2110-1-15-3

High Commissioner's Office, Johannesburg.

July: 11: 1903

My dear old Nan

I had a regular budget of home letters this week – you & Willie and the wearied Bird. I am so sorry Mother is offended by my scolding, especially as another instalment went home last week. Tell her I won't flyte on her any more at all whatsoever. I sympathise with the lamentation of my brother

William on leaving Oxford. I should have felt just the same if I had left in my third year. But towards the end of your fourth year you begin to get a little tired of it and anxious for the outside world. Tell the Bird to bring my fishing rods, fly books etc & my gun & cartridges to Altarstone, but to leave my rifle at home. I have got

enough rifles here to equip a Commando, and shall bring one or two back with me.

I hope you will take the Mhor to Banflat in July. I want to see a healthy young man when I return, & not the wauf creature I saw at Port Elizabeth.

Tommy Nelson's idea of a honeymoon does not commend itself to me. I suppose it is a Balfour notion. It is funny

to see second-rate people trying to be original; like the suburban ladies who play bridge and think they are desperately wicked.

This last week has been very interesting. We concluded a very successful session of Council on Wednesday night. I had a lot of worry all the time, as I was responsible for an enormous amount of financial data, and had to supply H.E. with figures as he went along. H.E. at

the end made a sort of farewell speech, in which he made an unexpected & very kind reference to me. I enclose a cutting from the paper but he really said much more.

"...staff. He had been assisted by his personal staff, and did not know what he would have done without the industry and ability of Mr. Buchan. (Hear, hear.) Unfortunately he was leaving him shortly,..."

You see he finally announces my departure, which is as I wanted it.

Now things are much slacker, and H.E. is quite idle and in