Saturday, June 20.—I ordered some cod-liver oil from the Cape, and am now finding it useful. Rose Swain, who has had a long-standing cough, comes every day after dinner for a dose. It has cured her, and now I have another patient, a dear little curly-headed boy of two, Lizzie Rogers' brother and one of our scholars. He, too, has been ailing some time with a cough. To-day, as it was damp underfoot, his brother Arthur brought him on his back, a fairly heavy load for him, as he is only seven.
Tuesday, June 23.—Last week the men went by boat to Seal Bay to shoot cattle. They had to walk home on Saturday and back again on Monday. Yesterday evening they tried to come up by boat, but had to return. The women went out to-day to meet them at the Bluff, but saw nothing of them.
Wednesday, June 24.—They went out again to-day to the Bluff, which is quite five miles from here, to meet the men with something warm to drink. The wind was high and heavy storms were passing over the island, but this time their journey was not in vain, for some of the men returned, carrying as much of the meat as they could. They had killed four oxen.
Saturday, June 27.—To-day as we were going for a walk on Big Beach Mr. Keytel asked us to call on our way back. This we did and found tea awaiting us. He has made his house look so well. Facing the door there is a book-shelf on the wall with a good supply of books. There are also shelves and tables for his photographic apparatus. And, last of all, he has made little red blinds for his windows, which give the house a very cheerful appearance. So far we have not gone in for curtains, with the exception of one in our bedroom to screen off the draught from the kitchen, a draught which is sometimes so great as to be almost unbearable.
Thursday, July 2.—The thermometer outside the window registered just over thirty-nine degrees.
About a fortnight ago Mr. Keytel had a meeting of "All Hands," at which he said that there was one person who had greatly disappointed him, meaning Bob Glass. I think it was the day after that Bob Glass went to pay Mr. Keytel a visit and told him that shortly there would be a big fight on the island, and also that he had a revolver at his house which could be used on a certain person and then on himself.
[Illustration: MR. KEYTEL'S HOUSE]
Mr. Keytel finds the sheep have scab, and is much vexed he was not told this before shipping them for Cape Town. He hopes to stamp it out, but nothing can be done until next year.
Tuesday, July 7.—Last Saturday we weighed the loaf I had just baked. It weighed eight and a half pounds, and was forty-one inches round. We bake one of this size twice a week.
Friday, July l0.—On Wednesday night we had a magic-lantern entertainment, given by Mr. Keytel, and nearly every one came to it. It was quite a new thing to them and was a great success. There were many miscellaneous pictures followed by the story of Robinson Crusoe, which was much enjoyed. Mr. Keytel worked the lantern, Graham gave the explanation.