4 Recollections of Adventures 



appointment as Chief Magistrate over the Northern 

 portion of that Colony, embracing four sub-magis- 

 tracies. The bar of Durban harbour was then too 

 shallow to admit of large ships entering the bay, and 

 I remember my mother being shocked at the nude 

 Kaffirs in the cargo boat which landed us. After 

 the grand old East Indiaman we had a rough 

 experience in The Fliberty Brig from Cape Town to 

 Durban, (a pokey little ship.) The old Scotch Captain 

 told us that the fires we saw on the coast were 

 made by the farmers burning down their homesteads ; 

 which they did yearly to destroy the bed bugs 

 known as " Norfolk Howards " ! I have been in 

 many houses since then, in which the swarming 

 insect life would fully justify such drastic measures ; 

 but when I have complained I have been told that 

 they always attack strangers, the ordinary home 

 dwellers being immune ! 



Durban in August, 1850, was a straggling 

 village with neither streets nor sidewalks, only 

 stretches of white sand, dotted with grass-thatched 

 bungalows. The best house belonged to Mr. Harry 

 Milner, which he kindly placed at our disposal 

 during our stay. It was pleasantly situated under 

 shady indigenous trees on the Bay front, near Cato's 

 Creek. Harry and Tom Milner and many other 

 nice people were very kind ; my father and mother 

 being favourites. There was a good class of gentle- 

 folks in the Colony who understood real hospitality 

 and were glad to welcome new comers. 



Dr. Stanger, the Surveyor-General, was going 

 to Pietermaritzburg in what struck me as a large 

 clumsy tented wagon, and we joined the caravan. 

 I was only a small chap and was proud when I was 

 given a horse to ride the whole way. At the halts 

 I got stiff and sore but would not give in, so I 



