the Out-Patient Department at 8 A.M. We had a heavy day; and when we
finished at 5.30 P.M., you can imagine my disgust at receiving a message
from Matron that I was to relieve the nurse who was in quarantine with a
whooping-cough case, from 6 to 10 P.M. I was very glad the child whooped
fairly often, as otherwise I should probably have gone to sleep.
The next morning I _did_ over-sleep, and was ten minutes late for
breakfast, thereby incurring a lecture from the Matron; but I could not
refrain from remarking to her that I had had only two hours' sleep since
Sunday (until that night), and she said, "What _do_ you mean, Nurse?"
And then it came out that when she sent me to quarantine she had quite
forgotten that I had been on night-duty for those two nights, but I had
to relieve in quarantine again that night in spite of it. Of course none
of us ever mind doing extra duty when it is necessary, but there were
plenty of others who might have done it, and got their full amount of
off-duty time as well.
Since then I have been working in several different wards, and there are
so many new nurses who have come since I did, that I am generally first
probationer now, and it is far more interesting, and when the staff
nurse is off duty, I take her place.
Matron has been quite civil to me lately, so I suppose my reports have
been all right, as I believe she disliked me very much at first, and did
not take much trouble not to show it.
Just now I am again in the Out-Patient Department, as Sister has been
called home on account of illness, and I am working it with another
probationer, and with no sister. The other probationer is two weeks
senior to me, but she has not been down in the out-patients before, so
we are not quite clear which of us is in command; at present I make her
take the lead on medical days, and I do on the surgical days, as I am
more used to the surgeons and their ways; and we get along very well.
I shall very soon have finished my year here, and have been very much
exercised over the question of what I had better do next.
One of the sisters that I have liked here has been appointed Matron of a
small Children's Hospital, and she has offered me a post as Staff Nurse.
This was very kind of her; but, on the whole, I think I would rather get
my adult training before I do anything else, as I am afraid it would be
rather hard to begin at the beginning again, if I went on to being a
staff nurse with children.
The Matron advises me to take a good long rest before beginning in an
adult hospital, as I have got very thin and run down of late, and I am
still a year too young to be received at the best hospitals; so it is
just possible I may accept an invitation from my eldest brother to go
out to him for a year in South Africa.
In the meantime, I am gathering all information about the London
hospitals, and am to visit two or three of them for interviews with the
Matrons before I leave here.
I have passed my exams. all right, so my first certificate is fairly
safe. For many reasons I shall be very sorry to leave here, but oh! I am
so tired, and to think of being able to stay in bed till I feel I want
to get up, is a joy indeed.
VII
KIMBERLEY, SOUTH AFRICA,
_July 1892_.
When I last wrote to you I was still a humble pro., often a weary,
hungry, and foot-sore pro., but withal a happy one, and I hope one day
to be a pro. again--but for the present, times have changed.
I have come out to stay with my brother, who is the Judge-President
here. He has lived here for the last eleven or twelve years, but this
year there is a great Exhibition in Kimberley, so he has taken a larger
house for the time being, and will be able to entertain a few friends
who will be coming up for the Exhibition.
I left Southampton in June, on the R.M.S. _Scot_, and had a very
pleasant voyage out in good weather. I suppose people are always
especially kind to a "lone lady" on board ship; at any rate, I had a
very good time.
There were not many passengers on board, only forty-two gentlemen in the
first class, and seventeen ladies, so I had a nice big cabin to myself.
The _Scot_ is the only twin-screw steamer on that line, and it was lucky
she had a twin screw, as, when I woke up the first morning out from
Southampton, there was a strange silence on board, and when I got on
deck I found there had been an explosion in the engine-room, and the top
of the high-pressure valve was blown off; there was some talk of having
to signal for a steamer to tow us into Brest, but after awhile, the
engineers concluded they could patch up matters, and we could proceed
with one screw working; this reduced our speed, but I did not mind that
at all.
The Bay behaved very nicely, and I did not miss a meal in the saloon all
the way out. We had a few hours ashore at Madeira while they were
coaling and overhauling the damaged machinery, and the flowers and fruit
were beautiful as ever; the men and boys swarmed round the steamer in
little boats, and would dive into the sea for silver coins thrown
overboard: one or two of them could dive down under our ship and come up
on the other side.
