n strong, had been hired to hurry on the work of preparing
the orchard and erecting a fence round it. Wood was, Mr Humphreys
found, extremely scarce and dear, the country being absolutely bare of
trees, and wood for fuel was only obtained in kloofs or deep hollows,
and had to be fetched long distances.

"I suppose," Mrs Humphreys said to her husband one evening, "you mean
to make cattle-raising your principal point?"

"No," he said; "every one raises cattle, and the Dutch can do it cheaper
than we can; they have immense tracts of land, and their Kaffir labour
costs them next to nothing. I do not say that we could not live and to
a certain extent thrive on cattle, but I think that there is something
much better to be done. Wood is an awful price here, and all that is
used has to be brought up from the coast. I think therefore of planting
trees. The climate is magnificent, and their growth will be rapid.
They will of course require fencing to keep out the cattle, but I shall
do that, as I am doing the orchard, with wire fencing and light
iron-uprights. Labour is plentiful, and there are large nurseries near
Pieter-Maritzburg, where I can procure any number of young trees; so I
mean to plant 200 acres a year--in ten years the whole farm will be
planted, and the loppings for poles and firewood will in a very short
time after planting begin to pay well. In fifteen years the first 200
acres will be fit to fell, and the property will be worth a very large
sum of money. Of course we can sell out before that if we like. But at
the present price of wood up here, or even should it fall to a quarter
of its present price, the value of the 2000 acres of wood will in twenty
years be extremely large."

The boys were delighted with their new life. Mr Humphreys had, before
leaving England, bought for Dick a Winchester repeating-rifle. These
arms are very light, and Dick was able to carry his without difficulty;
and very shortly after their arrival his father had a mark erected at a
distance from the house, at which he could practise with safety. Game
was abundant all over the country. Herds of deer and antelope of
various kinds often swept past in sight of the farmhouse, and winged
game also abounded.

Mr Humphreys had at home been considered a first-rate shot at
partridges, and had for four or five years belonged to the Castleton
volunteers, and had carried off many prizes for rifle-shooting. He was
now able, by going