"Particularities of illness" Read the full letter
Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner BC16/Box1/Fold2/1894/10 |
Archive | University of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town |
Epistolary Type | Letter |
Letter Date | 11 October 1894 |
Address From | The Homestead, Kimberley, Northern Cape |
Address To | |
Who To | Frances ('Fan') Schreiner nee Reitz |
Other Versions | Rive 1987: 243 |
Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
Legend |
The Project is grateful to Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscripts and Archives Collections.
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1
The Homestead
2 Kimberley
3 Oct 11 / 94
4
5 Dear Fan
6
7 Thankyou for your letter. I’m so sorry the little woman has had such
8a bad time. I suppose you will soon be going out to Kalk Bay now &
9that will build you all up.
10
11 Cron returned the day before yesterday. It’s like having the sun in
12the house again to have him back. Thanks for your loving offer. I’m
13living on soda & milk at present & some days on pure soda, but I’ve
14a great longing for "louquats" & all you can get here are quite bad &
15dried up. If they are not over in Cape Town & still pretty cheap could
16you send me up 3 or 4 shillings worth. I shall return the basket at
17once. If you could tell Ellie the name of that old man in the gardens
18from whom used to get the louquats Elbert & Guy could pick them. And
19could you dear buy me a little "engelegte" fish; perhaps Lizzie your
20old servant could make me a little, or Hanna Gie could tell you the
21name of an old [wordmissing] she said made it nicely. I am Cron says he
22knows I won’t eat it when it comes, but I have such a longing for
23^fresh^ fish I feel as if I should be quite right if I could get it; &
24"engelegte" is the nearest. You can’t get fresh fish here in the
25shops it’s always bad. Thanks very much for the book: I’d just
26bought it a few days before. It tells many things I want to know.
27Thanks very much dear sis, for offering to help with the hemming &c;
28but if I begin in good time I shall get through with it all by hand.
29The Doctor says I must expect the little one about the beginning of
30April, but I think myself it will be earlier; anyhow I shall have all
31ready by the beginning of March. I don’t feel at all anxious about
32the trouble at the end; but I am very sorry about this continual
33sickness day & night, because I can’t help feeling that if I am thin
34& weak the baby will be so too.
35
36 Dear I wish you & Will could take a little run up to Kimberley
37sometime. It will be very nice after the rain begins; & you would find
38the place interesting if you’ve never been here before. Our little
39tiny house is very nice, at least I like it very much. It is just a
40little over 3 miles out of Kimberley. I do as much walking as ever I
41can. I walked in & out of
42
43 ^Kimberley the other day, but it was a little too far. Cron sends much
44love to you all. He never leaves off talking about the children.^
45
46^I enclose £1 note. Please dear pay for the louquats & fish with it, &
47if there’s any over please keep it to buy fruit for me another time.
48Thank you so much for your letter. ^
49
50 Love to all friends.
51 Olive
52
53 ^Just had a letter from Mr Fort who says he is coming down this month
54most likely.^
55
56
57
2 Kimberley
3 Oct 11 / 94
4
5 Dear Fan
6
7 Thankyou for your letter. I’m so sorry the little woman has had such
8a bad time. I suppose you will soon be going out to Kalk Bay now &
9that will build you all up.
10
11 Cron returned the day before yesterday. It’s like having the sun in
12the house again to have him back. Thanks for your loving offer. I’m
13living on soda & milk at present & some days on pure soda, but I’ve
14a great longing for "louquats" & all you can get here are quite bad &
15dried up. If they are not over in Cape Town & still pretty cheap could
16you send me up 3 or 4 shillings worth. I shall return the basket at
17once. If you could tell Ellie the name of that old man in the gardens
18from whom used to get the louquats Elbert & Guy could pick them. And
19could you dear buy me a little "engelegte" fish; perhaps Lizzie your
20old servant could make me a little, or Hanna Gie could tell you the
21name of an old [wordmissing] she said made it nicely. I am Cron says he
22knows I won’t eat it when it comes, but I have such a longing for
23^fresh^ fish I feel as if I should be quite right if I could get it; &
24"engelegte" is the nearest. You can’t get fresh fish here in the
25shops it’s always bad. Thanks very much for the book: I’d just
26bought it a few days before. It tells many things I want to know.
27Thanks very much dear sis, for offering to help with the hemming &c;
28but if I begin in good time I shall get through with it all by hand.
29The Doctor says I must expect the little one about the beginning of
30April, but I think myself it will be earlier; anyhow I shall have all
31ready by the beginning of March. I don’t feel at all anxious about
32the trouble at the end; but I am very sorry about this continual
33sickness day & night, because I can’t help feeling that if I am thin
34& weak the baby will be so too.
35
36 Dear I wish you & Will could take a little run up to Kimberley
37sometime. It will be very nice after the rain begins; & you would find
38the place interesting if you’ve never been here before. Our little
39tiny house is very nice, at least I like it very much. It is just a
40little over 3 miles out of Kimberley. I do as much walking as ever I
41can. I walked in & out of
42
43 ^Kimberley the other day, but it was a little too far. Cron sends much
44love to you all. He never leaves off talking about the children.^
45
46^I enclose £1 note. Please dear pay for the louquats & fish with it, &
47if there’s any over please keep it to buy fruit for me another time.
48Thank you so much for your letter. ^
49
50 Love to all friends.
51 Olive
52
53 ^Just had a letter from Mr Fort who says he is coming down this month
54most likely.^
55
56
57
Notation
Rive's (1987) version omits part of this letter and is also in a number of respects incorrect.
Rive's (1987) version omits part of this letter and is also in a number of respects incorrect.