The next day we passed the Canary Islands, and had a good view of my old
friend, the Peak of Tenerife.
We had the usual board-ship entertainments; two dances (the stewards
make a very good band), several concerts, an amusing "Trial by Jury" of
one of the passengers, sports for the passengers and for the crew,
plenty of cricket and other games. This is the programme for one day
from my diary:--
Seven A.M.: Salt tub. 7.30: On deck, tramp and talk, and then read.
8.30: Breakfast; excitement over the sweepstakes on the ship's run, &c.;
read, prepare programmes for the concert at night, hunt up people to
sing, &c.; watch a whale and flying-fish. 12.30: Fire and boat drill by
the crew. 1 P.M.: lunch, sleep. 3: play cricket. 4: tea, choir practice,
tramp and talk. 6.30: dinner. 8.30: concert, tramp and talk and watch
the phosphorescence, and look for the Southern Cross till 11 P.M.; then
bed, and as sound a sleep as though I had done a day's work. A
sea-voyage, with pleasant people on board, and not too rough a sea, is
the most restful way of taking a holiday I can imagine.
It was very damp and hot crossing the Line, and the cabins became so
stuffy that sleep at night was somewhat difficult; but one could make up
for that by sleeping a few hours in the day when up on deck.
All too soon we anchored in Table Bay, under the shelter of Table
Mountain. Many people are disappointed in their first view of Table
Mountain, but it has a grandeur all its own, and it grows upon you.
My brother was unable to meet me as he had intended, but a friend of his
came on board--a gentleman who was down in Cape Town for the session of
Parliament--and I found it was arranged for me to spend a day or two
with him and his family at Sea Point, a suburb of Cape Town, before
continuing my journey "up country."
Having come nearly 7000 miles alone, it did not seem to make a great
deal of odds having to do another 700 miles alone; but I was glad of a
few days' rest, with pleasant people.
I had made so many friends on board the ship that it was quite sad to
say good-bye to them all; and I had more than one kind invitation to
stay with people in different parts of South Africa.
The day after we landed, I was taken to hear a debate in the House of
Parliament on the Deceased Wife's Sister's Bill. The people I was
staying with went on to a reception at Government House, and wanted to
take me with them; but I begged off, not having unpacked suitable
garments.
It is very pretty all round Cape Town, and I hope to see more of it
before I return home.
Then, one evening at 9 P.M., I was seen off from Cape Town Station, and
was once more a traveller on my own account, but not under such
comfortable conditions as on board ship. I learnt that the dining and
sleeping cars were attached to the trains only on one night of the week
(the night the mail-boats come in), so I went in an ordinary first-class
carriage, the ticket costing me more than £8, and found the seats were
covered with horse-hair, and by no means comfortable for a night
journey. Above the seat there is a shelf which lets down at night, so
that four people can secure lying-down room in each carriage.
I soon learnt, also, that in this upside-down country, in spite of the
fact that it was the month of July, it was also the middle of winter,
and as we got up to higher altitudes it became intensely cold. I had the
carriage to myself at first, and, having piled on all the clothes I had
with me, I was trying to sleep, when, about 2 A.M., two old Dutch ladies
were put in with me, and for the rest of the night they chattered, and
ate cheese and apples and onions, so that sleep was impossible until
they left the train at Matjesfontein.
I am told the scenery we passed through that night is very grand. I hope
some time to see it under more favourable conditions.
Cold and hungry, about 7 A.M., we stopped for breakfast at
Matjesfontein. I took my sponge-bag and towel, thinking I should find a
waiting-room; but all I found was a tap on the platform, where we took
our turn at a splash in icy-cold water, and then went on to a tin
shanty, where breakfast was served--kippers, good bread, indifferent
butter, and moderate tea.
There did not seem to be any hurry; but when we had all finished, and
the engine had had a drink, and the engine-driver had lit his pipe, we
started off again. And all that day we strolled across the Karroo,
stopping (apparently) just when the driver felt inclined, and, when
there was a hill, going so slowly one felt tempted to jump off and take
a little exercise by running alongside.
