hufbandry. The grain of this wood is fomewhat clofer and,
the color darker than thofe of plain mahogany. Stink bóut, or,
ftinking wood, takes its name from an offenfive excrementitious
odor that exhales while green, and which it retains till perfe&ly
feafoned. It grows almoft to the fize of the geel bout, and is
by many degrees the. beft wood in the colony. The grain and
fhading are not unlike.thofe of walnut; and many fpecimensi
from old.trees make exceeding,beautiful furniture. It appears
to be well calculated for ufe in ihip-huilding, either as knees,
timbers, or plank. The.ftink hout is the native oak o f Africa,
and I believe the only fpecies found upon that continent. It
may therefore not improperly be. called the ^uercus Africana.,
Several other timber-trees of vaft fize were growing here, and
afterwards met with in various parts of the colony, particularly
along the fouthern coaft, to the . number of more than forty
different kinds, a lift of which will be given in a! future. Chapter
; yet in Cape Town there is a general .complaint of want of
wood ; and the. extravagant demand o f fix hundred per. cent.
profit has been made there for European deals.
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In addition to the foreft-trees were met with a great variety
o f fmall woods for poles ; and the whole coaft, for more than a
day’s journey to the weftward o f Zwart-kop’s bay, was covered
with thick brulhwood almoft down to the water’s edge, The
greateft part of the forefts of Africa is encumbered with a fpecies
of lichen that covers nearly the whole foliage, and hangs
from.the branches in tufts of a foot to three feet in length. This
lichen was obferved particularly to be growing upon the geel bout;
and evidently impeded the growth of its branches.
In
In the midft of all thefe forefts the miferable hovels in which
the graziers live are the pictures o f want and wretchednefs.
Four low mud-walls, with a couple o f fquare holes to admit the
•light, and a (Joor of wicker-work, a few crooked poles to fup-
porf a thatch of rufties, flovenly fpread over them,' ferves for
the dwelling of many a peafant whofe ftock confifts of feveral
■thoufand iheep and as many hundred heads o f cattle, The
oxen in this particular pafture are not fo large nor fat as thofe
farther up in the country, nor were the iheep nearly fo good as
thofe of Camdeboo. One principal article of their revenue is
butter. An African cow, either from its being a degenerated
breed, or from the nature of its food, or the effe&s of the climate,
or perhaps from a combination o f thefe, gives a very
fmall quantity of poor milk. Four: quarts a-day is oonfidered
as fomething extraordinary, and about half the-quantity is the
•ufual average of a cow at the very top of her milk. The butter
is fometimes very good ; but the manner of plunging the
whole milk into the churn without fuffering it to ftand and caft
the cream, is generally- agaiiift its being fo ; nor is the leaft
•cleanlinefs obferved in the management of the dairy."
The country about Zwart-kop’s bay feems beft adapted for
the cultivation of grain. The farmers give themfelves at -this
place no trouble to manure the land, yet reckon upon a return
of twenty-five, thirty, and even forty, for one, efpecially if a
ftream of water can occafionally be turned upon the ground.
In ftiff clayey ground a fmall quantity of Iheep’s dung is Sometimes
employed to prevent the fragments from clodding together,
and to make their parts lefs tenacious. How little- they
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