us floods are implied in the carrying away of this bridge!
What superabundance of water in that so-called land of drought! What
opportunities for engineering skill to catch and conserve the water, and
turn the "barren land" into fruitful fields! Don't you see this,
Periwinkle? If not, I will say no more, for, according to the proverb,
"a nod is as good as a wink to the blind horse."

Having crossed the bridge in safety we continued our journey in the new
vehicle with fresh horses, and reached Grahamstown at four in the
afternoon.

Between sixty and seventy years is not a great age for a city. Indeed,
as cities go, Grahamstown may be called quite infantile. Nevertheless
this youthful city has seen much rough work in its brief career.

Grahamstown was born in smoke, and cradled in war's alarms. It began
life in 1812, at which time the thieving and incorrigible Kafirs were
driven across the Great Fish River--then the colonial boundary--by a
strong force of British and Burgher troops under Colonel Graham. During
these disturbed times it was established as headquarters of the troops
which guarded the frontier.

When the infant was seven years old its courage and capacity were
severely put to the proof. In the year 1818-19--just before the arrival
of the "British settlers,"--it was deemed necessary to interfere in the
concerns of contending Kafir chiefs, and to punish certain tribes for
their continued depredations on the colony. For these ends, as well as
the recovery of stolen cattle, a strong force was sent into Kafirland.
While the troops were absent, a body of Kafirs assembled in the bush of
the Great Fish River, from which they issued to attack Grahamstown.
They were led by a remarkable man named Makana. He was also styled the
Lynx.

This Kafir, although not a chief, rose to power by the force of a
superior intellect and a strong will. He was well-known in Grahamstown,
having been in the habit of paying it frequent visits, on which
occasions he evinced great curiosity on all subjects, speculative as
well as practical.

Makana appears to have been an apt scholar. Being a man of eloquence as
well as originality, he soon acquired ascendency over most of the great
chiefs of Kafirland, was almost worshipped by the people, who
acknowledged him a warrior-chief as well as a prophet, and collected
around him a large body of retainers. It has been thought by some that
Makana was a "noble" savage, and that alth