slaves, as it would be rendered nugatory by the power which the
master unfortunately has, of selling the husband and the wife separately.
Since humanity has gone so far, much to the credit of civilized
Europe, and of the English nation in particular, as to put an end to
the cruel traffic, let it go but a step farther, and forbid the more cruel
practice of tearing the poor helpless woman from the man she loves,
from the father of her children, or from the children that yet require
a mother’s care.
The offspring of a slave-woman, whoever the father may be, are
the property of her owner. These are often allowed to be the playmates
of the children of the family to which they belong ; and, as
they grow older, they sometimes become their associates also; a fact
which shows how very far many inhabitants of this colony are from'
being cruel and unfeeling slave-masters.
Slaves are often bequeathed by their owner to his children, and
constitute, not unfrequently, their whole patrimony. These, increase
ing in number, are let out on hire to different masters, and ultimately
become a sufficient, and, in many instances, the only source o f income.
Sometimes a slave is permitted to hire himself ; that is, to
work for whatever master he may choose, or to employ his time in
any manner best suited to his inclination, provided he bring home
every night, to his master or mistress, a certain stipulated sum of
money.
Every slave, or- even Hottentot, who is found at a distance from
home, without a pasbrief, or passport, signed by his master or some
responsible person, is liable to be taken into custody as a runaway
or vagabond; and this precaution alone is a powerful check to prevent
a slave from absconding. Yet it seems hardly fair to place a freeman,
as the Hottentot is said to be, under the same restraint; although
it must be confessed, that there are some circumstances in
which its operation is very salutary.
3rd. This morning, attended only by a good-natured Mozambique
slave-boy, named Jak, I made an excursion on foot to a place called
Paradise, situate on the back of Table Mountain, or, rather, on the
eastern side of that range of mountains which runs from the Devil’s
Mountain to Hout-baay (Wood Bay). It is between seven and eight
miles distant from Cape Town, the road taking first a south-easterly,
and then a south-westerly direction. After passing the castle *, we
continued our walk along a broad road of great traffio, it being the
only one by which the town is entered from the side of the land.
We passed Roodebloem (here pronounced Roibloom), where the great
road from Hottentot Holland and the interior of the colony, joins
the road from Simon’s Bay. This place is Galled Roodebloem, from a
profusion of red flowers (probably Gladioli;) which annually sprang
up there before the land was brought under cultivation.
Rondebosch (Round-wood) is an assemblage of villas and gardens,
distributed along the first part of the road; and here many of the
inhabitants of Cape Town have their country seats. A little farther
on, we crossed the Liesbecks river, a plentiful streamlet, at a place
called Westervoort Bridge. Hereabouts the country becomes extremely
beautiful, every where shaded with groves and large trees of
luxuriant growth, between which are interspersed vineyards, gardens,
and many handsome buildings. Turning to the right, or westward,
out of the Wynberg road, we followed another, equally broad and
good, and delightfully shaded by large oaks. This led us by Nieuw-
lands, (Newlands,) at that time the seat of General Grey; but which
has since become the official country residence of the Governor.
Near this place is a beautiful spot, called the Brewery, where, in the
midst of groves and plantations, stands an elegant mansion, built
after the designs of Mons. Thibault the government architect and
surveyor, to whose taste and talents in architecture, Cape Town is
much indebted.
The country between Newlands and Paradise is rich in botany,
beyond all that I could have imagined; and, as a European, I might
say that we wandered through coppices of green-house plants, and
forced our way through thickets of rare exotics. My sable companion,
witnessing the care with which I collected specimens of
* See the vignette at page 11.
F 2