It was very grey and brown, this wonderful Karroo country, with
occasional kopjes (hills with great boulders of stones up the sides),
and now and then a river or a stream, and always by any water a green
line of the mimosa trees covered with their yellow flower.
As the sun grew stronger I began to forget the discomforts of the night,
and some pleasant Dutch people came on board and told me many
interesting things about the country we were passing through. Then I was
introduced to my first swarm of locusts; a weird sight it was, too. They
were pointed out to me first when they were some miles ahead of us, and
looked like a small black cloud; then, as they came near, the sky seemed
to become black with them, and we had to shut all the windows or the
carriage would soon have been full of them. They tell me sometimes the
young ones settle on the lines in such masses, and the lines become so
slippery, the trains can't get on, and the men have to turn out and
shovel them off. Fancy a Great Northern express being held up by a swarm
of locusts!
For most of the way the old waggon-road ran alongside the railway, and
was marked out by the skeletons of horses and oxen, or the sadder sight
of a mound of stones with a little wooden cross, where some poor fellow
had "fallen by the way."
We stopped at Victoria West for dinner; and as there was another train
(from up country) in the station, we were halted well out on the veldt,
and I had to stumble along to the station, and then, across what seemed
in the darkness to be a rickyard, to the tin shanty where dinner was
served. I was the only lady there; but I had only had a snack lunch on
board the train, and we were more than an hour later than we had
expected to dine, so I was too hungry to mind much, and had a very good
dinner. There is only a single line for all this long track, so the
delays to allow trains to pass at the stations are numerous, and it is
well never to travel without a supply of chocolate, as the meals are
very movable feasts.
I managed to sleep through that night, as it was not so cold, and I had
the carriage to myself. Early the next morning we steamed into
Kimberley, and my brother met me at the station.
VIII
KIMBERLEY, SOUTH AFRICA,
_December 1892_.
Two things are prominent in my mind to-day: the first is that the
thermometer is at 104° in the shade, and the mosquitoes are perfectly
vicious; and the second is that the Kimberley Exhibition, with its round
of gaieties, is actually closed. But before I tell you about this
Exhibition, I must try to go back and give you a few "first impressions"
of the Diamond Fields.
As you come into Kimberley by train, you first pass the Kaffir Location;
and, instead of the picturesque dwellings that one sees in pictures, you
see an exceedingly untidy collection of huts built of all sorts of odds
and ends--bits of galvanized iron, old paraffin tins, &c. Then come
small tin shanties inhabited by the "poor whites"; and so the houses
improve, as one nears the centre of the town.
We drove down from the station in a Cape cart, which takes the place of
a fly here. It is a comfortable kind of dog-cart with two wheels, drawn
by a pair of horses; it has a movable hood, and the four passengers all
sit facing the horse's tail. The most comfortable seats are at the back,
and part of the driver's seat lifts up on a hinge while you get to the
back seat.
I found my brother had taken a house and bought all the furniture in it,
so there was not much difficulty about settling in, except hanging our
own pictures and buying a little more linen, plate, &c.
It was a nice brick-walled bungalow, with the usual galvanized-iron
roof, and a shady balcony (called here a stoep) all the way round the
house, so that one could generally find a fairly cool place to sit.
He had also secured a very good white woman as cook, and a dusky Zulu
called George, who waited at table, and generally fagged for the cook.
George looked about fifteen, so I treated him as I would a boy of eleven
or twelve, and he was soon my most devoted slave. But one day I asked
him how old he was, and he said, "I was thirty-four last census,
missus." But I shall continue to treat him in the same way, as it seems
to answer well; and, after all, I think these blacks will always be
rather like children, however old they are. I find he has a wife at a
kraal, up country, and he is now saving up to buy some cows wherewith to
secure another wife. I understand the present value of "a nice Kaffir
girl" is seven cows!
There is a large compound at the back of the house; and thrown in with
the house we found two dogs, a dignified cat, and some fowls and
turkeys.
At first I thought the Kimberley people were rather uninteresting, and
felt inclined to agree with the barber who, when he was giving me a most
refreshing and much-needed shampoo after the dusty journey up, said,
"You _will_ think the ladies here funny, miss, for they absolutely never
talk about anything but their dresses"; but, poor things, there was very
little else to talk about.
