ing to knowledge," when, in the pride and the perverseness of controversy, the hallowed doctrines of the Gospel of Peace are used by intolerant spirits, not agreeably to their gracious design, as " bands of love," to draw men to God, and to unite them in charity with their brother men, but rather as nets and nooses wherewithal to catch heretics. Nevertheless, in spite of this base alloy of fanaticism and intolerance, I saw no cause to doubt the existence of much sterling principle and true piety among these overzealous sectarians, and in the breasts too of their pugnacious champions. In other respects, the great majority of this party were but ill adapted for colonizing a new country. They consisted, I believe, almost exclusively of unprosperous tradesmen and operative manufacturers from London and its vicinity, and were of course totally unacquainted with farming, and with rural life and its occupations generally. But, indeed, as regards these matters, they laboured under no disadvantages that did not equally affect the great mass of people who had embarked, with more ardour than judgment, in the present scheme of emigration. On this topic I shall have occasion to animadvert at greater length hereafter.

The next party of our fellow-passengers, consisting of a single head with eight mechanics under him as indentured servants, would have seemed better adapted for combined and efficient enterprize, had not the incessant squabbling of the leader and his followers afforded but a sorry prognostic of future harmony. The master, in this case, had unwisely picked up most of his servants in haste from among the unemployed artizans of Greenwich or Gravesend; and they proved themselves to be a most unprofitable, demoralized, and mutinous set of dependents.

The third and last party was my own. It consisted of about half a dozen families, amounting altogether to twenty-four souls. Among these were some of my own near relatives; others were connexions of my wife's; and all of them, with the exception of three ploughmen, a mechanic, and a young gentleman of talent and education who afterwards became a missionary, belonged to the most respectable class of Scottish farmers. Whatever were their defects, I have no hesitation in freely stating my belief, (nationality and partiality apart,) that, as a party of emigrants, they were far better adapted for the enterprize before us than nine-tenths of the settlers now sent out to colonize South-Africa. I speak of them in this respect as distinct from myself personally, for I had, as will afterwards appear, other and ulterior objects.

Having originally organized this little party for emigration to Africa, and conducted the official correspondence with the Colonial Department previously to embarkation, I had, as a matter of course, been recognised by Government as its head or leader, although, in fact, I neither possessed nor pretended to claim, in that capacity, any authority except what was spontaneously awarded to me by the heads of families, or naturally resulted from my personal influence as their formal representative in all public transactions. In other respects there existed amongst us perfect equality. We and our families occupied a separate division of the vessel; and though rather more closely stowed than was convenient or agreeable, we had thus the good fortune to be saved from the peril of unpleasant collision with the other passengers, and were enabled to keep ourselves entirely free from being involved in their unprofitable disputes, secular or theological. Among ourselves, happily, internal divisions of any serious description were as yet unknown. Afterwards, I must candidly admit, that our little community, like other communities, great and small, was not without its occasional civil agitations, (I will not call them commotions,) even under my own headship, chieftainship, consulate, or whatever else the reader may be pleased to term my anomalous authority. But this is anticipating.

Such were the three parties of British emigrants who, at the time I speak of, crowded the decks of the Brilliant transport. Sick of the annoyances and wearisome monotony of a long voyage, all were highly exhilarated by the near sight of land, and the prospect of speedily disembarking; but the wild and

sublimely stern aspect of the country, so different from the rich tameness of English landscape, seemed to strike many of the Southron (who, except a peep at Madeira and the Cape de Verds at a distance, had never before beheld loftier heights than Hampstead Heath and the Surry hills,) with a degree of astonishment amounting almost to consternation. The Scotch, on the contrary, as the stirring recollections of their own dear mountain-land were ever and anon vividly called up by the bold and rugged peaks of Auteniqua-Land and Sitzikamma, were differently affected; some were excited to extravagant spirits, while others silently shed tears. Even my own stoicism was well nigh upset by an awkward three-topped hill, which bore, or seemed to bear, a singular resemblance to the triple-peaked Eildon of the Scottish border, in the daily view of which I had spent my years of boyhood. Whatever was the diversity, however, of our feelings or our fancies, all were alike impatient to reach Algoa Bay, in order to learn the particular spot (as yet unknown to us) of our ultimate destination, and to ascertain, by actual inspection, the qualities of the soil, climate, and productions of our adopted country.

