nailedbrownboots，Peterapairofthosemustard—colouredabominationswhichthePortugueseaffectandwhichmadehimhobblelikeaChineselady。Hehadascarletsatintiewhichyoucouldhearamileoff。Mybeardhadgrowntoquitearespectablelength，andI
trimmeditlikeGeneralSmuts’。Peter’swasthekindoflooseflappingthingthe_taakhaarloves，whichhasscarcelyeverbeenshaved，andiscombedonceinabluemoon。Imustsaywemadeaprettysolidpair。AnySouthAfricanwouldhavesetusdownasaBoerfromtheback—veldwhohadboughtasuitofclothesintheneareststore，andhiscousinfromsomeone—horsedorpwhohadbeentoschoolandthoughthimselfthedevilofafellow。Wefairlyreekedofthesub—continent，asthepaperscallit。
Itwasafinemorningaftertherain，andwewanderedaboutinthestreetsforacoupleofhours。Theywerebusyenough，andtheshopslookedrichandbrightwiththeirChristmasgoods，andonebigstorewhereIwenttobuyapocket—knifewaspackedwithcustomers。Onedidn’tseeverymanyyoungmen，andmostofthewomenworemourning。Uniformswereeverywhere，buttheirwearersgenerallylookedlikedug—outsorofficefellows。WehadaglimpseofthesquatbuildingwhichhousedtheGeneralStaffandtookoffourhatstoit。ThenwestaredattheMarinamt，andI
wonderedwhatplotswerehatchingtherebehindoldTirpitz’swhiskers。
Thecapitalgaveoneanimpressionofuglycleannessandasortofdrearyeffectiveness。AndyetIfounditdepressing—moredepressingthanLondon。Idon’tknowhowtoputit，butthewholebigconcernseemedtohavenosoulinit，tobelikeabigfactoryinsteadofacity。Youwon’tmakeafactorylooklikeahouse，thoughyoudecorateitsfrontandplantrose—bushesallroundit。