Anna B. Badlam

“ It is interesting to note the contrast in the lives of a Dutchman and an Englishman in South Africa. Even when a Boer has accumulated considerable wealth, he is content to live in a house the floor of which consists of the hard-trodden earth. Here he will live happily, with scarcely any of the luxuries, or even comforts, which the average English settler would deem necessary to his well-being.
The Dutchman is a picture of content; the Englishman one of discontent with the country, the government, the climate, the soil,—with everything and everybody, his neighbors, even, not excepted. ”

“ Where the lion wanders in search of its prey, where the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus make the earth tremble under their heavy tread, where the long-necked giraffe plucks the leaves from the top-most branches of the acacia, where the herds of antelope bound gracefully over the ground, a troop of ostriches may not unfrequently be found enjoying the full liberty of the plain, as they wander, unsuspicious of danger, over its vast expanse, where the monotony of the scenery is relieved only by a clump of palms, a patch of candelabra-shaped trees, or a gigantic and solitary baobab. ”

“ These gardens are always cultivated in the very midst of the sand at no little outlay of time and strength. They furnish striking evidence of man's ingenuity to make the most of his resources, even in so sterile a land.
At one side of the town are two cemeteries; one for Christians, the other for natives. That for Christians is desolate in the extreme. Not a sod, nor even the most humble flower is to be seen; not a tree shades the tombs. The mournful winds of Old Ocean sweep over its expanse, and it seems indeed forsaken; but, dreary as it is, the Moorish cemetery is even more unattractive. ”

“ From the palace there is also a fine view of the hills encircling the city and of the mountains towering in the distance.
It is interesting to catch a glimpse of the Moorish women upon the terraced house tops, many of which have parapets, or walls, breast high, to surround them. Most of the women are richly dressed, and may be seen strolling backwards and forwards, or seated upon the parapets. Some of the younger ones amuse themselves by leaping like children from one terrace to another; they play at hide and seek, or laughingly splash water in one another's faces, as merry as children. ”

“ To the inexperienced eye the prickly pear looks innocent enough, with its smooth, shiny skin, suggestive only of a juicy interior, and telling no tales of lurking mischief; yet each of these soft-looking tufts, with which at regular intervals it is dotted, is a quiver filled with terrible, tiny, hairlike thorns, or rather stings, and woe betide the fingers of the unwary, who with no kind friend at hand to warn him, plucks the treacherous fruit. ”

“ Villages, cultivated lands, the frequent canoes of the fishermen on the waters, and, on a nearer approach, the murmur of the waves breaking upon the shore, give something of variety, of movement, of life to the landscape, which, like all the fairest prospects in these regions, wants but a little of the neatness and finish of art,—mosques and kiosks, palaces and villas, gardens and orchards,—contrasting with the profuse lavishness and magnificence of nature, and diversifying the expanse of excessive vegetation, to rival, if not to excel, the most admired scenery of the classic regions. ”

“ With the depopulation of the country, too, the well-worn, beaten tracks, the shady groves of banana trees, the broad fields of waving grain would disappear, and only devastation and ruin remain, as distressing pictures in this now fertile section.
The white man saw only too plainly that the slave trade did not affect the negro alone, but that it affected the loss or the profit of the whole civilized world. What availed it that the riches of Central Africa were apparently inexhaustible, if the native tribes were not left to help gather them? ”

“ The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise heard in these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder along the sky, for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it where I did not see the animal. So deep is it that it seems to proceed less from the mouth and throat than from the deep chest of the creature. ”

“ It would be interesting to follow out the story of Livingstone's life; his rescue by Stanley when nearly the whole world believed him to have perished from want and privation in some African forest; of his subsequent explorations, his death, and the transportation of his body to England and interment in Westminster Abbey.
No less interesting should we find it to follow Stanley through jungle and thicket, and in hairbreadth encounters with fierce cannibals who cried greedily, "Meat, meat! Give us meat! Ah! now we shall have meat!" whenever they caught sight of the white man. ”

“ The great bend in the coast of Africa, which makes room for the Gulf of Guinea, is one of the singular land formations that strikes the eye and excites the fancy.
The glowing pictures of the beautiful Gold Coast and the wonders of land and sea under the equator serve to create a taste for travel and a desire to enjoy the strange and wonderful sights to be met.
An English explorer, Alvan Millson, has recently written much to give an added interest to this coast section and to call attention to one of the many freaks of nature. ”

“ The chief food of the lion consists of the flesh of the larger herbivorous animals. There are very few animals he is unable to master. The swift-footed antelope has no foe to be so much dreaded as the lion. Concealing himself in the high rushes which line the river's bank, he lies in ambush for the timid herd, till they approach the water at nightfall to quench their thirst. ”

“ In extremely cold weather these people gather twigs and earth, till they have a mound heaped up as a protection on the windward side of the hole. In summer they seek the beds of rivers and, lying under the shade of the mimosas, they draw down the branches to shield themselves from the glare of the sun.
The condition of the Bushmen has been very much changed by the circumstances which have governed their lives. Every one's hand has seemed against them, and theirs raised against every one. ”

“ Should a caravan, in crossing the desert, reach a spring or well, the waters of which had run dry, perhaps the life of one of the camels would have to be sacrificed, in the hope of getting a supply of water from its stomach. This water would be all that the drivers would have with which to sustain life until another spring could be reached.
Nature has fitted the camel most admirably for its desert home. ”