Night once more overtook us in the midst of our debates and schemes and sanguine day-dreams; and next morning found us, owing to calms and adverse currents, nearly in the same position as we had been at the preceding sunset, opposite Chamtoos Bay. Again, however, as the day advanced, a favouring breeze sprung up, and bore us briskly onward. Soon after midday we doubled Cape Receef, renowned for its shipwrecks; and at length, late in the afternoon of the 15th of April, we came to an anchor in Algoa Bay, in the midst of a little fleet of vessels, which had just landed, or were engaged in landing, their respective bands of settlers. The Menai sloop of war and the Weymouth storeship were moored beside the transports, and their crews, together with a party of military on shore, were employed in assisting the debarkation.

It was an animated and interesting scene. Around us in the west corner of the spacious bay, were anchored ten or twelve large vessels which had recently arrived with emigrants, of whom a large proportion were still on board. Directly in front, on a rising ground a few hundred yards from the beach, stood the little fortified barrack or blockhouse, called Fort Frederick, occupied by a division of the 72nd regiment, with the tents and marquées of the officers pitched on the heights around it. At the foot of these heights, nearer the beach, stood three thatched cottages, and one or two wooden houses brought out from England, which now formed the offices of the commissaries and other civil functionaries appointed to transact the business of the emigration, and to provide the settlers with provisions and other stores, and with carriages for their conveyance up the country. Interspersed among these offices, and among the marquées of the government functionaries and of the naval officers employed on shore, were scattered large depôts of agricultural implements, carpenters' and blacksmiths' tools, and iron ware of all descriptions, sent out by the home government to be furnished to the settlers at prime cost. About two furlongs to the eastward, on a level spot between the sand hills on the beach and the stony heights beyond, lay the camp of the emigrants. Nearly a thousand souls, on an average, were at present lodged there in military tents; but parties were daily moving off in long trains of waggons drawn by bullocks, to proceed to their appointed places of location in the interior, while their place was immediately occupied by fresh bands hourly disembarking from the vessels in the bay. Å suitable back ground to this animated picture, as viewed by us from our anchorage, was supplied by the heights over the Zwartkops River, covered with a dense jungle, and by the picturesque peaks of the Winterhoek and the dark masses of the Zureberg ridge far to the northward, distinctly outlined in the clear blue sky. The whole scene was such as could not fail to impress deeply the most unconcerned spectator. To us who had embarked all our worldly property and earthly prospects-our own future fortunes and the fate of our

posterity, in this enterprize, it was interesting and exciting to an intense degree.

It being too late to get ashore that evening, we continued gazing on this scene till long after sunset,-till twilight had darkened into night, and the constellations of the southern hemisphere, revolving in cloudless brilliancy above, reminded us that nearly half the globe's expanse intervened between us and our native land-the homes of our youth, and the friends we had parted from for ever; and that here, in this farthest nook of Southern Africa, we were now about to receive the portion of our inheritance, and to draw an irrevocable lot for ourselves and for our children's children. Solemn thoughts like these will press themselves at such a time on the most thoughtless; and this night, as we swung at anchor in Algoa Bay, so long the bourne of all our wishes, many a busy wakeful brain among us was doubtless expatiating, each according to the prevailing current of thought, in serious meditation on the future or the past. A long sea voyage, and, far more, one with such an object as we had before us, totally disconnecting us for a time from the bustling world behind and before, and from the great political and social interests of humanity, appears, as it were, like a pause or interlude between the acts of the busy drama of human life; and like the intervals in the acting of the fictitious drama, such a pause deepens the interest both of the past and the future, by affording a convenient space for reflection and anticipation. This quiet interval was about to close with us; and we now waited with eager anxiety for the curtain to draw up and unfold, in all the distinctness of reality, the scenes of wondrous novelty and wild African adventure to which we had so long looked forward.

