and the Atlantic. There he gave me a deHcious breakfast, which seemed 

 quite marvellous after steamer fare. Because of my weakened condition, 

 all this was a godsend and was gratefully appreciated. I descended to 

 Funchal by one of the curious wicker sleds, such as I never saw else- 

 where, which coast down over the glassy lava pebbles like a toboggan 

 over the snow. My young German acquaintance of the Princeton Com- 

 mencement had been better than his word. 



On the British liners which make long voyages it is customary, if 

 there are many passengers, to organise an elaborate programme of 

 sports, mostly farcical. On the Saxon, each passenger was assessed a 

 guinea for prizes, which were bought from the barber and were not, 

 therefore, particularly desirable. These sports went on day after day 

 and were often very amusing to watch and they helped pass away the 

 weary time, for we made no stop after leaving Madeira. Much more 

 worth-while was the series of lectures by eminent scholars and men of 

 science, which were given in the saloon or the ladies' cabin. I especially 

 remember a charming lecture on "Dictionaries," given by Dr. Murray, 

 then editor of the Oxford Dictionary, which was full of interesting 

 information and sparkling with humour. Near the end of the voyage 

 there was a solemn ceremony in the saloon, after dinner, at which Mrs. 

 Darwin presented the prizes to the winners in the various sports. I fancy 

 these unlucky people secretly heaved their prizes overboard, or forced 

 them on the stewards, for we saw the gruesome objects no more. 



Though the members of the Association took up most of the first 

 cabin, there were a few other passengers also. One evening, in the 

 smoking room, I fell into conversation with a young German, who told 

 me that he was a shopkeeper in Cape Town and gave me a glimpse of 

 the tyranny exercised by the shipping ring there, made up of the 

 British and German lines. For a time, there had been an independent 

 Hne, which offered somewhat lower rates, and he had had the temerity 

 to make use of it. When that line withdrew from the competition, the 

 young shopkeeper was disciplined by not being allowed to ship his 

 goods by the relatively fast mail boats, which made a difference of 

 several days, when he tried to get something, in a hurry, from England 

 or Germany. 



On Tuesday morning, August 19, 1 awoke to find the ship motionless 

 and, when I reached the deck, she was tied up to the quay and alongside 

 stood the train, locally known as the "train de lucks," which, once a 

 week, on arrival of the mail, runs up to Johannesburg, a distance of 

 about a thousand miles. Before me rose the majestic mass of Table 



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