company in England; "No" met our every inquiry. February had now set in,
and we thought that the best thing to do was to take a small unfurnished
house and wait in hope that a man-of-war would be visiting the island at
the end of the year. We had been about a month in this house when news
came from my sister-in-law in England that the very company to which we
had cabled and which had a monthly service between Table Bay and the River
Plate was ready to take us for a named sum, but only on the understanding
that should the weather be too rough to land us on Tristan we should have
to go on to Buenos Ayres. In spite of the uncertainty involved it seemed
right to accept this offer. We embarked on the steamer _Surrey_ on March
31, but did not start till next day, Sunday, as some repairs had to be
done to one of the engines. There went with us Tom Rogers, a Tristanite,
who was glad of the opportunity of returning to his island home.

During our stay at Cape Town we had made many kind friends. Among them
were Mr. Beverley, the rector of Holy Trinity Church, and Mrs. Beverley.
They had helped us in looking for a house, helped in shopping, helped in
packing, insisted on our taking our last meal with them, and came with us
to the steamer. We found the steamer very crowded, the passengers quite
outnumbering the berths, and it was not until evening that we could
procure a cabin. But one thing I much appreciated: our collie was allowed
to be with us during the day. We had only had him a few days, but he
behaved excellently, lying at our feet most of the time. He came to us as
"Whisky," but was promptly re-named "Rob."

[Illustration: THE PEAK SHOWING ABOVE CLOUDS]



CHAPTER II