Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-08-31
LETTER FROM AFRICA.

' "ohu tocduuen TO Glrard
Huppertz, written from Revolver
Reef, Barberton, South African Re-
public, under date of July /, 1888:
I'VE put in at Lisbon. l was
ashore all day, seeing what ] could
OF the town. It's a very pretty place.
Ihey build their houses and pave the
streets with the intention of MAKING
them last, and go in somewhat for
pretty appearances. Some very fine
squares have been laid out in differ
ent parts of the town. The fruit
market, | should think, was second to
none in the world. 1t is long way
ahead of anything l have ever seen
in that line. was in some very fine
public gardens, where flowers seem
to grow without any effort. In one
l saw the statues of all their noted
men-Columbus, Vasco de Cana,
Magellan, Cortez and many others
we'll known to history. We also put
in to Funchal at Madeira. should
think that place had been at stand
still, in regard to improvements, since
it was first peopled. The climate is
considered second to none in the
world, but the people seem to just
stay and live on as their fathers did
before them. l was told that they
had no wheeled vehicles on the is
land. Certainly l saw none. Fancy
taking your girl out for a buggy ride
and having to use two bullocks pull
ing sleigh over paved street. That
seems to be the only way of doing it.
There were lots of them down at the
waterside when we landed, wanting
to take us to hotels or around town
to see the place, but as l didn't un-
derstand their language l didn't go
that way, but preferred to 60 on foot.
Vegetation there seems to grow over
everything. Even on the streets
grass was growing between the paw
ing stones in some places. The cat
tie that were pulling the sleighs could
get bite in the center of the street.
Wine, Of course, was cheap. You
could get pretty good wine, or what
would be called SO in Idaho, at one
shilling per bottle, some as low as
four pence or eight cents per bottle.
No excuse for a man not getting
drunk every day. We also called at
Cape Town, and stayed day and
night. This is not as big town as |
had pictured it, and is located very
much different. Table Mountain ris-
es very near straight up from one
part of the town, and Table Bay was
not in the least bit pretty place.
We changed boats there from the
Athenan to the African, coaster.
We called at Mossel Bay, Port Eliz
abeth, East London, and got off at
Natal, where we took the railroad for
Ladysmith, the northern terminus of
the road. The country around Ma
tai seems like one continuous garden.
Oranges and lemons, bananas and
pineapples seem to grow just as plen-
tifully as snow in winter in Banner
From Ladysmith the country is more
OF stock range-grass in places a
foot or two over a mans head, and
the country very little settled. We
travelled by team from Ladysmith,
and on the road saw the forts that
we're built IN the Boer war, and also
went on Amajuba mountain, where
the last battle was fought and Gener-
al Collev killed. We also visited
some monuments that were built to
the memory of the dead soldiers, both
English and Beers. There are three
built to the English, and one to the
Beers.
This country, in regard to mining,
is in its infancy. As yet scarcely
enough has been done on any of the
mines to know whether or not they
are mines. They are building a mill
now on the one that l am on, and
they have done very little more than
scratch the top of the ground. Ger
tainly they have never seen the ledge
twenty feet below the surface
| am running one tunnel to tap the
ledge as low as | can and be above
the mill site, Will have to run a
track about four hundred feet from
mouth of tunnel, aud then can dump
in the mill. / am running another
drift on the ledge and sinking shaft
both to serve to ventilate the lower
drift and as an ore chute to run ore
from top drift to lower one. Inc