the prize, even to our own fair countrywomen. As a mark of
good sense in the company, it should be noticed, that here was
none of that talking and chattering which are too often heard at
concerts and music parties, and which serve only to distinguish the
tasteless lounger from the lover of music, or, perhaps, sometimes,
bad performance from good. It was over soon after nine o’clock,
this being the hour at which most of the Dutch parties break up.
At this time lanterns are seen moving about in all directions; and
as the different parties pass each other, they greet their friends with
a Wei te rusten (May you rest well). The regulations of the police
prohibit all slaves and Hottentots from going about the town after
nine o’clock,' unless they carry a light. Should any, acting contrary
to these orders, be met by the patrole, they are immediately apprehended,
and lodged in the jail until the next morning. This is done
with a view to the prevention of night robbery.
11 th. It may naturally be supposed, that, in a country abounding
with the most beautiful flowers and plants, the gardens of the
inhabitants contain a great number of its choicest productions; but
such is the perverse nature of man’s judgment, that whatever is
distant, scarce, and difficult to be obtained, is always preferred to
that which is within his reach, and is abundant, or may be procured
with ease, however beautiful it may be. The common garden-
flowers of Europe are here highly valued; and those who wished
to show me their taste in horticulture, felt a pride in exhibiting
carnations, hollyhocks, balsamines, tulips, and hyacinths; while they
viewed all the elegant productions of their hills as mere weeds.
It is not uncommon in the gardens at Rondebosch, to see myrtle-
hedges twenty feet high. A few exotics have, from time to time,
been introduced * ; and a small number of the more remark-
Such as —
Melia Azedirach
GardeniaJlorida
Æschynomene
Nerium Oleander
Asclepias Curassavica
Asclepias Syriaca
able indigenous plants are sometimes admitted to the honor of
a place in their gardens*: but in none are any of the elegant tribe
of heaths ever seen under cultivation; and it is a curious fact, that,
among the colonists, these have not even a name, but, when spoken
of, are indiscriminately called bosjes (bushes). Although the Dutch
language has a word to express heath, yet, whenever I made use of
it in conversation with the farmers, it seemed always to be unintelligible.
Objects of natural history, such as birds, insects, seeds,
and bulbs, the produce of the colony, are collected for sale by an ingenious
Frenchman of the name of Villet; but, besides these, I saw
no where any thing of the kind, excepting at the house of Mr. Mack-
Camellia Japonica
Canna Indica
Casuarina stricta
Clitoria Tematea
Cqffea Arabica
Crinum erubescens ?
Daphne Indica
Hibiscus mutabilis
Embothrium sericeum
Eugenia Jambos
Heliotropium Perwoianum
Hydrangea mwtabilis
Mangifera Indica
Mespilus Japonica
Mirabilisjalapa
Myrtus communis
ParJcinsonia aculeata -
This list is given merely from memory:
names might possibly render it complete.
The last plant had been introduced
Mr. Hesse’s garden, whence it had found it
become a -favourite shrub.
Passiflora ccerulca
Phoenix dactylifera
Poinciana ptdcherrirna
Polianthes tuberosa
Rosa, several kinds
Rosmarinus officinalis
Sambucus nigra
Tabemcemontana
Tropceolum Nasturtium
Vinca rosea
Bambusa arundinacea
Pinus Pinaster
Pinus Pinea
Populus canescens
Curcuma longa
Cassia midtiglandulosa
Cassia corymbosa.
and the addition of nearly as many more
by myself, about three years before, into
s way into almost every other, and was now
* Such as —
Calodendrum Caperne
Gardenia Thunbergia
Gardenia Rothmannia
Strelitzia regime
Amaryllis purpurea
Cyrtanthus obliquus
Virgilia Capensis
Erythrina Coffra
Alo'é plicatilis
Solatium giganteum,
and a few others.