216 M. SEEMANN’S JOURNAL, 
a scientific person, and vesting in him the chief direction, this establish- : 
ment, which, if conducted properly, might have been productive of 
much good both to the colony and botany in general, must soon fall to 
the ground, or at least fail to accomplish the object for which it was 
originally designed. 
On Thursday, March 13th, Messrs. Zeyher, Baur, and Juritz and my- 
self ascended Table Mountain. Dr. Ecklon would have joined the party, 
but being far advanced in years, and debilitated by a prolonged resi- 
dence in a hot country, he feared that he should not be able to reach 
the top. We started at dawn, and took the usual road, up the kloof. 
Never have I enjoyed an excursion so much. The day was beautifully 
clear, the company delightful, and Mr. Zeyher made so many interest- 
ing remarks on the different plants, that time seemed to fly with more 
than its usual speed. At an elevation of 1000 feet we found a grove 
of the Leucadendron argenteum, R. Br., which produces its branches in 
whorls, and with the regularity of a pine. It is the only indigenous 
tree I saw in the Cape Town district; for the Virgilia Capensis, Lam., 
which is frequent, has been brought, according to Mr. Zeyher, from 
some distant part of the colony, and the others from Europe, Asia, 
America, Australia,—in fine, from every part of the globe. A strange 
mixture, indeed, is thus produced. Here stands a tall Zwcalypíus 
near the Populus alba, there the Nicotiana glauca in company with the 
Cypress of the Levant and the Casuarina of the Indian Archipelago; 
all apparently growing as vigorously as in their native soil. 
Tt was nearly ten o'clock when we reached the summit. Most places 
generally fall short of the expectations formed of them, but never was 
I more disappointed than with Table Mountain. During my travels 
I have visited several mountains far more deserving of renown than 
this; the. Montana; or Galera de Chorcha, in Veraguas is certainly 
more regular, larger, and bolder in outline. The view of the town, the 
bay, and the island, however, and the surrounding flora, made up in 
some measure for the. disappointment. Having taken our breakfast 
near a little fountain, we commenced ransacking the platform. The 
Disa ferruginea, Swartz, was plentiful; but of the Herschelia celestis, 
R. Br., one of the rarest plants of. the country, only a few specimens 
could be found, as some previous. visitors, probably attracted by its 
reme colour, had gathered a whole bunch, which they had left 
