xii PREFACE. 



to the mind that perhaps a certain injustice may be 

 done to the memory of the dead by publishing, in a 

 form which may fairly challenge the criticism of the 

 general reader, a few hasty jottings by the wayside, 

 written under circumstances the least favourable to 

 literary composition, and a limited number of letters 

 home, meant merely for the perusal of the writer's 

 nearest and most indulgent friends. On the other 

 hand, however, it must be borne in mind that, much 

 as must inevitably be lost in editing pages such as 

 these for want of the final touches which the writer 

 himself would have given, there may yet be to some 

 extent a counterbalancing gain in the directness and 

 freshness of expressions suggested on the spot, 

 where the traveller was unhampered by any oppres- 

 sive consciousness that he was addressing "the 

 public " — so formidable in the abstract, yet made up 

 after all of a number of individuals like himself, all 

 with the same human heart and interests. 



Guided, then, by the latter consideration, and by 

 the reflection that every day the number of our 

 countrymen is increasing who look to South Africa 

 with a growing interest — whether as a land for 

 colonization, exploration, or scientific research, — I 

 venture to add another to the long list of already 

 published books upon that country, hoping that the 

 reader may find therein matter of some general 

 interest, and that, if not, he will look leniently on 



