The scenery
here is certainly very grand, and is some of the best of its kind I have
seen in South Africa. The railway, which winds through it by a
succession of zigzags from a great height, is another of the many
triumphs of engineering skill which are to be found in all parts of the
world. The fine views of the Pass, when I traversed it, were heightened
by the tops of the mountains being tinged with a wreath of snow. From
Hex River the route to Cape Town lay through a rich and fertile valley,
conveying ample proofs of the agricultural value and resources of this
part of the Cape Colony. I arrived at Cape Town in the afternoon of the
following Wednesday. Here I spent another pleasant week, seeing various
friends.
[Illustration: HEX RIVER PASS.]
One of the last duties which devolved upon me before leaving South
Africa--at the urgent invitation of some of my friends--was to deliver
an address at Cape Town on Imperial Federation. This I did at the hall
of the Young Men's Christian Society, to a large and attentive
audience.[C]
On the 4th of September I left Cape Town in the s.s. _Athenian_; and,
after a pleasant and rapid voyage of eighteen days, touching only at
Madeira on the way, I landed safely at Southampton on Sunday the 22nd.
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