26 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



about to proceed. He and I had sent in our resigna- 

 tion of her majesty's service at the same time, and, fortu- 

 nately for us, by some mistake our papers were mislaid 

 at Cape Town, and not forwarded in the usual course, 



whereby we gained several months' pay. H , who, 



like many others of the military, entertained a profound 

 disgust for the colony and every thing connected with 

 it, at first could hardly believe that I was in earnest 

 when I spoke of going up the country ; and when con- 

 vinced that such was my determination, be said, with 

 a strong lisp which was habitual to him, " Good Gr — . 

 Cummin ! you are thurely mad to remain longer in 

 thith country after you have obtained leave to return 

 to dear old England. I athure you, I had rather be a 

 thoe-black in England than live in tfaith beathtly coun- 

 try." 



Notwithstanding these friendly dissuasions on the 

 part of my acquaintance, I continued to prosecute my 

 affairs so unremittingly, that on the 22d I considered 

 my manifold arrangements complete, and, being much 

 harassed and annoyed by the unavoidable delays to 

 which I had been subjected, I was full of impatience to 

 make a start. These delays were in a great measure 

 occasioned by the weather, heavy and constant rains 

 having fallen during the previous fourteen days, accom- 

 panied with a cold wind off the Southern Ocean. This, 

 of necessity, materially interfered with and delayed me 

 in my arrangements, and had also the effect of render- 

 ing the country perfectly unfit for locomotion, in many 

 places cutting up the roads with rugged, impassable 

 water-courses, and in low-lying districts converting 

 them into deep, impracticable quagmires. 



It will hBro|j|e necessary to give a detailed account 

 of my outfit, to put the reader at once in possession of 



