Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/237

 Indiana because he believed fever and ague would always be a pest. Indiana is now one of our finest states. Africa is getting rid of the sleeping sickness, of the mysterious fly which causes death, of fever and ague, and of other menaces to health; it is said that South Africa has shown a greater development in the past twenty years than any other country has ever shown in a similar length of time. Johannesburg is as fine a town as Kansas City, and almost as large. Durban is a wonder, and Capetown claims to be a health resort. This in South Africa only, whereas the real growth in the future, many believe, will come from East Africa The mythical "Cape to Cairo" railway extends from the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, to Cairo, in North Africa, or Egypt. Capetown has built a railroad far into the interior, northward, and Cairo has built far into the interior, southward; some day it will be possible for travelers to go from Capetown to Cairo by rail. I am going from Capetown to Cairo, but, the "Cape to Cairo" line still being a dream, I shall go to Victoria Falls by rail, and thence to Beira, where I will take a German ship for a long journey to Port Said, the Mediterranean entrance to the Suez Canal, and only a few miles from Cairo I have been compelled to quit eating roasting-ears American fashion at the Marine Hotel in Durban. The Hindu waiters stood around and watched me in surprise, and other guests were also greatly interested. Finally a strange man appeared at the entrance, and seemed to be studying the lights with a view of getting a moving picture of the performance; so I now have my corn cut off the cob, which