 
 the first in the open, while I was loitering al>out 
 with my net during my previous visit here. I saw 
 him appear twice, but he seemed afraid to come 
 near ; however, as I remained quite still, the third 
 time he came walking towards me along the path 
 on his hind-legs and with his arms outstretched, 
 but when I moved in his direction he ran off into 
 the wood and up into a high tree, where I could 
 see him angrily shaking the branches. He was 
 silver-grey, with a black face, and appeared to 
 be about three feet high. 
 
 I did not then know there were wild monkeys 
 here, and concluded from his approaching me 
 that he was a tame one escaped from confine- 
 ment. At that time, too, there was only one 
 very little used path through the wood I so 
 constantly refer to which is also a native
 
 MONKEYS. 105 
 
 burying-grouud but now I am enabled to go 
 over it in all directions, as the wretched Kafirs 
 are cutting down the large trees for firewood 
 in the most reckless fashion, without let or hin- 
 drance. 
 
 I believe a law does exist forbidding the cut- 
 ting of green wood, but nobody now enforces it, 
 and the authorities take no notice of the repeated 
 requests to save the trees made by some of the 
 residents. The Kafirs, too, are very artful, and 
 often give a sly chop at a fine branch, so that it 
 dies, and then " they are only cutting dead 
 wood." 
 
 There is a large belt of bush about a mile from 
 my cottage, going eastward over the hill, which 
 must formerly have been a dense wood, but now 
 is all low thicket full of flowering shrubs and 
 creepers, which fill the air with their sweet frag- 
 rance when in blossom. Some few handsome 
 clumps of large trees were still standing when 
 I arrived, affording a grateful shade and a home 
 for many birds, but they are disappearing one by 
 one, much to my sorrow. Were it not for the
 
 io6 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 fruit-bearing trees, the place would soon become 
 a shadeless plain. 
 
 I often wish the good old law formerly prac- 
 tised by the Dutch settlers at the Cape could be 
 put in force here ; there any one cutting down 
 a tree was obliged to plant three, and the good 
 result is seen in the lovely avenues and woods 
 of oak and fir. 
 
 I cannot say I am sorry that some of the trees 
 have been cut down in my favourite hunting- 
 ground, " Monkey Wood," as I get my finest 
 specimens flitting through the open spaces and 
 resting on tree-trunks, where formerly I could 
 not attempt to use the net, and by cutting 
 away the underwood and some low branches I 
 have made paths to go where I please, so that 
 besides capturing many more insects I have the 
 opportunity of seeing many interesting things I 
 otherwise should miss. 
 
 I often find, however, that after carefully clear- 
 ing a path, next morning it is so littered with 
 dead creepers and thorny bushes, ruthlessly torn 
 away and chopped down in the passage to a
 
 MONKEYS. 107 
 
 coveted firewood tree, that my trouble is thrown 
 away, and much valuable time wasted in clear- 
 ing another. 
 
 I especially enjoy watching the monkeys. 
 Whole families of them leap from tree to tree, 
 chattering and screaming and gesticulating when 
 they see me coming, parting the branches with 
 their little hands, and sometimes mounting to 
 the extreme top to have a better view. All are 
 greyish-coloured, the older ones having white 
 wbiskers. 
 
 They are a constant source of excitement to 
 my dog, who always chases them ; sometimes he 
 sees them cautiously crossing the road through 
 the wood, and flies after them in pursuit. I 
 believe he often mistakes the little Kafir chil- 
 dren innocent of clothes for monkeys, as he 
 nlways runs after and barks at them, much to 
 
 their dismay ; but luckily for me, he never bites, 
 
 
 only barks furiously at everybody. 
 
 One unfortunate accident did occur from his 
 barking propensities. Some boys, armed as 
 usual with many sticks, were running down to
 
 io8 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 the sea to swim their toy boats, which they con- 
 struct very neatly, in the shallow pools left by 
 the retreating tide. My dog as usual ran up to 
 them and barked, and one of the boys, although 
 he perfectly well knew the dog was harmless, 
 raised his stick and struck him across the back. 
 I ran up, asking him how he dared strike a 
 m'lunga's (" white person's") dog, when he actu- 
 ally struck at the dog a second time. I then 
 naturally made for that boy, but he took to his 
 heels, so I sent my boy Jack to run after him 
 and bring him back to me. He was so frightened 
 when he found he was followed that he leapt 
 over some bushes growing on the side of the 
 cliff, instead of following the regular winding 
 path, and in so doing broke his foot. I should 
 have pitied him very much, but he immediately 
 began to tell lie upon lie to his people, declaring 
 that he never struck the dog, and that Jack set 
 the dog on to bite him. Of course I soon had 
 the truth explained, and afterwards the boy 
 confessed. 
 
 For some time after I was afraid my dog
 
 DISLIKE TO HOSPITAL. 109 
 
 would be poisoned, as Kafirs often revenge 
 themselves by poisoning the pets of auy one who 
 has offended them, but fortunately nothing of 
 the sort occurred. I feared the boy would be 
 a cripple for life, us nothing would induce his 
 parents to let him go to the hospital, but I 
 learned some months after that he was running 
 about as well as ever. 
 
 It is strange what a dislike all Kafirs have for 
 
 o 
 
 that useful institution. They tell you it is ai 
 mushla, and that people never come out alive. 
 This belief may possibly be kept up by the fact 
 that they rarely go there till they are at death's 
 door. 
 
 A young girl came to me one day with her 
 instep completely laid open, a most horrible 
 sight. She had been carrying a garrafad full 
 of water, had slipped, and the bottle had broken 
 over her foot. She was so decided not to go to 
 the hospital that I consented to treat it, and 
 after extracting all the broken glass, pressed the 
 wound into shape as well as I could, and applied 
 a lotion of permanganate of potash many times
 
 no DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 a day ; and in due course the wound healed 
 perfectly without any suppuration. I could not 
 think of any better remedy, as I had just cured 
 a horse's very sore back with the same stuff, in 
 which I have great faith. 
 
 Kafirs of all ages and sexes come to me to be 
 cured of sores, breakings out, &c., to which they 
 are very subject, and I give them for ointment 
 either powdered sulphur mixed with oil and a 
 little carbolic acid, or paraffin oil, and they say 
 both are wonderful. Kafirs are extremely fond 
 of white man's physic. They don't seem to 
 mind how nasty it is, and will drink down a 
 tumbler of wafcr containing 2^ ounces of Epsom 
 salts without a grimace.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SNAKES are 
 plentiful in 
 this part of 
 the world green and 
 'brown mambas, and 
 other species ; cobras 
 are occasionally seen, 
 and they sometimes 
 get into stores and 
 outhouses and hide away in 
 dark corners. One brown mamba was 
 found coiled up in a soda-water bottle 
 in a friend's house, and I am constantly almost 
 treading upon them out of doors. Once I was 
 sitting resting under a tree, wondering what 
 was causing a peculiar rustling noise quite close 
 to me, when out glided a mamba and slunk 
 off into the bush.
 
 ii2 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 The green species are usually seen coiled up 
 in the branches of trees, and it is said that both 
 will attack unprovoked, but all I have seen 
 make off as soon as they are observed. I once 
 came upon a green mamba lying in the path 
 trying to swallow a large lizard, but when it saw 
 me it hastily disgorged its prey and glided off, 
 leaving to me the unpleasant task of killing the 
 poor half-crushed thing. My boy Jack trod on 
 a brown one once, and the flying leap he took, 
 flinging down box and net, startled me, but it 
 had not attempted to bite him. He called to me 
 one day in the wood to look at a large snake 
 that had reared its head and hissed at him when 
 he threw a stick at it, but unfortunately it had 
 vanished before I reached the spot. 
 
 From his description I believe it must have 
 been a puff-adder, and some time after I saw 
 one of the same sort. I nearly trod on it, but 
 instead of gliding away it reared up about a 
 foot quite close by my side, following me with 
 its head wherever I turned, and puffing out its 
 cheeks. I could not help gazing on it., it was
 
 SNAKES. 113 
 
 so beautiful ; but when my boy came up he 
 screamed out, " Oh, Missisi ! come away ! " and 
 seemed frightened at my narrow escape. 
 
 Kafirs, of course, know of various roots and 
 leaves which they apply to snake-bites, and they 
 also burn the heads of poisonous snakes, and 
 carefully keep the ashes to rub in the wound, 
 saying it is a most valuable remedy. 
 
 One night I had a large snake much nearer to 
 me than was exactly pleasant. I was calling 
 the kitten in before shutting up for the night, 
 when I heard a horrible loud hissing noise quite 
 close to my feet, but it was so dark a night that 
 I could see nothing. The thought of snakes 
 crossed my mind at once, but yet the noise 
 seemed almost too great to be made by a snake. 
 After some minutes it gradually grew fainter 
 and fainter. The dog was lying very still at my 
 feet, which I thought strange, as he generally 
 wants to investigate everything he sees or hears. 
 The kitten did not appear, and presently back 
 came the horrid hissing noise, and came so very 
 
 close that I retreated into the house with the 
 
 H
 
 n 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 dog, feeling most anxious about my kitten, 
 whose plaintive little mew, however, I soon 
 afterwards heard at the door. When the pets 
 were safely housed I took out a lantern and 
 looked about, but could see nothing. I described 
 the noise to Jack in the morning, and he at 
 once said it was made by a " nhoca " snake as 
 thick as his arm. The dog, therefore, knew his 
 enemy, and wisely kept still, and I have since 
 found that he growls and is frightened at the 
 cast-off snake-skins often seen lying about. 
 
 Another time my attention was attracted by 
 "seeing two hens standing close together and 
 fixedly staring at something. I went out, and 
 discovered a brown mamba twined round one of 
 the verandah pules and just about to strike. 
 He glided away when he saw me, and the next 
 morning I found him curled up and fast asleep 
 not far from my door, the hens again standing 
 side by side very near to him, and staring at 
 him as if fascinated. 
 
 During my last visit here I had a large 
 serpent brought me, about seven feet long, said
 
 ZO RILL AS. 115 
 
 by some to be a cobra. It had been caught 
 while swallowing a hare ; but it soon died in 
 captivity, as it would not eat dead game, and I 
 could not consent to living things being pro- 
 vided. Its flesh was boiled aud given to the 
 fowls, who ate it up greedily. At that time I 
 also had a pretty little black and white striped 
 animal with a large tail, the white stripes 
 running alonsj the back and tail. It was a 
 
 O O 
 
 Zorilla (Ictonyx Zorilla, native name, chiser- 
 poula), ;md they are very common here, but are 
 seldom seen, as they burrow in the sand during 
 the day. The holes they make in the sand are 
 most dangerous to riders, as horses often stumble 
 in consequence. When full grown they are 
 about the size of a three-mouths-old kitten. 
 They are carnivorous, and find their prey in the 
 numerous moles and rats and mice. 
 
 The one I kept was brought to me quite a 
 baby, aud soon got very tame and a household 
 pet. I fed it on raw meat, which it ate greedily 
 and savagely. One night, soon after I had it, 
 it escaped from its cage, and I feared I should
 
 u6 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 lose it altogether ; but to my delight I heard its 
 little feet pattering along the floor when I called 
 it, and it allowed me to replace it in its cage. 
 It would seize on my hand when I put it 
 between the bars, and holding it tightly, proceed 
 to lick all the fingers carefully one by one, 
 beginning with the thumb, making a pretty 
 little contented noise all the time. When it 
 had cleaned one finger to its satisfaction it would 
 push it petulantly away and proceed to another. 
 Its antics were very diverting ; it would arch 
 its back and fluff up its tail, pretending to be 
 alarmed, and go sideways and backwards like a 
 kitten, and roll over and over for pure fun. 
 
 I had it nearly two years, and shortly before 
 my return to England was able to get it a young 
 female companion, which, however, I had not 
 time to tame. I took them both safely to the 
 Zoological Gardens in London, but unfortunately 
 neither survived the winter. The only draw- 
 back to keeping them is that if frightened they 
 emit a very powerful and unpleasant odour. 
 
 The lovely little octodon, so familiar to visitors
 
 SI MB AS 117 
 
 at the Zoological Gardens, is also found here, and I 
 had a pair given to me ; but as they never showed 
 themselves by day, and disturbed my rest at night, 
 I let them run away. 
 
 I have occasionally seen squirrels, reddish-grey 
 in colour. Quite a colony of them played round 
 me once at Poulana whilst I was seated on a 
 fallen tree munching my biscuit, chasing each 
 other and scampering in and out of the branches 
 quite regardless of my presence, and so beguiling 
 the wasted minutes spent in eating. 
 
 There are many simbas, or wild cats, here, 
 who prowl about at night seeking for and devour- 
 ing any unfortunate fowls they may discover. 
 They emit a strong scent of musk, which hangs 
 about the clothes for a long while, should one 
 happen to go through bush where a siniba has 
 previously passed. I once tried to rear a small 
 family of simba kittens, brought me by a Kafir 
 who had killed the mother for her skin ; but 
 although I used a feeding-bottle they could not 
 be induced to eat, so I had them drowned. I 
 have twice tried to rear young antelopes that
 
 u8 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 way, but each time without success ; perhaps 
 the condensed milk may have had something to 
 do with my failures. 
 
 I believe two or three species of buck are to 
 be found in this immediate neighbourhood, but 
 I have only seen a small reddish-brown variety. 
 I often startle them in my walks, and have the 
 greatest difficulty in preventing my attendant 
 Kafir going in wild pursuit. 
 
 Sometimes a poor thing ventures too near a 
 kraal, no doubt attracted by the fresh green 
 mealie leaves ; and if he is seen, woe betide him ! 
 The whole place is immediately in an uproar. 
 Such a chance of good fresh meat is not to be 
 despised, and all the men and boys give chase, 
 armed with sticks and assegais the dogs, equally 
 excited, mingling their barking with the hooting 
 and yelling of the men. More than once a poor 
 goaded beast, panting and terrified, has passed 
 my door thus pursued, and one can only hope 
 that its agony will not be very prolonged. 
 
 Moles, to judge from their tracks, must be 
 very numerous. They are a very pretty spe-
 
 GAME. 
 
 119 
 
 cies (Chrysochloms obtusirostris), light yellowish 
 brown with a darker brown back. The Kafirs 
 call them sinantokanana rather a long name 
 for so small a beast. 
 
 Hares are also numerous, and often jump up 
 almost from under my feet ; and during my last 
 visit a sleeping hare was actually trodden upon 
 by my companion, but luckily was more fright- 
 ened than hurt. 
 
 Partridges and quail I am continually starting 
 and nearly treading on, and they rise so suddenly 
 that they often almost brush my face. Large 
 snails, with long pointed shells, are very common, 
 but are not eaten by the natives, as at Sierra 
 Leone, where they are exposed for sale in the 
 market ; and I have found two specimens of an 
 enormous black slug (Vaginula maura, u. sp.), 
 figured and described in a German work. 
 
 Tortoises arc occasionally brought in for sale, 
 aud as they are no trouble to keep, I generally 
 have one tied to a long string near some fresh 
 grass, just for the fun of seeing them eat it first 
 stretching out their long sinewy necks, and then
 
 i 2 o DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 opening their huge mouths very wide and making 
 snaps at the tufts of grass, often holding them 
 down near the roots with a clumsy paw to get a 
 better purchase. It is still more amusing to see 
 them drink. 
 
 I have also had large lizards or iguanas brought 
 me, and tried to keep them, but they would never 
 eat in captivity, so I always let them run. Those 
 I had were most lovely turquoise-blue and eme- 
 rald-green creatures, two feet long, the colours 
 most exquisitely blended. I often see a smaller 
 species, with a large broad head, resting on the 
 trunks of trees, curiously jerking up its head and 
 shoulders whilst waiting for flies. 
 
 Their rough-looking skins are variously coloured, 
 some so exactly like the bark of the tree that it 
 is difficult to discover them unless they move. I 
 saw some lovely fellows, quite a foot long, with the 
 head, neck, and fore-legs bright turquoise-blue ; 
 this was shaded off to a green body, the green 
 again shaded off to a brown tail, a streak of 
 yellow down the back completing the lovely 
 colouring. Many have only a greenish blue
 
 LIZARDS. i2i 
 
 head, with brown bodies. Those that frequent 
 the hot sand have very rough skins of a mottled 
 reddisli colour like the ground they are on. 
 
 Chameleons are very common, but the natives 
 are afraid of them, and always bring them to me 
 either tied by the tail to a bit of string or stuck 
 in the end of a cleft stick. Their astonishment, 
 always expressed by clapping their hands to their 
 mouths many times, and saying, " Ah ! Ah ! " is 
 very great when they see me handle the pretty 
 things and let them run over me ; also when I 
 point out to them the curious changing colours. 
 One can hardly wonder the natives are fright- 
 ened at them, for they certainly do look very 
 ferocious when they distend their large baggy 
 throats, open their mouths wide, and begin to 
 hiss, but they are perfectly harmless, and I like 
 to feel their little hands clasping my fingers. 
 
 Small smooth lizards of many shapes and 
 colours, some with large and some with small 
 heads, swarm about the house inside and out, 
 and I am sorry to say are eagerly hunted by my 
 kitten, who is most expert at catching them, quick
 
 i22 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 as they are, always holding them by the head. 
 I used to take them from her and kill them 
 quickly, but now she is too knowing, and marches 
 off with her victim dangling down and squeak- 
 ing piteously to a place where I cannot reach 
 her, and there plays with it at her leisure. 
 
 They are nice amusing little things to have 
 about the house, the tiny babies with their enor- 
 mous eyes being especially pretty. I found four 
 beautiful little round white egg?, about the size 
 of a large pea, in a box of ribbons and lace, and 
 after some months some little bright-eyed spotted 
 fellows an inch long made their appearance. 
 Lizards seem to be rather pugnacious, and fight 
 and chase each other continually. When court- 
 ing they make a pretty little tweet-tweeting 
 noise. 
 
 I like to watch them stealthily creeping along 
 before they make the final spring on their prey ; 
 they then have a most anxious look in their 
 bright eyes, and keep wagging their tails with 
 excitement. They scratch themselves with a 
 hind-leg just like a dog.
 
 LIZARDS. 123 
 
 One dull soft-looking light-drab variety, with 
 very large protruding black eyes, I only see 
 inside the house. It is one of the wide-headed 
 species, and looks very weird 011 the whitewashed 
 walls. 
 
 Very light painted or whitewashed walls seem 
 to me the most appropriate for a hot climate. 
 Paper may look more elegant for a short time, 
 but is sure to discolour and peel off in patches 
 in the rainy season, looking most untidy. White- 
 wash has the further advantage of being healthy 
 and clean, and easily renewed, and all the pests 
 that frequent a house are more readily discovered 
 on white walls. 
 
 Several times I have suddenly raised my eyes 
 from my book or writing and found a huge 
 brown spider on the walls just before me, the 
 sight of his horrible hairy body and legs making 
 my heart beat fast with the fear that perhaps 
 he may vanish before the boot or towel where- 
 with to smash him can be fetched, and that the 
 next time I see him may be on my dress. 
 
 One I killed must have been a female carrying
 
 i2 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 a bag of young ones, for after her death the 
 walls were covered with tiny black spiders about 
 the eighth of an inch long, who speedily shared 
 the fate of their mother. 
 
 Another formidable-looking light brown hairy 
 insect, with double mandibles, called a Galeodes 
 (Solpuga fatalis, Licht.), not a true spider, but 
 easily mistaken for one, I have also seen on the 
 walls at night and running in the sand about 
 dusk. They are rather plentiful here, and as 
 their bite is really poisonous, it is necessary to 
 wage war with them. 
 
 A friend told me that one ran over his hand 
 while trying to capture it, and it felt painful 
 and numbed for some time. Afterwards he 
 managed to get two, one a very large one the 
 body measuring two inches under a jam dish, 
 intending to preserve them in spirits ; but they 
 immediately began to fight ferociously, and 
 after a little while the large one snapped off the 
 first half of his enemy's body and swallowed it, 
 and then ate up the other half. They were 
 then popped in the spirit bottle, but in rather a
 
 SPIDERS. 125 
 
 different form to that first intended, and formed 
 a striking illustration of the economy of space. 
 
 Small spiders one gets accustomed to, and 
 they are useful in catching flies and mosquitoes. 
 I also allow some few webs of an immense spider 
 to remain in the verandah for the same pur- 
 pose. These are a very handsome species, body 
 and legs being variously and brilliantly coloured 
 with scarlet, black, blue, yellow, and grey. 
 Their webs are exceedingly sticky, and are a 
 bright gold colour, looking lovely in the sun. 
 The foundation lines are so strong that I have 
 frequently had my progress arrested by them 
 and they did not break. In the woods I have 
 seen them stretched across a space of about 
 thirty feet, attached to the tallest trees. 
 
