ramble over the heath, and dined amongst the bushes. But our intention was partly frustrated; for, the slaves having carried to him the information of our arrival, he came out of the house, and in a friendly manner insisted on our entering, as he was just sitting down to dinner. We therefore took our seat, and although treated with marked hospitality, were more anxious soon to leave the table and pursue the objects of our excursion, than to indulge in the variety of excellent wines which were placed before us. For my part, I had not the gift of distinguishing the relative merits of all these sorts. The red Constantia, as it is called, was of a very agreeable taste; but all were excellent.

After this I was shown the cellar, a long building above ground, and shaded by trees. On each side, a range of large casks, with two of much larger dimensions, contains the valuable wine which has caused the name of this place to be so well known in Europe. We were next conducted to the vineyard, which, however, is managed in a manner not at all different from the other vineyards in the colony; the vines are pruned and kept in the form of dwarf-bushes, much resembling currant-bushes; and are planted in rows about six feet apart. At this time they still remained loaded with bunches of fine grapes, and the only pecu. liarity I could observe was, that they were allowed to hang on the vine to ripen so long, that they had begun to shrivel, and the juice was become almost a syrup. Whatever may be the cause, or whether there be any cause really existing, it is said, and believed, that wine of the quality of Constantia wine cannot be made on any other spot on the colony; a most fortunate circumstance for the proprietor, whose affluence, and that of his family before him, have probably been derived from it. But this is not literally a monopoly; for the adjoining vineyard, called Little Constantia, produces wine scarcely inferior.'

The view from the hill of Wynberg is represented as one of the most enchanting landscapes in the neighbourhood of the Cape; and Mr. Burchell enjoyed the contemplation of it under the auspices of a fine evening sun.

Some pertinent remarks occur on the style of the public and private buildings at Cape Town, its principal establishments, the temperature of the climate, the hot springs at Zwarteberg, and the Moravian mission at Genadendal. With regard to the proceedings of missionaries in general, the author, in different parts of his work, draws a marked line of distinction between such as emanate from an enlightened and pious philanthropy, and such as are dictated by the ravings of ignorance, fanaticism, or dogmatism. The good sense and humanity of the Moravian brethren are evinced in their successful efforts to reconcile their untutored fellow-beings to habits of civilization and industry, and previously to fit them for the reception of truths which few savages are capable of apprehending. Through the whole valley of Genadendal,

the nuts are constructed in a superior style, and the inhabitants obviously study cleanliness and comfort. Horticulture,

too, has experienced some progress among them; and several of them are employed in making knives, forging iron-work for waggons, &c.: exercising their respective callings with a peaceful industry which would do credit to the members of a more refined community.

Most of the farm-houses in the colony, where the soil is of the proper consistency, are constructed of mud, which is well tempered, and stiff enough to remain in layers, without falling out of shape. The copious hot-springs in Brand Valley appear to have no appropriate mineral qualities, being merely water naturally heated to 144° of Fahrenheit. Tulbagh, the next station visited, is described as a neat village, in a romantic situation, but of difficult access from every quarter except the south, so that its prosperity is still problematical. An excursion to the top of Witsenberg, a mountainous ridge to the east of the village, was rewarded by a rich harvest of plants; and the discovery, if we may so call it, of the following compendious mode of preserving botanical specimens:

'My first care this morning was to preserve the botanical specimens which I collected yesterday; and, as I had not the means of pressing and drying them in the usual manner between paper, I tied them carefully up in a large bundle, measuring about three feet long and a foot in diameter, binding them round as tightly as possible with twine, and wrapping the whole with strong paper. This I left to be sent after me to Cape Town by the first opportu nity, intending afterwards to press and dry them properly.

This bundle, however, did not find its way to Cape Town till more than a twelvemonth afterwards, and remained in the same state for eight years, when, on unpacking it, every specimen was found to be in as good condition as if it had been dried in the regular manner, and to be equally fit for every purpose of scientific investigation. A few, indeed, were the worse for having been left to shrivel up; but many, especially the more hard-leaved plants, preserved a more natural form than they would have done, had they been pressed. The chief inconvenience was found to consist in their not lying flat in the herbarium; but, by folding them up in a wet cloth, they became sufficiently relaxed to admit, with a little care, of being pressed flat enough for that purpose.

'I much regret that I was unacquainted with these facts at the time when I first travelled from Klaarwater to Graaffreynett. I had then no convenience for drying plants, but could, had I been aware of this method, have preserved, without trouble, any number of specimens I might have desired.

I have been particular in relating these circumstances, because a knowledge of the complete success of such an experiment may be of use to those travellers who would desire to bring home specimens of the botany of some rarely-visited country, but who

might have neither the means nor the time for the usual method. I would recommend for this purpose a pasteboard box, having a good number of large pin-holes pierced in the sides, for the purpose of admitting air till the plants be sufficiently dried; and which, for safety while on the road, may be enclosed in a box of wood. It is unnecessary to give a more detailed explanation, as the above hints will readily suggest other particulars, and some further advantages of this method: but it should never be resorted to when the regular mode is practicable. There are, however, a multitude of plants which make the best specimens, and preserve the greatest resemblance to nature, when they are dried without any pressure at all.'

The Paarl is described as a handsome cheerful village, embosomed in rural beauties; though Stellenbosch is considerably more populous, and better known to foreigners and to the English, than the other villages in the colony: but the expence of living there is reckoned to be nearly the same as at Cape Town.

