THREE WEEKS IE SOUTH AFRICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 45

THREE WEEKS IE SOUTH AFRICA.

By F. W. Penn&father, LL D

No. .IV. i start on my journey to kimb^rley — my fellow-teavelleus scfxefty sunday at a dutch country town — completion of the joubnjcy to kimbehley. Beaufort West, Sunday Evening, December 19, 1897. There would be quite sights enough at Capetown to satisfy an ordinary person for three weeks afc least, but a true vagabond is nob au ordinary person ; to rest content aft the verge of a vast; continent and leave all else unseen n beyond his menfcel capacity. So, in spice of all warnings as to heat, mc.aquitos, typhoid fever, and fatgue. I sta-ted off on Saturday morning for an expedition to the diamond mines at Kimberley. Ifc is a weary journey of 35 hours. That means two ni^hbs and a day in b'oe brain — aa bad as going from Sydney., to Brisbane. Plowsver, I resolved fco bre.+k ifc lfalf-way. I h*d as my companions an elderly Dulch gentleman and his son. With the sanas sorb of patriotism th*>fc impels the Germans to brush up their moustaches so as to loik like the Emperor, and ths Italians to mak-j the:r hair stand on end in imitation ol King Ffumber'j, my fiiend was in hair, beard, aud oafc so fs.ifcb.fui a copy of the great Oom P*ul that for the moment I w?s completely taken i«i, and had if. on tbe fcip of my tongue to say " How is Mis Kruger ? " However, he turned out to be a most agreeable fellow-traveller, and told me much aboub the colocy ; and if his son is a fair specimen of the rising generation of Dutchmen, South Africa has a gcod future before ib ; for a more intelligent and gentlemanly joubh I have seldom met. At ficsb we traversed a monotonous sandy Tva?te, here and there covered with scrub, nofc unlike tbe leasfc interesting part of Ike desert between Adelaide and Melbourne ; fchen wa wound up through rocky gullies fco the upper plateau, with the grand r&rges of the Drakenstein, the Winfccihoek, and oslser mountains on eithrr side. As the fantastic psaks stood gud against (he cloudless sky, and the rocky siopes, shimmering in the heat of au almost; tropical sun, assumed every colour tf ths rsiubjw, the scenery was magnificent, bub terribly parched and weird. The wid 3 valley was almost uncultivated, and scrub took the place of grasx. Sometimes, iudasd, we carae across v ; neyards, fields of corn, flocks of cattle, and farmhouses ; bub they wr-re few and far between. Yet s-urely this great valley could be turned to belter account. The rainfall m-.y bs slight — only some lOin in the year. — bufc the water from the mountains must pprcolate somewhere underground, and the spiend d way in wbieb gum trees fl.urish wherever they art: p!anfeed suows that ifc can be reached afc no very great depth. If the land could ba pub to uo bttber u^e to support population, ib might at any rate, be turned into one vast forest of eucalyptus, which would snpp'y all Capetown with timber and firewood. The natives one meets at ths station* seem all comfortably dressed, and look v< ry like Maoris, if somewhat darker. All talk bhe unmusical Cape Dabsh. The few farmhouses are not in the least pretty, except for the gura trees snd wetping willows which suiround them, and amongefc which they stand up gauufc and bare. If thty were in Australia they would have shaay verandahs of vines and pasiion flowers and gardens of sutfljwers at>d oleanders. I could nofc help bsiug reminded of Olive Schteiner'e dreadful description of life on an African farm. The meals afc the stations where wo stop for lunch and dinner are dear and bad. lam sbill waiting to find such a thing as a good cup of tea in South Africa. The stations are (like fche railway carriages) lighted with the electric light; bufc the only ornaments on the tables are some tawdry paper flowei'3, and the food is very poor. By bbc way, so far I have nofc seen a mosquito, and the flies are nofc nearly as annoying as they are in the North Island of New Zealand on a summer's day. As is drew on towards evening, the iutense heat; passed away ; bufc, ud fortunately, fche scenery became uglier and uglier. The high I mountains were gone, and the Ecrub on fche i veldb was poor and parched. I slept peacef ully i for two hours, s>nd ab nearly 2 a.m. arrived ab Beaufort; Wes% a lisfcle town of aboub 3000 inhabitants, some 2800ffc above the sea, and 310 ; miles from Capetown. After a good night's rest, I started oufc early |to sse the sights of the place. It is indeed an | oasis in the desert. A road thafc must be nearly ; a mile long goes straight through the town, with a beautiful row of shady trees — pears, figs, mulberries, pomegranates, besides gums and cypresses — and a cool stream of running water on each sidt*. The principal building is the Dutch Church, with a lofty spire. Internally it is of no beauty, bub possesses a large i organ. The English Church, where I attended service, is a humbler structure, Unfortunately some repairs wei-e going on, which prevented the windows being opened. The temperature was like an oven. The congregation was not large, bufc I was glad fco see a good proportion of natives amongst them. In the afternoon I watched all tb.9 Dutch people, in their Sunday best — the men in broadcloth and beaver, the ladies all in black, — goiDg to the afternoon sermon at 4 o'clock, and felt that they must be very much in earnest to leave their cool verandahs in such terrific heafc to listen to preaching in a stuffy church. KIMBERLKY, I Monday Morning, December 20, 1897. 1 Wei), Kimberiej at last, and a good business

too. The j -uru;-y has baon simply hideous. Fortunately, miach nf ifc v.as at. night; ; a faw more hours' gazing on that break's*, grassiess, waterless expanse would have driven rue inco melancholy madness. I had some goodnatured young Dutchmen as my fellow travellers, bu'< our ideas in common soon got worn out, and we smoked in silence I may here mention thac I had been travsllirg sec nd class : there are three classes on South African train?, tho third being mostly uei by natives. The charges are 3i, 2d, and Id a mile, and at Christmas time return tickets are granted afc single rates. In the second class, bunks are provided without extra charge ; thsy ara three deep, so the space above ycu ia as limited as on a steamer belonging to the Union Company of Xew Zealand. Of course there aie scms sbafcious, but ifc must nofc be imagined that these mean fciwns or even settlements. They are get.eraliy at "roads," thafc is, spots from which tracks go across the veldt to soma distant township, the only communication bfing by a vrei-kly cart. For instance, Victoria WeiS Road (where I bad .some rice pudding for which I paid 3i — She rest of ihe rnenl was uceatable) 13 sifcuatei eight milea from Victoria Wes>o, 78 miles from Carnarvon, 2i5 miie« from Kenhardt, and 300 from Upiogtoii — the hire of a carb to the lasc-ment/ioned town beiDg £30 ! Fancy iiving in such a country ! Our last; stopping place was ab Modder River, which consists of three houses and a clump of gum trees. This is marked in the guide-book as " a favourite holiday resort of the inhabitants of Kimberley." Poor inhabitants !