se.

I beg you to think very deeply of what I have said; and now I will go on
with my narrative.

Sir Charles at once set to work with my education, and Ellen Barrow was,
under his directions, my instructress. I do not remember that I was
much troubled with the sight of books; but she drew a number of pictures
of various objects, and made me repeat their names, and then she cut out
the alphabet in cardboard, by which means I very soon knew my letters.
If I was sick she never attempted to teach me, so that all the means
offered me of gaining knowledge were pleasurable, and I thus took at
once a strong liking to learning, which has never deserted me. Before
the termination of the voyage. I could express myself in English, so as
to be understood as well as are most children of my age; and as Sir
Charles would not allow me to be taught nonsense, I put a right
signification upon the words I used.

One morning, at daybreak, a cry was heard from the mast-head of "Land
ahead!" and so true had been the observations of Captain Willis, that a
few hours afterwards, with a fine breeze, we were entering Table Bay, at
the Cape of Good Hope.

The Cape of Good Hope colony is, as most of my young readers are well
aware, now an English settlement. It once belonged to the Dutch; but we
took it from them during the last war, when they sided with the
republican French. It is most celebrated for its sheep pastures; but it
also produces wine, and corn, and oil, and affords ample room for the
establishment of numbers of our countrymen, who cannot find employment
at home. The climate is very healthy; but there are very strong winds,
and sometimes droughts which destroy the labours of the husbandman.

However, people who settle there become much attached to the country;
and those fond of chasing wild beasts may gratify their tastes to the
full in the interior; but they must remember that they cannot, at the
same time, attend properly to their farming operations, which must, of
necessity, be carried on in more settled districts. It is on many
accounts a very valuable colony to Great Britain, and, among others,
because it is on the high road to her extensive possessions in
Australasia and that in its harbours the numerous shipping which sail
thither may find shelter in time of war, and at all times may replenish
their water and provisions. It affords a home to thousands of our
countrymen, and it supplies the raw material, wool, to our