They have not forgotten the old persecutions,and are civil to the coloured people,and speak of them in quite a different tone from other English colonists.Moreover,they are far better mannered,and more 'HUMAN',in the German sense of the word,in all respects;-in short,less 'colonial'.
I have bought some Cape 'confeyt';apricots,salted and then sugared,called 'mebos'-delicious!Also pickled peaches,'chistnee',and quince jelly.I have a notion of some Cherupiga wine for ourselves.I will inquire the cost of bottling,packing,&c.;it is about one shilling and fourpence a bottle here,sweet red wine,unlike any other I ever drank,and I think very good.It is very tempting to bring a few things so unknown in England.Ihave a glorious 'Velcombers'for you,a blanket of nine Damara sheepskins,sewn by the Damaras,and dressed so that moths and fleas won't stay near them.It will make a grand railway rug and 'outside car'covering.The hunters use them for sleeping out of doors.I have bought three,and a springbok caross for somebody.
April 17th.-The winter has set in to-day.It rains steadily,at the rate of the heaviest bit of the heaviest shower in England,and is as cold as a bad day early in September.One can just sit without a fire.Presently,all will be green and gay;for winter is here the season of flowers,and the heaths will cover the country with a vast Turkey carpet.Already the green is appearing where all was brown yesterday.To-day is Good Friday;and if Christmas seemed odd at Midsummer,Easter in autumn seems positively unnatural.Our Jewish party made their exodus to-day,by the little coasting steamer,to Algoa Bay.I rather condoled with the pretty little woman about her long rough journey,with three babies;but she laughed,and said they had had time to get used to it ever since the days of Moses.All she grieved over was not being able to keep Passover,and she described their domestic ceremonies quite poetically.We heard from our former housemaid,Annie,the other day,announcing her marriage and her sister's.
She wrote such a pretty,merry letter to S-,saying 'the more she tried not to like him,the better she loved him,and had to say,"Aha,Annie,you're caught at last."'A year and a half is a long time to remain single in this country.
Monday,April 21st,Easter Monday.-The mail goes out in an hour,so I will just add,good-bye.The winter is now fairly set in,and I long to be off.I fear I shall have a desperately cold week or so at first sailing,till we catch the south-east trades.This weather is beautiful in itself,but I feel it from the suddenness of the change.We passed in one night from hot summer to winter,which is like FINE English April,or October,only brighter than anything in Europe.There is properly,no autumn or spring here;only hot,dry,brown summer,with its cold wind at times,and fresh green winter,all fragrance and flowers,and much less wind.Mr.
M-,of whom I told you,has been in every corner of the far East -Java,Sumatra,everywhere -and is extremely amusing.He has brought his wife here for her health,and is as glad to talk as Iam.The conversation of an educated,clever person,is quite a new and delightful sensation to me now.He appears to have held high posts under the East India Company,is learned in Oriental languages,and was last resident at Singapore.He says that no doubt Java is Paradise,it is so lovely,and such a climate;but he does not look as if it had agreed with him.I feel quite heart-sick at seeing these letters go off before me,instead of leaving them behind,as I had hoped.
Well,I must say good-bye -or rather,'AUF WIEDERSEHN'-and God knows how glad I shall be when that day comes!