Having procured a stout waggon, the construction of which is minutely described, with the requisite number of oxen, and having hired his Hottentot attendants, Mr. Burchell was busied in making his other preparations for his expedition into the interior; when, on the 2d of June, 1811, the day being warmer and more hazy than usual at that season, he was aroused by two very loud explosions and a tremulous motion, which caused the people instantly to rush out of their houses, in a state of the greatest alarm. Fortunately, however, the shock did not last above five or six seconds; and, though many of the houses were much rent, none were thrown down. The details of the previous arrangements for the journey may be of service to those who may be induced to engage in a similar undertaking: but they cannot conveniently find a place in our cursory report. Suffice it to mention that twenty oxen, the waggon, and its contents, had already cost 600l.; and that the vehicle moved forwards to the first stage on the 18th of June, its owner returning on horseback to the Cape, to dine with the Governor, and take leave. On the next morning, the inhabitants were again alarmed by an earthquake; which, however, was accompanied with no explosion, and quickly subsided, without causing any material damage to the houses. The author, attended by such of his friends as took a deep interest in his success, now rode forwards to Salt River to rejoin his waggon, which he mounted with a mind not wholly free from anxiety and perturbation. A missionary waggon, destined to Klaarwater, was also of the party. The tardy progress of these carriages easily allowed Mr. B. to keep up with them on foot, a most desirable circumstance for an observer,

observer, and especially a botanist. It soon became manifest, however, that the waggon was considerably overloaded, and once or twice it narrowly escaped from being sunken in the softer portions of the soil. At Pampoen Kraal, Euphorbia tuberosa, which grows in abundance, is apt to affect the oxen with strangury, at a particular season of the year. Here, too, were observed stones and veins of an apparently volcanic

nature:

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'Standing attentive to all that was going on, and noticing the manner in which my men yoked the oxen to the waggon, I was surprised to find they all were as well acquainted with the name of every individual ox, and knew the place in the team where each had been trained to draw, as if they had been used to them for several years. Their quickness and memory, in every thing relating to cattle, is really astonishing; of which numberless proofs have occurred in the course of these travels. When Magers and his companion were sent into the Bokkeveld to fetch home the oxen, the farmer of whom they were bought, having mustered the whole, merely repeated their names and places in the team, These he correctly retained in his memory, and afterwards again repeated to Jan Kok, Philip, and Speelman, who now called each ox by his name with the utmost readiness. This faculty, common to Hottentots, and to all the African tribes that I visited, shows the high degree of perfection to which any particular use of the mind may be brought by constant exercise; for, with these people, tending and managing their cattle is the grand employment of life. For myself, it was a long time before I was able to distinguish my own team, even from those belonging to the other waggons.'

These Hottentots, however, evinced much less address in extricating the waggon, when it sunk to the axle-tree; the only resource that occurred to them being that of the application of brute force, by putting more cattle to the team. At Winterhoek, a lighter waggon, which now appeared a necessary addition to the equipment, was purchased and repaired.

When they had passed through the romantic defile of the Hex River Kloof, where the strata seem to have been thrown into confusion, the party entered the vale of the same river, and halted under a range of mountains, which at this season had their rugged summits covered with snow. Lyciums and Cape Acacias, now becoming common, denoted a difference of climate, the rainy season no longer occurring in the wintermonths; so that a deficiency of water and pasture was among the serious evils with which the travellers had to contend. At a farm-house, the author first encountered one of those Meesters, or travelling tutors, who perambulate the colony, and profess to complete the education of a family in twelve months, (that is, to teach them to read, write, and to cast ac

counts,) but whose talents and acquirements are generally as moderate as their salary. When entering on the Karro desart, the Erica, Diosma, and the Proteaceous and Restaceous tribes of plants, entirely disappear. Besides a great variety of succulent species, the extensive plains, through which the route of the travellers now lay, yielded Poa Spinosa; the panicles of which consist of strong, rigid, and sharp thorns. From the dried corollæ of a small shrub, pertaining to the order of Thymeleæ, Mr. Burchell procured a pleasant yellow ink, which, in the course of ten years, lost none of its original brightness.

On the posterior protuberance of the Hottentot women, we meet with the ensuing short annotation, which we transcribe the more readily because it may serve to correct the popular notions on the subject:

The exhibition of a woman of this description, in the principal countries of Europe, has made the subject well known to all those who are curious in such matters; and I readily take advantage of that circumstance, to excuse myself from further digression. But I ought not to allow this occasion to pass by, without endeavouring to correct some erroneous notions, which the debates of both the learned, and the unlearned, have equally contributed to render current. It is not a fact, that the whole of the Hottentot race are thus formed; neither is there any particular tribe to which this steätopyga, as it may be called, is peculiar: nor is it more common to the Bushman (Bosjesman) tribe than to other Hottentots. will not greatly mislead, if our idea of its frequency be formed by comparing it with the corpulency of individuals among European nations. It is true, that the Hottentot race affords numerous examples of it; while, on the other hand, I do not recollect to have seen any very remarkable instance of it in the other African tribes which I visited in this journey.'

It

The beautiful and elegant Nectarinia chalybea, or Sugar Bird, was observed in the acacia groves, extracting the sweet juice of flowers with its long, slender, and curved bill. In consequence of protracted drought, the author's oxen had now become lean and weary; and intelligence was received that a party of Caffres was lying in wait to attack the caravan in the mountains. A transient visit from two friendly Bushmen, mounted on oxen, exemplified the adroitness and facility with which the Hottentots manage these animals; training them to walk, trot, or gallop, at the will of the rider. When hard pushed, they will, on an emergency, gallop at the rate of seven or eight miles in an hour. The faculty which these people possess, of distinguishing the features of individual sheep, is likewise almost incredible.

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