LAST VISIT TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
Resuming medical practice--My menagerie at
Bultfontein--Exhibition at Kimberley--Visit to Wessel’s
Farm--Bushmen’s carvings--Hunting hyænas and earth-pigs--The
native question in South Africa--War in Cape Colony and
Griqualand West--Major Lanyon and Colonel Warren--Departure for
the coast.
[Illustration: FINGO BOY.]
When now for the fourth time I reached the diamond fields I was
perfectly insolvent. It was impossible to conceal from myself the
difficulty I should find in re-establishing my medical practice, as
an absence of a year and nine months had made me little better than
a stranger in the place; and yet it was upon my practice alone that
I had to rely for obtaining the means of discharging my obligations.
Reluctant as I was to leave my designs unaccomplished, I could not
resist the desire that came over me to return home and recruit my
broken health. The question of means, however, had to be entertained,
and the idea occurred to me that perhaps a public exhibition of my
collection of natural and ethnographical curiosities might yield me
some profit, which I could apply to the expense of a homeward passage.
My friend Herr Werner came to see me as soon as he heard of my arrival,
and voluntarily advanced me money enough to make my exhibition scheme
feasible.
My next step was to take my waggon off to Bultfontein, as I could live
for a time in greater retirement there than in Kimberley. I hired a
small house close to my friend, who, although he was no longer rich,
showed me every kindness during my illness. My residence was modest
enough; it contained only one apartment, consisting of four bare clay
walls; the floor was of the same material; but worst of all, the roof
was of zinc, which made it insupportably hot in the summer. Such as
it was, however, I made it serve as the temporary store of all my
collections, and took up my quarters there with Eberwald, who remained
in the place, acting as my assistant in preparing medicines for my
patients, the number of which increased so rapidly that I could not
fail to be cheered and encouraged to look forward to the future with
something like equanimity.
In front of what I called my “house,” and not far from it, stood an
old erection, now roofless, and there I placed the great lion-cage
that Eberwald and I had made, and all round I arranged a number of
other cages of many kinds and sizes, containing the rest of the
animals and birds that I had brought with me. Strangers coming to the
diamond-fields from the Colony, the Free State, or the Transvaal,
rarely failed to come and make an inspection of my pets, nearly all of
which were perfectly tame; and some of the visitors afterwards sent me
several rare zoological specimens as additions to my stock.
[Illustration: MY HOUSE IN BULTFONTEIN.]
So large did my professional practice grow in the course of the
following year, that all Eberwald’s time was occupied in dispensing my
medicines, so that he had no opportunity of attending to my menagerie;
the consequence was that the charge of it had to be entrusted to two
negroes, who neglected their duty abominably, and failed to keep the
animals either clean or properly fed. I had taken pains to have all
the cages made as roomy as possible, but they rotted through exposure
to the weather, and some few of the animals escaped and were killed,
being probably eaten by the neighbouring blacks; but these were nothing
in comparison with the number of those that died from negligence and
mismanagement. By the time I left the place, more than two-thirds of
the whole had disappeared. Round the cages that contained the smaller
birds I planted ivy and several kinds of creepers, beneath which the
little prisoners hopped about and twittered, well protected by a bower
of natural foliage from the scorching sun.
I have no space in which to enter upon a detailed account of all the
habits of the occupants of the various cages. It was a great pleasure
to me to observe them for the best part of two years. My surviving
lion was especially attached to me, and would always extend his paws
to caress me whenever I approached his cage, and it was only out of
regard to the nervousness of others that I did not venture occasionally
to allow him his liberty. I refused an offer of 100_l._ for him
when he was five months old, but by the time I lost him he had cost
me double that sum. I had occasion to go to the Free State for a
fortnight’s visit, and during my absence his cage was allowed to remain
so dirty, that when I returned the poor beast was suffering from an
illness too far advanced to be arrested. Throughout its last days I
always went to see it as often as I returned from my rounds, and it
never failed to start to its feet with an alacrity that startled any
visitor who was standing by, and even when it grew too weak to stand
it would drag itself towards the front bars of its den the instant it
heard my voice. Though amongst my pets I had tame jackals that were
constantly running away and coming back again, and affectionate little
jumping-hares that allowed themselves to be fondled like babies, none
of them could ever console me for the loss of “Prince,” my young lion,
the pride of my whole collection.
