Our walk conducted us to a high part of the hill, of Wynberg,
which overlooks Kerstenbosch, a beautiful estate belonging to Government.
The view from this spot, and, indeed, all the scenery around, is
the most picturesque of any I had seen in the vicinity- of Cape Town.
The beauties here displayed to the eye could scarcely be represented
by the most skilful pencil; for this landscape possessed a character
that would require the combined talents of a Claude and a Both: but
at this hour, the harmonious effect of light and shade, with the
enchanting appearance of the foliage in the foreground, and the tone
of the middle'distances, were altogether far beyond the painter’s art.
The objects immediately surrounding us, were purely sylvan ; a blue
extent of distance terminated the landscape both in front and on the
right. To the left, the noble Table Mountain rose in all its grandeur,
crowned with rocks, and displaying, in the broad ravines that descended
its side, the rich colouring of some inaccessible woods, the
growth, perhaps, of centuries. The enormous and lengthened shadow
of Table Mountain and Devil’s Mountain, stretched far over the
Flats, and seemed to touch the foot of Tygerberg. The last beams
of the sun, gleaming over the rich, varied, and extensive prospect,
laid on the warm finishing lights, in masterly and inimitable touches.
In whatever shape her works appear to us, Nature exhibits nothing
defective; whether we view her in the mechanism of animated bodies,
in the structure of vegetables, in the laws of the globe we inhabit, or
in the combination, beauty, and fitness of all that adorns its surface.
Here I beheld her perfection in the sweet harmony of soft colors and
tints of every gradation, speaking a language which all may understand,
transfusing into the. soul a delight which all may enjoy, and
which never fails, at least for the time, to smother every uneasy sensation
of the mind.
Senecio rigidus ?
Gnaphalium nudifolium
Rhies rosmarinifolium
Roella ciliata
Echium glabrum
Scabiosa rigida
Phylica stipidaiis
Gnaphalium'? umbellatum
After some time spent in admiring the charming scene, I quitted
it with regret; but, the setting sun reminding us of home, we
took leave of our friends, and, mounting our horses, pursued our ride
during the quiet light of evening.