314 S T. H E L E N A. 



the fees, realized thirty -six rix dollars, or about two pounds 

 fifteen shillings of English money. There was no help for 

 it now; but what added to my annoyance was seeing a 

 man carrying my worst gun some hours afterwards, and 

 upon asking him how he liked it, &c., found that he had 

 given ten pounds for it to the very auctioneer who had 

 sold (alias bought) it. 



There are many men to be found in England who may 

 pride themselves on knowing a thing or two. Let them 

 go to South Africa, and they will find they are perfect 

 babes. I mean not thus to vilify the whole body of the 

 worthy Capeites, but merely their mauvais sujets. It is my 

 belief that a thorough Cape "schelm" would give at 

 least two points in the rubber of roguery and beat the 

 best English swindler living. The performances of many 

 individuals in England during the last two years have 

 reduced the odds greatly; and, if we progress as satis- 

 factorily, we may expect shortly to have a very close and 

 interesting match for excellence in this particular. 



On leaving Table Bay we had very fine sailing weather, 

 and bowled down to St. Helena in capital style. We 

 stopped two days at this emperor's prison, and had an 

 opportunity of seeing Longwood and the country round. 

 In the island some very pretty green valleys were to be 

 seen, although the coast near the town of St. James was 

 high and rocky. We saw several sharks in the transparent 

 water near, and shoals of small mackerel. It did not give 

 me the idea of a very delightful residence, at least for 

 any lengthened period, unless one happened to have a 

 vast amount of resources within oneself. I thought it 