Besides what I have mentioned, my menagerie contained apes and baboons,
hedgehogs, reed-rats, a caracal, a mangusta, black and white striped
weasels, hyæna-wolves, mountain-hares, ground-squirrels, striped mice,
blind mice, pangolins, several steinbocks, duykerbocks, springbocks,
and a rock-rabbit; and amongst the birds I may enumerate three brown
South African eagles, a crested eagle, two species of kites, red
falcons, various kinds of sparrow-hawks, secretary-birds, brown and
black vultures (_Gyps socialis_), two kinds of owls, parrots,
black and white crows, grosbeaks and insectivorous song-birds, a
hornbill, a pelican, a darter, and several varieties of wild geese and
herons.
By the beginning of 1877 I had finished all my arrangements, and
opened my exhibition of curiosities in the public hall at Kimberley.
It proved financially a failure, and in spite of the co-operation of
many kind friends, I found myself out of pocket by the transaction.
In order, therefore, to meet my liabilities and to forward my project
of returning for a time to Europe, I had to fall back upon my medical
practice with more assiduity than ever.
Notwithstanding that the value of diamonds was still further
depreciated, as a consequence of the prolonged drought the price
of corn was much higher, so that the cost of living was largely
increased. It was a great satisfaction to me that I was able to
purchase a horse. I was fortunate in buying a good sound animal, that
did as much work as the whole three together that I had to keep in 1873.
Largely, however, as my business developed, and beneficial as it was
in replenishing my pocket, the perpetual exertion told seriously on my
health, and I was obliged to seize an opportunity of taking a holiday
when most of my patients seemed unlikely to require any immediate
attention. I made up my mind to visit Mr. Wessel at his neighbouring
farm in the Free State, where I was received with the most liberal
hospitality. While I was staying there I saw a number of those
remarkable carvings on rocks done by the Bushmen, which had recently
been inspected by Stow the geologist, and by Captain Warren.
Though the Bushman tribe is gradually dying out, they are still to
be found in certain parts of Cape Colony, but remaining, even to the
present time, as impervious as ever to the influences of civilization.
Formerly they occupied the rocky caves in the slopes from the heights,
both in the colony and in the Free State. They are probably the oldest
inhabitants of South Africa; but now one branch of them seems to have
blended with the Bantu families on the north, whilst another has become
amalgamated with the Hottentots more to the east. They hunt the game
which they spy out from their elevated resorts with the most primitive
bows and arrows; but low as is the grade of their intellectual culture,
they have the very wonderful art of decorating the rocky walls of their
dwellings with representations of quadrupeds, tortoises, lizards,
snakes, fights, hunts, and the different heavenly bodies.
As the game became gradually destroyed by the European colonists, the
Bushmen began to make raids upon the white men’s cattle, the result of
which was to pave the way for their own annihilation. The true Bushman,
as distinguished from the many half-breeds, has a passionate love for
his rocky home, and whether he enters service by a voluntary contract
or under compulsion, he will take the first opportunity of stealing
a sheep and making off to his beloved hills. Instances of periods of
stipulated service being faithfully fulfilled are very rare.
But as I have already intimated, these people are not altogether of
the low grade of humanity that at first sight they appear to be, and a
traveller may penetrate far into Central Africa before finding another
tribe so skilful in its manipulation of stone, and in the manufacture
of vessels out of wood, bone, or ostriches’ eggs; but most remarkable
of all is the way in which, by the aid of the rudest tools, they have
adorned their primitive homes with carvings that will long survive any
productions of their contemporaries, the Bantus and Hottentots.
The drawings that are made inside the caves are chiefly upon sandstone
in ochre of various colours. Stow, the geologist, has devoted a good
deal of attention to them, and has taken many copies of the designs;
and if ever it be my good fortune to recommence my South African
researches, I hope to bring away some larger specimens than my want of
proper tools enabled me now to obtain.
[Illustration: ROCK INSCRIPTIONS BY BUSHMEN.
