But when I came to a great island nearer home, stout locks were needed; the first night in port things which I had always left uncovered disappeared, as if the deck on which they were stowed had been swept by a sea.
[Illustration: Captain Slocum, Sir Alfred Milner (with the tall hat), and Colonel Saunderson, M.P., on the bow of the _Spray_ at Cape Town.] A pleasant visit from Admiral Sir Harry Rawson of the Royal Navy and his family brought to an end the _Spray's_ social relations with the Cape of Good Hope.

The admiral, then commanding the South African Squadron, and now in command of the great Channel fleet, evinced the greatest interest in the diminutive _Spray_ and her behavior off Cape Horn, where he was not an entire stranger.

I have to admit that I was delighted with the trend of Admiral Rawson's questions, and that I profited by some of his suggestions, notwithstanding the wide difference in our respective commands.
On March 26, 1898, the _Spray_ sailed from South Africa, the land of distances and pure air, where she had spent a pleasant and profitable time.

The steam-tug _Tigre_ towed her to sea from her wonted berth at the Alfred Docks, giving her a good offing.

The light morning breeze, which scantily filled her sails when the tug let go the tow-line, soon died away altogether, and left her riding over a heavy swell, in full view of Table Mountain and the high peaks of the Cape of Good Hope.
For a while the grand scenery served to relieve the monotony.