The reader is not to expect from these remarks that I have any very marvellous adventures in reserve for him at least on the present occasion. Real life often presents us, like our great English dramatist, with a comic or a farcical scene, when we had been led to anticipate something much more grave and important; and sometimes again we are astounded by a tragedy in the midst of our mirth. Life is, however, on the whole, a serious affair; and such reflections as I have spoken of, as well as others of a more solemn character, are probably natural to every man at certain epochs of his existence.

Early next morning, in order to make arrangements for the debarkation' of my party, I went ashore with Lieutenant Pritchard, the government agent who had accompanied us from London. There is no landing-place at this bay,' except on the open beach; and when the wind blows strong from the southeast, there is a tremendous surf, which totally precludes all communication between the shore and the vessels at anchor, and even renders the roadstead extremely hazardous. At this time, however, the weather was favourable, and we dashed boldly through the breakers in the captain's gig, without waiting for the aid of the surf boats,-though, had we been swamped in the attempt, it would have been only the just reward of our rashness.

The debarkation of the emigrants from the other transports was proceeding with alacrity. Party after party were conveyed safely and rapidly through the breakers by the surf boats, (managed by seamen from the sloop of war), and then borne ashore high and dry' on the shoulders of fatigue parties of the military. The beach was all alive with bustle and confusion, and the boisterous hilarity of people who felt their feet on firm ground for the first time after a wearisome voyage. Bands of men and women were walking up and down, conversing and laughing; their children gambolling around them, and raising ever and anon their shrill voices in exclamations of pleasure and surprise, as some novel object excited their attention. Other groups were earnestly watching their luggage, as it was carried from the boats and piled in heaps upon the sand; or were helping to load the waggons appointed to convey it to the settlers' camp. Bargemen and soldiers were bawling to each other across the surf; gigantic African boors, with broad brimmed white hats, and enormous

tobacco pipes in their mouths, were gabbling in Cape-Dutch, and laughing loudly, with their hoarse ho! ho! ho! at "de dom Engelschmenschen."* Whips were smacking, bullocks bellowing, waggons creaking; and the halfnaked Hottentots, who led the long teams of draught oxen, were running, and hallooing, and waving their long lank swarthy arms in front of their bighorned followers as if they were so many lunatics or mad dervishes. Amidst all this turmoil, however, there was nothing grating to the feelings, or very discordant to the ear: the whole was mellowed, and harmonized as it were, by the deep sonorous sound of many waters-the majestic voice of the serene yet restless ocean, rolling everlastingly its broken billows upon the shore.

Leaving the landing-place, we passed some sand-hills covered with beautiful shrubs, such as we find among the rare exotics of our European greenhouses; and aloes and other strange plants were scattered about, and trodden underfoot as carelessly as thistles and burdock in an English barn-yard. As we proceeded, I observed the large depôts of stores and implements provided for the emigrants, some of them but imperfectly protected from the weather by coverings of canvass or tarpaulings, and fenced in from intruders by chevaux de frize of ploughs and harrows, ramparts of packing cases and grindstones, and bastions of frying pans and camp kettles. They were secure enough from depredation under the protection of sentinels; but I regretted to perceive that quantities of the smaller articles of iron ware were going rapidly to destruction, for want of sufficient protection from the moist sea air.

After some little search we found the deputy quarter-master-general, Captain Cloete, to whom the chief management of the debarkation had been entrusted. He was a young man of affable and pleasing manners; and I readily obtained his consent to have my party instantly landed. While orders were dispatched to the surf-boats to expedite their disembarkation, I proceeded to the commissariat department to commission tents, provisions, and other things necessary for their proper accommodation. These stores were furnished to us upon the credit of a sum of £150, which had, agreeably to the general regulations, been deposited on behalf of the party in the hands of the home government.

Having transacted these necessary matters, I returned to the beach to receive my friends, and to guide them to the spot I had selected, with the consent of the commandant, for our little encampment, apart from the populous and somewhat noisy parallelogram of "Settlers' Town." The whole party I found had just arrived outside the breakers in the ship's barge, and were then stepping into the surf-boats. Approaching the Highland soldiers who were employed in pulling these boats with ropes through the surf, I spoke to them in broad Scotch, and entreated them to be careful of their country folks, especially the women and children. It was delightful to witness the hearty outburst of nationality and kindly feeling among these poor fellows when I thus addressed them. "Scotch folk! are they?" said a weather-beaten stalwart corporal, with a strong northern brogue, "never fear, Sir, but we sal be carefu' o' them!" And dashing through the water as he spoke, he and his comrades, hauled the boats rapidly yet cautiously through the breakers; and then surrounding the party, and shaking them cordially by the hands, they carried them, old and young, ashore on their shoulders, without allowing one of them to wet the sole of his shoe in the spray. Being Highlanders, these men had no connection with our native districts; but the name of " Auld Scotland" was a sufficient pass-word to their national sympathies. I did not venture to hazard a breach of discipline, or to