_Page 438._]
Besides the carvings that I collected, I succeeded in getting several
of the curious tools, consisting simply of triangular pieces of flint,
with which the outlines of the engravings are cut; these are likewise
used for several domestic purposes. Another implement not uncommon
among them was a heavy stone fastened to the thicker end of a pointed
stick, sometimes 3 feet long, though occasionally not more than half
that length, its use being either to dig up edible roots, or to
make holes in search of water. Stones, it may be mentioned, are not
unfrequently found on which the engraving had only been partially made,
and where there has been an attempt to obliterate the design by the
application of emery and another stone. In some cases the objects are
indicated only by lines of shading, while in others they are chiselled
entirely out of the rock. These last are the most striking of all, and
I believe that the eighteen specimens that I brought home with me from
Wessel’s farm are unique in Europe. Amongst the subjects are the bust
of a bushman, a woman carrying a load, an ostrich with a rider on its
back, an ostrich meeting a rhinoceros, a jackal chasing a gazelle, but
many of them are single figures of cows, gnus, and antelopes.
In the course of my sojourn at the farm I collected a large number
of insects, birds, bird-skins, and plants, and before leaving my
hospitable quarters I was invited by the neighbours to join them in
some hunting-excursions. I went out twice, and on each occasion we were
accompanied by a party of horsemen, a number of natives on foot, and by
a pack of dogs. The object of the chase was to hunt hyænas and animals
that live in holes in the earth, but, for myself, I was desirous of
obtaining some live porcupines, jumping-hares, and earth-pigs. The
first expedition was made by day. Those of us who were on horseback
surrounded a rocky crag, and sent the natives with the dogs to beat up
the hill; our success, however, was most indifferent, as we discovered
that the hyænas had been alarmed in time to make their escape.
The second excursion was by night over a district composed of grass
plains studded with bushes and ant-hills, and bordered, especially
on the east, by wooded crags. It was as beautiful a night as I ever
remember, the moonlight being perfectly unclouded. I had been out
inspecting the carvings for a long time that day, and contemplated
taking a still longer ride on the morrow. I therefore left my own horse
at home, and was mounted on one that my kind host had lent me, and that
was well accustomed to the locality. The dogs, of which every farmer
had contributed several to make up the pack, were put upon the scent,
and we had hardly been galloping more than five minutes before we heard
them baying at the foot of a hill a little distance to our right. We
spurred on our steeds, but gave them their heads, as they could see
better than we could the blocks of stone that lay on the ground among
the bushwood. We soon came up to the struggling mass in the midst of
which was an object that kept glittering as it rolled over and over in
the moonlight. It proved to be a porcupine which the dogs were rending
to pieces; in spite of the armament of quills with which nature has
endowed it, the porcupine has a remarkably fragile skin, so that it
is easily torn by any animal that once makes good its hold upon
it, and thus, although we dismounted without loss of time and beat
off the hounds, we were too late to prevent the prey being lacerated,
and it was in a very mangled condition that it fell to the lot of the
fleet-footed Basutos.
[Illustration: CAPTURE OF AN EARTH-PIG.
_Page 440._]
Two more porcupines, a jumping-hare, and a South African skunk, all had
a similar fate, and then the dogs took a circuitous route back again
to the hills, and started an earth-pig (_Orycteropus capensis_).
To escape its pursuers, the creature made an effort to burrow in the
earth, and had partially succeeded, when we came up to it. Our men did
their very best to secure it, but it rolled them over and over like so
many balls, and got clean away.
The earth-pig is undeniably the strongest of all the edentata. Its
body is long and round, and it has long powerful nails at the end of
its claws, of which the sinews are remarkable for their strength; its
fleshy wedge-shaped tail acts as a great support to its body, and
though it sometimes uses it as a means of defence, it seems to be of
most service when the creature is bounding away in flight. The tail
likewise comes into requisition when, squatting on its hind quarters,
it digs away at an ant-hill, for it is known to be one of the largest
ant-eaters in South Africa. Its skin is tough and bristly, defying the
fangs of the jackal, and it has a pair of long ears that are keenly
alive to sound. The skin is used in the colony for making certain parts
of harness. Other enemies to ants are the short-tailed pangolins, the
hyæna-wolf, the mangusta, and the plover.
After our last failure we gave up our chase, and rode slowly home;
but my friends were unwilling that I should be disappointed in my
wish to carry away with me some of their live birds and animals, and
subsequently assisted me in procuring a nice collection, amongst them
some weaver-birds, which, however, did not live long.
During one of my rambles about the farm, I caught sight of a cobra,
five feet long, in a weaver-bird’s nest. I was fortunate in killing it
at my first shot, and found that it had destroyed several old birds and
devoured a number of eggs.
