I had been endeavouring, without success, to learn something from the naval authorities relative to Mozambique, for more than five months, during which I was detained, most unwillingly on my part, at the Cape, and now a new chief arrived, who immediately placed a vessel at my disposal, and gave me the information I required. To me it is a subject of great satisfaction to meet with the right man in the right place.
Besides those already named as belonging to my party, an officer and thirty-three soldiers for Natal were passengers in the “Hermes;” and Mr. Daniel Cloete, a brother of the Recorder of Natal, who is well known for his lectures on that colony, was a guest of the ward-room officers of the ship.
Pacing the deck of the “Hermes,” memory carried me back fourteen years, to the day when I first ascended her side in Port Royal Harbour, Jamaica, with my promotion into her as a midshipman, from the subordinate rank of a volunteer of the first class, now denominated a naval cadet. The old craft and I were no strangers; and I was glad to find that there was as nice a set of fellows in her as in former days. Captain Gordon set an example to all; and, indeed, I can never forget his great attention to our comfort while on board. My wife, from his hearty welcome, felt quite at home; and, although the old Symonite did roll uncommonly, we enjoyed the passage in her amazingly.
Captain Gordon was an old cruiser in these waters, having been Senior Lieutenant of a steamer during the Kaffir war; and, being well acquainted with the coast, he kept well in shore, and took great pleasure in pointing out to us every remarkable place on the passage to Natal.
One cannot help being struck with the park-like appearance of the land, when steaming along the coast of Kaffraria; a valuable territory, situated between our two colonies of the Cape and Natal, which, in the course of events, must become annexed to our South African possessions. Many parts of the country along this line of coast are truly picturesque, and all really beautiful. But until one arrives at the St. John’s River, the country appears to be indifferently wooded, with the exception of a few places where magnificent timber-trees make their appearance. At the St. John’s River, a visible change in the aspect of the country takes place. There the land, being a succession of terraces rising from the ocean, offers the most beautiful spots, already cleared away by the hand of nature, for the erection of residences, having for their backgrounds magnificent forests, while the sea view unfolds the boundless expanse of the Southern Ocean, through storm and calm, bearing on its bosom the argosies richly laden with the commerce of the East and the West.
From St. John’s River to Port Natal there are one hundred and twenty-two rivers, all of which, of course, are not navigable; but many of them are more or less practicable for boats and small vessels, giving access, by water, to this rich country. Its value cannot be over-estimated, being exceedingly healthy, and having a climate in which the vegetable productions of the temperate and torrid zones may be raised side by side. The fact of there being one hundred and twenty-two rivers discharging themselves into the ocean, in a coast-line of one hundred and thirty miles, shows how beautifully the country is naturally irrigated. Man’s energy is alone required to turn the virgin soil of this district into a land of plenty.
CHAPTER VI.
Arrive at Natal—The Bar—Proposed Harbour of Refuge—Wharves in the St. Lawrence—Railroad at Natal—D’Urban—Port Natal Harbour—Verulam—Pieter-Maritzburg—Slave Ship off Port Natal—The Havannah Slavers—Chamber of Commerce—Natal Waggon—“Daft Jemmy.”