7th. At six o’clock in the morning, a shock of an earthquake
was felt by many persons, although it was so slight as not to awaken
me. In countries which have for a great length of time been subject
to earthquakes, their inhabitants may pass over so slight a shock as
this, without any alarm; but to others, to whom this power of nature
•is known only by description, the smallest symptom of it is really
terrifying. In Cape Town, at this time, the least circumstance resembling.
it was capable of exciting their fears; and I have.known a
whole party, in the midst of their conviviality, fly precipitately out of
the house on one of the guests happening, in a lively mood, to
dance across the room above that in which they were assembled,
and cause the floor to shake.
ISth. Yesterday, in honor of the Queen’s birth-day, the Governor
gave, as usual, a grand dinner to about two hundred persons,
Dutch and English. On this day his levee was well attended; and
in the evening a public ball was given at the Government-house.
At these parties I had, a very favourable opportunity of seeing the
beau monde of Cape Town. The ball-room was crowded. The ladies,
who were for the greater part Dutch, were dressed neatly, and to
<rreat advantage; and both they and the gentlemen appeared to have
adopted the fashions and manners of English society. Country-
dances afforded the chief amusement; neither waltzes nor quadrilles
being at that time generally in vogue. After supper, the dancing
was renewed with spirit, and continued until a late hour, the party
being apparently much gratified.
23rd. This night the Devil’s Mountain presented a curious
sight. At about two-thirds of its height, it was encircled by an irregular
line of fire, which continued slowly advancing towards the
summit, varying in direction and in brightness. It had been constantly
burning during the day-time; but was not visible till darkness
came o n ; and, having expended itself, went out before the next
morning. Although it was amusing to watch the progress of this
line, I could not view it with the eye of an unconcerned spectator;
for, having made arrangements for an excursion to the top of Table
Mountain on the following morning, I feared the fire might spread
along the path by which we were to ascend, and, consuming all the
vegetation in the way, disappoint my expectation of seeing the multitude
of curious and beautiful plants which were said to grow on this
celebrated mountain. The slaves who daily frequent its rocky sides,
to collect fire-wood for their, masters, or for sale, often light a fire to
warm themselves, or, perhaps, merely that they may sit round it, and
indulge in a pipe and a little idle gossip ; and though it be a punishable
offence to leave it burning, it sometimes happens that they
neglect extinguishing it properly, and thus occasion, almost every
year, a conflagration of this kind, which not only destroys the beauty
and verdant clothing of the mountain, but, in time, renders firewood
more scarce than ever. It is a very common practice throughout
the colony, at certain seasons of the year, purposely to set fire to
the old dry grass and bushes, for the purpose of clearing the land, and
allowing the young and fresh pasture to spring up clear from the dry
stubble and withered grass, which is found to prevent the cattle feeding
with advantage on the new herbage.
c2‘\th. As the view from the top of Table Mountain is considered
to be most interesting, just at sunrise, we began, at a very early hour,
to make every necessary arrangement, that we might reach the summit
about that time. The party consisted of Mr. Hesse, Mr. Pole-
mann, Mr. Renou, Mr. Jones chaplain of the Scipion man-of-war,
and myself; being all, as We remarked, of a different native language,
belonging respectively to Hanover, Denmark, France, Wales, and
England; and, to increase this variety of tongues, the slaves whom
we took with us happened also to differ from each other.
Our polyglot party being assembled at the hour appointed, we
set out at a quarter past three in the morning. As the town is not
regularly lighted by lamps, we depended entirely on the light of the
stars. Nothing but the sound of our early footsteps disturbed the'
dead silence of the night; for here no bawling watch tells the townsman
the hour, at a time when it can be of no use to know it.
From the town, the ground rises in a regular ascent tb the foot