Part 15 (2/2)

There was no hope of his immediate recovery To an elderly person a sprained ankle necessitates lying up for weeks The steamer for East London, the old Basuto, was due in a few days I could not bear the thought of hanging on any longer in idleness, so inquired as to where the agency of the Union Line was to be found Then I boldly presented ht I was in, and asked hie to East London

Fortunately Mr Esob knew so of my people He invited me to sit down, and see of e ticket on credit, I pro to remit the price out of the first money I earned So next day I embarked on board the Basuto, and in the afternoon of the day following reached my destination

After a short visit to Breidbach, near King Willia, I returned to East London and entered the service of the boating coh sea sickness has never troubled hter Moreover, the boatmen hom I had constantly to associate were unintermittently foul-mouthed and blasphemous I was not easily shocked; the iven to realism of speech, as well as to picturesquely lurid verbal illustration But this was different; the language of these men was crammed with filth for filth's sake, and flat, pointless profanity I have no doubt that ust made them worse than they otherould have been

It was et up at 230 am, breakfast on coffee and bread, and then report myself at the wharf, where I was due at 3 ahter, pick up a thick Manila rope from the bottom of the river, lay it between the chocks, and haul out across the bar to the roadstead where the shi+ps were anchored From the main warp others branched off in various directions, and by et as close to the shi+p which ere discharging as we could Then the lighter would be towed alongside

All going well, ere usually back at the wharf at 230 po well; the wind had a habit of springing up suddenly, and the breakers 011 the bar would follow suit Under such circumstances we often had to cast off fro sea, with only a so on board Perhaps, if it were not considered too dangerous, Captain Jacksonand tow us in; othere ran the risk of having to rehter

The as apt to be very dangerous indeed It was nothing so very unusual for a boat to capsize on the bar and for half the crew to be drowned Once only had I to swim for my life; on that occasion all in the boat escaped But a feeeks afterwards a lighter capsized under almost similar circumstances, and either four or five of those on board lost their lives

Myexperience in this connection happened one day towards the end of side a French vessel, the Notre Dae's blue mottled soap Before we had received o, the wind and the sea rose suddenly together We had to cast off frohter shi+pped soot the hatches fixed, a nuht o'clock in thee cast loose and dropped our anchor

The wind increased to a gale; this brought a bitterly cold rain We bobbed and curtsied at the end of our cable until about four in the afternoon, listening to Gossage's products churning and lathering down below It grew colder and colder; et to the skin and almost numbed A consultation was held, and it was unani was preferable to the certainty of slowly perishi+ng to death; therefore ould make a dash for the harbor

To use the as, of course, out of the question, so we rigged a sail froether in the forram, fastened the sail to this, and stayed the structure by means of various devices We slipped our cable and made for the bar Wind, tide, and sea were all with us; had the tide been unfavorable, the attempt would have spelt almost certain death

There was more than a mile of open sea bethere we had anchored and the breakers The port-office signals were against us, but what did we care? When people on shore realized ere atte, they caed the breakwaters on either side of the harbor entrance

We ran gallantly, straight before the wind I never thought a lighter could sail as ours did As good luck would have it, we reached the worst part of the bar just after one bad set of breakers had passed, and before the arrival of the next But there was no child's play in thesideways in the turot taken aback However, a providential buffet on the port bow gave us a set in the right direction; once more our tarpaulin filled, and we drely and laboriously out of the area of danger I looked back and saw the angry coed at our escape As we ran into the harbor, the people Who atching cheered themselves hoarse

Upwards of four atorial work Then release caot a letter fro me to call at his office I went, and to ram from Captain Mills, as then Under-Colonial Secretary, offering istrate of Tarka, with a salary of 120 per annum

Were I now to be offered the Prireater than it then was Curiously enough I was on the same day offered a post in a mercantile firm, that of Joseph Walker & Sons, at a salary of 7 per month But, for family reasons, the difference of 3 per month was just then an important consideration, so I accepted the first offer, a step I have ever since regretted

I had grave doubts as to my ability to do the duties required of me

While at East London I had worked every day at a copy-book, striving to iers were er and the pick than with the pen Moreover, h I knew le rule of English granorance has remained with me to the present day, but I cannot say I feel it much of a handicap However, there was no examination to pass, and s for the present

I had faced lions on the Lebomba and crocodiles in the Koistrate?

It may be advisable to explain how my appointment came to be offered

My father and the then Lord Carnarvon, who happened to be Colonial Secretary, had been friends in the old days Lord Carnarvon wrote to Governht be done for us My father was beyond the age-limit; I, clearly, was not

Responsible Government had arrived; nevertheless, a certain ae was still occasionally exercised

Thus it was that I, after a strange and varied apprenticeshi+p in soed down as a little wheel in that clulittle meal, is still believed to be an indispensable adjunct to our civilization

Here I must break off But my reminiscences are by nothey will be brought up to date

Whether or not the supplementary volume will reach the printer's hands, depends on how far the public beco the last words of the closing chapter