| PAGE | |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PORT ELIZABETH AND WALMER. | |
| Early ambitions realized — Voyage to SouthAfrica — Cape Town andWynberg — Profusion offlowers — Port Elizabeth — Christmasdecorations — Publiclibrary — Malays — Walmer — Hottentot huts — Our littlehouse — Prettygardens — Honey-suckers — Flowers ofWalmerCommon — Wax-creeper — Ixias — Scarlet heath — Natal lilies — "Upholstery flower" — Ticks — Commence ostrich-farming — Counting the birds — A ride after an ostrich. | [9] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| SOME OF OUR PETS. | |
| Friendliness of South African birds and beasts — Oursecretary bird — Ungainly appearance ofJacob — His queer ways — Tragic fateof a kitten — A persecutedfowl — Our Dikkops — A babybuffalo — Wounded buffalo more dangerous thanlion — A lucky stumble — Hunterattacked by "rogue" buffalo — A midnightride — Followed by alion — Toto — A pugnaciousgoose — South African climate dangerous to importeddogs — Toto and the crows — Animalsoffered by Moors in exchange for Toto | [25] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| PLANTS OF THE KARROO. | |
| We move up-country — Situation offarm — Strange vegetation of Karroodistrict — Karrooplant — Fei-bosch — Brack-bosch& — Ourflowers — Spekboom — Bitteraloes — Thornyplants — Wacht-een-Beetje — Ostriches killed by pricklypear — Finger-poll — Wild tobaccofatal to ostriches — Carelessness ofcolonists — Euphorbias — Candle-bush | [46] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| OUR LITTLE HOME. | |
| Building operations — Aplucking — Ugliness of Capehouses — Our rooms — Fountain insitting-room a failure — Drownedpets — Decoration ofrooms — Colonist must beJack-of-all-trades — Capewaggons — Shootingexpeditions — Strange tale told by Boer | [61] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| CLIMATE OF THE KARROO. | |
| Cape Colony much abused — Healthyclimate — Wonderful cures ofconsumption — Karroo a good place forsanatorium — Rarity of illness andaccidents — The young colonist — Anindependent infant — Longdroughts — Hot winds — Duststorms — Dams — Advantage ofpossessing good wells — Partiality ofthunderstorms — Delights of a brackroof — Washed out of bed — After therain — Our horses — Effects of rainindoors — Opslaag — The Capewinter — What to wear on Karroo farms | [72] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| OSTRICHES. | |
| An unwilling ride — First sight of an ostrichfarm — Ridiculous mistakes aboutostriches — Decreased value of birds andfeathers — Chicks — Plumage ofostriches — A frightenedostrich — The plucking-box — Sortingfeathers — Voice of theostrich — Savage birds — "Not afraidof a dicky-bird!" — Quelling anostrich — Birds killed by men inself-defence — Nests — An undutifulhen — Darby and Joan — Adisconsolate widower — A hen-peckedhusband — Too muchzeal — Jackie — Cooling theeggs — The white-neckedcrow — Poisoning jackals — Ostricheggs in the kitchen — A quaint old writer onostriches — A suppliant bird — Nestdestroyed by enraged ostrich — An old bachelor | [98] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| OSTRICHES (continued). | |
| Vagaries of an incubator — Hatching thechicks — A bad egg — Human fostermothers — Chicks difficult torear — "Yellow-liver" — Cruelboys — Chicks herded by henostrich — Visit to Boer's house — Acarriage full of ostriches — "The melancholyJaques" — Ostriches at sea — Astampede — Runawaybirds — Branding — Stupidity ofostriches — Accidents — Waltzingand fighting — Ostrich soup — Anexpensive quince — A featheredTantalus — Strange things swallowed by ostriches — A court-martial — The ostrich, orthe diamond? — A visit to the Zoo | [130] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| MEERKATS. | |
| Meerkats plentiful in the Karroo — Theirappearance — Intelligence — Fearlessness — Friendship fordogs — A meerkat inEngland — Meerkat an inveteratethief — An owl in Tangier — Tamingfull-grown meerkat — Tiny twins — Asad accident — Different characters ofmeerkats — The turkey-herd — Bob andthe meerkat — "The Mouse" | [157] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| BOBBY. | |
| Bobby's babyhood — Insatiableappetite — Variety of noises made byBobby — His tameness — Narrow escapefrom drowning — A warlikehead-gear — Bobby the worse fordrink — His love of mischief — Hedisarms his master — Meerkat persecuted byBobby — Bobby takes to dishonestways — He becomes a prisoner — Hisclever tricks — Death of Bobby | [170] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| OUR SERVANTS. | |
| A retrospective vision — Phillis in herdomain — Her destructiveness — Herideas on personal adornment — The woes of amistress — Eye-service — Abruptdeparture of Phillis — Left in thelurch — Nancy and hersuccessors — Cure of shamsickness — The thief's dose — Ourostrich-herd — A bride purchased withcows — English and natives at theCape — Character of Zulus and Kaffirs | [182] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| HOW WE FARED. | |
