Newspapers and printing in general are ahead of the town. The wages, however, are low compared to other large places in South Africa.
"Hi'm the merry widow!" he shouted. "Hi'm the merry widow!" A Cockney Jew, with a grooved face, was among the merchants who sold goods—underwear, shirts, socks, haircombs, handkerchiefs, etc.—on what is known as the Parade Ground on certain days of the week. He wore on his head a woman's white straw hat with a soft, broad brim, which flopped against the sides of his face while he vigorously cried his wares. Around the crown of the hat was a garland of artificial flowers—daisies, roses, forget-me-nots, etc. He stood on a box, and told his auditors he was almost giving everything away. He talked at the rate of a thousand words a minute, more or less, working so hard that the perspiration on his face resembled a large water-soaked sponge when pressed. While streamlets of sweat ran down the flutes in his cheeks, he frequently interlarded his cheap-bargain harangue with, "Hi'm the merry widow!" "Hi'm the merry widow!"
Nearly 200,000 people live in and about Capetown, and the mixture is the worst in South Africa. Malays came to the Cape Peninsula years ago, and the mongrel off-shoots of these, with Arabs and natives of St. Helena and other places, emphasize the word "colored."
Being situated at almost the junction of two seas, the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the climate is the best in South Africa. The weather is never very hot, and frost is unknown.
We shall travel northward over the Karoo again to Bloemfontein, then easterly across the Orange Free State to Ladysmith, board a train going south, and return to Durban.
As stated in the early part of this volume, I had $1,350 when I left New York. On returning to Durban I had $637. With that sum I was about to start for India. The second day after reaching Durban, however, I obtained work on the leading newspaper, which furnished me with employment for six months. My wages averaged $40 a week. Modest comforts were good enough for me, and, living expenses being reasonable, I was enabled to put away a snug sum. Work was there for me if I wished to "drop in" the next year, so I promised to be on hand. This opened an opportunity to visit another continent—Australia—which I had not taken into calculation before leaving New York, as at that time I had not money enough to do so. So, early in January, I was on my way to the Antipodes.
On my return from Australia I took another trip to Johannesburg and back. I went to work the first of August and continued to the middle of December. Then I made a trip to Zululand, and upon my return was again offered work. As I had not enough money for the remainder of the journey, I decided to stay. Taking another trip to East London, Kingwilliamstown, up through Kaffraria, to Cradock, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and back to Pietermaritzburg and Durban, in the middle of March, 1912, I went to work for the third time, and finally bid good-by to Durban in July following.