We left Johannesburg at 3 p .m., and after a five
hours’ coach journey reached Pretoria and sought the
comforts of Lapin’s Fountain Hotel. A railway-line is
now being constructed between these towns and the
days of this coach-line are numbered.
Pretoria is the seat of government and capital of the
Transvaal, and its numerous trees give it a pretty
appearance compared with the barren veld on which it
stands. It is almost surrounded by high and barren
hills and lacks the invigorating climate of the more
exposed Johannesburg. The trees which ornament it
are not all indigenous and consist principally of a
weeping-willow (Salix gariepina, Burch.), always a
favourite of the Dutch, and here attaining a superb
growth; and stately gum-trees (Eucalyptus), which
either form noble avenues or fringe the borders of the
roads. Peach-trees are everywhere abundant, not grown
as at home trained to walls, but forming a large and
sturdy growth resembling apple-trees. Towards the
end of August and beginning of September peach-
blossom is so universal as to give a pink hue to the
general landscape, and is then one of the most effective
botanical sights of Pretoria. This tree, as a general
rule, is quite uncared for; it is neither pruned nor
manured, though fruit is most abundant but poor in
quality: the yellow peach is almost the only kind grown
and is moderately hard and flavourless; it is more
adapted for cooking, and the Boer farmers use it for
making “ Peach-brandy,” which they sell to the Kafirs.
One may obtain an acquired taste for most “ liquors,” but
anything more abominable to a fresh comer than this
decoction is difficult to imagine. The peach here seems
to revert back to its uncultivated condition, and is found
like this in most parts of the Transvaal *. By the 1st
* Mr. Wallace remarks that “ the peach is unknown in a wild state,
unless it is derived from the common almond, on which point there is much
difference of opinion among botanists and horticulturists ” (‘ Darwinism,’
p-es)- 1
According to Heyn, this tree “ originated in the interior of Asia, beyond
even the cherry land, and became known in Italy during the first century of
the Homan Empire ” (‘ Wanderings of Plants and Animals from their First
Home,’ p. 320).