The time of this last visit of mine to the diamond-fields was a period
of vast importance to South Africa. Events were then taking place
which, as far as my judgment goes, could not have otherwise than a
wide influence upon the country generally, especially with regard to
the solution of the native question; I allude to the conflicts between
the colony and the tribes on the east, and those between Griqualand
West and the tribes farther still in that direction, all which minor
conflicts were the forerunners of a great Zulu war. Another disturbing
element was the annexation of the Transvaal by the British Government.
My views upon this subject generally were stated in a pamphlet which
I put into circulation at the time; and as a great deal of what I
then said has actually come to pass, I hope I may be excused if I
here refer to that little publication, which was issued not simply at
my own option, but by the desire of several influential men in South
Africa, to weigh the comparative merits of the several aspects of this
subject. “Recent events,” I wrote, “clearly show that in South Africa,
as in North America, England has taken greater hold upon the continent
than any other colonized nation. Her mode of action has been in many
respects the same in either case, but the native element here differs
so much from that in America that it was impossible for the same
treatment to have a like effect. The European colonists were ruled by
two very opposite prejudices; one party, overlooking the fact that the
natives had been accustomed time out of mind to their burdens, regarded
them as wrongfully oppressed; the other party deeming all negroes as of
so inferior a race as to be scarcely human at all. Practical men who by
long residence in the country had gained some insight into the native
character, and who consequently took a more moderate view of the case,
were in so great a minority, both with respect to numbers and position,
that they were unable to exercise any influence.”
When I wrote my pamphlet in 1875 I did not know to how great an extent
my ideas corresponded with those of many experienced colonists, but
ultimately these ideas seemed to gain such ground that they became the
basis of public questions.
There are certain tribes of South Africa who in their intellectual
development and adult powers of comprehension seem to me to be about
equal to children of our own of six years of age; and there are tribes
that, according to their varying degrees of culture, possess separate
tribal characteristics just in the same way as may be noticed amongst
the individual members of a civilized family. One tribe, for instance,
will be remarkable for its good-nature, one for its industry, and
another for its thievish propensities. No doubt these various traits,
as far as they are independent of association, may be accounted for in
a great degree by the larger or smaller size of the brain.
The Hottentots, Griquas, and Korannas may perhaps not inaptly be
compared to children that allow themselves to be attracted by anything
that amuses them, and clutch at whatever takes their fancy. For this
reason alone, in spite of anything they may acquire of the mechanical
arts of reading and writing, they must be unfit to be admitted as yet
to the privileges of a civilized race. It seems to me indispensable
that before they can be held entitled to the ordinary rights of
citizenship they must be cultivated to receive correct views about
labour, capital, and wages, to appreciate better methods of husbandry
and architecture, to take more pains about the cleanliness of their
persons, and especially to recognize the moral principle that should
guide their transactions alike amongst themselves and with the white
men.
Hitherto the worst obstacle to civilization has been superstition; nor
can I believe that much will be accomplished towards the elevation of
the natives until they are brought to understand that the supply of the
necessaries of life is not dependent upon the influence of magicians,
fetishes, and rain-doctors.
I ventured to point out to the Government that a different future
awaited the South African negroes from that of the North American
Indians, and that accordingly we ought to protect them from some of
the abuses by which the latter were decimated. For one thing, there
ought to be restrictions put upon the sale of brandy to the black
population in the colony; but more than this, there should be an
absolute prohibition of its introduction into any of the adjacent
native independencies. The rulers of a few tribes are already rendering
considerable assistance in this way by preventing the sale of alcohol
in any form upon their territory; and I am glad to testify that in at
least a part of Africa the measure has been beneficial both to white
men and blacks. Beyond this, I pointed out that it was necessary, alike
for the Government and for private individuals, to pay particular
attention to the separate characters of the tribes and of the chiefs
with whom they were holding intercourse; and I went so far as to point
out that the application of several native rulers to be incorporated
with the English colonies ought to be entertained with the utmost
caution.
The cases of Mankuruane, the Batlapin ruler, of Sechele, the Bakuena
king, and still more recently that of the Damara people, and that of
Khame, the sovereign of the Bamangwatos, have proved much of what I
stated in my pamphlet; and I am now more than ever satisfied that the
portrayal I made of the Zulu character was in every respect accurate.
Whatever opinion I may once have held, I have long ceased to think that
after once quelling the Zulu power it is desirable for Great Britain
to extend her colonial possessions in South Africa. I am convinced,
on the other hand, that it would work far better for the interests
of trade and for the ultimate opening up of the continent, if one or
more commissioners, duly authorized, were maintained permanently at
the separate independent native courts--arms and ammunition being, of
course, excluded as articles of traffic.
