21 
the other hand, here one could buy a horse for £25, that 
would be worth perhaps £60 or £70 at home. I had great 
trouble in getting hold of any donkeys ; they seemed very 
scarce, and at last I had to give the great price of £8 a 
head for four wretched-looking mokes, that would have 
been dear at 1 Os, at Brighton or Eamsgate ; and none of 
the four ever arrived at Leydenburg. I got one capital 
donkey for £6, which turned out a most invaluable beast 
afterwards. We had agreed to spend Saturday and Sunday 
with an old friend, C. Woodroffe, who had left the navy, 
and settled on a farm about twelve miles from Pieter- 
Maritzburg, but were rather puzzled how E. was to get 
there, as the road was too bad for a trap ; and she had 
neither horse nor riding habit, but the landlady most 
kindly offered the loan of both these indispensable articles. 
E. had not ridden for so long, that she was thoroughly 
knocked up at the end of her journey, and glad to retire 
early in the evening. 
Next day, Sunday, we had a look round our friend's 
quarters, which were far more comfortable than the usual 
run of Natal farmers. A fair house, nicely furnished, 
and more like home than anything we had yet seen. The 
farm was about four thousand acres, with lots of wood on 
it, a very valuable article of produce so near Pieter- 
Maritzburg. It seemed strange to us to see such a variety 
of plants, oranges, lemons, cabbages, coffee, sugar, oats, 
aloes, grenadilloes, roses, and I don 't know what else, 
growing within a hundred yards of each other, shewing 
what the climate and soil are capable of. A Caffre and boy 
formed the in-doors establishment. The Caffres that 
worked on the farm, about twenty of them, lived in a 
large hut a little way from the house ; they work for six 
months, and then go back to their kraals or villages for 
six months. We were anxious to persuade Woodroffe to 
go with us up the country, and after some discussion of 
