BRITISH ASSOCIATIOX IN SOUTH AFRICA i 



o 



in building and commerce. In spite of the fact that the population 

 of the whole colony is less than 600,000 whites, trading was started 

 after the war on a scale which a white population of twenty millions 

 would hardly have justified. As might be expected in a town of nearly 

 80,000 inhabitants, Cape Town has the conveniences of a modern city, 

 a fine town hall just finished at a cost of a million and a quarter dol- 

 lars, a good and plentiful water supply, electric light, extended rail- 

 way and trolley car lines, and a perfect sewerage and drainage system. 

 It is not possible for me to warn intending tourists of the troubles 

 caused by quarantine, customs declarations, passports or baggage trans- 

 port, for all these formalities were dispensed with: we had only to 

 walk ashore in company with our hosts who had come on board the 

 ship to meet us. The first half of the presidential address was deliv- 

 ered by Professor Darwin on the evening of arrival, and the following 

 three mornings were devoted to the sectional meetings. The five days 

 in Cape Town were spent by the different members of the party in 

 different ways, according to their consciences or inclinations. The 

 afternoons were generally free for excursions, and the evenings were 

 fully occupied by receptions or lectures, well attended by both visitors 

 and residents. Many of the geologists were attracted by the oppor- 

 tunity to see the country with their own eyes and obtain data for the 

 discussion of those problems which appear to be peculiar to South 

 Africa. The astronomers were particularly active both in Section A 

 and in afternoon and evening visits to the observatory, the history of 

 which furnishes remarkable examples of devotion to science; under 

 the present director it has not only been equipped with some of the 

 finest and most modern instruments, but has sent forth many valuable 

 contributions towards our knowledge of the heavens. Groote Schuur, 

 the residence of Cecil Ehodes and bequeathed to the colony at his 

 death, was a center of interest as the home of the man ' who thought in 

 terms, not of countries, but of continents,' and nearly every one visited 

 the beautiful house and extensive estate with its large collection of 

 African animals. On the last day some hundred and fifty of the 

 party, guided by members of the Cape Mountain Club and others, 

 climbed up various routes on to Table Mountain and sat down to a 

 lunch provided by the mayor near the new reservoirs which supply the 

 city with water. There were excursions also to various features of 

 interest in the town and its neighborhood, to the De Beers Explosive 

 Works, to the Government Wine Farm at Groot Constantia, to the 

 Admiralty "Works at Simonstown, and to the Elsenburg Government 

 School of Agriculture at Stellenbosch. 



III. 

 The southeast coast railway to Durban is as yet incomplete and, 

 to avoid the long railway journey via Johannesburg, the members left 



