Where Two Empires meet 



Bandit's (Dirk Vilander's) little cottage, and 

 go fitfully to sleep dreaming of these awful 

 dunes. 



Next afternoon I drove to the spot, a mile 

 and a half away, where the two great Empires 

 meet, and saluted Beacon No. 72. On the sun- 

 lit west is the German Eagle, with the writing 

 " Deutsches Schutzgebiet." On the purple 

 east are the Royal Arms with the writing, 

 " British Territory." 



All round — desolation ! Why should not the 

 two Empires cease building on the barren sea 

 for just one year, and set aside the money 

 saved for dry -land experiment stations — 

 Desert Dreadnoughts — to reclaim those sun- 

 washed wastes for their settlers and for 

 humanity ! 



" Ah, these," you say, " are idle dreams." 

 Perhaps ! But what is that speck down there 

 in the village of Rietfontein ? It is a diamond 

 digger feverishly at work. He, too, is dreaming. 

 And — who knows ? A single gem — a wild 

 rush, and the Pullman sleeper is drawn across 

 the sand-dunes of the desert. It has happened 

 before in South Africa. It may happen again. 

 As for me, I shall continue to dream my dreams, 



45 



