A PICTURESQUE PLACE. 13 



any of the salmon family struggling and fighting 

 till it yields up its life. But the sun being warm, and 

 I satisfied, with strong arm I directed my course to 

 a bluff which overhangs the water and gave a wide 

 view of the surrounding country. 



This bluff is a favourite haunt of mine. At one 

 time I think that it must have been a much frequented 

 meeting place of the red man, for it is cleared of 

 bush and timber down to the water's edge, and these 

 people are wonderfully attracted by charm of situa- 

 tion. The grass upon its slopes was as green and 

 close as could be found on any English lawn, and 

 the water that laved the base so clear that the 

 pebbles could be distinctly observed, although 

 covered by many a foot of water. It was a place of 

 all others to build a cottage, and doubtless would 

 have been appropriated for that purpose, but for the 

 difficulty of obtaining supplies for its residents at all 

 seasons of the year. 



To have erected an edifice upon it, in my belief, 

 would have been to profane the spot. Man's handi- 

 work is all very well in its way and in its place, but 

 I have seen localities where its existence looked to 

 me very much like desecration. I can believe that 

 persons born and brought up in cities can find no 

 pleasure in solitude. I do not envy them their taste, 

 for the most perfect happiness I can find at times, 

 the most perfect rest to body and mind, is to be 

 alone, and as far from civilization as it is possible to 

 go. In using these words I do so guardedly, for I 

 do not object to the presence of the aborigines in 

 their own lands, for in my idea it wants them to 

 make the picture perfect. 



The waterless wastes of the Kalihara desert, 

 without the bushmen, the highlands of the Zambesi 

 without the Bechuana or Matabele natives, would 

 not be half as attractive as they are with them ; 

 thus the presence of the red man of North 