| Angora goats — Difficulty of keepingmeat — The plague of flies — Rations — Ourstore — Barter — Fowls — Chasing a dinner — Fowls difficult torear — Secretary birds as guardians of thepoultry-yard — Jacob in theKarroo — He comes down in theworld — He dies — Antelopes — A springbok hunt — TheQueen's birthday in the Karroo — Colonialdances — Ourklipspringer — Superstition abouthares — Gamebirds — Paauw — Knorhaan — Namaquapartridges — Porcupines — Ashort-lived pet — Indiancorn — Stamped mealies — Whole-mealbread — Plant used for making breadrise — Substitutes forbutter — Priembesjes — Auseful tree — Wild honey — Thehoney-bird — Enemies of bees — Mothin bees' nests — Good coffee — Sourmilk | [203] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| KARROO BEASTS, BIRDS AND REPTILES. | |
| Leopard drowned inwell — Baboons — Egyptian sacredanimals on Cape farms — "Adonis" — Ahumiliating retreat — A babybaboon — Clever tricks performed bybaboons — Adonis as aVoorlooper — A four-handedpointsman — Sarah — A baboon at theDiamond Fields — Adonis'sshower-bath — His love ofstimulants — His revengefuldisposition — Pelops thedog-headed — Horus — Aasvogels — Goat-sucker — Thebutcher-bird's larder — Nest of the golden oriole — The kapok-bird — Snakes inhouses — A puff-adder under a pillow — Puff-adder most dangerous of Capesnakes — Cobras — Schaapsticker — Uglyhouse-lizards — Dassie-adder — Thedassie the coney of Scripture — Stung by ascorpion — Fight between tarantula andcentipede — Destructive ants — TheAardvaark, or ant-bear — Ignominious flight ofasentry — Ant-lion — Walking-leaves — The Hottentot god — A mantis at apicnic | [237] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| OUR NEIGHBOURS. | |
| Hospitality of Cape colonists — Cheating and jealousyin business — Comfortlesshomes — Spoiltchildren — Education — The"Schoolmaster" — Conventschools — A priest-riddennation — The Nachtmaal — OldFrench names — A South African duke inParis — Fine-looking men — Fatwomen — Ignorance ofVrouws — Boers unfriendly toEnglish — A mean man | [266] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| GOOD-BYE. | |
| Recalled to England — Regrets andfarewells — Cape horses lacking inintelligence — "Old Martin" — Achapter of accidents — A horse "afterVelasquez" — The Spy'srevenge — Virtues and faults of Capehorses —Horse-sickness — Good-byeto Swaylands — Kaffir crane — Thevoyage home — Dogs in durance — St.Helena — A visit to Longwood — Homeagain | [277] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
| I. | Troop of Ostriches and Cart, with Prickly-Pear Leaves forfood | [Frontispiece.] | |||
| II. | 1. Jacob. 2. Toto | Facing page | [26] | ||
| III. | Some of the best kinds of Ostrich-bush:-- | ||||
| 1. Brack-bosch. | |||||
| 2. Ghanna. | |||||
| 3. Fei-bosch. | " | [48] | |||
| IV. | Our Sitting-room | " | [66] | ||
| V. | Ostriches in a Hot Wind | " | [80] | ||
| VI. | Ostrich-chicks | " | [104] | ||
| VII. | 1. Ostrich-chick (Photographed from case in Stanley and African Exhibition) | ||||
| 2. Ostriches meditating Escape through defectivefence | " | [150] | |||
| VIII. | A Meerkat | " | [158] | ||
HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM.
CHAPTER I.
PORT ELIZABETH AND WALMER.
Early ambitions realized — Voyage to South Africa — Cape Town and Wynberg — Profusion of flowers — Port Elizabeth — Christmas decorations — Public library — Malays — Walmer — Hottentot huts — Our little house — Pretty gardens — Honey-suckers — Flowers of Walmer Common — Wax-creeper — Ixias — Scarlet heath — Natal lilies — "Upholstery flower" — Ticks — Commence ostrich-farming — Counting the birds — A ride after an ostrich.
In the year 1881, leaving our native land wrapped in the cold fogs of November, my husband and I started for South Africa; where it was the intention of the former to resume the occupation of ostrich-farming, engaged in which he had already spent many years in the Cape Colony. It was my first visit to South Africa, and I was looking forward with great pleasure to the realization of a very early wish; for the adventures of settlers in far-off lands had always from childhood been my favourite reading, and I had become firmly convinced that a colonial life would suit me better than any other. Nor have I been disappointed; but, looking back now on our life in South Africa, I can truthfully say that, though certainly lacking in adventure, it has—unlike many things long wished for and attained at last—in no way fallen short of my expectations.
The few hours we spent at Madeira were unfortunately during the night; and the beautiful island I was so longing to see remained hidden from view in a most tantalizing manner, without even the moonlight to give us some faint outline of its far-famed loveliness.