CHAPTER I.

PORT ELIZABETH AND WALMER.

Early ambitions realized--Voyage to South Africa--Cape Town and Wynberg--Profusion of flowers--Port Elizabeth--Christmas decorations--Public library--Malays--Walmer--Hottentot huts--Our little house--Pretty gardens--Honey-suckers--Flowers of Walmer Common--Wax-creeper--Ixias--Scarlet heath--Natal lilies-- "Upholstery flower"--Ticks--Commence ostrich-farming--Counting the birds--A ride after an ostrich 9