as any in the world. . . . At 5 P. M. we had our first glimpse of Johannesburg: small mountains of white rock taken out of the different mines, and which are known as "the Johannesburg Alps." We stopped at suburbs and switched around for more than an hour before we finally left the train at the greatest gold-*mining camp in the world, at 6:20 P. M.
Sunday, March 9.—Johannesburg was a pleasant
surprise, as was Durban; it is a new, clean city of 237,000
inhabitants, and up-to-date in all respects. The
population is about equally divided between whites
and blacks. It has department stores as big as
Kansas City, and last night the main streets
were so crowded that it was almost impossible to
get along. Although this is a boom town, something
like but greater than our Cripple Creek,
prices are not unreasonable. I am staying at the
Langham Hotel, which is excellent in every way.
The price is $3.60 per day, including three regular
meals, and coffee at 7 A. M. and tea at 4 P. M. An orchestra
plays in the dining-room during dinner. The
waiters are imposing-looking Germans, wearing green
coats, brass buttons, and knee-breeches. Altogether
it is as satisfactory a hotel as we have encountered;
and we were very fond of the Marine at Durban, and
of the Grand at Wellington. . . . Johannesburg
is not situated in the mountains, although it has hills
something like the bluffs along the Missouri river.
The main town is on a flat, and the surrounding hills