 Some of the spiders here have hard shell-like 
 pointed abdomens, scarlet and yellow. One I 
 lately sketched had a shell with alternate bars 
 of cool grey and light chrome yellow, with one 
 or two points of black to give effect. The legs 
 had alternate rings of black and grey. I am 
 obliged to admire their beauties and industry,
 
 i 2 6 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 but I must confess to an antipathy to them- 
 selves. 
 
 One little yellow and black spider forms a 
 thick white cross, measuring from three to five 
 inches each way, in the centre of its web, which 
 has a most curious effect, the cross being quite 
 thick in the middle, and gradually getting zig- 
 zag before it ends. In the morning and towards 
 evening the spider waits for his prey in the 
 centre of the cross, but in the hot mid-day he 
 takes shelter under a leaf. More than once I 
 have seen a colony of thousands of baby red 
 spiders crossing a web bridge, having a very 
 pretty effect of animated bead- work. 
 
 Two species of scorpions are found here one 
 light brown, with rather narrow claws, and the 
 other black, with claws very thick and wide, 
 like those of a crab. They sometimes appear on 
 the walls, but are more frequently discovered in 
 corners of rooms or cupboards. They have a 
 great liking for boots and folds of dresses or 
 sleeves, and it is quite necessary to shake all 
 articles of clothing before putting them on ;
 
 SCORPIONS. 127 
 
 but this soon becomes a habit in a tropical 
 climate. 
 
 Once I found a lively specimen on my arm 
 whilst in my bath, and twice centipedes have 
 been my uninvited companions of the bath, they 
 having crept into the holes in the sponge during 
 the night. 
 
 Cockroaches are a great nuisance, impossible 
 to banish, and although the males of some of 
 the white and variegated species look rather 
 nice when their wings are properly laid out, 
 one does not care for whole families alive in the 
 house, and only creeping out of their hiding- 
 places towards night. Should a candle be 
 suddenly lighted in the small hours, many will 
 be seen dotted about the walls perhaps a big 
 one will scamper off over the bed-clothes 
 moving their long feelers about and looking 
 quite scared at the unusual light. Then is the 
 time, if not too sleepy, to go round with the 
 towel made into a flapper. I find that the 
 female, after depositing her capsule full of 
 eggs on the walls, ingeniously covers it up
 
 128 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 with some of the whitewash, and so it escapes 
 notice. 
 
 Mosquitoes and fleas of course abound, some 
 of the former a light brown colour and of 
 enormous size, large enough to pin up as 
 specimens. The latter literally swarm in some 
 months. One can see them moving about the 
 floor, and they eagerly spring up and begin to 
 bite if a hand is held near. I have counted as 
 many as nine on one foot long before it reached 
 the ground on getting out of bed in the morning, 
 and have almost felt inclined to pity the poor 
 things, they must be so very hungry ! They do 
 not seem to hop as much as English fleas 
 perhaps they partake of the general non- energy 
 of the country and when they bite they stick 
 on, almost as a tick does, and allow themselves 
 to be caught easily. They especially favour the 
 ears of the poor animals, fastening on so closely 
 side by side that they look like bead-work. A 
 little oil or paraffin will, however, soon make 
 them let go their hold. 
 
 Another house pest impossible to get rid of is
 
 HOUSE PESTS. 129 
 
 a small silvery-looking soft insect with three 
 long tails, the body measuring about three- 
 quarters or half an inch. These eat up every- 
 thing in the shape of clothing or paper they 
 can get access to, the minute babies being able 
 to creep through the smallest space. Dresses 
 hanging against a wall will very soon have 
 little holes eaten out all over them, and papers 
 and books will sometimes have the surface of 
 the paper only eaten away. A photograph I 
 had was entirely destroyed that way. They 
 run very fast when discovered, and are difficult 
 to catch and kill. They get behind picture- 
 frames, and will work their way between the 
 picture and the glass if not constantly looked 
 for. One morning I discovered seven sombas, 
 as the natives call them, and one scorpion 
 behind a picture, so felt rewarded for my 
 trouble. 
 
 Some people call them fish-tail moths why 
 "moths" it would be difficult to discover, but I 
 believe they belong to the order Thysanura or 
 bristle-tails. I have found it a good plan to
 
 1 3 o DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 crumple up some white or tissue paper, which 
 they seem to prefer, and leave it as a bait near 
 anything I particularly value. 
 
 Ants, of course, will find their way into the 
 house, and I have to look very sharply after my 
 collections. At some seasons the little red ants 
 literally come in swarms, and I am obliged to 
 keep the legs of my tables in saucers of water, 
 or everything would be eaten up. This, 
 however, is unfortunately no protection against 
 some tiny little lice (probably Terrnes pulsa- 
 torium, Linn.), who defy water, carbolic acid, 
 camphor, and albo-carbon alike, and who have 
 such fine appetites that they will devour the 
 wing of a butterfly in one night. 
 
 Sometimes I drop a spoiled insect, on the floor, 
 and it is instantly surrounded by ants, who 
 seem to arrive on the spot almost as soon as 
 the dead insect. They do not only attack dead 
 insects, for I once found a brood of the large 
 caterpillars of Ophideres Fullonica covered with 
 them, the poor things twisting and throwing 
 themselves about in great distress. I was only
 
 WHITE ANTS. 131 
 
 able to save some, the others being so badly 
 bitten that I killed them at once. I suppose 
 the ants had at first been attracted by a dead 
 caterpillar, and had then proceeded to the living 
 ones. I once found a colony of black ants 
 comfortably established in a box of envelopes, 
 but fortunately discovered them before they had 
 torn up very many. 
 
 The salale, or white ant, as it is generally 
 called, though I believe it is now found to 
 belong to the order Orthoptera, is the most 
 destructive of all, and if not carefully guarded 
 against will quickly demolish all the woodwork 
 of a house. These destructive insects like to 
 carry on their operations under cover, so for 
 this purpose they plaster the wood to be 
 attacked with a covering of sand, and eat away 
 under its shelter, often carrying on the covered 
 way a long distance if the desired wood happens 
 to be only at the top of a house. They usually 
 eat only the inside, leaving a thin coating, which 
 appears to be solid until touched. 
 
 It is no unusual thing for a table to give way
 
 i 3 2 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 suddenly, although looking quite sound, because 
 the legs have beeu completely hollowed out ; or 
 a wiudow-frame will seem quite secure till one 
 puts a finger right through it. If a plank is 
 left on the ground, it will soon be covered with 
 sand, and when lifted up will be nothing but 
 rotten fibre. They do not confine themselves 
 to wood, but will also attack clothing or matting. 
 
 Their nests, often solidly built mounds of 
 considerable size, may be a long way from the 
 house attacked, and unless the nest is found and 
 the huge queen destroyed, it is difficult to stay 
 their ravages ; but paraffin oil poured about the 
 place where they are supposed to be will delay 
 the attack for a time. 
 
 The wings of the perfect insect are very large 
 and beautiful, and in the winged stage these 
 ants are also eagerly sought by birds; but I 
 have never seen the children here eating them 
 as a relish to their food, as I have on the West 
 Coast. 
 
 Often a powerful and exceedingly nasty smell 
 is wafted into the house, and it was some time
 
 STUPIDITY OF ANTS. 133 
 
 before I discovered that it came from a large 
 black ant with an enormous head, the "soldier" 
 of Paltothyreus tarsatus, who makes his holes 
 in the sand, and emits this odour whenever he 
 is touched or trodden upon. 
 
 I have been watching them carefully lately, 
 and have come to the conclusion that this 
 species at any rate is not gifted with a large 
 amount of common sense : for instance, one will 
 find some dead insect which he wishes to convey 
 to his home in the sand ; in all probability he 
 will forget where that is, although he has only 
 left it a few minutes before, and begin to drag 
 his prey away in the opposite direction, never 
 by any chance going round an obstacle, but 
 struggling over everything in the most foolish 
 way. Presently he will put down his burden 
 and go and look for his hole ; if he finds it 
 he goes back for his prize, by this time having 
 forgotten where he left that ; at last he finds 
 it and gets it home, leaves it on the edge of 
 the hole while he goes down to see if all is 
 right below, and then returns and drags it down
 
 i 3 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 after him. Should lie discover an insect too 
 heavy for him to carry off unaided, he goes to 
 fetch a friend to help him, after having tried 
 his utmost to be independent. Whon the two 
 return, and after the usual hunt find the insect, 
 they almost invariably seize it at opposite ends 
 and pull away against each other for a long 
 while ; at last they find out something is wrong, 
 and work properly together. They may have 
 some deep design in their proceedings of which 
 we are ignorant, but to me it looks like sheer 
 stupidity ; and as they measure three-quarters 
 of an inch, they certainly are "big enough to 
 know better."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I HAVE so often men- 
 tioned "Kafir kraals," 
 that perhaps I ought to 
 give a fuller description of 
 them. 
 
 A kraal consists of a group of 
 huts belonging to one family, and is 
 large or small in proportion to the members 
 of the family inhabiting it. Every wife has a 
 separate hut, the husband's hut being in the 
 centre of them. A neat pile of firewood gene-
 
 136 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 rally stands by the door of every woman's hut, 
 denoting the sex of the occupant. 
 
 The huts are round in shape, with conical 
 roofs ; the walls are usually four feet high, made 
 of canipo and mangrove poles, and a small 
 portico is always built over the entrance. The 
 inside is daubed with clay made with a red 
 earth mostly brought from the foot of the cliff 
 near Reuben Point, and which cakes so firmly 
 when mixed with water that I should suppose 
 it to be ant-hill sand but that the Kafirs all 
 deny it. From its colour it must be strongly 
 impregnated with iron, as also must the large 
 heavy red boulders brought from the same spot 
 and used here for building purposes. The roofs 
 are thatched with a reedy grass over a frame- 
 work of thin sticks projecting considerably over 
 the walls, so that the thatch often nearly reaches 
 to the ground, effectually keeping off the rain, 
 and forming a nice shelter for the fowls during 
 the heat of the day. The thatch is cut quite short 
 over the portico. Some huts have a wooden door, 
 but generally it is made of canifo like the walls.
 
 HUTS. 137 
 
 It is customary to light a good fire in the 
 centre of the huts every evening in winter for 
 its warmth, and in summer for the smoke to 
 drive away the mosquitoes. No chimney is 
 built, so the smoke has to escape as it can 
 through the thatch. 
 
 Most Kafirs sleep on rush mats, but a few 
 possess a rude raised bedstead as well ; all use 
 a small wooden pillow about five and a half 
 inches high and two broad, which they place 
 just below the ear ; these are sometimes carved 
 into many fanciful designs. 
 
 The huts can be moved bodily in two pieces 
 when a kraal is shifted, which is often done for 
 sanitary reasons, and the operation is always 
 accompanied by much shouting and singing, as 
 it requires many men to move one hut, and a 
 Kafir can do nothing without his song. When 
 the roof is being carried along it looks like 
 some huge remarkable insect, nothing of the 
 men being visible but a multitude of legs 
 and feet. 
 
 Some of the larger kraals are very picturesque,
 
 138 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 the site chosen being generally near some large 
 trees for the sake of their shade. 
 
 The women, too, whilst engaged in their 
 various occupations are picturesque-looking, their 
 costume of gaily-coloured handkerchiefs giving 
 the necessary bits of colour to the scene. Some 
 are always busy at the task of pounding mealies 
 for the daily supply in the great wooden mortars 
 used for the purpose, two or three women often 
 standing round one mortar and taking it in 
 turn to bring down the heavy pestle, and of 
 course singing or whistling in time over their 
 work. Others will be engaged in tossing up the 
 pounded mealies in an open flat basket, to clear 
 off any remains of husk ; these are always sur- 
 rounded by the fowls, anxiously hoping a little 
 of the meal may be spilled. Others will be 
 busily washing out the cooking pots and pans, 
 generally standing to do so, and always stooping 
 from the hips, never bending the knees, which 
 seems so much more natural, while others again 
 are superintending the cooking over the open- 
 air gipsy fires.
 
 NATIVE GAME. 139 
 
 Should any lords of the creation be about, 
 they are almost certain to be doing nothing ; 
 but that they do so well aud thoroughly that 
 one must not blame them. Occasionally two or 
 three will rouse themselves sufficiently to take 
 part in a game played with some large acacia 
 seeds in holes scooped in the sand, the seeds 
 being passed rapidly from one hole to another ; 
 but I have never been able to discover the 
 rules of the game. Sometimes quite a large 
 party will assemble before a canteen to play 
 this game, making a proportionate number of 
 holes in the sand, and many are the squabbles 
 that arise during its progress. 
 
 Lean dogs, cats, pigs, fowls, children (not 
 leau), and sometimes goats, wander and play 
 about the kraals, giving plenty of movement ; 
 and for scent ! the odour of a long-worn, never- 
 washed Kafir blanket, which is indescribably 
 faint and nasty, and is often painfully apparent 
 long before a kraal is entered. For sound there 
 is the continual chattering or singing of the 
 women, varied by a screaming child or the
 
 I 4 o DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 yelling of some wretched kicked and beaten 
 dog. 
 
 As I have said before, Kafirs never think it 
 necessary to feed their animals, although they 
 seem to be very fond of keeping them. There 
 are usually many dogs in each kraal with their 
 framework distinctly visible, who rush out in a 
 pack snarling and barking at every stranger pass- 
 ing by; the sight of a stick, however, is sufficient 
 to send them running away tail between legs, 
 some even yelping in anticipation, showing too 
 plainly bow well they know the application of it. 
 
 When the young mealie plants begin to grow, 
 it is, of course, necessary to secure the goats and 
 pigs, and my heart has often ached when looking 
 into a sty, to see a poor gaunt sow with a 
 large small family all fighting and dragging at 
 her, trying in vain to get the nourishment it 
 is out of her power to supply, and not a drop 
 of water or a morsel of food anywhere to be 
 seen. I suppose they must be given just enough 
 food to keep life in them in the course of the 
 day, but that is all.
 
 NEGLECT OF ANIMALS. 141 
 
 Cats, of course, fare better, as they can go 
 out on hunting expeditions, but tbey even never 
 look plump and comfortable. The fowls fare 
 the best of all, as the supply of insects and 
 grubs to be found and scratched up is inex- 
 haustible, but I fear they often suffer much 
 from thirst. 
 
 The Kafirs themselves take good care to have 
 plenty to eat, and one good trait in their char- 
 acter is that they always share anything they 
 are eating or drinking with others. 
 
 Their staple food is mealies, sweet potatoes, 
 mandioca root, beans, and ground-nuts, of which 
 they plant only just sufficient for their wants 
 year by year, " taking no heed for the morrow," 
 or, in other words, not planting enough to sell 
 also, and so provide against a dry season and 
 time of famine. 
 
 Millet and a small round corn called mapili 
 are also cultivated, and both eaten and made 
 into cheluana, or native beer. Kice is grown 
 in the neighbouring districts of Poulana and 
 Makota.
 
 1 42 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 This farinaceous food is often varied by meats, 
 for the Kafirs are not at all particular as to 
 their food, and will even eat monkey. They 
 sometimes kill a pig or fowl, and constantly 
 snare the birds. Those near the coast have the 
 advantage of getting plenty of fish, all sorts 
 and qualities being eaten with relish. Some 
 reptiles, and the fat black and yellow cater- 
 pillar of Cirina for da, a large drab moth, 
 are also not despised as food, women and 
 children regularly going out to gather these last 
 when fully grown. Some of the women climb 
 the trees, and shake the branches till the cater- 
 pillars drop to the ground, when they are picked 
 up and crammed into every available tin or 
 pot, where, as each one ejects a quantity of 
 black fluid from the mouth when touched, they 
 look a most repulsive crawling mass. 
 
 The cheluana above referred to, often called 
 chuala, is made from the fruit of the cashew- 
 tree, and from a fruit like a small yellow 
 plum, growing in great profusion on a large 
 handsome tree something like an ash, with light-
 
 NATIVE BEER. 143 
 
 green foliage and pink blossoms, the flowers of 
 the male tree being very different from those 
 of the female. It is evidently allied to the 
 " Kafir plum " tree growing in Natal, which has 
 white flowers and reddish fruit ; the native name 
 is aucania. 
 
 When this fruit is ripe the women collect 
 and pile it in heaps under the large trees in 
 the kraal ; they then assemble, and after picking 
 out the large stones with a pointed stick, squeeze 
 the juice (often with very dirty fingers) into 
 large pots of water, the mixture being allowed 
 to stand and ferment for three days, when it 
 is ready for use. Many drink it up after it 
 has only fermented one day. When the beer 
 is considered ready the Kafirs from the neigh- 
 bouring kraals drop in for an evening's festivity 
 of beer-drinking, singing, and dancing, drinking 
 enormous bowls of beer before it has the desired 
 intoxicating effect, the merry-makings lasting 
 far into the night. These meetings go the 
 round of the kraals before the cheluana season 
 is over.
 
 i 4 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 The Kafirs are fond of bringing cheluana as 
 a present to the white men, but always expect 
 something in return of rather more than its 
 value ; indeed, all their so-called presents have to 
 be returned by another, which of course is never 
 called payment, although it may take the form 
 of money. This most transparent farce is some- 
 times rather a nuisance, for it would not be 
 etiquette to refuse to take as a "present" an 
 article one would never dream of buying. 
 
 Until within the last few years the various 
 tribes under Portuguese protection paid a yearly 
 tribute to the Government in mealies, mapili, 
 and other cereals, which were afterwards sold by 
 public auction, a dance in the square before the 
 Governor's house always being performed by the 
 women bringing it in ; but a "present" for this 
 was even expected and given, sometimes exceed- 
 ing the value of the tribute. Now a tax of 
 eighteenpence a hut is levied instead, which will 
 doubtless some day be increased. 
 
 There are seven or eight tribes to whom the 
 Portuguese flag is given as a token that they are
 
 WAR-SCARE. 145 
 
 under Portuguese rule, and who in return under- 
 take to rally round it in case of disturbances 
 or war. 
 
 There really was a war scare in 1883, it being 
 rumoured that the Swazies were coming to attack 
 the Amatongas, so the officers and troops and 
 Kafir warriors were ordered to the frontier to 
 meet the enemy, and then a steady stream of 
 women and children laden with household goods 
 defiled into or near the town for protection, con- 
 tinuing for three days. Some Europeans, too, 
 left their houses and went within the town walls. 
 I had one or two offers of shelter, but did not 
 feel alarmed, and preferred to take care of my 
 cottage. The cannons were taken from the fort 
 and placed so as to face the roads, and a guard 
 of white residents was called, and positions as- 
 signed to each, but I did hear that many kept 
 their night-watch by drinking and singing in 
 various canteens. 
 
 The scare was all over in five days, and the 
 warriors came straggling back in a drenching 
 
 rain, with bedraggled plumes and weary feet. 
 
 K
 
 i 4 6 DEL AGO A BAY, 
 
 Two Swazi warriors came in as messengers not 
 long after, and I noticed that they wore entirely 
 white plumes and skins, having a very good 
 effect. 
 
 None of these tribes ruled by the Portuguese 
 are very large, and some, like Mashequene, Pou- 
 lana, and Mahota, quite petty tribes. They are 
 larger at Catembe or Tembe and Matola, and the 
 two largest are Sishassi's tribe and Mupunga's 
 tribe, located at Maguire, up the river Manissa. 
 
 I should imagine that the blood of these tribes 
 is not very pure, as they have intermarried with 
 refugees from many other tribes who from various 
 causes have from time to time sought the pro- 
 tection of the Portuguese flag, and also with the 
 Loanda and Mozambique blacks who are employed 
 as soldiers. 
 
 Five of these kings or chiefs were presented 
 with new flags in 1877 by the Governor-General 
 of Mozambique, who was then paying his first 
 visit to Delagoa Bay, and I had the good fortune 
 to be a witness of the ceremony, which took place 
 on a belt of grass just inside the town walls.
 
 PRESENTATION OF FLAGS. 147 
 
 The chiefs and their followers kept arriving till 
 about three thousand were massed together, all 
 of course in full war-dress. When they had 
 taken up their several positions the Governor- 
 General and suite arrived in full uniform, and 
 attended by a guard of honour of one hundred 
 sailors from the corvette. Then began a series 
 of dances and manoeuvres all most novel and 
 interesting to me, one grand united rush with 
 levelled assegais and shields held up being espe- 
 cially imposing, and I could not help thinking 
 at the time what very little protection the hand- 
 ful of soldiers here could afford, either to the 
 white inhabitants in time of danger or to the 
 various tribes claiming such protection. 
 
 Kafir dances, I expect, are very much alike 
 in all parts, the most noticeable feature to me 
 being the mighty stamp in perfect unison of so 
 many feet, and the strange wailing sort of chant 
 accompanying each thud on the ground. 
 
