The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-03-25
AFRICA FROM AN OK WAGON
A Woman Tr ,veIer's Remarkable Journey
OF 1.2OO Miles.


| From the Boston Evening Transcript
Less than a year ago Miss Alice
Blanche Balfour, an English lady with
a taste for art and adventure, sailed
from southampton, one of a party of
four bound for Cape Town, and from
there whenever fancy or fate might
point the way. The plan in general
was laid out before leaving England,
which was to travel by OK wagon dur
ing the wanderings of the party. the
final objective point, however, being
Pretoria. After three pleasant weeks
at sea the members of the party found
themselves in Cape Town, where they
were met by an invitation from Cecil
Rhodes to occupy his residence, a few
miles away, during his absence on a
business journey. During their several
weeks stay, while waiting for the
wagons. Miss Balfour did a good deal
of sight seeing and sketching. OF the
country about Cape Town, she says:
THE scenery wherever we have been
is wonderfully fine. / cannot imagine
why one has never heard of the beau
ties of this country. You have the sea,
with a very varying coast line-mag-
nificent ranges of serrated hills, glo-
rious i'm color, often running out into
promontories: and long stretches of
fiat land covered with all sorts of veg
citation and exquisite flowers, from
NIitn lilt iilliS ilSt OAltH Qullt abrupt
ly. My idea before / came here was
that the district, otherwise uninterest-
ing, was made remarkable. though not
beautiful, by one fiat-topped hill. In
reality. Table mountain is but an un-
usual incident among a wealth of
splendid points and jagged edges"
Not a great way from Mr.. Rhodes
house was what the author calls an
aerial tram" which consisted of a
cage hung on a wire rope passing over
high iron standards. worked by a
steam engine at the bottom of the
mountain. on the lower and less steep
part of the mountain side the stand
ards were not very far apart; but on
the precipitous upper part of the spans
between them were from 400 to 1,500
feet. and the descent the steepest OF
any aerial tram in the world. The YER
teal descent amounts to 1920 feet.
Before their wagon train was ready
the party had opportunity to visit the
Orange Free State. Basutoland. johann
nesburg and Kimberley by rail, begin
ming their real journey by wagon at
Mafeking. in British Bechuanaland.
The wagon was constructed especially
for the journey. but IL proved on trial
to be a ramshackle affair. The springs
soon broke. and every jolt threw the
inmates and baggage from side TO side
and rendered sleep or even rest impos-
sible when the vehicle was in notion
The author says:
Il have not yet learned to sleep when
the road. as IL was this morning. is like
the dry bed of a river full OF powders.
and everything jumps up and down i'm
the wagon. including its human occu-
pants / lie on my back with my knees
up and support myself on my elbows
and feet TO lessen the jar. Mrs. Grey
rolls and bounds about, grooming when
worse jolt comes than usual which.
am sorry to say. always makes me go
into hopeless laughter. Al our springs
are more or less broken. hut / don't
think IL makes much din renee. Th.se
wonderful wagons are not such para
CONS OF excellence as they should have
been. our trekchains break whenever
good strain II put on IN IA. our
springs are broken and bent, the strain