But the eager passengers were not yet at liberty to go on shore. Although the _Concordia_ carried a clean bill of health, certain formalities had yet to be gone through; the medical officer had still to satisfy himself that there was no sickness of any infectious kind on board before pratique was granted. And, as the medical officer happened to be a thoroughly conscientious man, the determination of this fact consumed a full hour. But at length the tedious examination came to an end, the ship was pronounced perfectly healthy, and the boats which had been hovering round her were permitted to come alongside. Then ensued a few minutes of strenuous bargaining between passengers and boatmen, at the end of which time Dick and Grosvenor, having said goodbye to the captain and officers--Dick also included the crew in his farewell--found themselves being pulled across the few yards of water which intervened between ship and shore, and presently they stood upon the sun-blistered wharf fighting their way through an odoriferous crowd of shouting, laughing, gesticulating, and more than half-naked Kafir rickshaw-men who clamoured for the honour of dragging them the mile or so that separated the Point from Durban. But the Custom House officers had first to be placated, and Grosvenor disgustedly found himself obliged to disburse a goodly sum as duty upon his firearms and ammunition before he was permitted to retain possession of them. At length, however, the Customs barrier was successfully negotiated; and then Dick in one rickshaw, Grosvenor in another, and their baggage in a third, the two friends proceeded in triumph along the bush-bordered road, over the level crossing of the railway, and so up Smith Street to the Royal Hotel, where they purposed to put up for a day or two, and where, upon their arrival, they joined their fellow passengers at a hilarious second breakfast in accordance with an arrangement made at the cabin table a few hours earlier. CHAPTER FIVE. THE BEGINNING OF THE ADVENTURE. The second breakfast over, farewells were spoken--with, in some cases, the promise to meet again speedily--and the voyagers separated, some to make their way home to their sugar or coffee estates in the neighbourhood, others to take train to more distant localities, some three or four being bound as far afield as Johannesburg or Pretoria--and Dick, with his friend Grosvenor, set out to wander about the town of Durban, inspect the shops, pass through the aristocratic quarter of the Berea, per tram, and finally, on a couple of horses hired from the hotel stable, to ride out to the River Umgeni, and thence to Sea Cow Lake, in the vain hope of getting a sight of a few of the hippopotami that were said to still haunt that piece of water; finally returning to the hotel in time for dinner, hot, tired, but supremely happy, and delighted with everything that they had seen.