Every one was kind in coming to call, and I soon found some very nice
people amongst them. Sunday is the great day for all the gentlemen to
call; and sometimes we had eight or nine men dropping in on Sunday
afternoon, and generally one or two came in to supper after church.
There is a splendid library nearly opposite the club (which is also a
fine building), and I very much appreciate the cool reading-room, with
all the English papers and magazines, only about a month old.
We play a good deal of tennis on gravel courts. There are two days in
the week when ladies can play at the club, and some people who have
private courts have regular "days," so that I generally play three or
four afternoons a week. Just lately I have had some good riding, as a
young lady I know has gone down to the Cape, and has left a nice and
young horse behind. Her mother offered to lend it to me one day, and I
had a glorious gallop over the veldt with their groom; and then a kind
note came, saying that "I was doing them a great favour by exercising
the horse, as it was too fresh for the younger girls." I am glad to be
able to do a favour so easily, and we make up very pleasant little
riding parties.
I think the thing one misses most in Kimberley is water. If you ride or
drive, you may find some out at the waterworks or (a variable amount) in
the river out at Alexanderfontein, but the water you can find within
walking distance might be measured in bucketsful; and the men are fond
of talking of the "early days," when it was cheaper to have a bath in
soda-water than in plain water, and of a notice that was said to have
been put up in a hotel, "Please do not use soap, as the water is
required for tea."
In the season, with careful watering, one can grow a good many flowers.
Roses do especially well, and some people who are diligent with the
watering-pot cultivate a small piece of grass; but a few days' neglect,
or a few hours' visitation from a flight of locusts, and your treasured
piece of grass is as though a prairie fire had been over it.
Of course there was much excitement up here about the opening of the
Exhibition. The Governor and family came up from Cape Town for the
ceremony, and stayed nearly a fortnight in Mr. C.'s house--which he gave
up to them--and there was much entertaining.
We had the Colonial Secretary and his wife staying with us, and also a
daughter of the Governor of Bechuanaland. As Mr. ---- was the Minister
in attendance on the Governor, he had to bring his secretary with him,
and the police superintendent posted a mounted orderly at our gate to
take his messages about; so we felt quite important.
Many interesting people from all over South Africa came up for the
Exhibition, and I am afraid I shan't be able to remember all those to
whom I have been introduced.
Mr. Cecil Rhodes was here for a few days, and we went to supper with him
one Sunday evening. He is generally supposed to dislike ladies; but if
that is true, he does not show it. There were not many there, and I sat
next to him at supper. I believe it was a very good supper; but the
conversation was so interesting (all about South Africa and South
Africans) I couldn't attend to it, and I went home hungry, and had to
have a private snack before I went to bed.
The morning after the Governor arrived we received an invitation to dine
at Government House that evening; and it was rather awkward, as we had a
dinner party here. But P. and Mr. ---- went off to call and explain
matters, and we were excused. They gave two huge garden parties, which
we attended, and I enjoyed them very much--both the Governor and lady so
very pleasant and friendly. Another day they were the guests of De
Beers, and we also were invited; so we saw all the process of
diamond-mining under very comfortable circumstances: the blue stone as
it was brought up from the mines in little trucks and laid out in the
sun (surrounded by barbed-wire fences) to pulverize, then collected and
crushed and washed; and then we went into the sorting-shed, and were
given trowels to sort with, and I found four nice diamonds in ten
minutes, and should like to have kept them! then to the packing-room,
and saw _such_ diamonds, bags and bags of them. Afterwards we drove out
to Kenilworth, the model village, all planned by Mr. Cecil Rhodes for
the De Beers' men. Such nice little houses, with water laid on, and
every convenience; a good garden to each house; a school and a
club-house; a recreation ground; and then miles of fruit-trees--grapes,
peaches, apricots, &c.--that Mr. Rhodes has planted and has had
carefully irrigated. One could hardly believe it was so near to
Kimberley, and Kimberley dust.
Every day at the Exhibition there was a good band playing, and every
evening some fireworks and other entertainments. Cricket matches--played
on a pitch of cocoanut matting--tennis tournaments, &c., were the order
of the day; so that now, when the Governor and other visitors have
returned to the Cape, and the Exhibition is closed, you can understand
that Kimberley seems a little flat, and I am much looking forward to a
run down to the Cape next month by way of a change.
