PHASES OF NATURE AROUND PRETORIA. 45 



long. It was on these rocky cliffs that I made my first 

 acquaintance with the Eupkorbice and Aloes, so typical 

 of the South- African flora. 



The farm is soon reached in all its simplicity. Twenty 

 thousand acres, including hills, is not a bad stretch of 

 country for one man to own ; and when it is considered 

 that nearly the whole of this tract is in the same con- 

 dition as it was when first allotted at the time of the 

 early Boer settlement, with the exception that all the 

 large game, including lions and leopards, are now 

 slaughtered or driven back, a peculiar feature of the 

 Transvaal problem is apparent. Sitting on one of the 

 hills which surround this homestead, and looking at the 

 lonely grandeur of the scene, one wonders why these 

 Boers, under the laws of the average of genius, have 

 not produced a Robert Burns or the founder of some 

 new religion. It was on these hills that our Kafirs 

 felled the trees and stripped the bark, and looked 

 forward to my weekly visit with their w^ages, as " one 

 day further on " their return to their kraal with the cash 

 sufficient to negotiate the arrangement for another 

 wife. 



Towards the end of August the nights became 

 decidedly warmer, though no rain fell. Dragonflies 

 somewhat suddenly appeared hovering over small ponds, 

 of which d'ocothemis erythrwa and die giant Anax 

 mauricianus were the most common, two oak trees 

 growing near the Church Square were approaching fair 

 leaf, and the universal peach-bloom gave a warm colour 

 to the whole scene. Small patches of Sedum, sp.?, were 

 blooming on the adamantine veld, and the representa- 

 tives of butterfly life were increased by the appearance of 

 some species of Acrwa and of Papilio demolcus. A few 

 bugs (Lygoeidce} could now be obtained by sweeping ; but 

 the rains were still absent, and the full spring was not yet, 

 though small water-beetles (Aulonogyrus aldominaUs] in 

 the noonday sun skimmed the surface of the clear brooks, 

 on the shady banks of which quantities of the Maiden- 

 hair Fern (Adiantttm, sp.jwere now growing luxuriantly. 

 During this dry cool season of the year many strange 



