bizarre appearance filled L. with horror; he declared that if he could, he would obliterate such creatures from the face of the earth; but I liked to see it—the more extravagant the creation, the more in keeping with this brave fantastical Universe. Drank tea on the lawn outside, all very harmonious.
June 28th. Sitting this evening on deck suddenly we hear a roar of fog-horns, sirens, and hooters. We knew at once Peace had been signed. "I am glad they have been done down," said L.; "they really were a frightful menace to civilization." We remained silent. I could not get out of my mind the thought of thousands and thousands of skulls, in Asia, in Africa, in Europe, with the clay of the earth too tight in their ears for them to catch even an echo of all this—though the sirens bray never so loudly.
June 29th. By tram as far as I could go and then home by the side of a river which reaches the sea to the north of Durban. Lay on the sand dunes. Went to see some whales just brought in; the largest monsters I have ever set eyes on, larger than elephants—the surface of their vast skins shiny and smooth to the touch—like a wide surface of seaweed.
July 2nd. I never saw so gloomy a prospect as the sea provided in the late evening before it grew quite dark. The sky and sea merged in a heavy grey: in the cold desolation a single bird flying—flying as though it was lost upon a forgotten ocean, which had never before known even the wings of a bird to distract the sad unconsciousness of its humming waters.
July 3rd. I take great pleasure in sleeping on deck these nights; lying in a sheepskin sleeping sack, covered by a leopard skin, and in such a position that I can look up at the masts and rigging as they sway to and fro against the sky.
July 6th. We reached Cape Town last evening and sailed at noon to-day. Dined last night in the town, a far more attractive place than Durban; its narrow streets much older and the mountain giving the place some character of its own. A cheap but admirable dinner at The Silver Grill.