"The stupid Englishmen." All ignorant people are apt to despise foreigners, merely because they differ from themselves; and of this foolish self-conceit the Cape Dutch have generally a comfortable share. Their contempt was, however, the more excusable in regard to the mass of the English emigrants, as they soon discovered that they were totally ignorant of rural affairs, and of every thing connected with a country life.

hurt their better feelings, by the offer of any pecuniary recompense; but, inviting them to visit our encampment and have "a crack about the Highlands," we found (on a subsequent occasion) a way of furnishing them with half-anhour's enjoyment, without the aid of fairintosh or glenlivet.

In the midst of our colloquy with the soldiers, Captain Cloete and another officer came hastily down to the beach, and informed me, with many apologies and expressions of regret, that an unlucky mistake had been made in authorising the disembarkation of our party that day, as it was found that a party from another vessel had a prior claim to be provided for; and, in order to avoid disputes and any appearance of partiality, it was earnestly requested that we would consent to return on board for a few days longer, and resign the tents and other accommodations to the rival claimants. This was an unpleasant predicament; but as it would have been equally ungracious and absurd to have refused compliance with a request which was in itself reasonable, and which the official applicants could readily enforce by authority, we submitted with as much cheerfulness as could be expected from persons heartily sick of a sea life, and, only a minute before, almost wild with joy, to find themselves once more on dry land-a feeling which only those can appreciate who have themselves experienced that intense longing for the land which landsmen feel at the close of a tedious voyage. The whole party, therefore, with the exception of another gentleman and myself, were immediately re-embarked, under the care, and accompanied by the friendly condolements, of their Highland countrymen.

I then strolled along the beach to survey more closely the camp of the settlers, which had looked so picturesque from the sea. On my way I passed two or three marquées and tents, pitched apart among the evergreen bushes which were scattered between the sand-hills and the heights behind. These were the encampments of some of the higher class of settlers, and evinced the taste of the occupants by the pleasant situations in which they were placed, and by the neatness and order of every thing about them. Ladies and gentlemen, elegantly dressed, were seated in some of them with books in their hands; others were rambling among the shrubbery and over the little eminences, looking down upon the bustling beach and bay. One or two handsome carriages were standing in the open air, exhibiting some tokens of aristocratic rank or pretension in the proprietors. And on the whole it was obvious that several of these families had been accustomed to enjoy the luxurious accommodations of refined society in England. How far they had acted wisely in embarking their property and the happiness of their families in an enterprise like the presentand in leading their respective bands of pennyless adventurers to colonize the savage regions of Southern Africa, were questions yet to be determined. Foreseeing, as I did in some degree, (though certainly by no means to the full extent,) the difficulties and privations inevitable in such circumstances, I could not view this class of emigrants, with their elegant arrangements and appliances, without some melancholy misgivings as to their future fate; for they appeared utterly unfitted by former habits, especially the females, for roughing it (to use the expressive phraseology of the camp,) through the first trying period of the settlement. Some of these families, as the reader will afterwards find, I had the fortune to become acquainted with in a different stage of our enterprise. For the present we pass on to another scene.

A little way beyond, I entered the settlers' camp, or "Canvass Town," as it was commonly termed. It consisted of several hundred tents pitched in regular rows or streets, and occupied by the middling and lower classes of emigrants. These consisted of various descriptions of people; and the air, aspect, and array of their persons and temporary residences, were equally various. There were respectable tradesmen and farmers, with a jolly appearance of substance and snug English comfort about them. There were watermen, fishermen, and sailors, from the Thames and English sea-ports, with the reckless and weather-beaten look usual in persons of their perilous and precarious profes