 When all the performances were finished, the 
 Governor-General paraded amongst the Kafirs, 
 presenting a flag to each chief with a few suit-
 
 i 4 8 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 able words, and all dispersed quite quietly, made 
 happy by the additional present of sume barrels 
 of rum and some fresh meat. 
 
 Poulana is the nearest district to Mashequene, 
 the very pretty Poulaua valley, thickly wooded 
 to the sea-shore with palms, bananas, and other 
 trees, being reached after a walk of about three 
 miles and a half over the hill. Keuben Point 
 is then on the right, part of the road being 
 through the dense belt of bush full of sweet 
 flowers I mentioned some time ago. 
 
 The palms in this valley bear a sort of small 
 red date of delicious flavour, but their luxuriant 
 beauty is completely destroyed by being chopped 
 about in all directions for the palm-wine. 
 
 This palm supplies abundant material for the 
 manufacture of baskets of various shapes, which 
 are very neatly made by the Poulana and 
 Mahota natives. Those used as market baskets 
 are of two shapes one like a large deep saucer, 
 and the other like an inverted cone, the bottom 
 being so small that they only just stand securely. 
 One very handy and prettily plaited basket has
 
 BASKETS. 149 
 
 a cover the same shape as the basket itself, 
 which slips up and down a rope handle, and fits 
 over the basket when closed. 
 
 Another convenient and very strong basket is 
 made round in shape, the sides being very much 
 larger in the middle than at the top and bottom. 
 These have a tightly -fitting lid overlapping a 
 little way, with two or three hinges, according to 
 the size of the baskets, which range from about 
 nine inches to two and a half feet in diameter. 
 
 Some of the pnlm-leaf is often dyed red and 
 black, and plaited in ornamental designs. At 
 Poulana, too, the sleeping-mats in general use, 
 made of rushes neatly sewn together, are manu- 
 factured, and the inhabitants of the valley are 
 mostly fishermen, so the palm of industry must 
 certainly be awarded to them. 
 
 Many of the fish are caught by means of a 
 stockade of boughs of trees built out into the 
 water, but most are captured by line and drag- 
 nets. 
 
 I saw one curious open-work basket trap at 
 Poulana, made of small twigs in the shape of a
 
 150 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 cone, open at both ends, and with a handle at 
 one side. The fisherman uses it by wading into 
 shallow water, and clapping it down over any 
 fish he sees, pulling the fish out through the 
 small opening at top. 
 
 The little fishing-boats look very pretty 
 coming in with their loads, their square mat 
 sails having a very strange and picturesque 
 appearance. They are of course rather clumsy 
 specimens of boat-building, but seem to answer 
 every purpose. 
 
 When a new boat is being constructed the 
 Kafir is really industrious, working with a will 
 till it is completed. The boat is made by tying 
 together rough planks, the holes for the cords 
 being made with red-hot irons, and afterwards 
 caulked with fibre and beeswax. When the 
 boat is finished the men and boys of the 
 neighbourhood harness themselves to it and 
 drag it down to the beach, the oars being 
 placed in an upright position in it and sup- 
 ported by some of the men walking by its side. 
 Of course the women and girls join in the
 
 BOAT-BUILDING. 15 1 
 
 procession, and all unite in chanting a song of 
 rejoicing as they slowly move along, to the effect 
 that now more food can be brought into the 
 land by the aid of the boat. 
 
 Fish is plentiful, good, and cheap, and I fully 
 expect that when the long-promised railway 
 arrives an opening will be found for a large and 
 advantageous trade with the interior in this 
 most important article of food. The rock-cod 
 and. a large fish shaped like a perch, called 
 muquaqua, are especially good. 
 
 The prawns found here are sometimes enor- 
 mous, measuring over eight inches I had one ten 
 inches long without the feelers but they are very 
 good and sweet-flavoured in spite of their size. 
 
 Crawfish and crabs are here rather coarse in 
 quality. Oysters are plentiful, but very small, 
 the allowance of rough shell to each oyster 
 being something astonishing. Nevertheless it is 
 a favourite way of spending Sunday amongst 
 the Europeans to sail out to the oyster-beds 
 opposite Reuben Point and picnic off the en- 
 ticing mollusc.
 
 152 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 A very tiny shrimp is netted and esteemed a 
 great delicacy by the natives to mix with their 
 mealie porridge after being dried in the sun. 
 They also dry fish, with or without salt, by 
 spreading it out on the roofs of their huts, 
 where it may also acquire a smoky flavour from 
 the constant fires inside. 
 
 A small fish like whitebait is sometimes 
 brought for sale, and is very good eaten with 
 lemon-juice and hot pepper. 
 
 Large turtles are also found in the Bay, and 
 are of good quality. 
 
 If the produce of the land were as plentiful 
 as that of the sea, the merchants would not 
 complain so bitterly of the state of trade as they 
 do at present ; but, in my opinion, the scarcity 
 of produce is owing as much to the paucity of 
 labour as to the idleness of the natives, there 
 actually not being sufficient population to cul- 
 tivate the soil. 
 
 The emigration of Kafirs to the Cape Colony 
 and Natal may be one cause of this, but only a 
 very slight one.
 
 PRODUCE. 153 
 
 Hardly any produce is now exported in 
 comparison with former times. Very little 
 india-rubber is brought in, for instance, although 
 the country abounds with the plant. Ground- 
 nuts, agaiu, so valuable for oil, are only exported 
 iu small quantities, when a large and profitable 
 trade might be carried on in them, as they grow 
 very readily, requiring only the first trouble of 
 planting. It is an extremely pretty plant 
 (Arachis hypog&a), with leaves resembling 
 clover and bright yellow pea-shaped flowers, 
 and it is curious to see the delicate stems 
 bending down till the pods reach the ground, 
 when they gradually force their way in and 
 there ripen. The nuts are delicious when 
 cooked. Beans used formerly to be exported 
 to Natal in large quantities, but now hardly 
 sufficient for the year's consumption is planted. 
 
 Orchilla weed is found in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, though not in very large quantities ; 
 but the natives cannot be induced to pick and 
 bring it in. That exported, I believe, is brought 
 from the interior. It is used in dyeing.
 
 154 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 The castor-oil plant grows like a weed, but 
 the seed is never collected, and I should imagine 
 it would be worth cultivating. 
 
 A little gingelly seed is exported for its oil, 
 and formerly the stone of a red fruit, something 
 like a coffee-berry, was exported for the thick 
 oil it produces ; but I am told the oil is not of 
 sufficient value to make it worth exportation, 
 the price asked for it here being rather high. 
 The tree producing it is large and handsome, 
 with dark green foliage and large bunches of 
 small yellowish-white, sweet-scented flowers. 
 The fruit is enclosed in clusters of fluffy light 
 green pods, which burst when ripe, disclosing 
 their bright red contents. The natives are very 
 fond of the fruir, soaking it in water for about 
 ten minutes before they suck the very limited 
 supply of pulp from off the seeds. 
 
 They also gather and eat it fresh from the 
 tree, filling their mouths till their cheeks are 
 quite puffed out, and keeping the fruit there till 
 sufficient moisture has rendered it soft enough 
 to suck. It is amusing to meet them when this
 
 EXPORTS 155 
 
 fruit is in season, as almost every man, woman, 
 or child appears to have a swelled face, and 
 speech naturally becomes difficult. I must 
 plead guilty to beiug often in the same 
 condition myself, the fruit thus eaten seeming 
 to satisfy thirst. The Kafirs always boil some 
 of these seeds to extract the oil used for 
 anointing their heads and bodies. It is like 
 the conrsest palm-oil, and has a strong acrid 
 smell. 
 
 Rather large quantities of beeswax are ex- 
 ported ; but the ivory trade, which at one time 
 was rather good, seems to be dying out. 
 Only a small quantity is now sold at a high 
 price, and this is generally bought up by the 
 Banian traders, who export it to India for 
 re-exportation as Indian ivory. 
 
 A good trade in skins was formerly carried 
 on, but at present, I am told, only one house 
 is buying them, which is sufficient to prove 
 the trade is not very great. Those brought in 
 comprise cat and monkey skins, wildebeest, 
 blesbok and springbok, buffalo, gnu, quagga, ox,
 
 156 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 and cow hides, and occasionally leopard and lion 
 skins, which latter are exceedingly dear. 
 
 A good deal of tobacco is grown in Billeyne 
 country, situated some hundred miles up the 
 river Manissa ; but if one may judge from the 
 samples smoked by the women here, it is much 
 too strong and coarse to be of value as an article 
 of commerce. 
 
 The introduction of coolie labour into this 
 part of Africa would, I am sure, be productive 
 of great results, and would very soon repay 
 the first cost of immigration ; but even if only 
 a little energy could be imported, a great 
 difference would soon be seen, the Kafirs 
 might possibly be induced to be more indus- 
 trious, and Louren9o Marques, instead of 
 stagnating, be transformed into a flourishing 
 town, possessed as it is of the finest natural 
 harbour of South Africa.
 
 THE flowers now certainly 
 deserve some little mention, 
 as they are very varied, and 
 a large proportion of them 
 
 P- 
 sweet-scented, although, to 
 ' O * 
 
 my surprise, I heard a friend 
 remark lately, " The worst of 
 the flowers here is, that none 
 of them have any scent." I 
 listened patiently, and when 
 the sentence was quite finished, mentioned some 
 dozens of which he had never even heard, much
 
 i 5 8 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 less seen. So much for believing what one hears. 
 Another gentleman, after residing t\vo months 
 in Mashequene, told me he had not seen one 
 butterfly yet, and wondered where I found all 
 mine ; and this, too, in the hot season, when the 
 common species almost fly into one's face, they 
 are so plentiful ; but illustrations of the old 
 saying, " Eves and no eyes," are everywhere so 
 common that this did not surprise me much. 
 
 I repeat, then, that a large proportion of the 
 flowers are sweet-scented, but many of the 
 sweetest blossoms are only greenish yellow and 
 very tiny, reminding one of the colouring of 
 our own sweet mignonette ; the odour of some 
 of these is wafted by the wind from long 
 distances, one in particular being like strong 
 vanillo. 
 
 Amongst the large sweet-scented flowers is a 
 Gardenia measuring four and a half inches in 
 diameter. It is pure white, with nine petals, 
 each one slightly overlapping the other, and 
 #rows on a shrub-like tree with whitish bark. 
 Unfortunately its beauty is but fleeting, each
 
 SCENTED FLOWERS. 159 
 
 blossom only lasting one day. The root is used 
 as a medicine by the Kafirs. 
 
 Several varieties of acacia grow in profusion, 
 many with bright yellow or cream-coloured fluffy 
 balls. 
 
 Another (Dichrostachys nutans) has graceful 
 mauve and yellow pendent blossoms hanging in 
 rows under the branches, and bright scarlet or 
 black seeds. 
 
 An elegant species of Kafir boom (Erythrina 
 Humei ?) often grows amongst a tangle of acacias, 
 its gorgeous spiky heads of deep crimson flowers 
 contrasting splendidly with the fluffy cream- 
 coloured balls. 
 
 Another acacia ( Ccesalpinia Bonducella], grow- 
 ing as a large tree, is entirely covered with 
 thorns, large and small, on stem and leaf and 
 seed-pod, catching one's clothing and net in 
 every direction, and the more aggravating be- 
 cause the bloom and the gum exuding from the 
 bark are most attractive to butterflies ; there 
 they sit securely feasting, opening and shutting 
 their wings in the sun, and it is hopeless to even
 
 160 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 try to net them. The large seeds are used in 
 the Kafir game 1 lately mentioned. 
 
 Two very sweet-scented flowering bushes one 
 with magenta pea-shaped flowers, the other with 
 blossoms like bright yellow hawthorn produce 
 their flowers growing thickly along the branches 
 almost before any of the leaves appear, and con- 
 sequently lose much of their beauty. One hand- 
 some bush (Tecoma Capensis) grows in great 
 profusion, bearing bunches of scarlet flowers, 
 but without scent. The seeds are very pretty- 
 looking, like a pair of transparent wings ; they 
 lie packed in a dense mass in long pods. 
 
 The small Kafirs are fond of decorating their 
 heads with this flower, and stick large bunches 
 of it on the bushes and the extreme tops of high 
 trees. 
 
 At first I thought this was only done for deco- 
 ration, but soon discovered that the flowers were 
 used for no such innocent purpose, but were tied 
 to a stick smeared with the milky juice obtained 
 from the rind of the fruit of an india-rubber 
 (Landolphia Monteiroi), as a bird-lime for the
 
 CRUELTY TO BIRDS. 161 
 
 many lovely honey and sun birds, whose claws 
 adhere to it when they alight to sip their food 
 from the flower. The cruelty shown to the poor 
 little things when captured is revolting, their 
 legs and wings usually getting broken by being 
 rudely torn off the sticks, the little breast feathers 
 remaining on the india-rubber. 
 
 The Kafirs offer large bunches of these unfor- 
 tunates for sale, tied together by one leg to a 
 long string, which they swing about in all 
 directions. 
 
 Sometimes a big brute Kafir will stop me and 
 open his hand, disclosing about a dozen of the 
 pretty little thiugs gasping and half dead. I 
 often buy them and stuff them into my poison- 
 bottle, fervently wishing it was large enough to 
 hold the Kafir as well ; but then the horrid 
 thought comes that most likely the man will go 
 and catch more on purpose for me, not believiog, 
 of course, that any one would be so foolish as to 
 buy them merely for mercy's sake, so it is really 
 difficult to know how to act for the best. 
 
 Many a time have T seen quite small boys and 
 
 L
 
 1 62 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 girls pelting at poor birds tied to the branch of a 
 tree till they were dead. ' I always interfere, and 
 endeavour to make the parents understand how 
 cruel it is, but only get stares of astonishment for 
 my pains. Once I caught two young fiends calmly 
 picking the feathers from living birds; luckily I 
 did catch them, and administered punishment. 
 
 The Kafirs eat these poor mites, whose bodies 
 are sometimes not much larger than a thimble, 
 often making a fire close by the bushes, waiting 
 for their victims to be captured, and then roast- 
 ing and eating them on the spot, and, I hope, 
 killing them first. 
 
 I always dread the advent of the flower season 
 on this account, as I know how many cruel scenes 
 I shall daily have to witness. 
 
 The boys try to place the bunches of flowers 
 where I cannot reach them, but unless they are 
 put on high trees I always manage to get them 
 down, though often at the cost of severe scratches 
 and torn dresses, and visit the most frequented 
 haunts three times a day, capturing birds and 
 rubber alike, and burying both in the wood.
 
 "PAPAL AT A." 163 
 
 In the end I had the satisfactioii of finding 
 the practice not so common, but doubtless it was 
 still carried on out of my sight. 
 
 Of course my boy never dared to interfere, 
 though he always said, or pretended, lie did not 
 approve of the proceedings. The Kafirs would 
 certainly have maltreated him, but never dared 
 do more than look their disapprobation at "Papa- 
 lata," the name they have given me, signifying, 
 I believe, i: One who collects everything." 
 
 Tecoma Capensis and one or two other bushes 
 flower three times in the year ; many flower in 
 both spring and autumn. 
 
 Many species of india-rubber tree, bush, and 
 creeper are found here, bearing different-sized 
 white flowers, all more or less star-shaped and 
 sweet-scented like strong jasmine. One of the 
 creeping varieties (Landolphia Monteiroi) bears 
 very large quantities of flowers growing in 
 bunches, the petals long and rather fuzzy and 
 inclined to curl and twist. The belt of bush 
 through which one has to pass on the road to 
 Poulana is full of these creepers, and also of two
 
 1 64 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 other bushes bearing large white star-shaped 
 flowers with a heavy scent, and in spring the 
 bush looks as if a partial snow-shower had 
 visited it. 
 
 An elegant species of Strophanthus (S. Peter- 
 sianus) also grows in this belt in great quantities. 
 The flower is shaped like a cup, with the brim 
 turned over and elongated into five long twisting 
 ends. It is white inside and deep brownish- 
 crimson outside. The seeds exactly resemble 
 those of Strophanthus hispidus, from which the 
 celebrated kombe arrow poison of Central Africa 
 is extracted (lately found to be a valuable 
 remedy in heart disease) ; and I believe that 
 this species must possess the same poisonous 
 properties, as the Kafirs call it kombene (poison), 
 and the long seed-pods always disappear most 
 mysteriously when ripe, those of another species 
 being left unnoticed. 
 
 One of the white star flowers just mentioned 
 is also crimson on the outside, and the buds of 
 both plants are exceedingly pretty. 
 
 Another handsome plant (Senecio Natalensis),
 
 FLOWERS. 165 
 
 usually forcing itself up among others to a great 
 height, has succulent stem and leaves, and bears 
 large bunches of a bright yellow honey-scented 
 flower most attractive to beetles and flies. 
 
 Besides the flowering trees and bushes, the 
 field flowers are very plentiful and some 
 remarkably pretty ; but, with a few exceptions, 
 these have no scent. One exquisite little plant 
 (Oxalis semiloba) grows here, with a magenta 
 flower smelling most sweetly of violets. This 
 little plant usually prefers shady places, and 
 sometimes the ground under a large tree is 
 literally carpeted with it. Little edible bulbs 
 resembling the familiar pig-nuts of home are 
 attached to the roots at a depth of about 
 eighteen inches. 
 
 An arum, a new species of Stylochceton, also 
 grows here, with its flower, green outside and 
 reddish-indigo inside, violet-scented. 
 
 In the spring, before the ground is cleared 
 and burnt for the planting, which usually begins 
 about September, the patches of bright-coloured 
 flowers are most refreshing to the eye, but one
 
 166 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 sadly misses the lovely green grass of an English 
 meadow that lends additional beauty to the 
 field flowers. Here half their beauty is spoilt 
 by their surroundings of tall rank grass or last 
 season's dead and decaying mealie-stalks. 
 
 One very tiny flower (a striga), like a lobelia, 
 and the brightest scarlet imaginable, grows on a 
 single stalk with small leaves, about three or 
 four inches high. 
 
 A very lovely blue flower, growing on a 
 trailer, crops up everywhere. Two of the petals 
 are large, looking like wings, reminding one of 
 Canariensis. A yellow species, exactly like it 
 in shape, is also found here, but is not a 
 trailer. There is another common blue flower 
 something like these, but not so pretty ; and I 
 Lave seen the familiar garden plant that children 
 call " devil in the bush," or something very 
 like it, with its pretty blue flowers nestling 
 deep down among its spiky leaves. 
 
 Yellow field flowers seem most common, but 
 perhaps that is only due to the colour most 
 readily catching the eye. Two species, one like
 
 FLOWERS. 167 
 
 bachelor's buttons (Chrysocoma tenuifolia), and 
 another like a small dandelion (Senecio sp.), are 
 in great profusion. 
 
 Great quantities of a bush having the ap- 
 pearance of heath and with a strong aromatic 
 smell, especially when burning, grow here, also 
 bearing yellow flowers (Helichrysum parvi- 
 floruni). One small yellow flower (Tribulus 
 terrestris) has a seed-pod covered with sharp 
 spines. When ripe these pods get blown about 
 by the wind in all directions, and are constantly 
 getting into the feet of men and animals, causing 
 them much pain. This plant is greedily eaten 
 by my tortoise. My dear old horse Fritz (my 
 latest pet, of w T hom I shall have much to say 
 later on) also likes it, and does not seem to mind 
 the thorns at all. He also daintily nibbles off 
 the flowers I consider like bachelor's buttons. 
 
 Another plant, with very pretty dark and 
 light crimson bell-shaped flowers, an inch and a 
 half long (Pretrcea Zanguebarica), has a still 
 more dreadful seed-pod hard and flat, with 
 two spines standing straight up in the middle
 
 168 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 more than a quarter of aii inch long. Both 
 plants are trailers, and are carefully avoided by 
 the Kafirs. 
 
 Papilionaceous flowers are represented in great 
 variety, both large and small, one of them very 
 like the everlasting pea. I am told that the 
 leaves of Tephrosia longipes are steeped in 
 water and rubbed on the bodies of Kafirs who 
 are going a journey, to keep them in good 
 health. 
 
 Besides the everlasting just mentioned, I have 
 found two smaller varieties, Helichrysum lep- 
 tolepis, growing very near the ground, with 
 small pink-white flowers, and H. decorum, a 
 smiill bushy plant with bright yellow flowers, 
 the leaves being rather fluffy, with a strong 
 aromatic smell. Many plants smell strongly of 
 thyme, sage, and other herbs, some being used 
 for medicine by the Kafirs. The leaves of the 
 plant like sage are boiled and the vapour in- 
 haled for cold in the head. 
 
