then arrived there are few things which are
more flattering than that of being told you are no longer a boy. When
with the Caffres I never thought of such things. The fact of having
been made a chief had promoted me to the dignity of manhood, but when I
came again among white people I was treated as a boy by some of these;
my uncle, however, considered me a young man.

After a few remarks about my voyage, my uncle informed me that we should
dine in an hour, and that probably it would take me some time to dress
and refresh myself after my journey: he rang the bell, and told Edwards,
the dignified butler, to show me to my room.

There was a solid well-to-do look in everything in my uncle's house: the
furniture consisted principally of carved black oak; curiosities of
various kinds were hung up in the hall and on the walls of the
staircase. My bedroom had several handsome pictures in it, the bed
itself being a large four-poster.

Edwards helped me to unpack my portmanteaus, and hinted that the master
always dressed for dinner. My outfit at Cape Town had been very
complete, so I arrayed myself in a "claw-hammer" coat, as the sailors
term it, and a white tie, and made my way to the drawing-room, where I
found my uncle. In his evening dress he looked still more noticeable
than when I first saw him, and I felt proud of being the nephew of so
distinguished a looking man.

During dinner I was surprised at the knowledge my uncle possessed of the
Caffres, and of South Africa. He had evidently studied that country,
and was well acquainted with its geography, climate, and the character
of the natives. The questions he put to me taxed all my local knowledge
to answer, and I found it difficult to believe that he had not himself
been in the country. He was much interested in my account of the
language; he was himself a great linguist, and traced in the Caffre
words I used a connection with the Arabic. After dinner we sat talking,
mainly about my adventures at the Cape, my uncle's questions leading me
on to give him all the details of my life in that country. At ten
o'clock he told me that he always breakfasted at eight; that at seven
o'clock the gong sounded three times, at half past seven four times, and
at eight five times. He added that one of the things about which he was
particular was punctuality, as very much, especially in business,
depended on attention to this.

When alone in my bedroom I began to speculate on