November to the end of March is very hot, and heavy 270 NATAL App. storms occur, and bad hail-storms about Christmas are common. I am told that in Italy experiments have been tried to dispel hail-storms by firing cannon, I do not know with what success. Frosts. — In the high lands the first frosts appear in May, and till August the nights are cold, with hot sunshine and a cloudless sky all day. There is no frost on the coast lands, but often a dry, hot wind through the winter, and in summer plenty of rain. Clothing, for the coast as thin as possible all the summer ; a thin serge could be worn in the winter sometimes ; on the high lands clothing practically the same as here ; warm wraps are a necessity if much driving is done. House rent, much the same as in the Cape Colony, higher in large towns than in small villages ; in Greytown we paid ;^i8 a year for a good four-roomed house; it would be more in Maritzburg or Durban. Farms as a rule are large, looo acres being considered a small farm in Natal. Little plots of ground on the coast are rented by Indian coolies, who grow fruit and vegetables and undersell every one else, and so agriculture does not pay on a small scale, besides which the country and soil is so fruitful that every house (even in towns) has its own garden, in which there is room for a cow ! and a vegetable garden ; and as irrigation is nearly always possible, crops can be grown nearly all the year round. Fruits. — On the high lands apples, apricots, plums, peaches, pears, strawberries, and Cape gooseberries grow profusely, while on the coast pineapples, bananas, grena- dillas, guavas, mangoes, pawpaws, oranges, lemons, and naartjes are to be grown in abundance. The suburbs of Durban are full of pretty houses with lovely gardens. 271 App. NATAL Pietermaritzburg also abounds in verandahed bungalows and excellent gardens, with the rose in common use as a hedge plant, and every variety of begonia grows profusely. Servants. — Servants used to be plentiful in the country districts at ioj-. per month and food (consisting of mealie porridge only) for groom or farm work ; young boys at 6s. per month ; but in towns wages are higher. The high wages paid at Johannesburg has naturally had the effect of raising the prices in Natal; but coolies from India, in- dentured for five years, can always be had on application, and make good house servants, Kaffir boys make fair cooks, house-boys, etc., with very little training, as they are very observant ; but to those who can afford it, I should say, especially where there are children, bring an English nurse with you ! TO SPARE ANIMALS UNNECESSARY PAIN. A LADY writes regarding the most merciful way to kill crayfish : “ My cook severs the head from the tail by a deep cut of an inch long ; the crayfish dies then, and is not put into the pot to die slowly of the heat.” All cooks, I am sure, would wish to save the creatures required for food unnecessary pain, and I am allowed to reprint extracts from leaflets issued by the Royal Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals, 105, Jermyn Street, London, which we shall find useful.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

November to the end of March is very hot, and heavy NATAL App. storms occur, and bad hail-storms about Christmas are common. I am told that in Italy experiments have been tried to dispel hail-storms by firing cannon, I do not know with what success. Frosts. — In the high lands the first frosts appear in May, and till August the nights are cold, with hot sunshine and a cloudless sky all day. There is no frost on the coast lands, but often a dry, hot wind through the winter, and in summer plenty of rain. Clothing, for the coast as thin as possible all the summer ; a thin serge could be worn in the winter sometimes ; on the high lands clothing practically the same as here ; warm wraps are a necessity if much driving is done. House rent, much the same as in the Cape Colony, higher in large towns than in small villages ; in Greytown we paid ;^i8 a year for a good four-roomed house; it would be more in Maritzburg or Durban. Farms as a rule are large, looo acres being considered a small farm in Natal. Little plots of ground on the coast are rented by Indian coolies, who grow fruit and vegetables and undersell every one else, and so agriculture does not pay on a small scale, besides which the country and soil is so fruitful that every house (even in towns) has its own garden, in which there is room for a cow ! and a vegetable garden ; and as irrigation is nearly always possible, crops can be grown nearly all the year round. Fruits. — On the high lands apples, apricots, plums, peaches, pears, strawberries, and Cape gooseberries grow profusely, while on the coast pineapples, bananas, grenadillas, guavas, mangoes, pawpaws, oranges, lemons, and naartjes are to be grown in abundance. The suburbs of Durban are full of pretty houses with lovely gardens. App. NATAL Pietermaritzburg also abounds in verandahed bungalows and excellent gardens, with the rose in common use as a hedge plant, and every variety of begonia grows profusely. Servants. — Servants used to be plentiful in the country districts at ioj-. per month and food (consisting of mealie porridge only) for groom or farm work ; young boys at 6s. per month ; but in towns wages are higher. The high wages paid at Johannesburg has naturally had the effect of raising the prices in Natal; but coolies from India, indentured for five years, can always be had on application, and make good house servants, Kaffir boys make fair cooks, house-boys, etc., with very little training, as they are very observant ; but to those who can afford it, I should say, especially where there are children, bring an English nurse with you ! TO SPARE ANIMALS UNNECESSARY PAIN. A LADY writes regarding the most merciful way to kill crayfish : “ My cook severs the head from the tail by a deep cut of an inch long ; the crayfish dies then, and is not put into the pot to die slowly of the heat.” All cooks, I am sure, would wish to save the creatures required for food unnecessary pain, and I am allowed to reprint extracts from leaflets issued by the Royal Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals, 105, Jermyn Street, London, which we shall find useful.

Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper