A JOURNEY TO DURBAN. 121 



and uninteresting appearance of the Transvaalian veld. 

 This is gradually transformed after leaving Ladysmith, 

 but does not altogether improve till we approach the 

 neighbourhood of Maritzburg. Then lovely valleys, grand 

 mountain-gorges, stretches of hills rolling far away and 

 fading on the sky-line, beautiful verdure, and (what 

 was even more to the wearied Transvaal eyes) forest 

 appeared, interspersed occasionally by small rivers or 

 spruits. Halfway between Maritzburg and Durban we 

 are reminded of greater warmth and another aspect 

 of vegetation. Tree-ferns and bamboos are now seen, 

 and lower down fields of bananas and pine-apples, with 

 patches of sugar-cane, recalled old days lived in the 

 tropics. 



It was raining at Durban when I arrived, and there 

 was a mist over the sea ; but what a pleasure the sight 

 of the ocean is after living on the dry and almost water- 

 less tableland of the Transvaal! Of course the usual 

 " Currie " and " Union " steamers were seen at anchor, 

 and these, with other steam lines, have now as effec- 

 tually superseded the sailing passenger-vessels that for- 

 merly journeyed to Natal as though they had rammed 

 and sank them. 



The Museum, which occupies a well-lighted and lofty 

 apartment above the Town Hall, is in course of evolu- 

 tion. It is poor in mammals, but is beginning to obtain 

 a good collection of birds, well set up and in cases that 

 contain much available room for additions. In insects 

 the strongest element is butterflies, a fine collection 

 properly arranged and named, as might be expected in 

 a town possessing as resident such an old lepidopterist 

 as Colonel Bowker. I was glad to meet the Colonel, 

 the best field entomologist in South Africa, who has 

 invented a net he wears on his hat like a puggaree, and 

 which is ready to be affixed to the stick he carries in his 

 hand for instant use when a desired specimen is seen, 

 whilst an original pocket collecting-box has also been 

 devised by this active lepidopterological brain. I spent 

 New Year's day with him at his bungalow at Malvern, a 

 suburb of Durban, a lovely spot, embracing on one side 



