CHAPTER IV.
THE TRANSVAAL.—PRETORIA.
Pretoria itself, the capital of our new country, is a little
town, lying in a basin on a plateau 4,500 feet above the
level of the sea,—lat. 25° 45´, S., long. 28° 49´, E. From
its latitude it would be considered to be semitropical, but its
altitude above the sea is so great as to make the climate
temperate. In regard to heat and cold it is very peculiar,—the
changes being more rapid and violent than I have
experienced in any other place. I was there during the last
days of September, which would answer to the last days of
March on our side of the equator. The mornings were very
fine, but somewhat chilly,—not so as to make a fire desirable
but just to give a little sting to the water. The noon-day
was hot,—not too hot for exercise; but the heat seemed to
increase towards the afternoon, the level rays of the sun
being almost oppressive. Then suddenly there would come
an air so cold that the stranger who had not expected the
change and who was wearing perhaps his lightest clothes
would find that he wanted a great coat and a warm cravat
round his neck. It was not till I was about to leave the
place that I became alive to its peculiarities. I caught a
cold every evening in consequence of my ignorance, becom-
