We were then in a dangerous helpless situation exposed daily to perils and death amongst savages and wild beasts not a white man in the country but ourselves.

The enemy fought with savage fury and met death with all its horrors without shrinking or complaining: not one asked to be spared but fought as long as they could stand or sit.

There was an age however when the transition from savagery to civilization with all its impressive outward manifestations in art and architecture took place for the first time.

Writing is a solitary occupation. Family friends and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone uninterrupted and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.