 There are many species of convolvulus, the 
 most common a lovely mauve, covering the
 
 FLOWERS. 169 
 
 ground in many places (Convolvulus mal- 
 vaceous ; var. Parvifolius). Trailing side by 
 side with this, as if it knew how well the two 
 colours harmonised, generally grows a large 
 yellow hibiscus with deep maroon centre (Hibis- 
 cus Surattensis). The buds of these two flowers 
 gathered over-night and placed in water are 
 a lovely addition to a breakfast- table, but 
 seldom last longer than noon unless shut up 
 in the dark till they are wanted. With a 
 little trouble no one need ever be without a 
 bouquet here ; but some of the sweetest flowers 
 are sadly disappointing, as their woody stems 
 prevent their living long in water. One of 
 this class is a sweet-scented white flower (On- 
 coba Kraussiana) somewhat like a strawberry 
 blossom, often two inches in diameter, growing 
 on a small bush in the open ; but I have seen it 
 in a w r ood push itself through the tall trees, for 
 the sake of the sun's rays, to the height of 
 twenty feet or more. 
 
 This tendency of plants to straggle about 
 over thick bush or force themselves upwards
 
 1 7 o DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 amongst high trees often renders it difficult 
 to determine whether they really belong to 
 creeper or shrub. I had a strange instance of 
 this with the yellow everlasting (Helichrysum 
 decorum) which I once planted behind a bush 
 in the shade. This, instead of growing, as usual, 
 as a low bushy plant, threw up a straight stem 
 nearly three feet high and three-quarters of an 
 inch in diameter, and at the top of this the 
 bushy growth burst forth, making quite a pretty 
 little tree. 
 
 I have seen three species of upright hibiscus 
 a pale yellow, a cream-colour and deep violet 
 centre, and a dark purple and several small 
 trailing varieties. 
 
 There are not very many bulbous plants, and 
 some have very insignificant-looking green and 
 white flowers ; one of them a favourite food 
 plant for beetles and caterpillars. One large 
 bulb (Hcemanthus Katherince f) is very common 
 in my favourite wood ; it has large shining 
 broad wavy leaves, and bears a dense umbel of 
 scarlet flowers like a huge bottle-brush. Another
 
 FLOWERS. 17. 
 
 species not so common lias crimson flowers ; one 
 I measured was thirteen inches in diameter. 
 Then there is a handsome crimson flower with 
 spiky loaves (Lapeyrousia grandiflora) ; a small 
 white and gold iris (Iris compressa), also with 
 spiky leaves ; and a, lovely orange and red lily 
 (Gloriosa virescens) is very common every- 
 where. This has a tendril at the end of each 
 leaf, so it hooks itself on to everything near it, 
 growing to a great height if supported by other 
 plants, but flowering close to the ground in the 
 open. Another very handsome lily (Crinum 
 Forbesianum) has large bell - shaped flowers 
 striped with crimson and white, the crimson 
 stripe varying very much in width, so that some 
 blossoms are almost all white : some bulbs have 
 three heads of flowers with as many as thirty - 
 two blossoms on each stalk ; they are very 
 strongly scented. The leaves trail on the ground, 
 are broad and thick and very long, some measur- 
 ing over three feet in length, by five to six 
 inches across at the base. 
 
 The beauty of these leaves soon disappears,
 
 1 72 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 for they are the favourite food of some very 
 pretty caterpillars which mine their way through 
 the thick succulent leaves, till only a very thin 
 membrane remains. When they have finished 
 the leaves they proceed to demolish the seed- 
 pods, which are almost as showy as the flowers, 
 each one growing to the size of a large apple, 
 and when ripe turning a bright crimson. They 
 contain many seeds about the size of a large 
 marble, lying in a soft flannel-like substance, 
 which soon begin to sprout. 
 
 A milky juice oozes out of the bulb when 
 it is pricked, which the natives use to kill 
 unwelcome little insects in their wool. I believe 
 this to be true, because several have told me 
 so at different times ; but as a rule the Kafirs 
 try to keep all knowledge of their various 
 medicine plants a profound secret from the 
 white man. They don't mind saying some 
 are used as "mooti," physic, but when you 
 ask them what disease it is good for and 
 how applied, they usually begin to prevaricate; 
 often, if pressed for an answer, they say "It is
 
 MEDICINAL PLANTS. 173 
 
 good for toothache," and with that one has to 
 be content. 
 
 To become acquainted with their poison plants 
 is, of course, still more difficult. I have only 
 been told of one whether truly or not I cannot 
 say. It is the Ancylanthus Monteiroi, and the 
 poison is contained in the root. It is a curious- 
 looking, straggling bush with small whitish-green 
 fluffy leaves, the under-side very soft and white, 
 bearing a long narrow bell-shaped canary-coloured 
 flower, greenish at the tip. It has a small round 
 fruit not unlike a medlar, and so eagerly sought 
 by the birds that in order to obtain the seeds 
 I had to tie the unripe fruit up in muslin. 
 
 Another curious plant grows here, the Bryo- 
 phyllum, whose leaves if laid on moist soil 
 often produce young plants at all the notches. 
 Reading this, I gathered some leaves of a fleshy 
 plant somewhat answering the description, and 
 placed them on damp sand, and in about a 
 fortnight had the pleasure of seeing a tiny plant 
 appear, sending down its little rootlets into the 
 sand ; it did not, however, come from a notch
 
 i 7 4 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 in the leaf, but from the eud where it had been 
 broken from the stem. This plant bears large 
 heads of small star-like flowers, both scarlet and 
 yellow, but the leaves of the scarlet variety are 
 not notched ; both are species of Crassulce. 
 
 I have found two ground orchids, Saturium 
 sphcerocarpum, and Eulophia dispersa (11. sp.). 
 
 A very pretty Adiantum grows freely in the 
 thick bush, and I have found Achrostichum 
 tenuifolium growing in or near water to a 
 height of four feet, the seed - bearing fronds 
 being quite distinct and finely branched. Poly- 
 podium Phymatodes, smelling strongly of new- 
 mown hay when dry, and a fern resembling the 
 common lady-fern also grow here, and are the 
 only ferns I have yet discovered. 
 
 There are great quantities of an aloe, Aloe 
 Monteiroce, with very thick mottled leaves and 
 heads of pale pink flowers, and I have found 
 two stapelias, one with a flower about an inch 
 in diameter looking like a little hat, pale cream 
 yellow with small crimson Hues (Huernia 
 hystrix), and another with a very similar flower
 
 CREEPERS. 175 
 
 not yet described. There are several species of 
 Euphorbia ; the small branching species so much 
 used to mark a Kafir grave, and which grows 
 to the size of a big tree, bears a small tuft 
 of sweet-scented flowers at the extremity of 
 each branch much appreciated by beetles and 
 butterflies. 
 
 Many beautiful creepers are here, the aspara- 
 gus tribe making a splendid show. One iu 
 particular is invaluable for decoration, the leaves 
 being like a very feathery fern. In some spots 
 this grows so luxuriantly that the ground as 
 well as the surrounding bushes are completely 
 covered by a lovely green tangled mass. One 
 curious creeper has deeply serrated leaves five 
 inches long and only the eighth of an inch wide 
 near the orouud ; but when it attains the height 
 
 O ' O 
 
 of about two feet the leaves gradually become 
 wider and less serrated, till at last they are quite 
 broad and smooth-edged. It bears large bunches 
 of a heavy-scented white flower somewhat like 
 myrtle. Another (Ceropegia Monteiroce), with 
 succulent stem and leaves, has a very curious
 
 176 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 flower white with purple indigo lines and 
 markings, looking like an elegantly shaped 
 trumpet with a parasol over the top joined to 
 the tube in five places. The ribs and ferrule 
 can all be seen, and where it does not join, 
 a purple fringe hangs down, completing the 
 resemblance. Another of this character has 
 very small greenish-drab flowers, with no fringe 
 to the canopy. A pretty climber (Cryptolepis 
 Monteiroce) has cream-coloured flowers with 
 brown centre. Another of the same tribe 
 (Chlorocyathus Monteiroce) has green flowers. 
 A milky juice creeper with heart-shaped leaves 
 (Dcemia Angolensis ?} has a pretty little brownish 
 flower not unlike a drooping clematis, attractive 
 to the sphingidse ; and at Catembe I found a 
 clematis closely resembling " traveller's joy " 
 straggling over the ground and low bushes in 
 great profusion. A tendril creeper with bluish- 
 green leaves and small white flowers grows to an 
 enormous size, looping together tall trees with 
 a cable-like stem four inches in diameter. 
 
 Many of the prettiest-leaved creepers belong
 
 PINE-APPLES. 177 
 
 to the pumpkin family. One (Momordica 
 Balsamina) has small greenish- white flowers, 
 and bears a little scarlet-pointed fruit tasting 
 like melon. In its unripe green stage it is much 
 liked by the Kafirs, and I thought it very nice 
 sliced with oil and vinegar. Another has a fruit 
 which is a very good substitute for vegetable 
 marrow. Another variety called " Bindas," aud 
 which may Lave been introduced by the Banians, 
 bears long narrow five-sided pods, covered with 
 coarse rough hairs, which must be rubbed off 
 with a cloth before cooking. They are delicious 
 stewed with meat. One species is cultivated 
 only for its seeds, which are dried iu the sun, 
 and afterwards pounded up by the Kafirs to mix 
 with their fish. Water-melons and pumpkins 
 grow abundantly. 
 
 There are a few orange, lemon, guava, and 
 mango trees, all introduced ; and the pine-apple 
 grows so freely in many parts that one can 
 hardly think it is not in its native soil. I have 
 seen it used as a fence round some of the kraals. 
 
 A very nice drink can be made as follows : 
 
 M
 
 178 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Pale port wine and water, equal quantities ; 
 plenty of pine-apple chopped up in this, with 
 sugar to taste. Let this mixture stand for a 
 few hours, and just before serving add a little 
 champagne to give a dash of brightness. 
 
 Bananas are. pretty plentiful, the best being a 
 small green variety. 
 
 A great mauy plants and trees bear fruit 
 that the natives eat, some really with a most 
 agreeable flavour. Landolphia Monteiroi has 
 a bright yellow fruit about the size of a small 
 orange, sharp and refreshing to the taste, but 
 the white sticky juice that oozes out of the 
 rind, and which it is almost impossible to 
 prevent touching with the lips, is most un- 
 pleasant. There are a few trees, with small 
 dark green leaves, bearing clusters of a most 
 delicious little yellow egg-shaped stone-fruit 
 about three-quarters of au inch long. They are 
 very thin-skinned and full of a sweet, slightly 
 acid milky juice that has to be scraped from off 
 the lips when the repast is finished, it adheres so 
 closely.
 
 FRUITS. 179 
 
 Another tree, with very sweet-scented yel- 
 lowish-white flowers, bears a delicious stone- 
 fruit resembling a green cherry. A nice fruit 
 grows on a pretty bush with large woolly leaves 
 and small yellow blossom, reminding me of a 
 large medlar both in appearance and taste, 
 which is rather acid ; but when the pulp is 
 mixed with a little sugar and water it makes 
 a good substitute for apple -sauce. The fruit 
 growing on another bush is very like a guava 
 in flavour, but my Chobi boy will not eat it, 
 although it is much liked by the Kafirs here- 
 about, simply because it is never eaten in his 
 country. 
 
 The Kafir orange is rather a nice fruit ; it has 
 a very hard rind full of a sweet acid brown 
 pulp and quantities of large stones which the 
 natives always swallow and pass undigested. 
 It grows to the greatest perfection at Catembe, 
 where the fruit is sometimes as large as a 
 shaddock. When ripe it is a greenish-yellow, 
 with a very strong scent. 
 
 In Poulana valley are several large wild fig-
 
 i8o DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 trees with wonderfully smooth bark and small 
 round leaves, the fruit growing all along the 
 branches, each one on a little short stem almost 
 touching the bark, giving the tree a most 
 peculiar appearance. When ripe it is a pinkish- 
 yellow colour with a lovely bloom on it. I also 
 found one of these trees growing in another 
 charming valley (Copani)-, almost a swamp, on 
 the Matolla side of the town. There also was 
 growing another variety of wild fig-tree with 
 very large leaves, and the fruit, though similar 
 in appearance and taste, growing in clusters. 
 These I discovered to be swarming with beetles, 
 principally Cetonias and stag-beetles. I did not 
 discover them till I gathered a fig to eat and 
 found a Goliath sp. struggling in my hand, 
 which had been completely buried in the fruit. 
 I also found a bramble in this valley, with red 
 berries instead of black, but they tasted the 
 same as the English variety. 
 
 At Poulana, half-way down the side of the 
 cliff, I saw a lovely tree covered with heavy 
 bunches of a sweet-scented white flower I have
 
 FRUITS. 181 
 
 not seen anywhere else, like a large laburnum ; 
 and I also saw there a huge aloe with a stem 
 more than six feet high and twenty inches round 
 the widest part. 
 
 The character of the vegetation seems to change 
 very much when approaching Poulana, many new 
 trees and plants being seen, one very noticeable 
 instance being a large handsome " spiky "-look- 
 ing tree, with dark green leaves and small green- 
 ish-white flowers smelling strongly of vanille, 
 and bearing a very delicious juicy fruit resem- 
 bling a large crimson plum. The familiar plants 
 of Mashequene become more and more scarce ; 
 but I expect plants are almost as local as some 
 species of butterflies, which haunt one particular 
 spot, and are always to be found there.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I HARDLY need 
 say that it is 
 very necessary 
 for an insect col- 
 
 lector to be well acquaint- 
 ed with the locality of 
 trees and bushes whose 
 flowers are preferred by 
 insects, aud also the time for their flowering. 
 Many butterflies are also attracted by the sap 
 of certain trees. One of their favourites is a 
 handsome tree with bright green leaves (Kigelia 
 Africana), bearing bunches of a large pendent 
 deep crimson bell-shaped flower, the fruit, like that 
 of the Baobab, hanging down like huge sausages.
 
 CH A RAXES. 183 
 
 The Charaxes, a species of very strong high- 
 flying butterfly, are particularly attracted by this 
 sap, even fighting for an extra juicy spot, push- 
 ing forwards, going back a little way to gain a 
 greater impetus, their wings making a percept- 
 ible noise whilst jostling each other about. Seeing 
 this, I tried the effect of sugaring the leaves with 
 the usual mixture of beer, treacle, sugar, dnd gin, 
 generally used to attract moths at night, and 
 was at once rewarded by seeing them fly to it 
 eagerly flying straight to the sugared leaves, 
 and greedily settling down to the feast, evidently 
 having scented it from afar. In this way I 
 captured many splendid specimens I should pro- 
 bably never even have seen without its aid. 
 
 About sixteen varieties of Charaxes alone came 
 to it, amongst them C. PJiceus (n. sp. Hewitson), 
 male and female ; the female of C. Achcemenes, 
 unknown till then, C. Violetta (n. sp. Grose 
 Smith); and another magnificent large new female 
 Charaxes, but with the hind-wings so damaged 
 that Mr. Hewitson first described it as Philog- 
 noma Azota.
 
 1 84 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 I hoped my lovely Crenis Rosa (n. sp. Hewit- 
 son) would have been attracted, but I never saw 
 a specimen during my second visit. Besides 
 the Charaxes, Godartia, Wakefieldii, Philog- 
 nomas, some skippers, and many of the Saty- 
 rince came to the sugar, and were so greedy that 
 they sometimes settled on my face, hands, and 
 dress during the operation of sugaring, sucking 
 up the drops that had fallen from the brush, the 
 touch of the little proboscis on my cheek as it 
 searched about for the last remnants of syrup 
 being most curious, and I have often seen the 
 highest fliers reeling on the grass quite drunk 
 and incapable of flying. 
 
 These I most gravely lecture on the sin of 
 drunkenness, feeling obliged sometimes to talk 
 nonsense to insects and animals, as I have so 
 few opportunities of using my tongue. I over- 
 heard my boy one day imitating me, wishing a 
 broken butterfly ambani ("good-bye") before 
 he let it fly away, and telling it to send along 
 some of its perfect brethren. 
 
 I always add some strong rum to the mixture
 
 TIPSY MOTHS. 185 
 
 just before using it, and find it most efficacious. 
 Honey and rum only will do, if the proper mix- 
 ture cannot be obtained. A Charaxes that I 
 captured in the house absolutely drank itself to 
 death with brandy and sugar out of a spoon, 
 I holding it lightly by the wings all the time ; 
 and one of the common moths here (Sphingo- 
 morpha Monteironis), a handsome mottled crea- 
 ture with cream-coloured markings all down the 
 body, I have further christened the " dinner 
 moth," as it always comes in at that time, and 
 helps itself to wine out of my glass, even whilst 
 I am drinking, standing on the brim in the most 
 sociable way. 
 
 I remember once telling the Governor, who 
 was paying me a visit, about their curiously soci- 
 able habit, and I could see by his expression that 
 he scarcely believed me. He was sitting rather 
 near the open door, sipping a glass of Constantia, 
 and I had hardly finished speaking when one of 
 these moths flew in and immediately settled 
 on the rim of the glass just as it was raised 
 to his lips, and there sucked up the wiue at
 
 i86 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 its leisure, much to his surprise and my 
 amusement. 
 
 These moths also walk into my plate and help 
 themselves to anything they fancy, not taking 
 any notice of the movement of my knife and 
 fork ; so, for the sake of peace, I now always have 
 a little pot of wine and sugar on the table for 
 them, which they highly appreciate, drinking 
 so deeply that I constantly find them still tipsy 
 in the morning. 
 
 A great many beetles, principally Cetonias, 
 come to the sugared leaves, and the bees and 
 wasps are a perfect nuisance, as, besides eating 
 up the sugar very quickly, they get into the net 
 when a butterfly is captured, and it is very diffi- 
 cult to avoid being stung when taking the butter- 
 fly out ; their friends, too, swarming around, and 
 often attacking my face ferociously, and following 
 me for some distance for the sake of the drops of 
 syrup on my dress. This is one of the drawbacks 
 of sugaring ; another is, that my dress gets so 
 dirty, and also is generally so tattered by thorns, 
 that I am obliged to tell my boy to warn me if
 
 RAPACITY OF MANTIS. 187 
 
 he sees a strange mlunga approaching, when I 
 fly into the depths of the nearest bush. 
 
 Grasshoppers will greedily eat the sugared 
 leaves, and little lizards, too, come and lap it up 
 as a cat would milk. 
 
 One day, when ueariug a sugared tree, I saw a 
 butterfly struggling violently, but apparently not 
 able to fly away, and when I got closer found 
 that a large green mantis had caught it, and had 
 already bitten off both hind wings before com- 
 mencing to eat the body. I afterwards found 
 many of these rapacious insects lying in wait for 
 the unconscious butterflies under the sugared 
 leaves, but being so nearly the colour of the leaf 
 itself, they were not easily discovered. They 
 are ferocious-looking insects, and hold their prey 
 securely between the second and third joint of 
 the front legs, which are armed with sharp spines, 
 taking bites out of it while still alive. I found 
 one holding an unfortunate Cicada, from which 
 it had already bitten one eye and part of the 
 head, the poor thing a male, as the females 
 are silent, having no sound-producing mem-
 
 1 88 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 brane making its loud stridulating noise all the 
 time. When touched, instead of making off they 
 turn and show fight, always keeping the front 
 legs held up before them, to ward off or make an 
 attack, and it is necessary to take hold of them 
 carefully, as they not only try to bite, but their 
 spiny legs are very sharp. From this habit 
 they derive the name of " praying mantis," from 
 a fancied resemblance to the attitude of prayer ; 
 but it might more accurately be written " prey- 
 ing," as they are indeed ferocious enemies to 
 other insects, and the peculiar position in ques- 
 tion is for the purpose of rapidly seizing their 
 prey. I made a sketch of one on my wall who 
 was just finishing a large grasshopper ; both his 
 arms were full of pieces, and he was sucking the 
 juice from the last thigh with evident enjoyment. 
 I could think of nothing but the old pictures of 
 Jove with his thunderbolts. 
 
 Once I watched a fight between a spider and a 
 mantis for a long while, the spider conquering in 
 the end ; but he was evidently very much afraid 
 of his prey, and kept retiring to a distance and
 
 SPIDER AND MANTIS. 189 
 
 then trying to throw himself on to the back of 
 the mantis ; at last he succeeded in securing the 
 formidable front legs, and then the rest was easily 
 wound up. 
 
 One morning I was standing on the verandah 
 just before starting on my rounds, when I ob- 
 served a shrike swooping down on something in 
 the sand ; but instead of capturing the " some- 
 thing," he flew hastily away : again he came, and 
 again retreated, so I looked more closely and 
 saw a huge green mantis almost standing up- 
 right, and really looking most warlike. The 
 bird evidently had not the courage to attack it, 
 and at last flew away, and then I stepped in with 
 the inevitable poison-bottle. 
 