There has hitherto been an erroneous impression in Europe that the
English are greedy to devour all the land in South Africa on which
they can lay their hands; but the opponents and critics of their
colonial policy do not seem to understand that in well nigh every case
the cession of the territory has been made by voluntary surrender on
the part of the native rulers. Before I undertook my third journey
I entertained a very sanguine hope that there would be a highway of
commerce opened into Central Africa, but my expectation all centred on
the idea that this was impossible until the entire district between
the Vaal and the Zambesi should be subjected to British rule. I see
things now very differently, and am consequently gratified to know
that in several instances Great Britain has declined to annex native
territories, even although they have been ready to submit to her
authority.
Just at the time when my pamphlet was written, several of the native
princes were, it was said, on the point of making their spontaneous
cession; and it was my desire to warn the Government to act with
caution in every transaction of the kind. I said: “Here is Mankuruane,
the Batlapin king, with one tribe, and here is Montsua, the Barolong
king, with another. They tell us that they want to be numbered among
our subjects, but before their request is complied with they should
be made to declare whether it is by their own wish or by that of
their people that they seek to be reckoned as British subjects; they
should be forced to confess whether it was their friendship to the
English or their fear and hatred of other white men that prompted
them to make the proposal; they should be bound to declare whether
it was not simply because they were threatened by some neighbouring
chief that they sought English protection; or, again, they should be
obliged to disclose the truth as to whether there was a rival chief
in the territory whom it was sought to paralyze. Two years after they
had been annexed the Damaras acknowledged that they had had no other
motive in seeking incorporation under the British sceptre, except this
last of getting rid of a rival chief. Further than this, I beg to
suggest the necessity, even after the true origin of the proposal has
been ascertained, of making strict investigation into the character of
the chief and the grade of culture of the tribe, before any treaty of
affiliation is concluded.”
As I have already said the war with the colonial Kaffirs broke out
during my last stay in the Diamond-fields, and Griqualand West became
the scene of a like misfortune. In both wars the right cause had
the victory. That the little colony of Griqualand West, with its
insignificant number of white men, should have brought the conflict
to so speedy and satisfactory a termination with such slight expense
and trifling loss of life, was owing to two causes, first, that
the governor was an experienced soldier, and secondly, that the
Diamond-fields were occupied by a brave and true-hearted population.
The history of the province during the last three years gives ample
proof of this, and I refer especially to the war which it has had
to maintain with the Griquas, Masarwas, and Batlapins, under their
chiefs Mora, Donker-Maglas and others. These natives, who have
hitherto turned a deaf ear to the beneficial precepts of the white
man, being strengthened by the addition of many foul elements, such
as fugitive rebels from the colony, and runaway thieves and other
criminals from the west, from Kuruman, and from the farther side of
the Lange-Bergen, had suddenly fallen upon the neighbouring settlers,
and after massacring them, had ransacked their houses. These crimes
led to another war. The negro-robbers had taken into account that
Griqualand West could receive no assistance from the colony, which was
already occupied with the Kaffir war, and they had likewise reckoned
that the thousands of natives who were employed in the Diamond-fields
would mutiny at the same time, burn down the buildings, annihilate the
population, and carry off the booty; whilst they, the originators of
the war, would meanwhile be plundering the roadside hotels and stores,
as well as laying waste the farms.
I was myself a witness of the position of the whites at that critical
time. Fortunately the purifying process that had been going on at the
Diamond-fields by the withdrawal of adventurers, had left few but
true-hearted men behind, and Major Lanyon, who then represented the
government, thoroughly understood the state of affairs. In Colonel
Warren, who has since succeeded as governor, he had an associate
who never shunned danger, and was always prepared for emergencies.
Thus by what seemed almost like supernatural energy, Griqualand West
was defended, women and children were saved from destruction, and
the Europeans gained for themselves the respect without which it is
impossible to live at peace and in harmony with the natives.
[Illustration: COLONEL WARREN.]
