THREE WEEKS US SOUTH AFRICA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11047, 26 February 1898, Page 2

THREE WEEKS US SOUTH AFRICA.

Bi F. W. Eenxee-athgb, LL.D

IHE START, ETC.

I had intended to return.to,Ne.w Zealand by .. the Tougariro, and/sonma^e all'my 'arrangements for starting ipa ifee iQth'of November, when suddenly the,advertisement.was -changed';' ac 3 I found that the steamer would:not start ; for^other^onthj^ Here !*a^ a ; pretty state o| things. ; Was I to face' London* fogs'for November, or to cross the Atlantic in the depth of winter aud find myself snowed up somewhere m the American mountains? Fortunately, another coarse was possible ; I decided to start '<? li, Ca? fc. lelmer and spend three weeks in South Africa, waiting for the Toogariro tn pickmis up It is a plan I recommend to all New Zealaudera returning to the colony J it forms a pleasant break iuthu mouotony of a lona voyage and enables, thwa to see something of one of the most interesting parts of -the -British iumpire. - ■ " -;;v ..- . : It is a.very easyVmatflerto'teaeh the' Care There are two lines, the Union and the Castle By each there is a fortnightly m*il steamer, and in the alternate, weeks, another steamer called an "intermediate." An "intermediate" is quite as comfortable as the mail; if somewhat slower, and thefare is considerably less • so without much hesitation I decided to travel by the Tintagel, Castle, a splendid vessel of 5531 tons r whiofr wartd Wars from' Southampton on Saturday, November 20, at 1 o'clock. We sped down from London by sneeial train, only to bo met at Southampton by the Pleasing newa that the steamer was stack somewhere or another by the fog, and that there was no chance of our getting away before 9 at night, if then. However! things might have been worse. The company provided hberally for our creature comforts at an excellent hotel, and there are several things to bi seen at Southampton, even 0Q a November afternoon At last the steamer arrived, und we vrero able to sleep on board, though we did not weigh anchor until Sunday morninV What a much^maligned place the Bay of .Biscay is.! Just because somebody once wrote a poem about a storm there the British public assume thab it lives in a condition of perpetual tornadoes. I may be singularly fortunate. I can only say that I have crossed it five times, and for four out of the five it has beeu as calm as a millpond. The voyage to Grand CUnaiy was hfee a.yachting' excursion across a lake, fiady on Friday morning, November 26, we propped anchor in the, lovely harbour of Las

It wag not mere poetry that led the ancient Greeks to speak of the Canaries as the Isles of the Blest. True, the dragon has long bince been slam, and I did not sea; the giant who supports the heavens; but the.islands seem lo contain every thing that mortal man can desire Xhecluaate is well nigh perfect; not being in tne tropics tber^. is nQ ex hau,tiug heat. The winter is mnch like wti^t ah Eugliah summer is supposed to be ; no fear of occasional nipping blasts from icy mountains, which make the bouta of France so treacherous, or of scoro.hio X winds from the desert such as one has to dread even at Cairo—a steady temperature of about MKleg. It must be confessed that the i.ountry has a somewhat arid, parched appearance, but that means that it is drier and le'.s ezaanstmg than ,Madeira. Tho Canaries form an archipelago of five principal islands and some smaller ones. Tenwiffe is familiar to all who have travelled by the New Zealand or the bnaw-Savill, but Grand Canary lies out of their track, do I was the tnoro fortunate in stopping there. The old native race that once peopled the islands has long since died out or become merged in the Spanish fconqnering immigrant-'. At present the population of the whole group is about the s^me ns that of the South Island.of New Zealand, and ij thoroughly Spanish. The islands are amongst the few foreign poj-.eseions now left to the unfortunate Kingdom of Spain, and certainly they would lorm a bright jewel in any crown. Like a»l other partd of tb«j world, they have their periods of depression. The oidimn at one time almost destroyed the famous vineyards ; the cochine&l trade (which had turned hedges of prickly pears into valuable crops) was practically ruintd by thid discovery ot uniliDe dyeu ; the fall in the price of wheat was felt aj severely there as elsewhere ; still on tho whole the islands are marvellously prosperous. Potatoes, which grow freely here, find a. ready market in the West Indies; bananas', tomatoes, oraoges, and

