Botanic Gardens, which by Scotch industry and skill
were made on the site of a sandy waste, and exhibits
the most unsatisfactory local museum it was ever my
lot to enter. A new curator is now engaged, and will
probably remedy many of its present defects ; but a commencement
might be made by eliminating common
Indian Lepidoptera, which are unnamed and unlocalized
as such, and also by removing some of the brilliant
paint of various hues by which it has been sought to
ornament a Shark which hangs pendent from the roof.
At East London rough weather prevented a comfortable
landing, but here an ichthyologist would find much to
interest him. Two Hammer-headed Sharks (Zygcena sp.)
patrolled the ship, whilst some of the crew threw out
lines and caught Sea-Perch, Cape Salmon, and Dogfish.
Both here and at Port Elizabeth sea-bathing is
rendered dangerous by the presence of many large
Sharks.
Durban, washed by the Indian Ocean, has a more or
less Oriental aspect: gaily-dressed Klings walk the
roads and show their old partiality for selling fruit and
vegetables; it is the Hindu race that provide the railway
porters and the hotel waiters, and a large number
of the stores are kept by what are styled “ coolie ”
merchants. Although it was still winter there was a
warmth and colour about Durban that made the contrast
to the Cape very pleasant and very tropical; but
as Natal forms the subject of another chapter little need
be said here, and our stay was very short. We landed
at noon and left by the evening train for the Transvaal
vid Newcastle.
The railway passes through some of the finest scenery
of Natal; but this part of the journey was completed
during the night, and when daylight broke we were
near Ladysmith, and mountain, ravine, and rivers were
giving place to those bare and generally treeless tracts
that are so universally known in South Africa as veld.
From Ladysmith to Newcastle the rail ascends some
steep inclines, which eventually lead to the high
plateau on tvhich J ohannesburg and Pretoria stand, thus
accounting for the temperate climate of that inner
south-eastern portion of the continent. Scarcely a
living thing could be seen from the carriage windows,
the parched aspect of an African winter, which made
the wilderness look more forlorn, was qualified by the
clear light, the cloudless sky, and the pure dry but
invigorating atmosphere. This railway is the main
artery by which Natal carries on its large and increasing
trade with the Transvaal. I t is but a few years
ago that Pietermaritzburg was the terminus, and from
thence wagon and coach were the only further means of
transport; then the iron way reached Ladysmith, afterwards
pushed on to Biggarsherg, and at the time of our
journey extended to Newcastle*, which we reached
about midday. Biggarsherg particularly exhibits the
migratory nature of these small termini. At the time
when it represented—though but for a short period—
the railway boundary, a very fair hotel was erected,
large sheds were necessary to hold the merchandize that
continually arrived and waited for wagon transport,
whilst the neighbourhood became the residence of the
different transport agents. Possessing nothing in itself,
when the line extended to Newcastle, hotel, sheds, and
transport agents passed on, and Biggarsherg to-day is a
small village with a rather large railway station. Newcastle
is in a different position, and although the
carrying trade is now transferred to Charlestown, it
possesses coal, and has a wool trade which will maintain
its already somewhat advanced development.
It is singular to renew the old coaching days of
England in South Africa, yet it is probable that the
nearest approach to that method of travelling is to be
found to-day in and near the Transvaal. We left Newcastle
on a clear July Sunday noon, with a full load of
twelve passengers, extra luggage (for each passenger is
only allowed 28 lb.f), and the Natal mails, in a kind of
open break with a team of eight horses. Of regular
* This was in 1890; in the spring of the year 1891 the line was opened for
traffic as far as Charlestown, and now reaches the confines of the Transvaal.
t On my return journey by coach from Pretoria to Vryburg I was charged
£7 extra for my trunk, although my personal passage was only £9 10s.