Leaping over time and space with that hilarious1 mental bound which is so easy and enjoyable to writers and readers, let us fold our wings at early morn in the month of May, and drop down on the heights in the vicinity of Algoa Bay.
The general aspect of the bay is sandy and sterile2. On its blue waters many large vessels3 lie at anchor. Some of them are trim, with furled sails and squared yards, as if they had been there for a considerable time. Others have sails and spars loose and awry4, as if they had just arrived. From these latter many an emigrant5 eye is turned wistfully on the shore. The rising ground on which we stand is crowned by a little fortress6, or fortified7 barrack, styled Fort Frederick, around which are the marquees of the officers of the 72nd regiment8. Below, on the range of sandhills which fringe the beach, are pitched a multitude of canvas tents, and among these upwards9 of a thousand men, women, and children are in busy motion. There are only one or two small wooden houses visible, and three thatched cottages. Down at the water’s edge, and deep in the surf, crowds of soldiers, civilians10, and half-naked natives are busy hauling on the ropes attached to the large surfboats, which are covered to overflowing11 with human beings. Those in the boats, as well as those in the surf and on the beach, are in a state of high excitement, and more or less demonstrative, while the seamen12 from a neighbouring sloop13 of war, who manage the boats, shout to the people at the ropes. The replies of these are drowned, ever and anon, by the roar of falling “rollers.” These rollers, or great waves, calm though the morning be, come in with giant force from the mighty14 sea. They are the mere15 termination of the ocean-swell.
Reader, the scene before you marks an epoch16 of vast importance in South African history. It is the “landing of the British Settlers” in the year 1820. The spot is that on which now stands the flourishing commercial town of Port Elizabeth, styled, not inappropriately, by its inhabitants, the “Liverpool of South Africa.”
Standing17 near the stern of one of the surf-boats, his strong right hand grasping the gunwale, and his grave eyes fixed18 on the shore, one of the exiles from Scotland lifted his voice that day and said—
“Hech, sirs! it’s but a puir, ill-faur’d, outlandish sort o’ country. I wad fain hope the hieland hills of our location inland are mair pleasant-lookin’ than this.”
“Keep up your spirits, Sandy Black,” observed a sturdy Highlander19 who stood at his side; “those who know the country best say that our location is a splendid one—equal to Scotland itself, if not superior.”
“It may be so, Mr McTavish,” replied Sandy, in a doubtful tone of voice, “it may be so.”
“Hallo!” suddenly and loudly exclaimed a dapper little man, whose voice betokened20 him English.
“What is’t, Jerry?” demanded Sandy Black, turning his eyes seaward, in which direction Jerry was gazing.
The question needed no reply, for Sandy, and indeed all the various people in the barge21 who stood high enough on its sides or lading to be able to look over the gunwale, observed a mighty wave coming up behind them like a green wall.
“Haul hard!” roared the seamen in charge.
“Ay, ay,” shouted the soldiers on shore.
As they spoke22 the billow lifted the boat as if it had been a cork23, fell under it with a deafening24 roar and bore it shoreward in a tumult25 of seething26 foam27. Next moment the wave let it down with a crash and retired28, leaving it still, however, in two or three feet of water.
“Eh, man, but that was a dunt!” exclaimed Sandy, tightening29 his hold on the gunwale, while several of his less cautious or less powerful neighbours were sent sprawling30 into the bottom of the boat among terrified women and children.
All was now bustle31 and tenfold excitement, for the soldiers on the beach hurried waist-deep into the sea for the purpose of carrying the future settlers on shore.
Thomas Pringle, the leader of the Scotch32 party, and who afterwards became known as the “South African poet” had previously33 landed in a gig. He gave an opportune34 hint, in broad Scotch, to a tall corporal of the 72nd Highlanders to be careful of his countrymen.
“Scotch folk, are they?” exclaimed the corporal, with a look of surprise at Pringle. “Never fear, sir, but we sal be carefu’ o’ them.”
The corporal was as good as his word, for he and his comrades carried nearly the whole party ashore35 in safety. But there were others there who owned no allegiance to the corporal. One of these—a big sallow Hottentot—chanced to get Jerry, surnamed Goldboy, on his shoulders, and, either by mischance or design, stumbled and fell, pitching Jerry over his head, just as another billow from the Indian Ocean was rushing to the termination of its grand career. It caught Jerry up in a loving embrace as he rose, and pitched him with a noisy welcome on the shore.
“Weel done, Jerry!” cried Sandy Black, who had just been overturned by the same wave from the shoulders of a burly Englishman—a previously landed settler—“you an’ me’s made an impressive landin’. Come, let’s git oot o’ the bustle.”
So saying the stout36 Lowlander seized his little English friend by the arm and dragged him towards the town of canvas which had within a few weeks sprung up like mushrooms among the sandhills.
Although wet from head to foot, each forgot his condition in the interest awakened37 by the strange sights and sounds around him. Their immediate38 neighbourhood on the beach was crowded with emigrants39, as party after party was carried ashore shoulder-high by the soldiers, who seemed to regard the whole affair as a huge practical joke.
The noise was indescribable, because compound. There was the boisterous40 hilarity41 of people who felt their feet once more on solid ground, after a long and weary voyage; the shouting of sailors and bargemen in the boats, and of soldiers and natives on the beach; the talking and laughing of men and women who had struck up sudden friendships on landing, as well as of those who had crossed the sea together; the gambolling42 and the shrieking43 delight of children freed from the restraints of shipboard; the shouts of indignant Government officials who could not get their orders attended to; the querulous demands of people whose luggage had gone astray in process of debarkation44; the bawling45 of colonial Dutch by gigantic Dutch-African farmers, in broad-brimmed hats and leathern crackers46, with big tobacco-pipes in their mouths; the bellowing47 of oxen in reply to the pistol-shot cuts applied48 to their flanks by half-naked Hottentots and Bushmen, whose whips were bamboos of twenty feet or so in length, with lashes49 twice as long; the creaking of Cape-waggons, the barking of dogs, and, as a measured accompaniment to all, the solemn regular booming of the restless sea.
Disengaging themselves from the crowded beach, Sandy Black and Jerry Goldboy proceeded towards the town of tents among the sandhills. On their way they passed several large tarpaulin-covered depots50 of agricultural implements51, carpenter’s and blacksmith’s tools, and ironware of all descriptions, which had been provided by Government to be sold to the settlers at prime cost—for this grand effort at colonisation was originated and fostered by the British Government.
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1
hilarious
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| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
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sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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3
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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12
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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13
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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14
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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15
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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16
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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17
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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18
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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19
highlander
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| n.高地的人，苏格兰高地地区的人 | |
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20
betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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22
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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23
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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24
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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25
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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28
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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29
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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30
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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31
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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32
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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33
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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opportune
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| adj.合适的，适当的 | |
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35
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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37
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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38
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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39
emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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40
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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41
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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42
gambolling
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的现在分词 ) | |
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43
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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44
debarkation
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| n.下车，下船，登陆 | |
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45
bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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46
crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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47
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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48
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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49
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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50
depots
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| 仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库 | |
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51
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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