Navy be forgotten for their chivalrous kindness
I shall ever remember Captain Maxwell Heron
of H. M. S. Seagull, and Captain D. Hopkins i
British Consul, as my friends, and so also Captain
John Childs Purvis, of H.M.S. Danae, who, when \
I was wondering whether I should be compelled I
to lead the Wangwana across the continent to?
their homes, solved my doubts and anxieties by
offering the Expedition a passage to Cape Town
in H.M.S. Industry, Commander R. C. Dyer. The
offer of the Portuguese Governor-General to
convey me in a gunboat to Lisbon, and the
regular arrivals of the Portuguese mail steamers,
were very tempting, but the condition of my
followers was such that I found it impossible to
leave them. I resolved therefore to accompany
them to the Cape of Good Hope.
The cordial civilities that were accorded to us
at Loanda were -succeeded by equally courteous
treatment on board the Industry. Her officers,
Captain Dyer, Assistant Surgeon William Brown,
and Paymaster Edwin Sandys, assisted me to the
utmost of their ability in alleviating the sufferings
of the sick and reviving the vigour of the desponding.
But the accomplished surgeon found
his patients most difficult cases. The flame of life
flickered and spluttered, and to fan it into brightness
required in most of the cases patience and tact
more than medicine. Yet there was a little improvement
in them, though they were still heavy-eyed.
rOct. '«> i8770 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 2 4 1
[ Simon’s B a y . J
Upon arriving at Simon’s Bay, Cape of Good
Hope, on the 21st October, I was agreeably
surprised by a most genial letter, signed by
Commodore Francis William Sullivan, who invited
me to the Admiralty House as his guest, and
from whom during the entire period of our stay
at the Cape we met with the most hearty courtesy
and hospitality. He had also made preparations
for transporting the Expedition to Zanzibar, when
a telegram from the Lords of the British Admiralty
was received, authorizing him to provide for the
transmission of my followers to their homes, an
act of gracious kindness for which I have recorded
; elsewhere my most sincere thanks.
Had we been able to accept all the invitations
that were showered upon us by the kind-hearted
colonists of South Africa, from Cape Town to
' Natal, it is possible we might still be enjoying
our holiday at that remote end of Africa, but
Her Majesty’s ship could not be delayed for our
pleasure and gratification. But during the time
she was refitting, the authorities of Cape Town
and Stellenbosch, through the influence of
Lady Frere, Commodore Sullivan, and Captain
Mills, Colonial Secretary, exerted themselves
so zealously to gratify and honour us, that
I attribute a large share of the recovery in
health of my followers to the cordial and
unmistakable heartiness of the hospitalities they
there enjoyed. Here the Wangwana saw for the
THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. VOL. IV. R