Major Lanyon issued an appeal in which he called upon all the residents
in the central diggings to combine to protect their new home from
destruction; the result of this was that in a few days more than six
hundred men had come forward, all capable of bearing arms, and ready
to shed their blood for their people. About two hundred of these were
volunteers, the rest were young men and diamond-diggers, who expressed
a wish to be enrolled in the civilian corps. Horses were purchased
without delay, and the men were drilled by day and by night, the
military instruction being given by diggers, merchants, or any others
who had been themselves trained. The corps was further reinforced by
400 Basutos. Setting out against the foe, they surprised the natives
in the midst of one of their marauding forays, and drove them back to
the hills. What ensued was a sort of guerilla war. No sooner forced
to surrender one of their stone barricades, than seeking another from
which they were driven out as quickly, the natives at length had to
yield; Colonel Warren had demonstrated that he had all the talents of
a general, and the men enlisted from the diggings had proved that they
well understood how to do their duty.
So successful had I been in my practice, that I began to indulge the
hope that I could start for Europe in December, 1877; but when I came
to reckon up the actual cost of conveying my numerous large packages
and my cases of live-stock, I found it impossible to carry out my
intention so soon. The carriage of all the collection that I had made
on my two previous journeys had already been generously defrayed by
Herr Naprstek, of Prague, and the same kind friend now again sent
me 20_l._, and the Vienna Geographical Society remitted me
40_l._, but this would be barely enough to convey a waggon and
my animals as far as the coast. Under the circumstances I came to the
conclusion that I would postpone my departure for another year, by
which time I did not doubt that I should have saved enough to cover all
the expenses of my passage, and to leave me a small reserve fund in
addition; by carrying out this plan I should also be travelling through
the Orange Free State and the east province of Cape Colony, at a season
when the best pasturage could be secured for the bullocks.
I took an opportunity of sending on twenty-one of my chests by a
transport-waggon that went to Port Elizabeth, where the Austrian
Vice-Consul, Herr Allenberg, stored them in his warehouses until my
arrival; but it did not suit my purpose to travel by such a conveyance
myself, because I wished on my way to stop wherever I pleased to make
geological and palæontological observations, which could not be done if
I were to be hampered by the proceedings of a driver who was not under
my own control.
Matters, however, turned out better for me than I had anticipated. An
unexpected and munificent gift of 1000 florins from the Emperor of
Austria, 60_l._ from the Bohemian National Society, 200 florins
from the “Svatabor Club,” and a loan of 1000 florins from a kind lady
patroness placed me in a position to start as soon as I was disposed,
and I proceeded to quit the Diamond-fields six months before the date I
had fixed.
A series of mischances that befell me on my way to Port Elizabeth
made such unlooked-for inroads upon my resources, that I again found
it necessary to stop, and betook myself once more to medical practice
at Cradock. The success that attended me was so satisfactory that in
August I was enabled to resume my journey. To drive my waggon I hired
a man who had formerly been servant to a merchant whom I knew at
Kimberley.
My party was now increased by the addition of three children, who
were to accompany me to the south. Amongst my numerous patients and
acquaintances none had shown me greater attention than my next-door
neighbour at Bultfontein, and as an acknowledgment of his good offices,
I agreed to take one of his sons with me to look after my birds and
other pets, and to be instructed as soon as possible in more important
work. I promised that if the boy turned out well, I would try and
take him on with me to be educated in Europe. In order that he should
not occupy too much of my time, and interrupt me in my studies, a
young Bechuana maid-servant was sent to take charge of him. The third
of these young people was Philip Schneeman, about thirteen years of
age, the son of a Dutchman whose family I had attended professionally
for many weeks. Schneeman had already shown his gratitude to me by
assisting me at every opportunity he could, and he now entrusted
me with his eldest son upon the condition that in return for his
services I should make him an educated man. The father was one of
those unfortunate characters only too commonly to be met with in the
Diamond-fields, who having come out with visions of wealth had met with
nothing but trouble and disappointment; he considered he was doing the
best for his boy in engaging him to me, but poor Philip, before he
reached Cradock, had begun to pine so painfully for his home that I
had no alternative but to send him back to his parents, who meanwhile
had settled in the Bürgensdorf district. The other boy turned out so
careless and mischievous that I was only too glad to send him away at
the same time.
In concluding the narrative of my stay in the Diamond-fields I cannot
help expressing my gratitude for the general courtesy of my patients,
and returning my best thanks to many other residents for their kind
advice, sympathy, and numerous acts of friendship. I would not omit
to acknowledge the favours I received from the editors of various
newspapers, and I beg to thank Miss Matilda Proksch, of Leydenburg,
for the revision of my articles inserted in the South African English
journals.