Opis: How Thankful Should We Be - Thomas E. Neumann

Excerpt from How Thankful Should We Be: Comments on Natal

In which it seemed always afternoon. All round the coast the languid air did swoon, Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.

- The Lotos-Eaters.

This is not an advertisement for Seigel's syrup, so, reader, peruse with comfort. "How thankful should we be," was a little sister's favourite saying, and she often used it with a quaint mixture of fun and gravity to rebuke grumblers. We quoted the virtuous remark so often during our brief visit to Natal that it seemed the most appropriate title to adopt for a description of our experiences. "How thankful should we be!" we earnestly exclaimed when, after broiling on the deck of the Trojan, being hoisted in a basket, and tossing on the bar, we landed on the Durban wharf. (F. asks to be allowed to put in a word for the Trojan. "A charming, comfortable, substantial old ship she is, with her spacious cabins and deck-room. For making a voyage for health's sake, give me one of her type to do it in. Luxury enough for any but Lord Randolphs, no taxing of the brain in thinking about where your cabin is, and which is the shortest way to it among the maze of routes aboard our Scots and Dunottars, even after you have been at sea for a week or more and may be supposed to have mastered the geographical details of the complicated machines we travel in. No difficulty in finding a corner for your chair, and your chums, where you can lounge in peace, and snooze, if so inclined, without waking up to the fact that your cap is gone, you have got neuralgia in the face, or are chilled to the bone by sitting in an artificial gale of wind created by the driving of the ship through the water at eighteen or twenty miles an hour.")

We should add, however, that extensive harbour works are in course of construction, and even the present wharf and tugs are infinitely superior to the "temporary" landing arrangements at the metropolis of the East, arrangements which have been temporary ever since Port Elizabeth "was," and seem likely to continue so. The shimmering heat at the Point was intense, and we were glad to take refuge in the cool airy hall at the Alexandra Hotel. The palms and Hindoo servants clad in snowy tunics and turbans, looked delightfully tropical. Indians are universally employed in the Durban hotels and in many private houses. As a rule they make excellent servants, though they are rather tiresomely attentive, and their curiosity is insatiable. (F. reminds me of "another good trait they have, and that is, they are satisfied with moderate tips and they do not in their waiting on you make you feel that they are gauging your liberality and apportioning the amount of attention they will bestow on you.") Ti, the Indian maid, was quite a "character." She took a keen interest in the fashions, and rather an unwelcome interest in "leetle Missy's belongings. The Indian coolie girls wear short skirts and loose jackets, a long scarf of white muslin or bright coloured silk is draped across the shoulders and over the skirt, falling in graceful folds. They are plentifully bedecked with jewellery, "rings on their fingers and bells on their toes," massive earrings, noserings, &c. Indeed, an Indian girl carries all her fortune on her person, the features being often quite distorted with the weight of ornaments. I was quite fascinated with a coolie girl decked with magnificent silver jewellery; woven frostwork gleamed in her dark hair, massive chains were wound about her neck and arms, her ankles were so laden with silver that she walked with difficulty, and of course the earrings and noserings were hideous. Ti, however, contemptuously remarked that the silvery damsel didn't amount to much, as Indian women of any consequence always wore gold.

Next morning we began to explore Durban. There was very little difficulty in getting about, open trams leaving the Point for the Townhall every quarter of an hour, and going from t

Szczegóły: How Thankful Should We Be - Thomas E. Neumann

Nazwa: How Thankful Should We Be Comments on Natal (Classic Reprint)
Autor: Thomas E. Neumann
Wydawnictwo: FB &c Ltd
Kod paskowy: 9781332141098
Języki: angielski
Ilość stron: 38
Format: 15.2x22.9cm
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: How Thankful Should We Be - Thomas E. Neumann