Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

Soft balmy sunshine, flower-scented air, laughter and happiness, and a really good shaking occasionally over ruts, has by the time we reach our destination given every one an excellent appetite. The horses are taken out and knee-haltered ; the hampers unpacked, and some collect wood to make a fire for roasting “the sasaties”i and boiling the potatoes and the freshly-caught fish, and when all is finished and ample justice done to the various good things, then comes the time for coffee — which by the way is an extract made at home.^ The milk is boiled, and a little, say 2 ozs., of this coffee put in a cup of boiling milk makes a delicious beverage. But all good things come to an end, and soon it is time to return home. Mamre, the pretty Moravian Mission Station, is another favourite spot for picnics. The village is embowered in oaks with streams of running water, the quaint little houses stand each in its garden, among the peach trees pink with blossom, and vines are trailed up the front of the cottages where the Hottentots live who form the mission population ; then there are the large substantially built church and school-rooms, the funny old watermill, and the dear kind Moravian missionaries full of hospitality. How well one remembers a happy day spent there with dear Sir Bartle Frere, who was our honoured ^ ■ Hilda’s Where is it, p. 214. 2 /did., p. 36. guest, and how interested he was in the schools and work of the mission station. One of our most delightful outings, when living at Groote Poste, used to be the annual stay, about Christmas and New Year, at Buck Bay — a cattle-farm belonging to my eldest brother, with a picturesque old Colonial house. It had a voorhuis (hall or ante-room) opening into a large kitchen and store-room, and bedrooms on either side. To this place we went by ox-wagon generally, the roads being sandy, some of the elder ones driving in a cart and six horses ; the wagons taking extra bedding, pillows, and stores. There being no shops near, everything has to be thought of and taken ; and it required two wagons. We always took cook and housemaid, and there was a boy who carried water, and brought wood. The routine of the day was — early coffee and rusks, then bathing, then a breakfast of a broiled “ Hottentot” fish, just caught — most delicious and juicy — and bread-and-butter ; walking, fishing, then early dinner ; the usual afternoon rest, which in this climate is absolutely necessary ; coffee or tea and cake as you like, and more fishing and walking and sitting on those grand rocks ; supper and bed. The gentlemen would shoot pheasants, partridges and buck, and so the days would pass, one day very like another. But thanks to the rest and change, we would all return home invigorated and strengthened, ready for the remaining summer days, which are long and trying, especially so in February and March. In Natal I hear almost every family goes to the seaside, and live in tents for a month. The mouth of the now historic Tugela is a favourite spot for camping-out. We often had musical evenings in the dear old home at Groote Poste. There were four of us sisters ; I was the least gifted that way, though I loved some of my old songs. A and L used to sing pretty duets. The old piano