 There are very many beautiful species of mantis 
 here, both large and small, and of many colours, 
 some with the fore-wings exactly like a leaf. 
 Their nests are exceedingly pretty, some like 
 lumps of green or cream-coloured froth, others 
 as if made of goldbeaters' skin joined by a 
 beautifully made brown seam, and usually at- 
 tached to a stalk of grass.
 
 IQO DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 The PhasmidcB, or walking-stick insects, as 
 they are often called, are remarkable-looking 
 creatures of various sizes, resembling bits of dry 
 twig or stick so closely as to be very difficult to 
 distinguish from the tree they are resting upon. 
 Some have hardly any or very tiny wings, but 
 others are larger. The upper part of the wing 
 is hard and leathery, and when shut closely re- 
 sembles the body ; the under part is shiny mem- 
 brane, the colour of purple indigo. 
 
 They greatly vary in size, some having a body 
 as thick as an ordinary lead-pencil, and nine 
 inches long, whilst others do not exceed two 
 and a half inches, and so exactly resemble a bit 
 of dry grass that I rarely catch any unless I 
 accidentally find them in my net. 
 
 There are some exquisite little bugs too, like 
 animated skeleton leaves, which I generally catch 
 only by accident, for the same reason. 
 
 The stick insects are remarkably tenacious of 
 life. I caught one between seven and eight 
 inches long, and he swallowed about six drops 
 of chloroform to begin with ; that having no
 
 TENACITY OF LIFE. 191 
 
 effect, I shut him up in chloroform vapour, but 
 after some hours he was still alive. When I 
 reached home 1 put him in a biscuit tin with a 
 lump of cyanide of potassium, and left him for 
 two days, making sure that would finish him, 
 but when I looked he was as lively as ever. I 
 was in despair, and after giving him some more 
 chloroform, stabbed him several times under the 
 wings with a pen dipped in oxalic acid, which at 
 last had the desired effect. 
 
 One of the small ones too grieved me by his 
 obstinacy in living ; he had been hours in the 
 poison-bottle, and seemed as dead as he could be. 
 I inserted the usual bit of grass the whole length 
 of his body to prevent its breaking when dry, 
 as I have to do to all these creatures and the 
 dragon-flies, carefully pinned him up, and laid out 
 his legs. Next morning he was wildly flourish- 
 ing them about. He could not have had any 
 inside, because the grass I inserted was a very 
 tight fit, 
 
 The female of one species of large grasshopper 
 (Saga maculosa} is also very tenacious of life ;
 
 192 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 one, that first swallowed a few drops of chloro- 
 form, flew away quite briskly after remaining in 
 the cyanide of potassium bottle for three days 
 and nights ! 
 
 Generally grasshoppers are quickly overcome 
 by the vapour. There are many species here, 
 most of them emitting a bad-smelling brown 
 fluid from the mouth when handled ; but one 
 dark green fellow (Phymateus Callipareus), with 
 deep orange under-wings and gold knobs on his 
 collar, begins to throw out a white froth from 
 beneath the collar on each side at an astonish- 
 ing r<ite, there seeming no limit to the supply. 
 This froth smells most abominably, and a 
 hissing noise is plainly heard as it bubbles out. 
 
 A large black scorpion was eight hours in my 
 strongest poison-bottle before he succumbed to 
 the deadly fumes. When I touched him with a 
 stick, after seven hours, he elevated his wicked 
 tail and opened his claws wide in a most savage 
 manner. 
 
 I hope these accounts of killing will not be 
 thought dreadfully cruel, especially by those
 
 INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. 193 
 
 who know me to be a tender-hearted person ; 
 but I would not take even insect life did I not 
 feel quite sure that their position in the scale of 
 life was too low for them to feel pain as we 
 understand it. All I have seen myself confirms 
 me in this belief, and I further know of two 
 cases told me by trusted friends. In one case 
 the body of a wasp was removed at the slender 
 waist by a pointed pair of scissors, and the 
 insect went on feeding quite unconcernedly. 
 In the other the body of a dragon-fly was 
 removed, and a piece of straw fastened in its 
 place to give the proper balance, and the 
 creature ate and flew about just as if nothing 
 had happened. 
 
 There is certainly a very great difference in 
 the time these small creatures take to die in the 
 poison-bottle, for which I am very sorry. Even 
 the butterflies vary, the females, if they have 
 not laid their eggs, lingering the longest ; many 
 even finish laying them in the bottle, as if it 
 were impossible for them to die before they had 
 
 fulfilled their mission in life. Sphynx-moths 
 
 N
 
 i 9 4 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 die instantly, the quickest of all. Wasps and 
 flies too are instantly killed. 
 
 If the killing process is the unpleasant part of 
 a collector's life, on the other hand it is certainly 
 satisfactory to know that one is contributing 
 something to the scientific world, and I am glad 
 to say that many new insects in all classes have 
 fallen to my share, too many to be enumerated 
 here. There is even a new genus among the 
 grasshoppers. The butterflies figured in the 
 frontispiece were kindly lent me for the purpose 
 by Mr. H. Grose Smith, and I much regret 
 having been compelled to crowd their beauties 
 on to one plate. Then again the rearing of 
 caterpillars must be classed among the pleasant 
 duties ; and I must confess I get quite fond of 
 some of my prettiest ones, and miss them when 
 they have retired to the pupa stage, especially 
 when I have had them under my care for some 
 time. They vary so much too in their habits, 
 and even their tempers, that they are most 
 interesting and amusing. Of course the time 
 expended in changing the leaves daily a neces-
 
 REARING CATERPILLARS. 195 
 
 sity in a hot climate is somewhat a hindrance 
 to outdoor business ; but it is a treat to watch 
 them rapidly cutting the neat little bits out of 
 the fresh food, and their fine appetites many a 
 human being might envy. I often regret that 
 I cannot enjoy the sight at my leisure, but 
 sometimes have as many as twenty-seven boxes 
 of different species, some of them even requiring 
 fresh food twice a day, so the task has to be 
 gone through in a strictly business way. Some 
 seem to do nothing else but eat day and night, 
 but others feed only at night. 
 
 I have just reared three very handsome long 
 brown-haired ones, with a beautiful pattern, as 
 if in old gold plush, waving down each side. 
 These were night feeders, one completely burying 
 himself in a sardine-box full of damp sand 
 all day, and coming out about eight o'clock to 
 feed. From this I concluded they would change 
 to the pupa state underground, but they spun 
 a loose hairy web under some of the leaves on 
 the surface. They grew to be more than five 
 and a half inches long, and before the final
 
 196 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 change to pupa became very restless, walking 
 quickly about and eating nothing for three days, 
 one of them during his restless march absolutely 
 turning out the chrysalis of his friend from its 
 own proper lair and curling himself snugly nearly 
 all day long under the soft network. I thought 
 be was going to remain there and be a sort of 
 cuckoo-caterpillar, but he changed his mind, 
 came out suddenly, and wove a resting-place for 
 himself. These caterpillars when touched threw 
 off some minute hairs most irritating and difficult 
 to extract from the skin. They remained in 
 pupa six months, and then emerged as a large 
 soft pinkish-grey moth (Trabala Rosa, n. sp. 
 Druce). 
 
 The caterpillar of Anthercea menippe, a large 
 handsome red moth with dark eyelike spots, is 
 another fat giant, measuring five inches, red, 
 with rows of black spines. It feeds on a hand- 
 some bush (Ochna atropurpured) with yellow 
 flowers somewhat like large hawthorn, having a 
 curious fleshy crimson seed-pod, and the dark 
 green leaves looking as if freshly dipped in gum
 
 CATERPILLARS. 197 
 
 water. Another handsome caterpillar, deep 
 orange with black bands, not quite so large as 
 the last mentioned, belongs to Satumia Wallen- 
 grenii (Felder), a soft pearl-grey moth with eye- 
 like spots. 
 
 The caterpillar of the lovely Saturnia Dala- 
 gorguei is a remarkably lively cream-white 
 fellow, covered with long coarse white hair. I 
 found my first specimen on a tree trunk just as 
 he was pulling down the last bit of bark over 
 himself preparatory to his change. He was 
 violent when I disturbed him, but completed 
 his bark covering on the way home. Some other 
 caterpillars I have been rearing, with short 
 pinkish-grey hair and very pretty faces, were 
 also very lively in their dispositions when 
 touched or looked at. In their free state they 
 rested near the ground in the crevices of the 
 bark of their food tree (Kafir plum), almost 
 exactly like it in tint, only crawling up to the 
 leaves at night to feed ; but in captivity they 
 ate all day. They wove a hard leathery cocoon 
 iii a very few hours. The perfect insect was a
 
 i 9 8 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 very delicate greenish-yellow moth (Lasiocampa 
 Kottikerii, Dewitz), with white markings and a 
 fringe of black hairs on the top edge of the 
 under- wing. 
 
 One night I was surprised to see two males 
 of this species fly into the room, as they were 
 not very common, but on visiting my chrysalis 
 box some hours later I found a female had 
 emerged from the pupa and had just come 
 to perfection, so of course she was the attrac- 
 tion. The caterpillar of Lasiocampa Monteiroi 
 (n. sp. Druce), a pale cream-yellow moth, is very 
 like this last, but not so prettily coloured ; its 
 cocoon is much larger and more hairy. 
 
 When a moth or butterfly first breaks from 
 its pupa covering it is quite moist and flabby, 
 and the wings so small and shrivelled up that 
 it seems impossible they should ever become 
 large and beautiful ; the insect, however, generally 
 crawls up to the net covering the box, allowing 
 its wings to hang down, and so quickly do they 
 grow that one can see the process of develop- 
 ment. They should not be killed too soon after
 
 REMARKABLE INSTINCT. 199 
 
 emerging, as the nervures are at first rilled with 
 fluid, and until that is dried up they do not 
 lay out nicely. It is not always easy to find 
 out when the fluid has completely disappeared, 
 and if the insect is left too long it will destroy 
 its beauty endeavouring to escape, but if care 
 be taken not to press strongly on the inflated 
 parts when laying out, the fluid in time com- 
 pletely dries up. 
 
 Occasionally I have been so unfortunate as 
 to be unable to find the right food-plant for 
 caterpillars brought me ; and this is due in great 
 measure to their bad habit .of going to another 
 plant, sometimes a long way off, to change their 
 skins. I think the larvae of the Spingidce must 
 be more delicate than others at those times, as 
 I not only lose them in captivity, but have 
 often found their bodies with the skin partly 
 cast off being devoured by ants. 
 
 The larvae of the death's-head moth vary so 
 much in colour, although the markings are 
 similar in two of them, that they appear to be 
 distinct species. One is pale straw-colour, with
 
 200 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 light mauve transverse stripes and very dark 
 mauve spots ; whilst the other is yellowish-green, 
 with dark prussian-blue stripes and spots ; the 
 third is a dull brown, with white markings near 
 the head. These all make a tic-tic-tic noise 
 when handled, and the death's-head moth itself 
 makes a loud squeaking. I often let them 
 crawl over my hands before their wings are 
 fully developed on purpose to hear the con- 
 tinuous pretty sound. Many of the sphynx 
 larvae have brilliantly coloured spots like eyes 
 near the head, and most of them a horny tail 
 on the last segment but one this sometimes 
 quite rudimentary. 
 
 The larvae of a transparent-wing humming- 
 bird moth, common here (Cephonodes hylas), is a 
 brilliant light green, with a yellow tail and a 
 yellow border to the cowl-like fold of skin near 
 the head. A black and yellow diurnal moth 
 (Aletis Monteironis), also common here, has a 
 very pretty looper caterpillar, whitish-grey, with 
 black rings ; when in repose it hangs straight 
 down underneath a leaf, only holding on by
 
 NOISE MADE BY CATERPILLARS. 201 
 
 the claspers. These throw themselves quite away 
 to another part of the plant when touched, and 
 are also extremely lively in the pupa state. I 
 once overlooked one of them when changing 
 their box, and did not discover the poor thing 
 till a week afterwards, but although very thin 
 it was still alive, and soon recovered itself on 
 its food-plant (Oxyanthus Monteiroi), a hand- 
 some large-leaved plant with white flowers. 
 
 I had a curious experience with the larvae of 
 Acrcea Acara. I brought home the little colony 
 (red, with black spines and yellow head and tail), 
 and for a few days had plenty of food for them, 
 but presently I found that so much chopping 
 and clearing had been going on that the plant 
 was very difficult to find ; at last it failed alto- 
 gether, but by this time all but three had gone 
 into pupa. The remaining three changed colour 
 as if they were going to do the same, but did 
 not do so, remaining plump and healthy, and 
 occasionally walking about. After some weeks 
 I found a little of their food-plant, but, to my 
 surprise, they took no notice of it. After another
 
 202 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 long interval I gave them some more, placing 
 them on the leaves ; this time they went to the 
 edge of the leaf and tried to eat, but they 
 seemed incapable of closing their jaws, and after 
 a few ineffectual attempts to make an incision, 
 returned again to the net covering the box. 
 In about a month one suddenly suspended itself 
 and changed to pupa, and in ten days the 
 butterfly emerged, differing from all the others 
 by a streak of bluish-grey across the fore-wings. 
 The other two lived on for a fortnight, when I 
 accidentally smashed one, and shortly after the 
 other shrivelled up and died. The only expla- 
 nation I can suggest is that they were partially 
 paralysed through the netting by one of the 
 wasp tribe. 
 
 Another time the food supply almost failed, 
 I had taken a few of a species of a small web- 
 spinner (Botyodes Asialis), which were swarming 
 on an enormous tree, covering it with web, and 
 amongst the leaves found a solitary stranger, 
 bluish- white, with a black collar and a few other 
 black markings, and covered with yellow spines,
 
 SCARCITY OF FOOD-PLANT. 203 
 
 the six nearest the head being tipped with blue ; 
 it was a lovely thing, and I felt I had a prize. 
 When I next visited the tree for leaves, I found 
 the little web-spinners had cleared all the lower 
 part, and my boy had to climb. In a few more 
 days the huge tree was a skeleton, and no one 
 seemed to know of another, my beauty mean- 
 while growing larger and larger, with an appetite 
 in proportion. At last a Kafir found a tree 
 two miles off, only just in time, and my anxiety 
 was at an end. The moth of this was Attacus 
 Mythimna. 
 
 I reared a large number of the light yellow 
 caterpillar with brown rings, mentioned before 
 as feeding on the seeds, pods, and leaves of 
 the crimson and white lily. They were nasty 
 feeders, eating up the decaying pulp of the 
 pod after the seeds were finished, whilst those 
 in the leaves were snugly burrowing their way 
 among the juicy inside, eating as they went, 
 but never breaking through. Some formed their 
 chrysalis in the sand, and some in the wet 
 decaying leaves. When they had eaten up all
 
 204 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 my lily leaves I supplied them with those of 
 the red bottle -brush flower, which they ate 
 readily. They were troublesome to keep, as' they 
 were always biting round holes iii the leno tied 
 over the box, even after I doubled it, and I 
 was constantly finding caterpillars on the table 
 and floor and in all sorts of places ; however, 
 they eventually turned to a very beautiful little 
 moth with dark purplish-brown fore-wings with 
 gold markings, and bluish-white hind-wings 
 (Glottula pancerati Cyrilla), so I was glad I 
 put up with their vagaries. 
 
 I had some curious large flat caterpillars, 
 with very long tufts of greyish hair from every 
 segment, making them look very wide. When 
 touched they shot out two rows of thick dark 
 purplish-crimson hair, like brushes, just behind 
 the head, and then shut them up again, no trace 
 of colour being visible when undisturbed. They 
 always kept close side by side on the bark when 
 not feeding. The moth was a disappointing, dull- 
 brown species. One very like these, with the same 
 red bands, but a mauve tinge in the hair, was
 
 CATERPILLARS. 205 
 
 brought me, and this turned to a lovely mauve- 
 tinted moth with dark yellowish-brown under- 
 
 
 wings. 
 
 Another of the same sort, belonging to Mega- 
 soma polydura (n. sp., Druce), was still more 
 beautifully marked, and I noticed that wherever 
 it rested it made a shiny silvery coating to the 
 bark. The male moth is very curious looking, 
 arid remarkably small compared with the female. 
 
 Another most interesting caterpillar is that of 
 a small orange and black Burnet moth (EucJi- 
 romia Africana). It is a little red creature an 
 inch and a quarter long, covered with short tufts 
 of black hair ; at the head four of the tufts are 
 very long, giving the appearance of horns, and 
 there are two long tufts at the tail as well. A 
 little bit of red body is visible at both ends, and 
 at first sight one hardly knows which is head or 
 tail ; all along the back are rows of little satiny 
 cream-coloured points that appear to be hard, 
 but are in reality close tufts of hair ; these are 
 only visible after the last change of skin, the 
 previous ones being all black. They were feed-
 
 2o6 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 ing on a small-leaved creeper with a milky juice, 
 dropping instantly to the ground when touched. 
 
 What delighted me so much with them was 
 to see them make tbeir cocoons from their own 
 hair. After taking up a suitable position on the 
 side of the box, they commenced operations by 
 pulling out small tufts of hair and sticking 
 them all round them on the wood in an oval 
 form about the size of a hen's egg. This done, 
 they began to surround themselves with an 
 elastic wall, pulling out all their hair for the 
 purpose, and using up the light tufts last. It 
 was really very curious to see the way they 
 reached round to get a good tug at a mouthful 
 of hair, and the quick way they wove it in its 
 place, constantly turning completely round to 
 make both ends alike, and seeming to shoulder 
 up, if I may use the term, against the sides of 
 the wall to stretch it to the proper size. Their 
 little red bodies, when half denuded of hair, 
 looked very comical and cold. 
 
 Some seemed to economise the material at 
 hand much better than others, and would hardly
 
 COCOON-MAKING. 207 
 
 have touched the light tufts before the final 
 pulling together and closing in of the top, whilst 
 others could hardly manage to finish their cover- 
 ing, and seemed to search about most anxiously 
 all over their bodies for a forgotten tufc of hair. 
 When all was finished the cocoon looked like a 
 little long pyramid of black and grey plush, 
 lighter at the top. They took about three or 
 four hours making, and those where the cater- 
 pillar had recklessly wasted his hair were always 
 uneven. 
 
 The caterpillar of Euchromia lethe, a yellow 
 and black Burnet, is covered with yellowish- 
 white hair, and makes a similar cocoon. 
 
 One grey mottled caterpillar encased itself in 
 a grey network along a branch, looking exactly 
 like a rough widening of the stick. 
 
 I found two broods of little greenish cater- 
 pillars with black spots, about three-quarters of 
 an inch long, whose custom was to enclose a 
 cluster of leaves in a fine silky loose web, and 
 feed on the leaves so enclosed, migrating to 
 another branch when the first was finished.
 
 208 DEL AGO A DAY. 
 
 They ran very fast either backwards or for- 
 wards, spinning as they ran along, and never 
 losing their hold of the web, which gave them 
 the appearance of spinning both from head and 
 tail. Another little brood spun themselves up 
 in the midst of fine very dense web in one big 
 leaf at a time, almost drawing the edges together, 
 and only eating the surface of the leaf. Some 
 other dark greenish-black caterpillars, only half 
 an inch long, were remarkable for spinning a 
 very strong coarse web before their change to 
 pupa, and one cannot help wondering at the 
 large amount of silk produced by such little 
 creatures. These last turned to most exquisitely 
 shaped little fawn-coloured moths with black 
 markings. 
 
 The others also rewarded my care by changing 
 into lovely little moths I should probably never 
 have seen without breeding them, and most 
 certainly not in perfect condition. 
 
 The duration of the pupa state varies very 
 much, one of a brood often emerging after a 
 very few days' rest, whilst the others will be
 
 LIVELY PUP&. 209 
 
 weeks or even many months before they make 
 their appearance. 
 
 I noticed that many of the pupae moved 
 about in the cocoon soon before emerging, 
 making rather a loud noise. My attention was 
 especially drawn to a pupa of Argema mimosa, 
 a lovely large green moth with long tail, which 
 at intervals made a very loud noise, as if rapidly 
 turning round and round in its lovely silvery 
 cocoon. This continued for three days, and then 
 all was still. I felt sure it had died in the effort 
 to escape, so after ten days carefully cut open 
 the cocoon, and found the curious almost round 
 pupa perfectly lively. I tied the cocoon up 
 ao-ciin with cotton, and after some months the 
 
 O ' 
 
 moth emerged, but with one wing slightly 
 deformed. The caterpillar of this moth is five 
 inches in length, bright green, with two conical 
 horn-like projections on each segment, tipped 
 with coarse black hair. 
 
 Many of the moths have caterpillars like bits 
 of dry brown stick. One sober-coloured species 
 in particular (Achcea chameleon), with an infinite
 
 2 io DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 variety of markings and tintings on the fore- 
 wings, but with no variation of the brown hind- 
 wings, with three white spots on the outer edge, 
 is here in such numbers that on some days they 
 rise in a cloud round me as I go through the 
 wood, quickly settling down again among the 
 dead leaves, making quite a whirring sound as 
 they rise, and so bewildering in their hundreds 
 that it is quite impossible to discover a rare one 
 amongst them. Notwithstanding this, at present 
 I have only found one of their brown cater- 
 pillars closely as I am always searching and 
 that one I took hold of by accident, and then 
 felt that it was soft. A bluish variety is more 
 readily discovered, but even these are easily 
 passed over. 
 
 I found one very large stick caterpillar, with 
 a dull eye near the head, feeding on an acacia. 
 He had a very strongly marked temper, and not 
 only flung himself off the branch when touched, 
 wriggling about for some time afterwards like 
 the detached end of a lizard's tail or a severed 
 worm, but sometimes gave himself these airs
 
 STICK-CATERPILLARS. 211 
 
 when I only looked at him. He changed to a 
 handsome dark brown moth (Patula Walkeri), 
 with a large eye in centre of fore-wing slightly 
 tinted with red and indigo, measuring five 
 inches across the wings. 
 
 Some stick caterpillars have lumps and excres- 
 cences on them like thorns or knots in bark, 
 making them still more difficult to discover ; but 
 indeed the whole protective resemblance system 
 in the insect world is so wonderful and perfect 
 that a collector often feels inclined to grumble 
 at it for its very perfection.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BESIDES the protection 
 afforded to many insects 
 by their so closely resem- 
 bling bark, leaves, or sticks, 
 which I have lately de- 
 scribed, others are able to 
 produce some powerful 
 odour when touched, as a 
 means of defence; many cater- 
 pillars also being provided with 
 spines and bristles, some of these 
 actually giving sharp stings, 
 whilst others can throw off irri- 
 tating finely-barbed hairs. 
 
 Others rely on their habitations
 
 INSECT HABITATIONS. 213 
 
 for protection, encasing themselves in a finely- 
 woven material resembling wool, this again 
 covered with pieces of stick placed lengthways 
 side by side, which the caterpillar adds to as he 
 grows. These are always hanging from leaves 
 and branches, only using the front legs in 
 walking. If disturbed whilst feeding or moving 
 they quickly draw their heads inside the woolly 
 material, seeming to draw it together, and give 
 it a twist so as completely to hide even the 
 supporting legs. When they wish to rest they 
 weave a little loop round a twig and withdraw 
 the clasp of the legs, biting the loop through 
 when they wish to proceed again. 
 
 They are amusing things to keep, giving 
 themselves great airs if by chance they are 
 placed on the wrong food-plant, moving their 
 heads impatiently from side to side, and at last 
 letting go their hold and dropping down. When 
 the right food is given they quickly attach 
 themselves and eat away comfortably, generally 
 entirely finishing one leaf before going to another, 
 sometimes drawing the leaf partly inside the
 
 2i 4 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 soft covering whilst eating. When they want 
 to add to their houses they will leave their food- 
 plant, should the fibre of its wood not be to 
 their liking, and bite a piece of stick off another. 
 The new piece is first attached at the top, where 
 it stands straight out ; but by some means they 
 work it down by degrees, and also fasten it at 
 the bottom, so I suppose they are able to turn 
 round inside their case for the purpose. For the 
 final change to pupa they make a very strong 
 loop, and completely twist up the soft material. 
 I believe the females of these moths are wing- 
 less, many never leaving their cases. I have 
 kept very many, but none have come to maturity, 
 the pupa? of those I have cut open always being 
 full of nothing but dust. Some of these encased 
 caterpillars place the bits of stick crossways, 
 finishing in a point, whilst others make use of 
 grass or sand as a covering. 
 
 The larvae of many beetles are protected by a 
 covering of their own excrement. I found some 
 of a most vivid scarlet completely hidden from 
 view in this way.
 
 ICHNEUMON FLY. 215 
 
 The caterpillars of many of the Papilios are 
 provided with a retractile fleshy fork on the 
 back of the neck just behind the head, and these 
 must be specially useful for driving away their 
 worst enemy, the ichneumon fly, whose horrid 
 habit is to pierce the bodies of caterpillars and 
 lay an egg in the wounds so made. When the 
 young are hatched they feed on the body of the 
 poor caterpillar, which, strange to say, does not 
 die at once, only gradually gets thinner and 
 thinner. 
 
 This is one of the disappointments attending 
 the rearing of larvae, for the wounds pierced are 
 not easily noticed, and sometimes the first 
 intimation one has is seeing the caterpillar 
 completely covered with tiny white cocoons. 
 None of the caterpillars I have had so attacked 
 have ever recovered entirely, though they have 
 lived on for some days after the cocoons were 
 removed. Sometimes the egg is inserted just 
 before their change to pupa, and then, instead 
 of butterflies or moths, these horrid flies emerge, 
 causing much regret.
 
 2 i6 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 The caterpillar of Papilio Demoleus, a hand- 
 some large yellow and black butterfly, with blue 
 and red eyes on the hinder wings, is a very 
 vivid green, with a striking pattern in black and 
 white on the sides, and a circle composed of 
 yellow dots on the back of the neck. Its fork 
 is three-quarters of an inch long and bright 
 crimson, looking most formidable when it is 
 shot out. In the previous stage to this it is a 
 curious-looking dark brown and white spiny 
 creature, shining as if it had been newly dipped 
 
 ) 
 
 in gum. It forms a curiously shaped yellow and 
 fawn-coloured chrysalis fastened by the tail 
 vertically, and further supported by a filament 
 of silk passed round the body near the head. 
 
 Many of the Papilio caterpillars are very 
 much thicker near the head than any other 
 part, giving the appearance of a hump when 
 seen sideways ; while seen from the top they 
 are shaped like a fish, some having three rows 
 of spines on the hump, like fins, while two on 
 the tail complete the resemblance. 
 
 The caterpillar of Papilio Morania, a black
 
 CATERPILLARS. 217 
 
 and white butterfly, strongly marked with red 
 and yellow on the under side, is light green, with 
 black spines on the hulnp, two yellow ones 
 terminating the body. The retractile fork in 
 this is yellow-brown, and a drop of liquid, 
 smelling strongly of orange and cashew, is 
 ejected from each point when it is thrust forth. 
 These caterpillars form a light green chrysalis 
 with a very long pointed head, suspended in the 
 same way as the last. ' 
 
 The light green and brown caterpillar of the 
 lovely Papilio Colonna, a black swallow-tailed 
 butterfly with emerald-green stripes and spots 
 and two crimson spots on the hind-wing, is even 
 more like a fish than this last, as the tail is more 
 strongly marked and the yellow-brown spines on 
 the hump are branched, and consequently thicker 
 and more like fins. The chrysalis is very curious, 
 and only suspended by the tail. The first I saw 
 was attached to the under side of a half-eaten 
 leaf, the colour and the strongly serrated edges 
 resembling the broken leaf so exactly that I was 
 on the point of throwing it away.
 
 218 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Papilio Antheus, also a black and green 
 swallow-tail, but larger and a paler green, Las 
 a caterpillar of the sam6 type as Papilio Morania, 
 with yellow branching spines. P. Leonidas, P. 
 Porthaon, and P. Perinus (the very lovely larva 
 of this last being without spines in last stage), 
 all support their varied pupae by the silken 
 filament, and I was surprised to find the chry- 
 salis of P. Colonna so very unlike the others. 
 
 I have only seen one other of the same shape, 
 and that was formed by the caterpillar of 
 Eurytela Dry ope, a rather small rich brown 
 butterfly with a wide bordering of deep gold 
 colour. I found it feeding on the leaves of the 
 castor-oil plant, which I was examining more 
 closely than usual, having lately read that a 
 French botanist had pronounced the leaves of 
 that plant fatal to all the insect world, even if 
 they only rested on them. It certainly is not 
 so here, as the leaves are eaten up and their 
 beauty thereby sadly spoiled as much as those 
 of other plants, whilst butterflies and other 
 insects sun themselves on them habitually.
 
 CATERPILLARS. 219 
 
 This particular caterpillar was green, with green 
 branched spines all over the body and two long 
 brown horns on the head. 
 
 Papilios lay their eggs singly, often 011 the 
 extreme tip of a leaf-bud, which opens by the 
 time the egg is hatched. When not eating, the 
 caterpillars rest in the middle of the leaf, going 
 to the edge of it when hungry by a series of 
 slow jerky movements, curiously moving their 
 heads backwards and forwards and from side to 
 side in a most fidgety manner. When satisfied 
 they return to the middle of the leaf and remain 
 motionless. The first stage of the larva of P. 
 Antheus is deep bright red, with bands of yellow 
 near the head ; that of P. Porthaon is like a 
 bit of shining steel, both looking very pretty 
 in the centre of the leaf. 
 
 All the caterpillars of the Acrceas that I have 
 seen are thickly studded with spines, that of 
 A. Rabbaice being bright red with black spines, 
 and make elegant suspended pupa coverings, 
 through which the future wings can be most 
 plainly distinguished, more so than in any other
 
 2 2 o DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 species I have seen. I have never been so 
 fortunate as to find the larvae of Charaxes, and- 
 only one pupa belonging to C. Brutus, which 
 was bright green and like a little suspended 
 cone with a lid. 
 
 My Chobi boy could not at all understand at 
 first why I was continually telling him to bring 
 me all the caterpillars (ouhouquas, he called 
 them) he could find, and when I explained to 
 him that in time, after a rest without eating, 
 a fact which he was slow to realise, they turned 
 into the butterflies or moths we daily went to 
 hunt for, his astonishment was exceedingly great, 
 and I was afterwards very much amused to find 
 that he was relating this fact to other Kafirs 
 with an air of the most superior wisdom. 
 
 He came to me quite a raw lad, but very 
 soon learned to catch and even pin up the 
 insects in a very clever manner ; and I often 
 have envied him his most wonderful sight, he 
 being able to discover a moth on a tree stem, 
 exactly the colour of the bark, at a distance of 
 thirty feet ; and I feel sure he has often had
 
 INTELLIGENT CHOBI. 221 
 
 almost a feeling of contempt for mine when 1 
 assured him I could not see it even when much 
 nearer indeed, I often go quite close to a tree 
 trunk that I know is covered with lovely little 
 mottled creatures, but cannot discover them till 
 I gently tap the trunk with my net, when 
 hundreds will fly off, quickly returning to settle 
 again, when they are easily captured. 
 
 He also very soon learned to distinguish the 
 various butterflies by their flight, and to know 
 the rare species, or at least those Missisi cared 
 most for, a long distance off, so time and 
 strength were not wasted in pursuing common 
 species. Sometimes, when I had been a long 
 time patiently or impatiently waiting without 
 seeing anything worth capturing, I would hear 
 a low " Oh, Missisi," and Jack would start away, 
 I following, eager with expectation ; and often 
 the excitement was so great when a rare specimen 
 was safely in my net, that I was absolutely 
 unable to take it out for some little time, my 
 heart beating too fast and my hands trembling, 
 the boy actually laughing at me ! Very often
 
 222 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 this would occur at the close of a long, tiring, 
 and disappointing day, but none but a collector 
 can understand how all fatigue is then totally 
 forgotten, and all things seem to look their 
 brightest once again. 
 
 Butterflies vary very much in their manner 
 of flying, some always keeping near the ground 
 and continually settling, like the red-tips, small 
 blues, and coppers. Others only swoop down 
 occasionally, soaring to a great height immedi- 
 ately afterwards. 
 
 I have often lost some of these after waiting 
 hours for their appearance, just by taking off 
 my attention for a moment and releasing my 
 hold of the net in order to pop a ground-nut 
 in my mouth when assailed by the pangs of 
 hunger, and have on such occasions vowed never 
 to eat again whilst collecting, a vow I fear not 
 always kept. 
 
 Many skippers and " Blues " seem to take a 
 fancy to one particular leaf or twig, returning 
 to it again and again almost as pertinaciously 
 as a dragon-fly. I captured no less than three
 
 VARIED FLIGHT. 223 
 
 new species of Deudorix, D. dariaves, D. din- 
 ochares, and D. dinomenes, by patiently waiting 
 for them in one particular spot. 
 
 Others appear to take a large round, perhaps 
 occupying half-an-hour, and Papilio Colonna is 
 a very good instance of this ; it usually flies very 
 low, round and through the bushes, inquisitively 
 searching about in all the nooks and corners 
 formed by the low scrub, occasionally resting for 
 a little time, its pretty white-tipped tails showing- 
 most conspicuously as it flies. 
 
 The large and handsome P. Merope, pale 
 sulphur yellow with black bordering and mark- 
 ings, flies rather curiously when near the ground, 
 the wings always seeming to be spread out quite 
 flat, and I am somehow always irresistibly re- 
 minded of Hablot K. Browne's drawing of the 
 Misses Kenwigs in "Nicholas Nickleby" when- 
 ever I see them flying, their tails looking so 
 like the young ladies' celebrated plaits and frilled 
 trousers. P. Merope is a perfect Turk in the 
 number and beauty of his wives, who are tailless 
 and varied in colour. The most common is
 
 224 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 bluish-black aud white, but in many the white 
 is replaced by ochreous yellows of all shades, 
 sometimes only on the hind-wings, up to orange- 
 red this last being the rare P. Trophonius. 
 The light markings on the fore-wings also vary 
 much in form. 
 
 In many other species the males and females 
 differ very much, but often the under sides of the 
 wings are exactly similar. In Godartia Wake- 
 fieldii the male is black with green markings, 
 whilst the female is black and white, and not 
 unlike a female Merope. The wings of the 
 Godartias are very much more rounded than 
 those of other butterflies, many being nearly 
 circular, aud this gives them a very singular 
 appearance when flying, the wings seeming to 
 revolve like paddle-wheels. The wings of the 
 female G. Wakefieldii are not so rounded as 
 those of the male, but still her flight is most 
 curious and unmistakeable. She is a most tan- 
 talising butterfly to pursue, flying only short dis- 
 tances and near the ground, but always settling 
 just where it is impossible to put the net.
 
 BUTTERFLIES' ENEMIES. 225 
 
 A great many of the butterflies appear both 
 in late spring and autumn, a few of each species 
 generally making their appearance long before 
 the multitude. Some only come in late autumn, 
 as the Charaxes, Philognomas, and Godartias, 
 one or two only occasionally showing in spring; 
 but when I think of their many enemies, not 
 counting the numerous insectivorous birds, I am 
 inclined to wonder there are any left to come at 
 all, notwithstanding the protection afforded to 
 some. 
 
 A large fly, with a very long black and white 
 striped body and long legs, is one of them, and 
 I often see a butterfly being carried off, the fly 
 always resting on the back of his victim and 
 sucking out its life through the thorax. Then 
 the huge spiders stretch their gold-coloured webs 
 an amazing distance from tree-top to tree-top, 
 and capture many an unsuspecting beauty. 
 
 Many varieties of the bugs too are insect 
 feeders, armed with a very long proboscis with 
 which to suck dry the bodies of caterpillars and 
 butterflies. They can also inflict a burning sting
 
 226 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 with it, lasting many hours, as I can painfully 
 verify. Some of these bugs are gregarious, and 
 I have seen many a tree trunk looking as if 
 covered with patches of lacework, the long legs 
 of the many bugs interlacing and forming a 
 pattern. When noticed or touched they usually 
 go backwards, raising themselves up very high 
 and walking in a prancing manner ; and if dis- 
 turbed when all are busily engaged in feasting 
 off a large caterpillar, one or two of the strongest 
 and most daring will drag it off with them ; they 
 rarely abandon it. 
 
 Many of the wasp family also prey on cater- 
 pillars as well as other insects, and I once 
 watched quite a small black fellow dragging a fat 
 green caterpillar along the path between his legs, 
 as it was very much too big for him to fly off 
 with. He was only just able by a great effort to 
 jerk it up over such small obstacles as little bits 
 of stick or grass he happened to meet. I should 
 imagine a fat caterpillar must be looked upon as 
 a great treat a sort of juicy steak, in fact, with 
 no unpleasant legs or wings or stings to get in
 
 MOSQUITOES. 227 
 
 the way and mar the enjoyment. I do not 
 know if butterflies are ever attacked in the pupa 
 state, though I have seen one chrysalis, generally 
 in very exposed places, covered with tufts of 
 hair at each segment as if for protection. 
 
 Most of the forms of insect life are here, many 
 of them causing much annoyance to the collector. 
 Mosquitoes are plentiful and varied, infesting 
 some houses more than others. The small 
 black and white species are very troublesome in 
 the woods, settling down to their feast on my 
 face and hands, whilst the latter are busy with 
 the net, like tiny vampires. I notice that they 
 much prefer my horse to me, and he is some- 
 times covered with them without showing any 
 uneasiness. 
 
 Some of the ants inflict a most painful and 
 burning sting, one of the most painful being 
 given by a small ant with a whitish body, which 
 is always most curiously tilted up on end whilst 
 running. These make their nests in the branches 
 of trees, about the size of a cocoa-nut. They are 
 composed of dead leaves so curiously interwoven
 
 228 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 and welded together that the mass looks like 
 earth. Should a nest unfortunately get struck 
 with the net whilst making a hasty dash at a 
 butterfly, it is well to fly ignominiously to a 
 safe distance for fear of consequences ; and the 
 same may be said regarding the hanging wasps' 
 nests, the inmates attacking furiously when 
 disturbed. 
 
 Beetles are not very numerous here as com- 
 pared with other parts, and I have not been 
 able to observe many of their habits, with the 
 exception of the Scarabceus, who rolls up dung 
 into balls and drags them away to a previously 
 selected resting-place as a safe nest for her eggs, 
 and some very large black Carabidce, who raise 
 themselves high up on their long legs and then 
 vigorously tap the ground with their long 
 pointed bodies, making quite a distinct noise. 
 As these are carnivorous beetles, I suppose the 
 tapping is to make insects appear, though I have 
 never seen any result from it. After tapping 
 and waiting some time in one place, the beetle 
 marches on and taps and waits again.
 
 CENTIPEDES. 229 
 
 A large black species of julus, or millipede, 
 is very common here, often to be found coiled 
 up round the branches of trees or on the surface 
 of the trunk itself, seemingly holding on by 
 nothing, as no legs are visible. They look very 
 curious whilst walking, as only half their legs in 
 alternate batches appear to be in motion at the 
 same time. They are very destructive to young 
 roots, and I believe are also insect-feeders, but 
 have not the formidable jaws of the centipedes, 
 whose bite is poisonous. All the centipedes I 
 have seen here are a beautiful shining bluish- 
 grey. One I found, measuring five inches, had 
 caught a lizard much larger than himself, which 
 he was devouring in a most horribly ferocious 
 manner. He finished his repast with spirits of 
 wine. 
 
 I have only seen one worm, a small thin light 
 blue species, during my long stay on this coast, 
 but perhaps that is owing to the presence of so 
 many moles, whose favourite food they are. 
 
 Ticks of all sizes swarm in the grass, and are 
 excessively unpleasant should they fasten ou the
 
 2 3 o DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 skin. One very minute red species is especially 
 irritating, and very difficult to dislodge when 
 once the skin has begun to swell up around its 
 body, the inflammation from the bite lasting 
 several days. The irritation is intensified when 
 one is also covered with that plague of a hot 
 climate prickly heat. 
 
 I am sometimes so covered with them, after a 
 day's collecting amongst high grass, that I am ob- 
 liged to oil my skin and scrape it vigorously with 
 a knife before I can get rid of the little pests. 
 
 All the species are a great torment to animals, 
 and quickly scent their prey. I have seen 
 dozens of the larger and beautifully variegated 
 ones hurrying up to my horse when he rested a 
 little while, running over the hoof, and fastening 
 on the soft fetlock in a few seconds, he stamping 
 furiously when he felt the bites. One of my 
 daily tasks is to go over him carefully with 
 nippers and a brush dipped in paraffin oil, and I 
 notice that wherever a large tick has fastened on 
 a small species is almost always beside it, suck- 
 ing from the same inflamed part.
 
 TICKS. 231 
 
 The natives do not seem to be troubled by 
 them ; but perhaps this is because they are fond 
 of oiling their skins, and also do not leave the 
 regular well-trodden path more than they can 
 help.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FROM all I have seen 
 and heard Kafirs can- 
 not be very susceptible 
 to pain, for I have seen 
 them going about with 
 most horrible cuts and 
 open sores in their feet, 
 and when too much 
 sand got in them, calmly 
 scraping it out with a 
 piece of stick. They 
 will also dig out thorns 
 with a pointed stick in the most callous man- 
 ner. Most certainly they are not so sensitive 
 as the more civilised white races, but I am 
 not sure if that ought to be considered as a 
 disadvantage. 
 
