120 SOUTH AFRICA. 



to be conferred on a stalwart semi-nude male, who, 

 however, treats his young charges with solicitous 

 kindness and skill 



Durban, Natal's port, is the prettiest town in 

 South Africa, situated as it is on its lakelike bay 

 and surrounded by gentle elevations covered with 

 rich foliage, from amongst which charming villas 

 peep out of the Beria and elsewhere. The bay 

 unfortunately is rather shallow, and its entrance 

 is impeded by a bar which has seldom more than 

 fifteen feet of water on it, so that large vessels 

 cannot come in. Smaller craft, with the assistance 

 of an able tug service, accomplish a passage easily 

 and without danger, and discharge or load at a 

 quay about a mile or so from the town, whence 

 there is a railway. 



Although the climate here is warm and 

 apparently relaxing, the mortality is very low, 

 comparing favourably with that of most English 

 and Colonial towns. The streets and roads being 

 now metalled, the sandy soil no longer impedes 

 locomotion as in earlier times. 



The public buildings and churches are sub- 

 stantial and handsome, and are, I think, built with 

 a view to future exigencies rather than to the abso- 



