CHAPTER IV. 

 BOYHOOD DAYS IN NATAL. 



One of the most enjoyable years of my life I 

 spent with Mr. Posselt, the head of the Berlin 

 Missions in South Africa, at Emmaus, near the 

 "Umlambonja River under the Kathlamba ( Drakens- 

 berg) near the Mont aux Sources. My dear brother 

 Alex, was with me and a lovable and charming 

 companion. Dr. Blaine's son Fred, now Sir Frederick 

 studied with us, German, Latin, English, Zulu, etc., 

 etc. Mr. Posselt was an upright gentleman, kind 

 and considerate, and I shall always remember him 

 with affection. Mr. Posselt's brother-in-law with 

 wife and children were crossing the " Inja Suti " 

 ( full dog ) " The Little Tugela " when a mountain 

 freshet came down, carried wagon and oxen 

 away, and the poor people were drowned. Mr. 

 Posselt was in Xosaland during the early Kaffir 

 wars and had to flee with his wife and child in the 

 night, being warned by some of his native pupils. 

 After he left Emmaus he was minister to the 

 German settlement at Pine Town. 



The thunder storms along the Berg were 

 terrific sometimes, and there were often fatalities by 

 lightning. One Sunday an old Boer and his wife 

 were sitting in front of their house on the next farm to 

 Emmaus, when the lightning killed him in his chair. 

 Whilst we were at Emmaus the great snow storm of 

 1853 occurred ; the game came down the Berg in vast 

 droves from the high table lands of the Free State, 

 and tens of thousands died in the mountain ravines 



