»772- March. bottom near the town. Still farther on, the dry heathy lands and fandy plains on the ftrand, contribute to give the country an arid and barren look. It mult be owned, indeed, that a confiderable quantity o f the moft beautiful African flowers are fcattered up and down in different parts during the fine feafon; but they cannot ihew their fplendid colours to any great advantage among the various kinds of grafs here, which are moftly perennial and o f a pallid hue, among the dry buihes, and in the fields, which, at leaft near the Cape, are almoft continually grazed off. Thefe plains, therefore, cannot captivate the eye, nearly fo much as the European Flora, with her green meadows replete with annual grafs. I am ready to allow, indeed, that the verdant plantations, together with a few acres of arable land round about the town, make a beautiful appearance, oppofed to the African wilds and defects with which they are furrounded, and which ferve to fet them off to a greater advantage; but then clipped and trimmed trees, with regular plantations o f groves reared up by art, cannot fo long keep their ground in our tafte, as that lively verdure of nature which a European, at leaft after having refided for fome time at the Cape, I think cannot help miffing. The town is fmall, about 2000 paces in length and breadth, including the gardens and orchards, by which one fide of it is terminated. The ftreets are broad, but not paved ; a great many of them are planted with oaks. The houfes are handfome, two ftories high at the moft; the greateft part of them are ftuccoed and white-waihed on the outfide, but fome of them are painted green : this latter latter colour, which is never feen upon our houfes in ut?- Sweden, being the favourite colour with the Dutch for their clothes, boats, and ihips. A great part of their houfes as well as churches are covered with a fort o f dark-coloured feed (Rejiio tefiorum) which grows in dry and fandy places. It is fomewhat more firm than ftraw, but rather finer and more brittle. How this thatching is performed, certainly deferves the confideration of our country gentlemen and men of landed property ; and a defdription o f it will be given by Captain Ek-eberg on fome other occafion. The reft of the houfes in the Cape are covered with what .is called Italian tiling, which refembles the flat tiles we ufe for floors. The company’s gardens, fo differently fpoken of by K o l b k , B y r o n , and B o u g a i n v i l l e , are the largeft in the town, being 400 paces broad and 1000 long, and confift- ing of -various quarters planted with cale, and other kinds of garden ftuffi for the governor’s own table, as wefl as for the ufe o f the Dutch ihips and o f the hofpital. Fruit- trees are planted in feme o f the quarters, which, in order to ihclter them from the violence o f the South-eaft wind, are furrounded with hedges- of myrtle and elm. Befides this, the greater walks are ornamented with oaks thirty feet high, which by their ihade produce an agreeable cool- nefs, and are much reforted to by the ffrangers that vifit the port, and chufe to walk in the heat of the day. The four quarters that lie neareft to the governor’s refidence, which is fituated in the pleafure-garden towards the north, have indeed fome beds o f flowers in them; but this pleafure-garden is very far from deferving the com- C 1 mendations
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