NATAL. 121 



lute requirements of the present. Pietermaritzburg, 

 fifty miles inland, the capital of the Colony, is 

 also a nice town, laid out with Dutch symmetry, 

 and nearly surrounded by high and picturesque 

 mountains. The climate is cooler than that of the 

 seaport, owing to the altitude, and tropical fruits 

 and produce are no longer seen growing, but the 

 slopes of the mountains and hills are dotted with 

 the pretty red-tiled cottages of small farmers, who 

 seem prosperous, and at all events live in plenty 

 and comfort 



The hotels in the towns and along the main 

 roads are replete with all reasonable requirements, 

 and no traveller need now fear having occasion to 

 " rough " it more than in Europe. 



Having ascended the mountain above Maritz- 

 burg (by rail), a very cool atmosphere immediately 

 makes itself felt before the little hamlet at Moir 

 River, nestling in a warm and fertile hollow, is 

 reached. Ascending again, the road to Ladysmith 

 passes through rather a rugged country, where 

 small Zulu kraals abound ; here the first Boer 

 immigrants fought many successive battles with 

 Dingaan, and had to suffer also from a dreadful 

 massacre, which cost six hundred or more lives, at 



