21 
and observing a naval officer among the crowd, tendered his 
sword to him, which the other was in the act of returning, 
when Major galloped down the jetty, and was an- 
nounced to Monsieur as the commandant of Simonstown. 
As such, the captain a second time surrendered to him his 
weapon, which he had no sooner grasped, than he counter- 
marched his steed, and rode off with the glorious prize. A 
few red-hot shot fired at the frigate, made her cut her cable 
and put back to sea." 
The regiment being ordered to Capetown, Captain Car- 
michael has time to describe its remarkable features. 
& Capetown is built in a valley, surrounded on three sides 
by mountains, the most conspicuous of which, the Table 
Mountain, rises behind it like an immense wall, supported 
by buttresses. On the right hand, the Devil's Hill is almost 
as high and precipitous: but the Lion's Hill on the left, 
swells up to a more moderate height, with a smooth unbroken 
surface. The front is occupied by the Table Bay, beyond 
which you have a distinct view of the Blue Berg, and the 
mountains of Drakenstein. 
* The plan of Capetown is quite regular. The streets are 
perfectly straight, and intersect each other at right angles. 
They are laid with a sort of coarse gravel, cemented by 
a red ferruginous clay, which being soaked with water, 
and well rammed, acquires an almost stony hardness. A 
small stream which runs through the town, is confined 
on either side by a wall, and it can be checked at pleasure 
by a series of locks, placed at certain intervals, which give 
it the appearance of a canal. - 
“ The houses are built in general of bricks, iddei in 
loam, but so imperfectly burnt, that they absorb the rain, 
and would soon crumble away, if the walls were not secured 
by a thick coating of plaster. In the front of each house is 
a platform, called a stoop, from four to six feet broad, and 
furnished at each end with a seat. These stoops are a great 
annoyance to the public, occupying an unreasonable propor- 
tion of the large streets, and reducing the smaller ones to 
mere lanes. The surbase of the walls towards the street, is 
