A Nurse's Life in War and PeaceLaurence, E. C. (Eleanor Constance)
History
A Nurse's Life in War and Peace
Laurence, E. C. (Eleanor Constance)
Military nursing; Nursing -- Great Britain; South African War, 1899-1902 -- Medical care
We found a nice little house ready for us, the owner having turned out
to make room; and, after a wash and breakfast, the men all went off to
the court, and I stayed to unpack and get things straight.
There were three coloured girls left to do the housework, &c. None of
them could speak English, and they had several babies scattered about. I
knew we had to give a dinner party before we left, and felt rather
hopeless about how it would go with the material to hand. However,
everything went off very well in the end. Lots of people called on me,
and I had some good tennis at the club, and also some nice rides on a
horse that was lent to me, the first one I have tried since I came to
this country that had a good mouth; most of them are ruined with the
bits they use.
The surrounding country was rather pretty, and good for corn and cattle.
We stayed four days at Colesberg, and then moved on to Craddock, ten
hours on the railway. There was a lot of court work there, and it had to
be fitted into five days; so the men were in court nearly all the
time--one night up to 11 P.M.--and I found it a little slow. But I had
some nice drives, one day going out to see some curious sulphur baths,
and another day to a farm about eight miles off, where every imaginable
kind of fruit seemed to grow.
After this we parted company, my brother going on to Middleburg, and I
for another run of ten hours in the train to Port Elizabeth, where I
joined the _Drummond Castle_ for Durban.
Various people seemed to have asked the captain to take care of me, so I
sat next to him at table, and he was most kind. When he found that I
meant to put up at a hotel in Durban, he told me that he wouldn't let me
do that, as he had lots of friends there, and I should have a much
better time if I went to stay with them.
We got to East London next day. The sea was rather rough, and there was
a lot of cargo to get on board, so we were there some time; but I didn't
go ashore. When we had again got under way, the captain came up to me
and said, "I have wired to some people in Durban to ask them to meet you
when we get there." Was it not kind of him?
When we reached Durban I waited till the captain was ready to go ashore;
and then we got into a kind of huge clothes-basket, and were swung over
the side and into the tender, as these big steamers can't get into the
harbour. And when we had come alongside the wharf, we found two ladies
waiting for us, with a sweet pair of cream-coloured ponies.
They assured me it was quite all right, and that they really had lots of
room, and the captain was to come up to lunch. So off we drove to such a
nice house up on the Berea, with a lovely view right over the harbour.
They were very pleasant Scotch people, and they _were_ so kind to me,
driving me about to see the town, &c.
I stayed the night with them, and all the next day, as there was no
train till 6 P.M.; and then they saw me off, and made me promise to
visit them on my way back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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