been in the country, but totally neglefted. It is a hardy ihrub,
which when once planted is not eafily eradicated ; and the foil,
the climate, and general face of the country, bear a ftrong analogy
to thofe provinces o f China to which it is indigenous.
Three years ago a fmall coffee plant was brought from the iiland
of Bourbon, and is now in full berry, and promifes to fucceed
remarkably well ; the fugar cane equally fo. Flax will give
two crops in the y ea r ; and hemp, called by the hottentots
Dacha, is produced in great quantities ; not, however, for the
purpofe o f being manufactured into cordage or cloth, but
merely for the fake of the leaflets, flowers, and young feeds
which are ufed by the flaves and hottentots as a fuccedaneum for
tobacco. The dwarf mulberry grows here as well as in China ;
but the common filk worm is not in the colony. Several fpecies
of wild moths, however, fpin their coccoons among the fhrubby
plants o f Africa. Among thefe there is one fpecies, nearly as
large as the Atlas, and anfwers to the defcription of the Paphia
of Fabricius, which feeds upon the Protea argentea, the witte-
boom or filver tree of the Dutch, and might probably be turned
to fome account by cultivation. Dr. Roxburgh is o f opinion
that it is precifely the fame infed which fpins the ftrong filk
known in India by the name of Tuffach. The palma chrifti,
from the feed of which is expreffed the caftor oil, and the aloe,
whofe juice produces the well known drug of that name, are
natives of the country, and are met with almoft everywhere
in great plenty ; as is alfo the cape olive, fo like in habit and
appearance to the cultivated plant of Europe, that there can
be little doubt as to the fuccefs of the latter; it is the more
aftoniihing that this tree has not been introduced, fince no vegetable
getable oil, fit for culinary ufes, has yet been difcovered in the
colony. For this purpofe the fefamum would prove an ufeful
grain. In moft of the fandy flats are found in great abundance
two varieties of the Myrica cerifera, or wax plant, from the
berries of which is procurable, by fimple boiling, a firm pure
wax; and the honey bee is every where wild on the heathy
fides of the hills ; but the culture of the plant and of the infe<ft
have hitherto been equally negle£ted.
Timber of all kinds for building is an exceeding fcarce and
expenfive article at the Cape, yet little pains have yet been
taken to rear it near the town. Avenues of oak trees, plantations
of the white poplar, and of the ftone pine, are to be feen
near moft of the country houfes not very diftant from the
Cape, and have been found to thrive moft rapidly; but the
timber they produce is generally ihaken and unfound. The
pak that has been introduced into the colony appears to be
that variety of the guercus Robur knowh in England by the
name of Durmaji oak, much o f which grows in the NewForeft,
and is but of little eftimation among Ihip builders. It is diftinT
guiihed by the acorns growing in clufters, and each having a
long foot ftalk. The larch, whofe growth in Europe is rapid,
and yet the timber as good or better than any of the pine tribe,
would be an accquifition and an ornament to the prefent naked
hills of the Cape; and the beech would no doubt thrive in
thofe places where the poplar does fo well.
O f native plants, that which is the moft cultivated, in the
vicinity of the town, is the filver tree abovementioned. Whole
D 2 woods