52 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



look at the cascade ; and I say, without hesitation, that 

 it is one of the most attractive I have ever seen. The 

 water was low when I visited it ; if the river is in flood, 

 all those I have heard speak of it, and are capable of 

 giving an opinion, pronounce it under such circum- 

 stances very much grander. Round the hotel are 

 planted a number of Australian blue gum-trees ; their 

 height is now over fifty feet, although only seven years 

 old ; but the landlord complained that he believed they 

 attracted lightning. Grapes, tomatoes, and other fruit, 

 also grew in abundance around the establishment, in 

 fact, in such profusion that I wonder the Pieter- 

 Maritzburg people do not select Howick for a summer 

 residence. 



At the hotel here I met a capital young fellow, 

 engaged in surveying and mending roads. His tent 

 was pitched on the other side of the river, and as I 

 remained waiting for the wagon, I spent much of my 

 time with him. He had not long left home, and com- 

 plained bitterly of the loneliness of his position. His 

 labourers were all Zulus. This people are, without 

 question, a splendid lot of men, and, I believe, faithful 

 and well-disposed when properly treated. 



At length my patience could stand it no longer ; if 

 the mountain would not come to Mahomet, Mahomet 

 must go to the mountain. So I got my horse, and 

 started to find the wagon, determined to stick in future 

 to it through thick and thin, and, even now, filled with 

 regrets that aught had induced me to leave it. Holly 

 was not trustworthy, Morris was unaccustomed to rough- 

 ing it in the strongest sense of the word; so I must 

 take the helm and remain there, if I wish to go forward. 



Half-way to Maritzburg I saw Morris, to my joy ; 



