London in a leisurely and sightseeing fashion along the east coast.
It was after they were well started on this return voyage that Richard
conceived the idea of leaving the ship at Durban, going to Pretoria,
and, as he expressed it, "watch the Boers fighting the same men I had
just seen fighting them."

R. M. S. Scot

February 4th, 1900.

DEAR MOTHER:

A great change has come since I wrote you from Madeira. We are now on
Summer seas and have regulated the days so that they pass very
pleasantly--not that we do not want to be on land-- I never so much
wanted it-- Somers is with us and is such a comfort. He is even
younger than he used to be and so quick and courteous and good
tempered. He is like a boy off on a holiday-- I think he is very much
in love with his wife, but in spite of himself he is glad to get a
holiday, and like all of us he will be so much more glad when he is
homeward bound. They threatened to shut us out of our only chance of
putting foot on land at Madeira-- In the first place, we were so
delayed by the storm that we arrived at eight o'clock at night, so that
we missed seeing it in its beauty of flowers and palms. And then it
was so rough that they said it was most unsafe for us to attempt to go
ashore. It was a great disappointment but I urged that every one loved
his own life, and if the natives were willing to risk theirs to sell us
photographs and wicker baskets it was probably safer than it looked--
So we agreed to die together, and with Somers got our rain coats, and
the three of us leaped into a row boat pulled by two Portugese pirates
and started off toward a row of lamps on a quay that seemed much lower
than the waves. The remainder on the ship watched us disappear with
ominus warnings-- We really had a most adventurous passage--towards
shore the waves tossed us about like a lobster pot and we just missed
being run down by a coal barge and escaped an upset over the bow anchor
chain of a ship. It was so close that both Somers and I had our coats
off and I told Cecil to grab the chain-- But we weathered it and landed
at a high gangway cut in the solid rock the first three steps of which
were swamped by the waves. A rope and chain hung from the top of the
wharf and a man swung his weight on this and yanked us out to the steps
as the boat was on the wave. The rain beat and the wind roared and
beautiful palms lashed the air with their fronds-- It was grand to get
on shore once aga