I7^7- eaft j which generally blows with great violence, and fomt“
.—__ _ tunes continues a day or more, but in common is of fhort
duration. Ön the fitfo appearance of this cloud, the ihipg
in Table Bay begin to prepare for it, by linking' yards and
top-mafts, and making every thing as ftiug as poftible.
A little m the weft ward o f the Table Land, divided- fey
a ffliall valley, ftands, on the right hand fide o f Table Bay,
a round Mil, tailed the ‘Sugar Loaf ; and by many the Lion’a
Head, as there is a continuance from it contiguous to the
fea, called the Lion’s Rump ; and when you take a general
view of the whole, it very much fëfembles that animal
with his head èreëh The gugat Loaf or Lien’s Head, and
the Lien’s Rump, have each a ftag->ftaff on dbetn, by which
the approach of ihipi is. made known to the governor, par^-
tteuterking their number, nation, and the quarter from
which they come. To the eaftward, feparated "by a ffimli
chafm from the Table Land,' ftands Charles’s Mount, well
Ln&wn by the appellation e f the Devil’s Tower; mid fo
called from the violent gufts df wind fappofed to iftue from
it, when it partakes o f the cap that covers the Table Land|
though fh#fe gufte are nothing moré than a degree o f force
the wind acquire» in eoming through the chafm. When
1 this
this phenomenon appears in the morning, which is by no 1787,
meant fo frequent as in the evening, th§ failora h,ave a faying, , ° ^ er
as the Devil’s Tower ie almoft contiguous to the Table
Land, that the old gentleman is going :to bre&kfaft; i f in
the mMdlg p f the day, that he ii going to. dinner; and if in
the evening, that the efoth m fpread for fupper.
The foregoing high lands form a kind o f amphitheatre
about the Table Valley, where the Cape Town ftands. From
the foipping the town appears plea&ntly fitnated, but at the
fame time foiMl; a deception that arifes, from its being built
ip. a valley with foch ftependoi© mountains diready behind
it. On landing, however, you are furprifed, and agreeably
difappointed, t§ find it not ©My extenfive^ hut well bulky '
Audi i f a good ftijb ; the êreete fpacfoua, and jntedèafog
each other at right angles with great precifion. This exaét-
m é m the formatiba ©f the ftreets, when- viewed from the
Table Land, h obfemd to be very great. The koufes ip ge- :
ner^ ate buik o f ftone, cemented together with a glutinous
kind o f earth which fcrves as mortar, and:afterwards neatly
plaftered, and whitewalhed, with. lime. As to their height,
they do not in common exceed two ftories, on account o f
the1 viqknce o f the wind, which at fome fcafons o f the year
|"'blows