2 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



scene and in such a crowd I find myself an in- 

 terested and active participator, for I, with a few 

 friends, am starting on a long journey ; and, in 

 common with the others in the special train, my 

 destination is South Africa. It happened to me 

 shortly after my return from Egypt, in February, 

 to meet Sir Henry Loch and Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the 

 Governor and Prime ]\[inister of Cape Colony, who 

 had just arrived in England on a sj^ecial mission 

 of importance to the Home Government, Con- 

 versation naturally Avas mainly about South 

 Africa, about the territories of the Chartered 

 Company, tlie goldfields of Zambesia, the dispute 

 with the Portuguese. Sir Henry Loch and ]\Ii", 

 Rhodes were kind enouoh to o-iye me a cordial 

 invitation to ^'isit the Ca])C', and it suddenly 

 occurred to me that I had I'eally for the moment 

 nothing better to do. Politics for the time 

 attracted me little. The principal measure ^ before 

 the House of Commons which ^vas being pressed 

 forward by the Government, and by the party 

 to which I belong,' I disliked intensely, and 

 while I was not prepared to take part in any 

 opposition to the measure, for motives which 

 friends will appreciate, I was resolved to give 

 no vote and say no word in its favoui*. A 

 shareholder in the Chartered Comj^au}^, and on 

 intimate terms with some of the directors, my 

 attention had already been turned to Mashona- 

 land; I had imagined that the exploration and 

 development of that vast country, so wealthy by 

 ' '• Irish Laud Question Bill." 



