was shown me by the editors of the Eastern Telegraph and the Eastern Herald, and several residents took a warm interest in my scientific pursuits. Mr. Holland pointed out to me, at several places on the coast, piles of bones and shells, the remains of the meals of the ancient inhabitants; but as my attention was only drawn to them shortly before my departure, I had not time to ascertain whether they had been accumulated by the Bushmen; if not, I should be inclined to suppose they must be the relics of some extinct tribe.
The twenty-one packages that I had sent on to Port Elizabeth a year ago were all in good condition. Those that I had now brought with me raised the number to forty-seven; and two more, subsequently added at Cape Town, made a total of forty-nine to be conveyed to Europe.
My intention was to take all my collection from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town by the Union Steamship Company’s “Arab,” and after staying at Cape Town for a fortnight to proceed homewards in the “German.” Accordingly, after seeing all my baggage carefully stowed on board the little cutter that acted as tender to the “Arab”—that lay at anchor about half a mile out—I went back into the town to pay some farewell visits. My consternation may in a measure be imagined when returning a few hours afterwards, I found all my cases piled up promiscuously on the beach. The rope by which the tender was being towed through the surf had broken, and the vessel had been washed back to the shore, but not until she had begun to fill with water.
The great wonder was that the craft had not been dashed against the wooden landing-stage; I
