Six Months at the Cape by Robert Michael Ballantyne. Page: 1
Six Months at the Cape, by R.M. Ballantyne
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Six Months at the Cape, by R.M. Ballantyne This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Six Months at the Cape
Author: R.M. Ballantyne
Release Date: June 6, 2007 [EBook #21704]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX MONTHS AT THE CAPE ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
Six Months at the Cape, Letters to his friend Periwinkle, by R.M. Ballantyne.
LETTER ONE.
"A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE."
South Africa.
Dear Periwinkle,--Since that memorable, not to say miserable, day, when you and I parted at Saint Katherine's Docks, [see note 1], with the rain streaming from our respective noses--rendering tears superfluous, if not impossible--and the noise of preparation for departure damaging the fervour of our "farewell"--since that day, I have ploughed with my "adventurous keel" upwards of six thousand miles of the "main," and now write to you from the wild Karroo of Southern Africa.
The Karroo is not an animal. It is a spot--at present a lovely spot. I am surrounded by--by nature and all her southern abundance. Mimosa trees, prickly pears, and aloes remind me that I am not in England. Ostriches, stalking on the plains, tell that I am in Africa. It is not much above thirty years since the last lion was shot in this region, [see note 2], and the kloofs, or gorges, of t