“ Major Harris remarks of this animal, "Beautifully clad by the hand of nature, possessing much of the graceful symmetry of the horse, with great bones and muscular power united to easy and stylish action, thus combining comeliness of figure with solidity of form, this species, if subjugated and domesticated, would assuredly make the best pony in the world. The senses of sight, hearing, and smell are delicate in the extreme. The slightest noise, the least motion, or the sight of any unfamiliar object, will at once rivet their attention and cause them to stop and listen with the greatest care. ”

“ At night the darkness is complete; no light or fire burns in the tents, which are hardly able to resist the gusts of the simoon. Silence reigns throughout the whole caravan, yet no one sleeps; the bark of the jackal or the howl of the hyena alone sounds dismally, from time to time, through the loud roaring of the storm. ”

“ People soon began to migrate from all parts of South Africa and from Europe in search of the hidden treasure. A settlement named Barbertown was built in the center of the eastern mining district, and for some months was one of the busiest places in the country. Not long after, most of the inhabitants removed to the more important fields of the Witwatersrand. Here the city of Johannesburg arose, as if by magic, and streets lined with handsome, substantial buildings, with all modern appliances, added character and beauty to the town. ”

“ When the natives address a superior they call him "My Rhinoceros." This is by way of compliment, and serves to show that the inferior, like this bird, is ready to be of service.
The black rhinoceros has a gloomy, melancholy temper. It often falls into a perfect frenzy of rage from no apparent cause. Yet, to see this creature in its wild haunts, cropping its favorite leaves from the bushes, or moving quietly along over the plains, one might think it one of the most inoffensive and good-tempered animals of the whole continent of Africa. ”

“ To protect the camel against the shifting sands and the burning heat of the sun, nature has further fitted it for its peculiar home and life. It has the power to close its nostrils at will to keep out the sand. Long lashes protect its eyes, not only from the storms of wind and sand, but also from the glare and the heat.
From time immemorial the camel has been known as the beast of burden in India, Arabia, and Africa. This species, the one-humped camel, or dromedary, differs somewhat from that having two humps. The latter has been found in Central Asia, Persia, and the south of Russia. ”

“ The desert yields me juicy roots,
And herds of bounding deer.
"Yea, even the wasting locusts' swarm,
Which mighty nations dread,
To me nor terror brings nor harm,
I make of them my bread."
The Bushmen are not fastidious in their tastes; for they eat many plants and bulbs which other people would despise as food. Grasshoppers and other insects, and even serpents, are eaten by them with much relish.
Their huts are very inferior to those of other tribes. They are usually mere holes in the ground. They sometimes serve the purpose of a bed. ”

“ In appearance the Tuaregs are tall, slender, and well formed. In disposition they are grave, silent, impassive, and affect an indifference to their surroundings. In character they are proud, cunning, quarrelsome, and tenacious. They are very excitable, brave, and enduring, and no privation nor fatigue can dishearten them. In their intercourse with others their hatred knows no pity, their vengeance no mercy.
They are the terror of the caravans that cross the desert, where every living being is an enemy. Whenever a solitary man appears on the dim horizon, the caravan makes ready for battle. ”

“ Gradually the convulsions of the storm grow more violent and frequent; and although the sun is unable to pierce the thick dust clouds, and the shadow of the traveler is scarcely visible on the ground, yet so suffocating is the heat, that it seems to him as if the fiercest rays of the sun were scorching his brain. ”

“ Here and there we behold arcades and remnants of fine Arabic architecture, all showing the destroying touch of Father Time. At intervals we plunge into dark covered passage ways and emerge into the light only to enter again into shadow. ”

“ It is not only a powerful foe but a cunning one as well.
Like the various carnivorous animals, it can, though a reptile, fast in its aquatic home for weeks and even months without apparent inconvenience. When opportunity offers, it becomes a veritable glutton, and is then indolent and torpid at the close of its meal.
It is when excited by hunger that the crocodile displays its great force and activity. Wherever a river enters a lake, or where a lake empties its waters into some larger body, there the ugly reptile may be found lurking, on the watch for fish. ”

“ Two most disastrous battles were fought, in which the English were overpowered and defeated by the Boers, who, though valiant and brave in many respects, did not hesitate to resort to treachery and deceit in their dealings with the English, while they displayed not only cruelty but heartlessness and greed in the victories which they won. They spared neither women nor children in their blind fury and ruthless slaughter, and were indifferent to the cries of the wounded as they searched them for plunder. ”

“ In no other section of the globe has he so many species of large game to choose from.
South Africa is like a vast zoölogical garden. Here are found the giraffe, the gigantic wild boar, the clumsy hippopotamus, and the rhinoceros. Leopards and hyenas seek their prey here among the many species of the antelope family.
Lions lurk on every side. Elephants haunt the lonely pools, where they seek to quench their thirst. ”

“ In all the world there is not a fairer country than the pleasant land of Natal, stretching in steps from the Drachenberg, which bounds it like a mighty wall, downward to the shore of the Indian Ocean. The coast belt is covered with subtropical vegetation, for it is heated by the warm Mozambique current, which runs southward along it, and gives it a higher temperature than is due to its distance from the equator. ”

“ When death enters the household, little change is made in the habits of the family. The body of the dead person is stretched out upon the dirty, bare floor. Sometimes a cloth or rug is thrown over it. The neighbors are then called into the house of mourning and crouch in a circle around the body, while the mild-eyed cattle, as they quietly chew their cud, look on in contemplative wonder.
During the struggle with the French, many of these tribes of the mountains were in the habit of seeking refuge with their flocks and treasures in the caves of the vicinity. ”