ome very fond of the Miss Rossmars, and
felt just as if I were one of the family. I had everything I could
require--a comfortable house, excellent companions, a horse to ride, and
nothing to do except what I fancied. The novelty of the life charmed
me, and this perhaps was one reason why I did not have any longing for
the sports and excitement that had formerly fallen to my share.

A few weeks passed, and then a ship was signalled as entering Table Bay
from the East. This ship was an Indiaman, so I expected a letter from
my father. Scarcely, however, had the ship cast anchor than a boat left
her, and pulled rapidly to the shore. In this boat was my father, who
on hearing of my safety had obtained leave, and had at once started for
the Cape.

Our meeting was a joyful one; my father was astonished to see the change
that a few years had made in me. When I left India I was comparatively
a child. The open-air life I had led, the continued exercise and the
healthy food had caused me to grow rapidly, and also to be stout and
strong. The various dangerous adventures through which I had passed had
made me a man in manner, and I had gained that important quality
self-dependence, without which a man is sure to be a failure. My father
listened with the greatest interest to my accounts of the various
dangers through which I had passed. When I explained to him the life
led by some of these Caffre Chiefs, he agreed with me that, except for
the uncertainty of being attacked by some other tribe, no life could be
more pleasant than that of a chief in that country. To possess a large
herd of cattle giving a plentiful supply of milk; several wives who
cultivated the ground, and thus supplied corn, pumpkins and other
vegetables required for food; game in abundance in the forests and on
the plains, and no king or prince in Europe could lead a more happy life
than did a Caffre Chief. When I compared the life of even a rich
merchant in Cape Town with that of a Caffre Chief, I could not but come
to the conclusion that the latter had the best of it. A merchant would
go to his office by ten o'clock in the morning, would be shut up there
going over accounts till about four o'clock; he had not time for any
sport or pleasure during the day, and on his return home, often seemed
pre-occupied with the business, to which he had devoted his time in the
morning. Then, again, losses of money would sometimes occur, and the
unhappiness caused