This greater accumulation of vegetable matter on the southern
side, is very easily and naturally accounted for, by the relative
position of the sun in this hemisphere j which shining at noon,
always in the north, occasions the northern side of these mountains,
as far as I have had an opportunity of, observing, to be always
the more arid» and producing plants and herbage of less luxuriant
growth ; while, on the contrary, the southern side, being constantly
more shaded, and having a cooler aspect, cherishes a rich and verdant
vegetation. Numerous rivulets pour down its ravines, and
support, in many places, forests of timber trees, whose beautiful
verdure is preserved through the whole year by the moist atmosphere
which these streamlets, together with shade and shelter,
ereate. From the proximity of these mountains to the sea, the
moisture of marine air may perhaps contribute its influence in producing
these effects ; yet I have remarked the same circumstance in
mountains that are distant from the coast a whole degree of latitude,
or 90 English miles. * Such a color gives to these streams an
unpleasant, forbidding aspect; and the first sight of them recalls to
mind the dark waters of one of the infernal rivers : Cocytus sinu atro.
Although a small quantity in a glass vessel, appear limpid and nearly
colourless, yet, at a depth of three feet, the bottom of a river is not
visible, and the blackness of the stream gives the appearance of an
unfathomable pool. This is a disagreeable, and an inconvenience
not merely ideal; for, in fording such rivers, a traveller is hereby
prevented from seeing at the bottom the many large stones-and
holes, which, if not avoided, sometimes occasion serious accidents.
* In allowing 90 miles of travelling to a degree, instead of 691» which is its measure
in a straight line, a result will be obtained much nearer to the truth and more applicable
to practical purposes, than that obtained, by the usual measurement over the .face of a m ap;
which last seems to be the method resorted to by those who have hitherto given the dimen^
sions and distances of places in this colony. From the experiments and calculations made
in the course of four years’ travelling in Southern Africa, I have found the irregularity
and winding of the roads, and the nature of the surface of this country, to require, on an
average, a reduction of two-ninths of the distance travelled, to obtain the real horizontal
distance in' a straight line.
Most of the rivers which we passed in this excursion, are choked
up with the plant called Palmiet * by the colonists, and from which
this one derives its name. Some notion of the appearance of these
plants, may be gained by imagining a vast number of ananas, or pineapple
plants, without fruit, so thickly crowded together as to cover
the sides and even the middle of the. stream, standing seldom higher
than three or four feet above the surface, but generally under water
whenever the river swells above-its ordinary height. The stems
which support them are of the thickness of a man’s arm ; black, and
of a very tough and spongy substance ; generally simple, though not
rarely divided into one or two branches. They rise up from the
bottom, not often in an upright posture, but inclined by the force
of the current. They have very much the growth of Dragon-trees,
(DrccctEna), or of some palms, from which latter resemblance they
have obtained their name.
A little further on, we came to the house of a man who had
formerly been a non-commissioned offlcer of dragoons in the Dutch
service, and who now endeavoured to support himself and his family,
by supplying the passing traveller with provisions and the produce
of his little garden. As this might in some respects be considered
an inn, we rode up to the door without hesitation, and were met
by a man, whose grotesque appearance fixed our attention ; lame in
one leg, he hobbled towards us on a crutch, while an enormous broad-
brimmed black felt hat overshadowed his whole body, like an
umbrella, of which his. spare figure might represent the stick. We
dismounted, but soon discovered that we had arrived at an unlucky
hour, as our host declared that at that moment he had nothing in
the house to eat. However, after some consultation with them, he
desired his daughters to place before us some bread, butter, Spanish
* This is the Jtmcus serratus of Thunberg, and with that genus it agrees in iructifi-
cation; yet its appearance and habit» together with its gigantic size, would rather refer it
to some other family. Hitherto, however, I have not been able to discover any character
which might authorize its separation, unless three sessile stigmata can be considered as a
sufficient generic difference.