The books of a good library--my solace in our solitude--were not taken away, but handfuls of the leaves were torn out and scattered over the place.

My stock of medicines was smashed; and all our furniture and clothing carried off and sold at public auction to pay the expenses of the foray.
I do not mention these things by way of making a pitiful wail over my losses, nor in order to excite commiseration; for, though I do feel sorry for the loss of lexicons, dictionaries, &c., which had been the companions of my boyhood, yet, after all, the plundering only set me entirely free for my expedition to the north, and I have never since had a moment's concern for any thing I left behind.

The Boers resolved to shut up the interior, and I determined to open the country, and we shall see who have been most successful in resolution, they or I.
A short sketch of African housekeeping may not prove uninteresting to the reader.

The entire absence of shops led us to make every thing we needed from the raw materials.

You want bricks to build a house, and must forthwith proceed to the field, cut down a tree, and saw it into planks to make the brick-moulds; the materials for doors and windows, too, are standing in the forest; and, if you want to be respected by the natives, a house of decent dimensions, costing an immense amount of manual labor, must be built.