rented; but you would probably have to pay
one hundred and thirty pounds a year for a
farm, which you might purchase for a thousand
pounds—so valuable is capital. Some districts
are well adapted for cattle, some for sheep,
and many for both. But there are many
districts in which sheep do not thrive so well;
for example, it is almost impossible to grow
good wool on farms bordering on the sea.
The character of a farm is always well known;
so that by making proper enquiries, a
purchaser may always avoid being deceived.
Newly arrived colonists are very apt to be
attracted by pretty scenery, and the park-like
appearance of many parts of the colony; but
it frequently happens that the spots most
destitute of natural beauties feed the best
stock. Some farmers find it necessary to have
the farms at a considerable distance from each
other, in order to afford their stock a change
of pasture. This is occasionally necessary, for
another reason. It often happens that a farm
whereon sheep thrive admirably, and produce
beautifully fine wool, is situate in so dry a
district, that in the heat of summer there is
not sufficient pasturage for the stock.

A farm of two thousand acres will support
about the same number of sheep, and a
hundred head of cattle, horses, &c., which is a
fair farming stock. Probably the owner
would lay out about thirty or forty acres in
garden ground and agriculture.

The PRICE OF SHEEP entirely depends on
the breed to which they belong. The original
Cape Sheep is a perfect curiosity to a stranger,
and is, in fact, gradually becoming scarce in
the Colony. Woolled sheep vary in price
from five shillings to twenty-five shillings
each, according to the quality of their wool.
A fair average price for good woolled sheep
of the Merino breed is about ten shillings
each. Thorough-bred rams are very valuable,
many of them being worth from thirty to
fifty guineas each.

There is not much variation in the PRICES
OF CATTLE. They cost about two pounds ten
shillings, or three pounds each for cows and
working oxen; about four pounds to four
pounds ten shillings for fat slaughter oxen.
The cows, however, do not yield nearly one
half the quantity of milk that is obtained from
them in England; nor do the oxen furnish,
by any means, such fine or rich beef.

Horses are very cheap. For all ordinary
purposes you may purchase excellent horses
for seven pounds, ten pounds, or twelve pounds
each. If you wish to have something smart,
well groomed, and in first-rate condition, you
may have to pay twenty pounds to twenty-
five pounds. But all above fifteen pounds may
be regarded as mere fancy prices. They are
wonderfully strong and hardy, and their
powers of endurance are immense. Sixty
miles in a day, with no other food than grass
and water, is a very ordinary journey for a
horse to carry his rider. I once started on a
journey with four horses—one of them ridden
by myself, another led by me, a third ridden
by my servant, and the fourth (carrying my
saddle-bags) led by him. I was very much
pressed for time, and had two hundred and
thirty-five miles to accomplish. I completed
the journey, with the same horses (changing
the saddles from one to another) in four
days; and not one of the four nags was nearly
so fatigued when I reached my destination, as
I have generally found my hunter, in England,
after a ten or twelve miles burst across the
country with the hounds. I must observe,
however, that I obtained good forage for them
every day. Not one of them had cost me ten
pounds, and the hardiest of the lot only four
pounds ten shillings! The favourite
travelling pace is a kind of easy amble, and, with
an occasional walk, averages little more than
six miles an hour.

I could not advise any one to commence
SHEEP FARMING in South Africa with less
than one thousand five hundred pounds
capital, unless he is prepared to undergo very
great privations. With that capital he might
make a very fair start; of course, only hiring a
farm at first. No man should commence
without six months' experience in the Colony,
which time he should employ in visiting
farmers, who are always delighted to receive
him, frequenting the markets, studying the
character of the natives, and picking up bad
Dutch. He should then be very careful in
his selection of a farm, taking care to visit it
in the dryest season. He had better not
purchase the most expensive quality of sheep, as
any loss, from mismanagement or otherwise,
would fall too heavily on a beginner. Let
him be content to give seven shillings and
sixpence to ten shillings a-piece for them;
and buy a few rams at ten pounds each. A
wagon will cost him seventy or eighty
pounds; and a span of oxen thirty-five
pounds; a horse, saddle, and bridle, about
eighteen pounds; and beyond this he will
only require a plough and two or three
agricultural implements, which he will find cheap
enough. If he is a bachelor his domestic
furniture will cost him something infinitesimally
small. If he is a married man he will, if wise,
take what he requires with him from England.

I shall conclude these sketches with such
observations as my experience suggests to be
useful to SETTLERS. Let me commence by
saying, that there is scarcely a trade, or an
art, a knowledge of which is not useful to a
colonial settler; above all things, let him
know how to handle carpenter's tools, for he
will often find such knowledge put him in
possession of a dozen little comforts which he
would not otherwise enjoy.

It is remarkable that some of the most
successful farmers in South Africa are men
who were originally "Cockneys." On the