ENPages
p. 56
At this point the Indian and Atlantic Ocean meet, a Mozambique current warming the waters of the Indian Ocean, so that there is often 30 [o superscipt for degree] difference in the temperature of the waters only a short distance apart. The Cape of Good Hope can be seen from this point.
The day was one of the most memorable of our enjoyable stay We took supper with Mr. + Mrs. Besset at Kenilworth On Monday morning we met Mr. Cartwright and Mr. Mansergh, administrator of Cape Colony at the Queen's statue in front of the House of Parliament and were shown the archives. The records are almost complete from Riebeck's departure from Holland as the first envoy of the Dutch East India Company.
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I find I omitted Sunday. We dined at 1 o'clock with Mrs. Dr Villiers, had a wonderfully good "Cape dinner", with some new dishes and the rest of the time we spent in packing.
On Tuesday there were many many small errands to be done, callers to receive and the final packing to do. We went on board the Edinburgh Castle just from South Hampton at 4.30. Dr. J and Mrs. B went by rail in order to stop at Dr. [Aar?] and pay a visit to Olive Schreiner. We had a quick and comfortable passage arriving in Pt Elizabeth Thursday morning. The ship was anchored well out and we were brought ashore in a tug. We had to go down two flights of ladders and had the weather not been calm it would not have been a pleasant process. We arrived comfortably at the Grand Hotel where good rooms were in readiness. Like enterprising American tourists we brushed up a bit and went to the Museum! A gentleman whose wife was secretary of the League met us at the dock but we did not know who he was. We found him the Director of the Museum!, the author of some scientific books, an original investigator and the possible first suggester of the fly as a carrier of Malaria infection. He showed us about and explained many things. The Museum contains many valuable SA animals and curios, including poisonous snakes (alive)
p. 58
in the afternoon, there was an at home at Mrs. MacIntoshs at Jutland. It rained all the day but there was a large number present and I made a speech. On Friday we lunched with Mrs. Bracht in a beautiful house and afterward went to hear Mrs. John Brown speak on social purity to the [W.CTU?]. It was a beautiful speech. I had a letter of introduction to Mrs. Brown and presented it. I also made a speech.
On Saturday morning I wrote letters and in the afternoon went with Mr. and Mrs. MacIntosh to Dispatch by train to see a small but model ostrich farm owned by Mr. Holland. He has about 250 birds One cock worth 1000 pounds waltzed for us. He turned as rapidly as possible and then reversed. It is the method of courtship. The cock sits on the eggs from 4 pm until morning and does his full part of parental duty. They are nearly monogamous. There was a beautiful garden and oranges and lemons and guavas in bearing. The eggs are laid in the sand. Both birds have water bags on their breasts and the male's are larger than the female. These are pressed and the eggs are watered everyday. It takes 36 [scratched out] days [scratched out] or [scratched out] 42 days to hatch. The males are black and white, the females brown and white.
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24 33 South Africa proposes to keep a monopoly of the ostrich feather business and will not sell a bird nor egg to go out of the country.
[written sideways on the page]
A very good and correct picture but too dark