 Once I saw one of my Kafirs cleaning his
 
 MANIFOLD USES OF SAND. 233 
 
 tongue with sand ! He had been very drunk 
 the night before, and I suppose it was furry in 
 consequence. He had stretched it out to its full 
 extent, and was scooping up sand with his fore- 
 finger and rubbing it well in as far as he could 
 reach, enough to make a white man dreadfully 
 sick ; but then they are so used to clean every- 
 thing with sand there is so much of it every- 
 where, and it is so handy. They even cruelly try 
 to throw handfuls of sand in a dog's eyes if it 
 barks at them, and regularly clean their teeth 
 with it after every meal. All pots and pans are 
 of course cleaned with it, and I found my Chobi 
 boy Jack cleaning knives and forks, both silver 
 and steel, by working them up and down in the 
 sandy ground, and when told it was not the 
 right fashion, he mended matters by using the 
 bathbrick alike for all ! 
 
 This boy, though generally so intelligent, once 
 amused me by an astonishing piece of stupidity. 
 He had been smoking out a swarm of bees, 
 which had clustered in a compact mass a foot 
 deep in a most undesirable spot, and during the
 
 234 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 process some of them settled 011 his face and 
 neck. To get rid of them he hastily pulled his 
 shirt over his head, of course turning it inside 
 out. After some time had passed he came to 
 me with a very puzzled and anxious face, 
 and said that, try as he would, he could not 
 get the shirt right side out again ; but when 
 I laughingly showed him what a simple pro- 
 cess it was, he seemed rather ashamed of his 
 stupidity. 
 
 He stayed with me more than a year, a rather 
 rare occurrence, but at last went the way of all 
 blacks, and left me suddenly and ungratefully, 
 after gradually becoming very lazy and inatten- 
 tive. He was, however, so good a collector, and 
 I knew so much valuable time would be wasted 
 and many innocent lives sacrificed whilst I was 
 training another boy, that, after a month's 
 discomfort with an idle woman-servant, I put 
 aside my dignity and asked him to " come back, 
 giving him also a slight increase of wages. 
 He seemed only too delighted to return, and 
 remained with me another year, this time be-
 
 BURGLARY. 235 
 
 having well, and actually giving me his wages to 
 take care of, a most unusual thing for a Kafir to 
 do, as they generally hide or bury money in the 
 sand. 
 
 When he left he took with him a complete 
 set of collecting apparatus, promising to collect 
 in his country south of Inhambane. I much 
 feared I was doing a foolish thing in trusting 
 him ; but about seven months after, whilst I was 
 enjoying one of my solitary evening rides of 
 exploration a long way from home, I came upon 
 a party of Kafirs marching in from the interior, 
 and one of them began to shout, " Missisi ! 
 Missisi ! " When I looked closer 1 saw it was 
 Jack, and on his head were my butterfly boxes. 
 
 He certainly had not worked hard, but he had 
 kept his promise and brought some good insects, 
 so I felt very pleased, though I did not take him 
 into my service again, for whilst he was with me 
 my cottage was forcibly entered one evening 
 during my absence, and many things stolen, 
 every box and cupboard being broken open and 
 the contents strewn over the floor. My revolver
 
 236 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 was gone, and even the blankets from my bed 
 (and it was winter too), and nothing was ever 
 traced. I always suspected Jack, but could not 
 bring it home to him. 
 
 After he left me I had various opportunities 
 of observing that trial, the Kafir servant. Many 
 came who were pretty good boys in general, but 
 so hopelessly stupid in collecting insects that I 
 had to send them away. Others ran away after 
 a month, I believe not liking so much walking 
 exercise in the sun. 
 
 Then I got a good boy who was quick to learn, 
 and who stayed nearly a year, and then wanted 
 to visit his home in Maputa. This boy was very 
 fond of making rude sketches on the kitchen 
 walls, generally of steamers, which he always 
 represented with four little wheels and the 
 anchor down. I made him very happy by teach- 
 ing him the alphabet, and he would tremble with 
 excitement and pride when saying his lesson. 
 
 One boy made me very angry. He was a 
 more civilised Kafir, from Inhambane, speaking 
 good Portuguese. He worked well for a month,
 
 "NO SERVANT." 237 
 
 took his wages, and never returned, which did 
 not much surprise me, but I was surprised that 
 no other Kafir appeared asking for work. 
 
 It was a busy insect season, my horse too 
 was an invalid, requiring daily lotions and oint- 
 ments, and day after day passed without a sign 
 of a Kafir seeking employment, I sent in all 
 directions, but could get no help at all. I had 
 to light the fire with green sticks, for I was not 
 strong enough to wield the axe and chop the 
 block of firewood, the tears streaming down my 
 face from the green wood smoke, cook the food 
 for myself and pets (five days we lived on boiled 
 beans alone, which became slightly monotonous), 
 make the hay, clean the stable and horse, the 
 latter a most pleasant occupation, though rather 
 fatiguing. All this I had to do in addition to 
 my manifold insect duties and outdoor occupa- 
 tions ; but it is astonishing how life in Africa 
 without a full purse makes one find out what 
 one can do, and, still more, what one can do 
 without ; and whatever my hardships I have 
 
 
 
 always four real pleasures daily the early
 
 238 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 coffee, the bath, changing my boots when the 
 day's work is over, as they are generally full 
 of sand, and the first stretch in bed, though 
 sometimes I am so fatigued that this can 
 hardly be called a pleasure. 
 
 I had an alarm of fire one day during my 
 Kafirless condition. I was busy soldering up a 
 hole in a water-can when I heard the well-known 
 crackling sound of a grass fire very much nearer 
 than I liked, and looking up found that the 
 field at the back of my cottage was in flames, 
 the wind setting in my direction. Bush after 
 bush caught fire with an extra loud crackle, and 
 I could see no one. At last a Kafir came in 
 sight, and answered to my shout, and worked 
 hard for an hour beating out the flames with wet 
 mealie sacks supplied by me as fast as possible, 
 finishing the task just as my pretty green fence 
 was getting scorched. I asked this man if he 
 wanted regular employment, but he shook his 
 head. 
 
 At last in despair I went to the kraal of my 
 washerwoman, " Didini," and promised her a
 
 ALARM OF FIRE. 239 
 
 present if she would procure me a servant ; so 
 next day she brought me her nephew " Bango," 
 a young scamp and dreadful liar, but better 
 than nothing. She then told me that I had 
 not been able to get a boy because the last 
 had spread the report that "Missisi" did not 
 pay her boys ; and I afterwards found that 
 he owed money to the Kafir in whose kraal 
 he lodged, and not wishing to pay his debt, 
 had said he could not because I had not 
 paid him. 
 
 " Bango " didn't stop long, and I was getting 
 very tired of being so unsettled. The horse, 
 too, objected to the constant change of groom, 
 reproachfully looking round and stamping when 
 the curry-comb was used the wrong way by the 
 unskilful hand, which did sometimes happen in 
 spite of my careful teaching. 
 
 Kafirs, by the way, like nothing better than 
 to stand idly by whilst the white man works, 
 under pretence of taking a lesson. 
 
 I next engaged a Chobi boy, "Jonaas," but 
 he was a very bad specimen of his tribe, being
 
 240 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 most idle and lazy, very fat, and fearfully 
 stupid. 
 
 During his stay a terrible storm visited us 
 one night, and after a while I heard my tiles 
 travelling and the water pouring in, and had 
 to get up to see to the safety of my collections. 
 Presently there was a crash outside, and I knew 
 something had happened to the kitchen ; then 
 I heard Jonaas lumbering on to the verandah, 
 groaning and shivering, and spreading his mat 
 outside my door. 
 
 In the morning I found half the kitchen 
 blown down and part of the stable roof gone, 
 and the boy very cold and wet, saying he was 
 " plenty sick " and could do no work ; but 
 knowing how very much work would have to 
 be done during that day, I laughed at him, as 
 it is never advisable to encourage a Kafir in 
 the idea that he is sick, and administered some 
 wine with plenty of ginger in it. In a little 
 while he said he was better, and after indulging 
 in a long pull at the stimulating pipe of m'bangi 
 (wild hemp), and sneezing, coughing, and ex-
 
 MENDING ROOF. 241 
 
 pectorating till I felt quite sick, set to work 
 to repair damages, I of course taking my share 
 of the work. No other labour was to be had, 
 as every house had more or less suffered from 
 the effects of the storm, and consequently had 
 to be repaired. 
 
 I think I never fully realised how stupid and 
 thick-headed Jouaas was until that day. We 
 managed to mend the kitchen and stable pretty 
 well, but when it came to mending the roof I 
 thought I should have gone mad. The tiles 
 were made to hook one into the other in the 
 most simple way, and I showed him with some 
 spare ones how they were put together, but it 
 was no use ; for hours he sat on the roof, the 
 wind blowing furiously, and the daylight fast 
 going, trying first one way and then another, 
 but never getting them right. Had I been able 
 to go on the roof myself, a few minutes would 
 have put all in order, but I felt I could not 
 face the wind. Luckily the storm did not return 
 that night, as I feared, and next morning a 
 friend's Kafir soon put them straight.
 
 242 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 Jonaas stayed about three months, and then 
 went to his country, saying that if he stopped 
 with me he must have " more money, less work, 
 and beef every day." 
 
 After this I had an oldish man with a beard, 
 and also engaged an extra boy to cut the horse's 
 grass and carry water during the butterfly 
 months. The old fellow was the proud possessor 
 of a red handkerchief, and I was often amused 
 at the variety of uses to which he put it. 
 Generally it was wound round his head as a 
 turban, but was often taken off to wipe his 
 face or nose ; then he would replace it on his 
 head or tie it round his neck. Sometimes it 
 was suddenly whipped off to be used as a duster, 
 to which I objected, or to rub down the horse, 
 and sometimes it was tied round a sore leg ; 
 occasionally he washed it, and I had a fearful 
 suspicion that it was even sometimes used as 
 a dishcloth ! 
 
 He stayed with me many months, and although 
 he was constantly getting drunk after he left 
 work, arriving half stupid in the morning, and
 
 ANOTHER BURGLARY. 243 
 
 taking snuff at intervals all day long to keep 
 himself awake, I put up with this because he 
 became a pretty good insect collector. 
 
 He too was a liar. I had taught him how 
 to get the butterflies into the bottle, forbidding 
 him to touch them with his fingers, but I con- 
 stantly noticed that they were dreadfully rubbed, 
 and taxed him with touching them. This he 
 earnestly denied, but still I had my doubts, and 
 one day saw him take a butterfly out of the 
 net with his clumsy old fingers and put it in 
 the bottle. I came upon him whilst he was 
 holding it, and yet he even then denied having 
 touched it ! I was very angry ; but what can 
 be done with such inconsequent creatures as 
 these ? 
 
 My cottage was again broken into whilst he 
 was with me, the thieves neatly cutting out 
 two panes of glass from a front window in broad 
 daylight. I believe the old boy, if not the 
 actual thief, kept guard whilst accomplices 
 entered, many circumstances taken together 
 making me think this. He was sent into town
 
 244 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 and cautioned, and told he was suspected, and 
 that if he was not a very good boy in future 
 he would be imprisoned ; this frightened him 
 very much, and he actually was sober and more 
 obedient for many months. 
 
 Then he broke out again, and one day defied 
 me so that I had to send down for a sol- 
 dier to take him to prison ; but at the sight of 
 the soldier his conscience was so uneasy that 
 he took to the bush, the soldier, encumbered 
 with boots and uniform, not being able to 
 follow, and eventually made his way to the 
 goldfields. 
 
 After this I had my Maputa boy back, and 
 was not sorry to again have a Kafir sleeping 
 near the cottage, for although I felt my dog 
 and revolver to be sufficient protection, still I 
 thought it as well to have some one within 
 call in case of need. 
 
 I was often advised to buy a young girl of 
 thirteen or fourteen, "marrying" they call it 
 here as she would be obliged then to remain 
 with me, my obligations being to clothe, feed,
 
 BAD GROOMS. 245 
 
 and take care of her generally ; but I . had no 
 wish to be hampered with a probably idle young 
 monkey who would be much more trouble than 
 she was worth, so did not follow the advice. 
 I believe a regular trade in these girls is carried 
 on by some of the Banians, the price for one 
 being about ^"15, but it was a custom I did 
 not care to inquire into very closely. 
 
 None of my boys ever learned to saddle 
 and bridle a horse properly ; they invariably 
 fastened the girths so that a little fold of skin 
 was left between the two bands, and the bridle 
 was sometimes put on with the bit over his ears 
 and the forehead band in his mouth ; occasion- 
 ally the bit would be placed under his tongue, 
 or both bit and chain stuffed into his mouth ; so 
 this has become another of my duties, but my 
 fondness for horses makes it a pleasant one. 
 He (Fritz) is a great pet and comfort to me, 
 and when I feel more lonely than usual I put 
 my arms round his soft neck and tell him all my 
 troubles ; and he nestles his big head against 
 me, and sometimes goes to sleep with it on my
 
 246 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 shoulder ; if I have scent on my hands he rubs 
 his lips over them, with evident enjoyment of 
 the perfume. 
 
 When he first came into the town he was a 
 mere skeleton, and full of sores, having been 
 cruelly ridden from the Transvaal in too short a 
 time and on scanty or no food, too often the case 
 here ; but I helped to cure him, and in time he 
 became fat and sleek, and at last was given to 
 me, and became my very own to feed and care 
 for, which is very different and much more 
 delightful than having your horse brought to 
 the door ready for riding, and dismissed to the 
 stable afterwards, because if one wants to be on 
 friendly terms with animals, one must see to 
 them personally. 
 
 I had no time to build a proper stable for 
 him, but managed to get him into a little room 
 that had been used as a sleeping-room for the 
 boy, and he soon seemed very comfortable in it, 
 looking like a Jack-in-the-box when he popped 
 his head out in the morning to be kissed and 
 caressed. My friends used laughingly to tease
 
 "FRITZ." 247 
 
 me about keeping a horse in a matchbox, but 
 Fritz and I did not mind. 
 
 Making the manger was certainly rather a 
 difficulty, and again and again made me wish 
 my hands were stronger to handle the tools, 
 but it answered every purpose when finished. 
 
 I find carpentering, though perhaps not a 
 ladylike accomplishment, a great resource when 
 homesick or miserable, and I always fly to it 
 at once, if possible, when I feel a strong fit of 
 "the blues" coming on. 
 
 Fritz is a "talking" borse, and neighs to me 
 whenever he sees me even if fifty times a day 
 and catches sight of me at very long distances ; 
 he also neighs loudly when he sees a plate or 
 dish, as he always likes to finish up any mealie 
 porridge or rice left by the dog, even if mixed 
 with sulphur and treacle. I must confess, how- 
 ever, that he has a temper, making my boys 
 afraid of him ; and lately has been trying to 
 show me that he would rather not take me out, 
 by plunging and rearing and bucking slightly as 
 soon as I mount, and several times lying down
 
 248 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 and depositing me ignominiously in the sand. 
 This last trick, however, he copied from another 
 horse, showing that bad example is catching even 
 among animals ; so, though a great hindrance, it 
 only amused me, and he always has to take me 
 after all. 
 
 He was very jealous of a little four-months- 
 old foal that used sometimes to pay me a visit, 
 running right into my arms when I called it. 
 Fritz would kick and bite it savagely if he saw 
 me patting it, but at other times would let it 
 graze by his side in quite a friendly way. He 
 always tries to kick the dog too, I believe only 
 from jealousy. He very much dislikes having 
 his hoofs cut, only lately condescending to let 
 me cut the front ones whilst he is being fed with 
 mealies ; and as soon as they are eaten up he 
 snatches his hoof away and begins to stamp. 
 No coaxing will induce him to lift his hind hoofs, 
 so he is obliged to be thrown and sat upon when 
 they are cut. 
 
 It is delightful to see him take a sea bath. I 
 give him a long rope, and he walks out as far
 
 PURSUED BY MULE. 249 
 
 as he can go, and paws up the water till he is 
 completely wetted ; theu he rolls and turns over 
 in the sea, thoroughly enjoying himself, a roll on 
 the sand and a shake completing the performance. 
 Fortunately he is what is termed a "salted" 
 horse that is to say, one that has recovered from 
 horse-sickness, so when he is a little out of sorts 
 I never fear that dreadful disease which carries 
 off so many horses here after a day or two's 
 illness, and for which no cure is at present 
 known. 
 
 He is, of course, a great assistance to me in 
 my work, as I am now able to go greater 
 distances and find out new haunts. On one 
 of my journeys a savage mule ran after me, 
 and, after viciously kicking my poor dog, came 
 rushing after Fritz ; and, though the mule was 
 slightly hobbled, it soon began to gain on him. 
 The chase continued for some time, but at last, 
 just as the mule was quite close, a Kafir came in 
 sight and turned it away, much to my relief. 
 
 Another time a donkey broke its tether and 
 rushed to my horse, and began to run round
 
 250 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 him and try to bite him, he lashing out savagely 
 all the time. At last the donkey tried to get 
 into my lap, and was lying right over the pom- 
 mel when some Kafirs appeared and dragged 
 him forcibly away. 
 
 The musical instruments of these parts are 
 very primitive, and only of three kinds. One 
 consists of a stick nearly four feet long and 
 three-quarters of an inch in diameter, slightly 
 bent in the form of a bow by a piece of thin 
 brass wire tightly stretched across and secured 
 at both ends ; a small gourd, having the hollow 
 part outside, is fastened to the middle of the 
 bow by a short piece of wire looped over both 
 stick and wire a small pad, made of palm leaf, 
 being placed between the stick and gourd to 
 prevent them touching. When played, the bow 
 is held in the middle by the left hand, some of 
 the fingers being on each side of the connecting 
 wire securing the gourd, which is pressed against 
 the chest of the player. The long wire is then 
 tapped alternately on each side of the loop with 
 a little cane, producing a minor third ; but if the
 
 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 251 
 
 backs of the fingers are slightly raised so as to 
 touch the wire a different note can be made. 
 An instrument somewhat like this is described 
 in my husband's " Angola and the River Congo," 
 vol. i., p. 139. 
 
 Another is still more simple, consisting of a 
 piece of cane about two feet long, and only 
 slightly bowed by a string of twisted horsehair, 
 a few rude holes being cut inside the bow for 
 about half its length. This instrument is played 
 by the lips being pressed against the horsehair 
 and cane over the holes, and then tapping or 
 picking at the horsehair with the finger-tips or 
 nails ; the note thus formed - is high or low 
 according to which hole the lips are over, the 
 lowest sound being at the extreme end of the 
 bow. No particular melody is ever played 
 on either of these instruments, which become 
 very monotonous after being heard daily and 
 hourly, for the Kafir is so fond of his tune 
 that he always likes to keep his instrument 
 handy to take up whenever he has a moment's 
 leisure.
 
 2 S 2 DEL A GO A BAY. 
 
 The gourd instrument is the favourite, and 
 boys sent on errands constantly go along cheer- 
 fully tapping its wire, and often singing some 
 doggerel verse composed about their masters or 
 their work. 
 
 The third instrument is a piece of thick cane 
 three-quarters of an inch in diameter aud three 
 feet long, having a fine string made of the 
 twisted hairs from an ox-tail stretched along 
 its entire length, but not touching the cane. 
 At one end of the string a flat piece of quill 
 an inch long is tied, and the lips being placed 
 on this and the breath sucked in and out seem- 
 ingly by a great effort, a loud and appalling 
 noise is produced, best represented as follows 
 
 
 and more resembling the hee-haw of a donkey 
 than anything else. Of course all these instru- 
 ments vary in size, and sometimes the cane is 
 ornamented. I have only described those in 
 my own possession. These Kafirs also make a
 
 SONGS AND CHANTS. 253 
 
 horrible noise at their feasts, &c., by blowing 
 through a bullock's horn, but this I think cannot 
 be called a musical instrument. 
 
 They certainly are not a musical tribe, for 
 though they are always whistling or singing, 
 most of their chants are monotonous and melan- 
 choly, and usually in a minor key. I often hear 
 the cheerful bugle-calls whistled in minor ! Even 
 the crow of the Kafir cocks is melancholy, the 
 last note being very much prolonged, and run- 
 ning down the scale till it dies away. 
 
 Some rather melodious songs or chants that I 
 remember hearing some years back seem quite 
 to have died out. 
 
 The songs of the Chobi tribe are much more 
 musical. I heard one of their chants sung in 
 unison by about a hundred voices, and it was 
 quite imposing at a little distance ; a mighty 
 stamp was occasionally introduced also in unison 
 with good effect. This song had a rapidly played 
 accompaniment on the " Kafir piano," an instru- 
 ment belonging to more northern tribes, with 
 "keys" which are tapped by pieces of stick
 
 254 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 after the fashion of the harmouicon. Another 
 chant is melodious enough to be introduced into 
 English chant books. 
 
