Cape Town Arrival

T.R.S…
Entered Cape Town harbour at 7am. Tuesday. Sea calm, sky cloudless. Air quite chilly. Concrete wharf all along bay front built on a breakwater, backed by parkway of winding drives and gardened flower and grass plots, similar to Chicago lakefront.

City lies on a slope extending from wharf to Table Mountain (perhaps two miles) which rises suddenly to 4,300 feet. All passengers went ashore and took an auto tour of city and environs.

As in Chicago, modern business buildings face the parkway, and streets run off North, East and West into residential and apartment sections. Most structures are of Dutch Colonial style, nicely landscaped, but trees of all kinds appear to struggle for existence .

Drove clear around 40-mile coastline of cape on lofty cliff side highway. Sea calm and reflected dozens of blue and green shades under fast-clouding sky. On return to the ship we ran into 50mph gale which kicked up terrific dust and sea spray. Everyone stayed aboard entire evening, worn out from two shore excursions.

Our Special Train Awaits Us

T.R.S…
Next morning boarded special train for 1,600 mile trek into African interior. Comfortable compartment and dining car accommodations. First 100 miles of inland Africa is fringed with rocky and barren mountain range, through which the narrow gauge railway snakes its way by gradual climb up to a tableland known as the veld.

After 500 miles of this we came to the bush, a wilderness of thickets with occasional cleared spots where the kraals or groups of native huts are built. Small herds of strange cattle and sheep can be seen now and then. Natives live in clean poverty. All except infants are fully clad and seem well nourished.

This is early autumn in South Africa and there is the usual dry, burned-out look typical of Ohio in late August. There are no wild animals in the 1,500 mile section of Africa north of Cape Town, except a few wildcats that do not rate in the circus category.

The first stop for our train will be Kimberley, the source of most of the World's diamonds, and our inland tour includes a visit to several mines, recovery plants and employee compounds to learn all about how these popular gems come into existence.