melons are Rent to London (which, it must be ' rem-inhered, is only six days distant). The ' sulphur mines are very rich, and probably will at some future time rival those of Sicily, but as ret are hardly worked. The increasing number ot steamers which mika Teneriffe and Las 1 almas their ports of call promote trade, and : every yf'ar more and more wealthy Englishmen eorao to avoid the rigours of the northern : winter, and spend their money freely in ' rambling abous the country with the true Uritnh cpirit of narssfc. ( The Is'and of Grand Canary is about 40 | tuiles by 30, and chiefly consists of a vast conj fused mass of monufcaios divided by deep ferule I valley 3, out exposing barei rocky Slopes to the ; ocean. . Ab the capital. Las Palmas, the hotels | are excellent and moderate; and life there ' vroald-btt very pl«ss.«-ufc- were- ifc-not for- tbej usual torments of balls, tennis matches, and i goit touroamenfs. Excursions through the | ?>ounk»ms—from drives of a few hours to j rtitnblea lasting many days—are innumerable. | v ntortunately, oar tiaie was ap B horfc that we toald take non u of them, but had to concent onrstrlves with the few sights that the town can . Oiier. Hardly had we dropped anchor than the ship was surrounded by boats, with the inevitable divio-, boys, and the air was rent with shrieks: ot "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-av," "ffiw a I dive, "Throw in sixpence." . Xhfcso Spanish i a?. 9 .d 0 "OS-seem quioe bo agile m> thu little teilows at Aden; but their costume—or the absencs of it—is.eveu.inore primitive. »nl was .there ever a Spmish boy who was not brimming over with mirth, and fun ?■ -We rowed to i the shore, where a cro*d of vehicles—drav^n by ; *he .s.arries.fc nags I. hava seen sines I whs in bpiin long years aao—were wiicing, and we jolted and.buropad along a rutty road for about two miles up to the town. The white, fla-.-rooted houses have qnite an, Oriental effect as, they peep onfc through the groves of tamarisks and date, pslnas, or 3taa<J Ollfc in mdi ot - bananas and prickly pnavs. I«W fljwer? I was disappointed ; the searlnb g«raniu<ns and a lew po.nsettißs were in blossom in the public gardens, and some of tha houses were covered : with., purple bougaif.vdlea; bub except for. these, I saw but few flowers. The cathedral U situated in the middle of the town, forsaing one I ot a plaza ;itis a massive buildino- in the heavy Span sh'sfcjle of th 6 sixteenth cantury. and, hke all Spaniah cathedral*, the interior is sadly spoilt by.tao Coro, which blocks no the nave; but the lofty, palm-tike pillars Which branch-out into the roof thsy *upp ,rt, unbroken \>y anything in tho way of capitals, are .gracetul and pleasing, and thesiz* of the building conveys the idea of jrraridfeur. _ Oh, thtsa beggars ! One caunot stir without being; pursued by an army of 'deformities, aud hearing all round the c«a*eless whine, "Por el •mor_dei Dios, S-iior, dar m, V o un cuarto." Bat British stolidity outmascered even Spanii-h pert.uac.ty; I oi,mpleted my tour of the town without being mulcted of a farthing! I had intended to See the museum, and too attendant at the door-was kind enough to go and ■fetch' the key; bnt the .smells w.>re to dceadtul that I fled without, waiting for his lefcarn. ; Ihe fruit-market in a strange town h *Lvav.s .worth ,a_visit, thougii oa ; this occasion is contained, little basidvs oranges, lemons, melons ■ spme poor-looking plums, egg fruit, and qaV.,.tities of omouß.- O£'course, the ladies of the party had; many purchases to m«ke, both here and m the^hops, so I had to brmh uo my loogtorgotten Spanish and dotho bargaiui,,^ tor the whole party. I then found that there was just time for ascram'Wj up the hill to see the viaw over the city and harbour; and we'Wro amply repaid for our trouble; far not only was the panorama' magbificenfc, but more thau that, we came acrosaa pumberoTquaint cavorn-d -veilings, like those occupied by tlw gipsiss of Granada! ■el ar^.' ■ amto' d» a characteristic feature of Canary Islands. We were f.irtuoate m Unaing the steam tram jusfc ff oiog down to the port, and so nvoide.d the jolting and bump, ing of a carriage. Wo reached the steamer in time to find the coaling completed aadsfceim' being gob up. . - : ■_Oi: the voyage from Graud Cinary to Uv> Cape I say nothing. Not ev«n Mr Fcoude could make a long account of the cards, the sports, and the gossip of the sa!oon anyohias but the dullest 6f dull reading; and if thai werenpt enough, I should take warninjr by a book of travels in South AfHc* I have jusS been' perusing, but whose name I forbpar to disclose MS/,. V"IaT Of 18° P»ges, 60 beio,- fill«d with detans of the voyage, including fche'dimW menus .and tha programme of the concert. and; the other 120 principally with explanations of, what » truly great mau the pboolh t.f South Atric* thought the author! N.B.—The author was s Bcotohmaß. • .-••■■■■■• ATIKIVAt, AT .(3APETOWM. SUNDAY OK SHOKB. . : ' ".'CHUKCHEii AND GARDR>f3. I must begin by answeriug by antxipation aome charges that. are certain, tb ba brought strainst'me.. People will say," Another regular globetrotter X- He rushes through the colony in ttiree weeks, writes a bnofr," and tries'to pose as sn anthority on South Africa." My answer is— 1 sm not going to rush through the colon? Ido nut mean to write a book, and I have noibtention of posing ;as an authority on any subjeot; whatever. I kriow that in my hurriftd Tisit I can only see one or two spots on this vaat continent I shall merely jot down in my diary a tew of the things I can manage to see; and I have come to learu, not to teach. • ■.-... ;.,:Bjrly.oß Sunday morhine ws d^opned anchor in th»i harbour of Table Biy. Fortunately, I was on deck io time to, have » glorious.:view: of theenrly morning sun rolling away the cloth .rom .the summit of the mountain ; and soon alter oreakfant I was ones again on tf.rra ti.rma me whole jc-ne reminded ma mire of the Base tQMi the South. Crewd* of people of every wee and colour-Kaffir.. Malays, ludian/, French, Dutch, and Bnglisb. not to snaik oc all shades of half-castor, j .bbering'in the various (languages of Emvpe. Asia, and Atnca—met u« at evtry turn ; but as soon as I euteredthe city I felt as though I were back in Australia, once were. The atriighfc streets of white houaeii, with veratidalm of crumpiod tin and the eternal blue of tb,a. (iky overhead, wew Adelaide over ignri; ifc.waa only the cons^nf; view of the mountain towering above us thai dispelled the illusion. : I soon found my way to the cathedral. . I'had riot muco, and so wan not disappointed. It is * ban imitation ot a London church of the last century A church parade was taking place, so the aisles were hlled with red, black, and grey uniforms, »nd as the ordinary congregation was larga th-^ onurch was incourenieutly crowded, lt.woaid have been better to hava had the military service at some other time. Tae South African rolunteers are certainly a fine body of men and their drill is arimirab'e. Ib seemad only the other day that I _ sai v tb-m iron the steps ot bt. Paul's as they marched in :.he prccts^ion at th« Diamond Juhil»i>. *.i, Af' e u 4i e Bts!; vica J strolled for s^niß timo through the gardnns, which are close to the cathedral. Of course they have hot the cba-m----ing situation pf,tho»e a f gydney, aud it must be cor,leased that they are somewhat crampad ; but it is a great boou for the people to hava them in the heart of the city, and ce-tainly they are very lovely. Iv the middle of the day the heat was intense—aimost like Adelaide • and the gorgeous: scarlet of the hybiscus. the bright blue of the, water liii 6f , the great white blossoms of the 'magnolias, with the waving palms and bamboos lont quite a tropical effect to the scene. But the charm of the whole was tne marvellous manner in which all latitudes !tem^° nuite hore : iUbt beside the P»P»° and the Moreton Bay fig are groves of Austrian pines and shady »«,!»,«« of Eugiish oaks, planted, lain fold, by tho Dutchmeu 100 years ago. .'■■'.' .In the midst of i.he gardens, in front of the library ho,so muuiJicjuUy endowed, stands * statue of my kind triend Sir George Grey. It was carved when he was a comparatively joung man; but though I only knew him in his old age, I can ate at a glauce that it must have been an admirable portrait. In the cool of the afternoon I took along ramble through, the town. The Dutch churches are large, auu, I am told, are all well attended ; but non^e hava any pretence to architectural beauty. The principal one, in Adderley street, contains an enormous and elaboratßly-carved pulpifc. bub nothing else to detain tha tourist..{ -Ihe Roman Catholic Church is a prominent edifice, and internally it is lofty, with nave and aisles, aud a t;ood open roof ; but the architecture generally is worse than that of the Anglican Cathedral, being debased Gothic, j Wby cannot the architects here either develop a new style of their own or at least imitate some variety which is suitable to the climate, snch as the peculiar type of Gothic one sees at Seville or Barcelona ? " ; Government House is delightfully situated, ! close to the gardens and library, but the build- ! lug itself is a heterogeneous etructure, added ' to from time to time as occasion required, and , would compare unfavourably with any of the ' Government.Housea iv Australasia. i