IX
KENILWORTH, NR. CAPE TOWN,
_January 1893_.
Here we are, amidst lovely greenery and flowers, with the turtle-doves
cooing in the garden, and with the very blue sea on one side and grand
old Table Mountain towering above us on the other.
Kimberley was really a very warm place before we left it. We had had
several bad dust-storms, when you shut up all the doors and windows, and
still the dust comes through, and settles in inches on the furniture,
and everything you touch or taste is dusty.
One of the worst dust-storms, and the hottest of days, was Christmas
Day. We had invited a few lonely men to dinner; and when I came in to
dress, George met me at the door, and said, "Missus, kitchen window all
gone; dinner no good." And when I went to investigate, I found poor
Stanley nearly weeping, as the window had been blown completely in,
frame and all, on to the table at which she was preparing our dinner;
and the dignified cat was licking up the custard on the floor!
Fortunately the turkey was saved, and, with the help of a few extra
tins, we scraped together a fairly good dinner. I don't know what would
become of the people in Kimberley if they were afraid to eat tinned
foods.
Besides the dust (and my old enemies, the mosquitoes), the flies were
very horrible. They settle everywhere, and it is necessary to keep
everything very well covered up. You have to shoo them off the sugar
before you help yourself; and if you venture to put some honey or jam on
your bread, it is ten to one there is at least one fly on it before it
reaches your mouth!
Well, we left Kimberley still gasping for rain, and the train strolled
down to the Cape in two days and one night.
The scenery we passed through on the second day was very fine indeed,
all through the Hex River Pass. I saw a good many baboons. One little
chap scuttled away, and then sat down and threw stones at us. A most
quaint little beast he looked, in a fury of a temper.
Mr. ---- met us at the station, and they have such a delightful house
and garden. You have no idea what a rest it is to see plenty of greenery
again, after all the sun and glare of Kimberley.
All the people about here seem to be so very pleasant and friendly, I am
enjoying myself immensely.
We went to dinner one night at Government House. I was shy at the
prospect of going, but it was really very jolly. I went in to dinner
with Captain ---- of H.M.S. ---- (now at Simonstown), and he was very
entertaining. The men were all in naval, military, or court dress, and
they looked so nice.
Another day Mrs. ---- gave a picnic at Constantia, the Government wine
farm, and the Governor and party joined us there.
It was a very pretty place, and after tea we went for a scramble up a
ravine to pick blackberries. Part of the way up I was trying to
disentangle Lady ---- from a bramble, when the Governor turned round and
called to her, "Hurry up, my dear, hurry up!" and she replied, "But, H.
dear, I'm caught by my hair." So he had to return to assist; and then
coming down he twice fell down, and each time pretended he had sat down
only to admire the view!
On Sunday we went over to Simonstown to call on the Admiral's wife.
There were two captains of men-of-war calling, and some other officers,
and they invited us to visit them on their ships; but P. could not spare
a day. I was rather disappointed.
Mr. Cecil Rhodes was away, but we walked over to see his place, Groot
Schuur. It is a very lovely and peaceful spot, just at the foot of Table
Mountain, and with lovely views in all directions. The hydrangeas that
he is so fond of are quite a sight; they grow up the sides of a hollow
glen in the grounds, and the mass of different shades is very beautiful.
Another day we went to lunch with the Chief Justice at Wynberg. Such a
lovely place he has, with many beautiful trees in the grounds. Amongst
others they have a good many of the silver trees which grow up Table
Mountain, and, I believe, nowhere else in the world.
In the afternoon Lady ---- drove us to a huge garden party at Newlands
(Government House). I heard that 1600 invitations had been sent out, and
I should think most of them had been accepted. But there was still
plenty of room, and the grounds are beautiful; and there was a good band
playing. One of Khama's sons was there, but I did not meet him.
My brother was anxious to have a little sea-bathing, so we stayed for a
few days at a small place called Muizenberg, on the shore of False Bay.
I have never bathed in such deliciously warm water before. I believe
there are some sharks around Table Bay, but False Bay is considered
quite safe; so many Cape Town people go out there to bathe, and some of
them have bungalows near the sea.