APPENDIX II. IMPERIAL YEOMANRY HOSPITALS, 1900-1902




CHAPTER I

FIRST VOYAGE TO SOUTH AFRICA--CAPE TOWN.

"Oh that mine adversary had written a book!"--JOB xxxi. 35.


The above words, written by one of the greatest philosophers of olden
time, have often impressed me, and I have frequently quoted them when
asked why I did not write an account of the interesting travels and
adventures I have had in my life. It has therefore required a great deal
of courage to take up my pen and record a few recollections of South
Africa. I felt that, were they ever to be written at all, it must be
before the rapidly passing years diminish the interest in that land,
which in the past has been the object of such engrossing attention; and
that at the present time, when the impending Federation of South Africa
has at length crowned the hopes of those patriots who have laboured
patiently and hopefully to bring about this great result, it might be
appropriate to recall those days when Englishmen, who had made South
Africa their home, had much to contend with, even before the fierce
struggle to keep "the flag flying" in the years of 1899-1902.

During that period, which commenced after the disaster at Majuba Hill,
"equal rights" were a golden dream which only the most optimistic ever