 I am told that the Kafirs here rather look down 
 on the Chobis, though they are so much more 
 intelligent ; but decidedly my Chobi boy Jack, 
 on the other hand, spoke with contempt of many 
 of their ways and manufactures, especially of 
 their musical instruments. He thought their 
 custom of marking the graves with pots and 
 baskets most objectionable why, he could not 
 explain telling me, at the same time, that in 
 his country the earth was always made quite 
 smooth over graves, and dead leaves scattered 
 on them, so that in a little while no one remem- 
 bered where they had been. He also took pains 
 to point out to me that the hanging baskets 
 made by his people were much stronger, and 
 more evenly and finely plaited, than those 
 manufactured at Poulaua or Mahota, which is 
 decidedly the case ; and I am inclined to think 
 that some prettily carved wooden dishes, jugs, 
 and spoons that I possess may be Chobi work, as
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 255 
 
 they were brought in by natives on their way to 
 the Cape. 
 
 All Kafirs seem to have one strange custom 
 in common that of spitting after inhaling a 
 bad smell. Those hereabouts too always try to 
 spit on a dog who barks at them, the super- 
 stition being that if the saliva touches the dog 
 it cannot bite. There is also some superstition 
 about digging a grave for a white man, which 
 they very much dislike doing, some also object- 
 ing to carry the body ; but I trust this objection 
 will not be felt when my horse is buried, as 
 when I leave I am resolved that a merciful 
 bullet shall prevent his ever falling again into 
 cruel hands. No doubt many other supersti- 
 tions are held, but they have not reached my 
 ears. 
 
 The fetish man is employed here, as in other 
 places, to smell out thieves or to foretell the 
 result of a journey, which he does by throwing 
 about a number of little bones ; and he is also 
 called upon to pray for rain after a long drought. 
 
 On these occasions a long procession of the
 
 256 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 natives, headed by the fetish man, marches 
 about and around the roads and villages, 
 singing and shouting, and occasionally firing 
 off guns as they proceed. A sacrifice is then 
 always made of a goat or fowls, which are after- 
 wards eaten at the inevitable feast. 
 
 I have omitted to tell you that a slight shock 
 of earthquake visited this place in July 1882, 
 perceptibly shaking the houses. I am told one 
 was also felt here forty or fifty years ago ; and 
 in December 1881 three rather severe con- 
 secutive shocks were felt in Billeyne country. 
 With this omission I have now, to the best 
 of my ability, performed my promise and given 
 a true, though slight, description of this country 
 and its customs, together with my observations 
 on the birds, insects, and flowers, and a variety 
 of other things which have occurred to me whilst 
 writing, and can only hope my friends have not 
 found their time wasted during its perusal.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I IT is almost univer- 
 
 *>> 
 
 sally admitted that a 
 lady cannot finish a letter 
 without a postscript. This I 
 cousider an utter delusion; but 
 nevertheless, to suit my own 
 convenience, I will humour the be- 
 lief, and make my postscript of this 
 final chapter. 
 
 To begin, then. Among the recent improve- 
 ments a fine large Custom House has been built 
 close to the beach and pier, which latter has 
 been repaired and considerably lengthened.
 
 258 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 A pump has been erected in the centre of the 
 square, but the water is only useful for household 
 purposes, as it is slightly brackish. Drinking 
 water has been brought from a spring behind the 
 marsh into the town, and a pretty white fountain 
 put up, where the Kafirs can draw water under 
 the eye of a guardian to keep order, unless they 
 prefer the free gossip of the old haunt. 
 
 A library too is established, but as yet no 
 daily paper that sure sign of progress has 
 made its appearance. 
 
 Large new barracks and a new prison are in 
 course of construction ; both, doubtless, to be 
 inhabited by the newly arrived force 'of white 
 police. 
 
 Outside the town a Botanical Garden has been 
 subscribed for, and planned just beyond the 
 swamp, but it will be long before the few plants 
 introduced come to perfection. Not far from 
 this is a lawn - tennis ground, with a stand 
 waiting for the band which has long been pro- 
 mised, but never arrives. 
 
 I am glad to say that after an interval of
 
 MAKING A WILL. 259 
 
 some years a British Vice-Consul has again 
 been appointed really a great necessity here, 
 as so many Englishmen now pass through the 
 town to and from the goldfields. The consul is 
 of use to his countrymen in death as well as in 
 life, for if a foreigner dies here without making 
 a will which is a very formal, lengthy business, 
 requiring seven witnesses and there is no consul 
 to take charge of his affairs, all his property 
 is sold by public auction, even including his 
 private letters, and the proceeds go into the 
 Government coffers, the authorities declining 
 to pay his doctor's bill or any little outstanding 
 debts, and even grumbling at having to provide 
 a coffin. 
 
 I ain told it is a troublesome process to prove 
 a debt, costing about ,5, and when proved 
 there is perhaps a delay of two years before 
 payment is made. 
 
 Two lines of steamers now run monthly 
 services, for the Union Company have lately 
 again added Delagoa Bay to their list of ports 
 the Donald Currie line still continuing the
 
 260 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 regular mail contract as far as Mozambique 
 and I bo. 
 
 Small tug steamers often run from Natal, and 
 some very large lighters belonging to a Shipping- 
 Company render the task of discharging cargo 
 much more quick and safe. 
 
 Anthracite coal is said to have been discovered 
 very close to this part, which if true will render 
 it of still more importance. Then the long- 
 wished-for railway is actually a reality, the first 
 sod being turned on the 2nd June 1886, and so 
 rapidly has it been pushed on that in November 
 1887 trains were running to the Lebombo range 
 (the Portuguese frontier), a distance of 52 miles. 
 
 One immediate effect of the railway has been 
 the establishing of one or two good hotels and 
 many additional canteens, where the owners 
 realise small fortunes, and the customers help 
 to fill with alarming rapidity the fine new 
 cemetery lately opened some little distance from 
 the town. The customers aforesaid are many of 
 them loafers from Barberton, where I am told 
 men who have no ostensible means of subsist-
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 261 
 
 ence are not allowed to remain, and who when 
 they have found their way to Lourenc/) Marques 
 have nothing to do but idle away their time in 
 canteens till the arrival of a ship enables them 
 to leave the town. 
 
 I am sorry to say that the advent of the rail- 
 way, so advantageous to others, has seriously 
 interfered with my work, as the line was com- 
 menced in the lovely Copani swamp I have 
 before mentioned, where I obtained all my rarest 
 autumn specimens, and my feelings may be 
 imagined when, instead of a lovely tropical spot 
 full of giant wild fig-trees with exquisite creepers 
 huge convolvulus and others festooning them 
 together, whilst large ferns and a yellow swamp 
 plant very like Coreopsis Drummondii covered 
 the ground, I saw nothing but a sea of black 
 stinking mud, with three hundred Kafirs work- 
 ing in it, digging trenches and throwing up 
 banks, while tents for the white engineers en- 
 cumbered the high ground, where also all the 
 trees had been chopped down, and bush and 
 grass alike destroyed by fire.
 
 262 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 I could have cried aloud with disgust and 
 disappointment, but resigned myself to the in- 
 evitable, and galloped home fully realising the 
 truth of the old saying that " one man's meat is 
 another man's poison." 
 
 I am always regretting that I have never 
 been able to travel in the interior of this coast 
 as I should have wished, and to describe the 
 various rivers and places instead of only men- 
 tioning their names, so in conclusion I add a 
 short description of a trip up the coast as far as 
 Mozambique in 1877, written by my husband 
 for the Natal Colonist of May 25th, 1877, aQ d 
 the more interesting because after more than a 
 decade of years so very little is altered. The 
 foot-notes are mine. 
 
 " The importance of the Portuguese posses- 
 sions on the East Coast in relation to the 
 different questions of the industrial development 
 of Africa, the abolition of the slave trade, and 
 the civilisation of the varied tribes now engag- 
 ing the attention of Europe, may render inte- 
 resting to some of your readers the following
 
 QUILLIMANE. 263 
 
 brief notes of a recent voyage from Lourenjo 
 Marques to Mozambique and back. 
 
 "We left Delagoa Bay on the 26th of March 
 in the Union Company's SS. Natal, and with a 
 fair wind arrived next day off Inhambane, and 
 delivered mails and some cargo into the pilot's 
 boat, which was waiting outside for the steamer. 
 On the morning of the 2 9th we anchored off 
 Quillimane to await high water at 3 P.M., when 
 we crossed the bar and anchored off the town at 
 4.30 P.M. 
 
 " To a landsman's eye there does not appear 
 to be much difficulty in crossing the bar and 
 entering the river, the greatest seeming to be to 
 find the buoys, which are not easily seen at any 
 little distance. The Zambesi here, from its 
 mouth to the town of Quillimane, some sixteen 
 or eighteen miles from the bar, is not broad, but 
 is very muddy, and runs with a strong current. 
 The banks are marshy, and mostly covered with 
 a small tree or shrub having the appearance of 
 mangrove. 
 " The town itself covers a large extent of level
 
 264 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 country, the houses being mostly at considerable 
 distances apart and on each side of a long road 
 planted with acacias and other shady tree?. 
 
 "The scenery and vegetation are perfectly 
 tropical and enchanting. For miles the ground 
 is covered with a dense growth of cocoa-nut 
 palms, orange, lemon, mango, and other fruit- 
 trees ; and the many species and number of the 
 trees, creepers, and other wild plants growing in 
 profuse confusion attest the wonderful fertility 
 of the black alluvial soil and the damp moist 
 heat of the climate. This luxuriance of vege- 
 tation is said to extend to a great distance 
 inland. 
 
 " The native plantations of rice, Indian corn, 
 Kafir corns, sugar-cane, cotton, okro, &c., are 
 simply magnificent, not in extent, but in the 
 size and luxuriant growth of the plants. 
 
 "The natives build good huts, and seem a 
 good-natured, civil lot, but they are as ugly a 
 race as any to be met with either on this or the 
 West Coast. Here labour is said to be cheap 
 and abundant, and I know of no place better
 
 QUILLIMANE. 265 
 
 adapted for the cultivation on any large scale of 
 such tropical plants as sugar-cane, cotton, &c. 
 
 " The houses are of the large and solid type 
 common to the older Portuguese settlements, 
 and the few Europeans and mixed inhabitants 
 seem to lead easy and happy lives. 
 
 " The SS. Natal being only the second be- 
 longing to the Union Company that had ascended 
 the river to the town, the event had still the 
 charm of novelty to the inhabitants, a crowd of 
 natives being massed on the banks and pier 
 during the time the steamer lay in the river. 
 On our arrival we were immediately boarded by 
 the Custom House and other authorities, and by 
 Senhor Nunes, the Company's agent, who is well 
 known for his kindness and the assistance he 
 has rendered to our explorers and expeditions on 
 the Zambesi. 
 
 " Captain Travers invited the principal in- 
 habitants, including ladies,* to a lunch on board 
 
 * Among the ladies, who were of all shades of colour, two were 
 quite black, wearing bright blue dresses of European fashion, white 
 tulle bonnets with pink rosebuds, and white kid gloves !
 
 266 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 next day, and all expressed their satisfaction at 
 Quillimane having emerged from its undeserved 
 neglect, and being at last linked to the line of 
 steamer communication with the rest of the 
 world. 
 
 "This result, I am happy to say, has been 
 obtained by the enterprise of our countrymen, 
 and is especially due to Captain Travers, of the 
 SS. Natal, and Captain Garrett, of the SS. Kafir, 
 through whose enlightened representations the 
 Union Company's steamers now touch at Inham- 
 bane and Quillimane, Ibo, &c., to the great gain 
 before long, I trust, both to the new ports and 
 the Union Company. 
 
 " A Malay priest was overturned from a canoe 
 in the river at Quillimane, and was immediately 
 bitten in two by a shark."" 
 
 " We left Quillimane at two o'clock on the 3Oth 
 March, anchoring at Mozambique on the ist April. 
 
 * We had a great many Malays on board, pilgrims on their way 
 to Mecca. Some were making their third pilgrimage, a much- 
 desired event, as I am told the pilgrim is then "elect," and no 
 matter what crimes he commits afterwards is still perfectly safe, 
 and a person, I should say, to be carefully avoided.
 
 MOZAMBIQUE. 267 
 
 "Mozambique is a wonderful contrast to 
 Quillimane, where nature in her brightest mood 
 has covered the fertile ground with charming 
 groves of trees and flowers lanes of verdure and 
 towering elegant palms. At Mozambique clumsy 
 man, in his most depressing style, has reared 
 ugly solid stone buildings and churches in narrow 
 streets, on the dry and barren coral rock. 
 
 "Mozambique was very sultry and hot both 
 day and night, and everything and everybody 
 appeared to be asleep. Its photograph w T ould 
 pass very well for that of a ruined and deserted 
 city ; the heavy weight of ages appears to rest 
 on its monumental buildings and its untrodden 
 streets and squares, and to press all life and 
 enjoyment out of the dispirited inhabitants.* 
 The military band played twice whilst we were 
 there in a pretty square in front of the Governor- 
 General's palace, and we went to listen to it, and 
 
 * Many of the bouses were painted yellow, pink, or grey, and 
 the ground was all white sand, most painful to the eyes. It 
 would indeed be a dreary and confined spot for a lengthened 
 residence, especially to a lover of nature. We walked all over the 
 island in less than two hours !
 
 268 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 were curious to see how many of the inhabitants 
 could muster sufficient energy to attend. The 
 best performers, we were informed, had been 
 lately, or were still, in hospital ; the rest, 
 perhaps not half, played on instruments mostly 
 out of tune, and occasionally amused themselves 
 by playing some in minor, others in major keys, 
 so that the general effect was not calculated to 
 cheer the very small sprinkling of listeners.* 
 
 " We were most kindly welcomed by Mr. 
 Geoffrey Holme, the Acting Vice-Consul during 
 the absence of our Consul, Captain F. Elton,t 
 
 * It was so bad, as we heard it, that we enjoyed a hearty laugh 
 very often at the excruciating sounds. Not only were the instru- 
 ments bad and out of tune, but the players had odd notions 
 about the proper time and places for taking breath, sometimes all 
 taking it at the same moment, which occasioned some very funny 
 stoppages in the midst of running passages. Some of the 
 principal performers must have been amongst the sick, for 
 in one or two operatic selections the melodies and first parts 
 in ducts were painfully absent, this being especially apparent 
 in the well-known duet, "Deh con te," from Nonna, only 
 the second part being heard. At the close of each performance 
 some national hymn was played, and as soon as the first notes 
 sounded, all the dogs in the place, who had hitherto been quite 
 quiet and peaceable, gathered round the band and howled in 
 concert to the finish. 
 
 t Since dead.
 
 MOZAMBIQUE. 269 
 
 who had gone on a visit to Zanzibar and 
 Madagascar, a well-earned holiday, for to dis- 
 charge the duties of his office as he does so 
 actively and energetically must be a task that 
 not only few would accomplish, but that few 
 can even appreciate who have not been to 
 Mozambique. 
 
 " We had not an opportunity of visiting the 
 mainland, which is said to be fertile, and where 
 the seat of government should be removed if 
 the trade and industry of the place is to be 
 developed. In the harbour were a number of 
 merchantmen, a Portuguese corvette, two gun- 
 boats, and two small paddle-wheel river gun- 
 boats ; but with all this strength and staff the 
 rest of their extensive sea is totally unprotected, 
 not a port or bar is surveyed, and the pro- 
 posed lightship for Inyak Island is rotting in 
 Delagoa Bay, waiting now for over a year 
 for a man-of-war to fix her in the proper 
 position.* 
 
 * The lightship was eventually placed in its position, but has 
 long since broken up and never been replaced.
 
 270 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 "On the arrival of the SS. Natal from Zanzibar 
 we were glad to leave Mozambique on the 1 1 th 
 April, arriving off Quillirnane, against the strong 
 monsoon, on the i3th. The pilot having been 
 afraid to come out, we waited till day, when 
 Captain Travers took his ship in without him, 
 and again ascending the river, anchored off the 
 town on the evening of the i4th. 
 
 " We had another delightful run on shore, and 
 left next day, reaching and crossing the bar of 
 Inhambane on the morning of the i/th. The 
 town of Inhambaue is situated on the southern 
 bank of a wide arm of the sea but a few miles 
 from the bar, and there seemed abundance of 
 water at high tide and no danger from the 
 breakers, &c. 
 
 " The view of the town is very picturesque 
 indeed, as it is built on high ground which is 
 wooded. The country around is very pretty, 
 but the ground generally is of rather loose sand, 
 and not to be compared in fertility with that 
 of Quillimane. 
 
 "The native population must be very large,
 
 INHAMBANE. 271 
 
 and the huts are higher and better built than 
 any to be seen elsewhere. The country yields 
 abundance of cocoa-nuts, mandioc, sweet potatoes, 
 Indian corn, and other native produce, the plan- 
 tations extending for miles around, and amongst 
 the many fruit-trees and palms the native huts 
 are prettily dotted. 
 
 " After three hours' stay we again steamed 
 away, and landed at Lourenyo Marques at mid- 
 night of the 1 8th April. 
 
 " It would take too long to enter into the 
 consideration of the principal points that suggest 
 themselves even on a hurried visit like the one 
 I have described, but it may be stated con- 
 clusively that the whole Portuguese possession 
 of Mozambique is unrivalled as a new field for 
 commerce and industry, but at the same time 
 its value is reduced to practically almost nothing 
 from the total want of protection to property 
 and capital by the Portuguese Government, the 
 nominal holders of the country. 
 
 " Nothing can exceed the kindness and civility 
 of the Portuguese everywhere on the East Coast,
 
 272 DELAGOA BAY. 
 
 both officials and civilians, and during their 
 long stay in the country they have implanted 
 these good qualities in the natives to a remark- 
 able degree. They are everywhere on the most 
 friendly terms with the natives, partly from 
 good-nature on both sides, and partly from want 
 of strength on the part of the Portuguese to 
 force the natives to anything either good or 
 bad. It is this want of strength that completely 
 paralyses the development of the country. No 
 one will venture to send goods into the interior, 
 to establish cotton or sugar-cane plantations, 
 or enter into any other industry, from the cer- 
 tainty that the Government is absolutely power- 
 less to protect them in the slightest degree in 
 case of any disturbance or attack, or indemnify 
 them for any loss. Even in the towns there 
 are only a few wretched black soldiers, upon 
 whom no dependence whatever can be placed, 
 even for simple patrol or police duties. At 
 the same time nothing could be easier than to 
 supply the necessary protection and confidence, 
 as a comparatively small force would keep the
 
 NEED OF PROTECTION. 273 
 
 negro tribes everywhere in complete subjection. 
 This is not the case at Delagoa Bay, where a 
 stronger force is imperatively required, sur- 
 rounded as it is by warlike Kafir tribes, and 
 where at present we have not even a police 
 force, and the few black soldiers now here are 
 confidently believed to be the principal actors 
 in a few petty burglaries and robberies that 
 have lately taken place. 
 
 " As to the effect of the slave trade, or the 
 complicity of the Portuguese in it being the 
 bane of the country, &c., it is simply ridiculous 
 moonshine. It is the phlegmatic apathy of the 
 Government in not supplying the necessary 
 money, and in paying their officials badly, often 
 abandoning them for months without pay to 
 their own resources, and making their stay and 
 duties in Africa more a punishment or forcible 
 transportation than anything else. It is Portugal 
 who must be blamed for all this ; her conduct 
 to her colonies is simply disgraceful and without 
 excuse, as she is prosperous and her credit is 
 good; and but a moderate outlay, to be repaid
 
 274 DEL AGO A BAY. 
 
 a thousandfold in a few years, would open her 
 rich African colonies to the trade of the world, 
 and she would no longer be reproached, as she 
 is now, with the fable of 'The Dog in the 
 Manger.' " 
 
 THE END. 
 
 GEORGE PHILIP AND SON, LONDON AND LIVERPOOL.
 
 FLEET STREET, E.C. 
 OCTOBER iSg/. 
 
 GEORGE PHILIP & SON'S 
 
 List of New and Important Works 
 
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 Cheap Edition. Crotcn 8ro, 3*. 6/. 
 
 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 
 
 BY ANNIE MARTIN. 
 
 WITH ELEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
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 Cheap Edition, with Portrait, New Preface and Introduction. 
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 BY MENIE MURIEL NORMAN. 
 
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 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
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 Worlb's (Bteat lEyplovere 
 
 ant> Explorations, 
 
 A SERIES OF ORIGINAL MONOGRAPHS BY LEADING AUTHORS, 
 
 EDITED BY J. SCOTT KELTIE, LIBRARIAN, EOYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY ; 
 H. J. MACKINDER. M.A., READER IN GEOGRAPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF 
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 By CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, C.B. Crown 8vo. With 24 Illustrations 
 
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