Part 2 (1/2)

There was a drunken Irish soldier on board He was a good-natured creature who ly friendly towards all and sundry of the passengers Eventually he tried to embrace one of the ladies For this misdemeanor, which I am persuaded was based on no evil intention, he was trussed and tied down on the hatch, close to the wheel But the man must have been a philosopher, for his bonds distressed him not at all For several hours he lifted up his voice in continuous song His repertoire was extensive and varied To this day I can clearly recall the words as well as the tune of two of his ditties

One related to the history of a pair of corduroy breeches, year by year, since the close of the last decade, each year being treated of in a couplet The first verse ran thus:

”In eighteen hundred and sixty-one Those corduroy breeches were begun”

Eventually, in the then current year, 1867 ”Those corduroy breeches went up to heaven”

But they ain, for it was prophetically, related that, in 1868 ”Those corduroy breeches lost their sate”

Following this cas of despised love and the faithlessness of the fair Its refrain ran:

”Oh, surely the wio to the Divil and coin”

Towards the afternoon the e by the expression of his face his drea us at Falht of subsequent experience I no her to have been a very second-class craft even for the sixties but to o bound for a Colchis, where a Golden Fleece awaited every seeker There were a nu them may be mentioned Mr and Mrs ”Varsy”

Van der Byl, the Rev Mr (now Canon) Woodrooffe and his wife, Mr

Templar Horne as afterwards Surveyor-General and Mr D Krynauho still enjoys life in his comfortable home just off Wandel Street, Cape Town Mr Krynauw added to the gaiety of the co clever thumb-nail sketches of all and sundry But Mr Woodrooffe was the life and soul of the shi+p He seemed to have as many accomplishments as the celebrated Father O'Flynn, with severalhis other acquiree of chess; he was, in fact, by far the best player on board I often challenged him to play, but he considered a small boy such as I was to be beneath his notice, so kept puttingin the saloon, with the chess for a victim Mr Woodrooffe chanced to come out of his cabin, so I captured hi ladies appeared and, one on each side, engaged h, was ly, he paid little or no attention to the game I, on the other hand, was in deadly earnest

I 's bishop; then the queen My heart was into walk open-eyed into such a booby-trap But the sirens had lured his attention away Next ave him ”fool's mate” That moment was one of the proudest of my life; I had beaten the chaames of skill, theto sport in our little co and inexperienced to support nity I rushed up the co the news of my victory at the top of my voice I told it to the captain, the officers, the passengers, and to such members of the crew as I was acquainted with But I was astute enough never again to offer to play chess with Mr Woodrooffe, and even to decline when he suggested our having a return game

The Biscayan tides were kind; but no sooner had we passed Finisterre than a gale struck us, and for many woeful days the Asia behaved like a drunken porpoise I do not think a single passenger escaped sea-sickness The gale continued until the night before we reached Madeira I shall never forget the enchanting prospect which Funchal afforded as we glided to our anchorage in the early otten in the rapture of a moment

The sky was cloudless and the contours of the lovely island were bathed in opaline light What joy the first sight, se, by bringing all descriptions of exotic fruit to Europe, has robbed travel towards the tropics of one of its keenest delights

We passed to the ard of Teneriffe in perfectly clear weather The recent storms encountered by us had extended far to the south; consequently the great peak was clothed in dazzling snow to an unusual distance below its summit The impression left on lowing in the rose-red light of sunset, will never fade I can well re sadly disappointed at the first view of the Southern Cross The voyage was uneventful until we reached the vicinity of the Cape, where we again encountered a ainst a tremendous sea Wave after wave swept our decks; all the passengers had to reether at night in the companion, and the shi+p's doctor (I think his naruesome tales of shi+pwreck until the an to wail aloud So bad was the stor was almost suspended The menu consisted solely of ”sea-pie” a comestible apparently coh dough, and the result boiled in a hurried and perfunctory manner Two days after the cessation of the storm, the Asia steamed into Table Bay

The Asia, poor old tub, lies at the bottoal, where she foundered with all hands when engaged in the cattle-trade Peace to her iron bones Most ofbefore this, must have sunk into that sleep froed to find the Golden Fleece Those who, likethat downhill path which grows steeper at every pace, and which leads to that valley, filled with grey shadow, out of which none return To the in the spirit Perhaps, when the Great Cycle has been traversed, we e froolden ether adventurers from world to world instead of from continent to continent

CHAPTER III

Arrival at Cape Town--Port Elizabeth--First encounter with big ga William's Town Natives and their ponies--Social peculiarities--Far--Self-sacrificing attitude of Larry O'Toole--Capture of an ant-bear--The coast scenery--A moral shock--School Chief Toise--Rainy seasons--Flooded rivers

It was about the middle of December e reached Table Bay With the exception of the old Slave Barracks, in which the Suprele one of the present Adderley Street buildings existed Bree Street is ed, but iins Thetothe Parade I think it stood on the present site of the Drill Hall The variety of strange fruits there to be found, the grotesque dresses of the Malays, and the babel of uncouth speech exercised a fascination the mee Malay woed; it is surely the most hideous of the many sumptuary hideosities for which fashi+on is responsible This is the , are often extreood; these woht, flimsy silks of varied hue Suchthe well-to-do for skirt, bodice, kerchief, and coiffure But under the skirt, which hangs from just below the arm-pits, there ure reseerated imitation of that of the ”o, and that it was adopted by the Malays when the Dutch sumptuary laere repealed

We were hospitably entertained by the fae One day we spent with the Ha since ”improved” away, stood not far from the present site of the Mount Nelson Hotel Constantia, also, we visited, and were presented with sorown

At this tile line between Cape Town and Wynberg It was said, but I do not knoith howof this line was due to the accidental circumstance that a shi+p, bound for Australia with railway material, recked in the vicinity of the Cape

After a delay of about a e set sail for Port Elizabeth, the end of our voyage We left considerablywith so the course of the long voyage we had made many friends We reached Port Elizabeth on Christh the surf by natives I, we passed a yard full of old lunboard, bearing in dingy letters the legend: ”Joseph Scully, Coach Painter”

This is the only occasion upon which I have come across my name in South Africa We landed at once, but soers elected to re This they had a the night and rendered communication with the shore ih then a thriving town, had not yet earned the title ”the Liverpool of South Africa” I doubt as to whether its cohteousness had developed to the extent of adopting the sobriquet ”the Honest Port” My most salient memories are of hospitality, wool, hides, pumpkins, and sand So far as I can recall, neither Main Street nor the Market Square was paved That useful but ungainly shi+p of the southern deserts, the ox-wagon, was much in evidence When the wind blew, as it did nearly all the time ere there, the dust arose in one continuous cloud, and grit reigned supreme

But the hospitality of the Port Elizabethans was a thing to be rereat pleasure No sooner had we landed than invitations poured in on us This was not enuine kindness and a desire to be helpful There was no ostentation, but just the natural expression of a sier newly arrived within the gates