, acknowledging no authority,--guilty
of every crime openly, and careless of detection."

"I certainly have read of great cruelty on the part of these Dutch
boors, but I had no idea of the extent to which it was carried."

"The origin was in that greatest of all curses, slavery; nothing
demoralizes so much. These boors had been brought up with the idea that
a Hottentot, a bushman, or a Caffre were but as the mere brutes of the
field, and they have treated them as such. They would be startled at
the idea of murdering a white man, but they will execute wholesale
slaughter among these poor natives, and think they have committed no
crime. But the ladies are coming up, and we shall be interrupted, so I
will not task your patience any more to-day. I shall therefore conclude
what I may term part the first of my little history of the Cape colony."

CHAPTER IV.

Alexander Wilmot was too much pleased with Mr. Swinton not to cultivate
his acquaintance, and they soon became very intimate. The conversation
often turned upon Mr. Swinton's favorite study, that of natural history.

"I confess myself wholly ignorant of the subject," observed Alexander
one day, "though I feel that it must be interesting to those who study
it; indeed, when I have walked through the museums, I have often wished
that I had some one near who could explain to me what I wished to know
and was puzzled about. But it appears to me that the study of natural
history is such an immense undertaking if you comprehend all its
branches. Let me see,--there is botany, mineralogy, and geology--these
are included, are they not?"

"Most certainly," replied Mr. Swinton, laughing; "and perhaps the three
most interesting branches. Then you have zoology, or the study of
animals, ornithology for birds, entomology for insects, conchology for
shells, ichthyology for fishes; all very hard names, and enough to
frighten a young beginner. But I can assure you, a knowledge of these
subjects, to an extent sufficient to create interest and afford
continual amusement, is very easily acquired."

"'The proper study of mankind is man,' says the poet,"--observed
Alexander, smiling.

"Poets deal in fiction, Mr. Wilmot," replied Mr. Swinton; "to study man
is only to study his inconsistencies and his aberrations from the right
path, which the free-will permitted to him induces him to follow; but
in the study of nature, you witness the directing power of the Almighty,
who guides w