BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
166 
with an elegant curve and ever so many rings. Jones, one of my fellow passengers, saw 
a lion whilst we were out shooting on this occasion, but was in too much of a funk to 
fire, so the beast got away. He says his cartridge jammed ! but I don’t believe him. 
“Chiromo is an awfully pretty little place. The roads are broad and bordered with 
fine shady trees planted close together. Some of the buildings are quite smart, though 
of course at home we should think them small. 
“ Up to the present the climate has been lovely and I have not had a touch of fever. 
It is quite cool at nights and one seldom gets mosquitos, but I am told that in the rainy 
season the) are an awful pest. In the middle of the day it is about as hot as a summer’s 
day at home, but not too hot to walk about with or without an umbrella. This is the 
beginning of the cool season of the year.” 
“Blantyre, June 2,0th. 
“I got up to Blantyre on June 18th. The small steamer of the Lakes Company 
took us on from Chiromo to Katunga, up the Shire. You cannot go beyond Katunga 
by water, or at least much beyond, because of the rapids and falls. The Steamer 
Company arranged about the transport of my baggage and I simply saddled my pony, 
which was in capital condition, and rode him gently up to Blantyre. The distance 
is about 25 miles. I had sent a telegram from Katunga to say I was coming and old 
McClear rode out and met me half-way. His plantation is not in Blantyre but about 
seven miles out. However, we slept that night at an hotel in Blantyre and went on to 
his plantation the next morning. The country is awfully pretty—very thickly wooded 
in parts and with hills and mountains of bold outline. Water seems to be most 
abundant ; every few miles you cross a running stream or rivulet. As far as climate goes 
you might think yourself back in England, anywhere near Blantyre, at this season of the 
year. All the houses are built of brick and every room, nearly, has a fireplace. 
“ It is very jolly at night to sit round a huge log fire and enjoy it, with the tempera¬ 
ture outside almost down to freezing point. In fact some mornings there is a white rime 
on the ground when you first go out. 
■*■■*■£**-*•** 
“ I have almost settled on buying a piece of land adjoining McClear’s plantation. 
It belongs to the Crown and I shall have to take these steps to buy it:—First of all 
1 have to get one of the surveyors here to go over the land with me and make a rough 
plan of the boundaries so that we can get at some idea of the area and furnish the 
Commissioner’s Office with sufficient information to enable the officials to decide where 
the land is and whether it can be sold. With these particulars I send a fee of J 2, 
which includes the surveyor’s fees and the cost of inserting an announcement in the 
Gazette. If the Commissioner decides to sell the land he will put. a notice to that effect 
in the Gazette and an upset-price will be fixed (probably 5J. an acre) and notice will be 
given that the estate will be sold by public auction a fortnight after the announcement 
appears. The sale Will take place at the Court House in Blantyre. I shall have to 
go there and if nobody bids against me I shall get the estate knocked down to me 
at the upset-price. 
■if ■¥: % % "%r 
“ Blantyre, August 1st. 
“ I have bought my land—nobody bid against me—but I have had n>y first attack 
of fever. Perhaps it is just as well to get it over, as they say you have it all the worse 
if it is bottled up in your system. I think mine must have come on from a chill. I had 
played in a tremendous cricket match got up at Blantyre, “ The Administration v. 
Planters,” and after getting very hot went and sat about in the cool breeze, which 
is about the most fatal thing you can do. The next day after breakfast I began to feel 
a bit cheap—-very shivery and a horrid pain in the back, and rather a sensation as though 
