Vaarlberg Mountains in Southern Africa . 0,2$ 



the gratification he is to receive for having undergone fo 



freat a tatigue in the afcent. The mind, however, will loon 

 e relieved at the recollection of the great command given 

 by the elevation; and the eye, leaving the immediate fcenery, 

 will wander with delight round the whole circumference of 

 the horizon. On approaching the verge of the mountain — • 



4 « How fearful 

 And dizzy 'tis to caft one's eyes fo low ! 

 The fifhermen that walk upon the beach 

 Appear like mice ; and yon tail anchoring bark 

 Diminifhed to her cock. - - - - - 

 ----_.__ The murmiring fu r ge, 

 That on the unnumbered idle pebDles chafes* 

 Cannot be heard ib high." 



All the objects on the plain below are, in fact, dwindled 

 away to the eye of the fpe&ator into littlenefs and infignifi- 

 cance. The flat-roofed houfes of Cape Town, difpofed into 

 formal clumps, appear like thofe paper fabrics which children 

 are accuftomed to make with cards. The (h rubbery on the 

 fandy illhmus looks like dots ; and the. farms and their in- 

 clofurcs as fo many lines, and the more finifhed parts of a 

 plan drawn on paper. 



On the fwampy parts of the flat fummit, between the 

 mattes of rock, are growing feveral forts of handfome fhrubs. 

 The cen&a mucronata, a tall, elegant, frutefcent plant, is 

 peculiar to this fltuation ; as is alfo that fpecies of heath 

 called the phyjbdes, which, with its clufters of white flowers, 

 glazed with a glutinous coating, exhibits in the funfhine a 

 very beautiful appearance. Many other heaths, common 

 alfo on the plains, feemed to thrive equally well on this ele- 

 vated (ltuation as in a milder temperature. The air on the 

 fummit, in the clear weather of winter, and in the (hade, is 

 generally about fifteen degrees of Fahrenheit's fcale lower than 

 in Cape Town *. In the fummer feafon the difference is 

 much greater, when that well known appearance of the fleecy 

 cloud, not inaptly called the tablecloth, envelops the fummit 

 of the mountain. 



A (ingle glance at the topography of the Cape and the 

 adjacent country, will be furhcient to explain the caufe of 

 this phenomenon, which has fo much the appearance of 

 Angularity. The mountainous peninfula is connected with 

 a (till more mountainous continent, on which the great 

 ranges run parallel to, and at no great di fiance from, the fea 



* The general ftandard of the three winter months at Cape Town may- 

 be reckoned at $o° at (uarife to 6o° at noon. In the mddle of fummer. 

 it varies from 70° to »o°. but refb for day? together at 83 tr S4 



Vol. X. P coaft. 



