the local
affairs of the colony; but whenever the English authorities have their
mind made up to pursue a certain policy, whether it be for the
construction of railways in the interior or the building of docks or
breakwaters in the harbor of Cape Town, they generally do pretty much as
they please.

"I observed that the people on the streets seem to take things easily
and move about with quite a languid air. This was the case with white
and colored people alike; probably the Dutch settlers set the example
years and years ago, and the others have followed it. Harry thinks that
it is the heat of the place which causes everybody to move about slowly.
Some one has remarked that only dogs and strangers walk rapidly; in Cape
Town the only people whom I saw walking fast were some of our
fellow-passengers from the steamer. I actually did see a negro running,
but the fact is, that another negro with a big stick was running after
him. As for the dogs, they seemed just as quiet as their masters.

"We inquired for the best hotel in Cape Town, and were taken to the one
indicated as such. Harry says he thinks the driver made a mistake and
took us to the worst; and Dr. Whitney remarks that if this is the best,
he doesn't want to travel through the street where the worst one
stands. We have made some inquiries since coming to this house, and
find that it is really the best, or perhaps I ought to say the least
bad, in the place. The table is poor, the beds lumpy and musty, and
nearly every window has a broken pane or two, while the drainage is
atrocious.

"We are told that the hotels all through South Africa are of the same
sort, and the only thing about them that is first class is the price
which one pays for accommodation. The hotel is well filled, the greater
part of the passengers from our steamer having come here; but I suppose
the number will dwindle down considerably in the next two or three days,
as the people scatter in the directions whither they are bound. Most
people come to Cape Town in order to leave it.

"And this reminds me that there are several railways branching out from
Cape Town. There is a line twelve hundred miles long to Johannisburg in
the Transvaal Republic, and there are several other lines of lesser
length. The colonial government has been very liberal in making grants
for railways, and thus developing the business of the colony. Every year
sees new lines undertaken, or old ones extended, and it will not b