cook's VOYAGE TO NOV. 



" I employed the next day in searching for plants 

 and insects about Stellenbosh, but had little success. 

 Few plants are in flower here at this season, and in- 

 sects but scarce. I examined the soil in several 

 places, and found it to consist of yellowish clay, 

 mixed with a good deal of sand. The sides of the 

 low hills, which appear brown, seem to be constituted 

 of a sort of stone marie. 



"We left Stellenbosh next morning, and soon arrived 

 at the house we had passed on Saturday ; the owner 

 of which, Mr. Cloeder, had sent us an invitation, the 

 evening before, to visit him. This gentleman enter- 

 tained us with the greatest hospitality, and in a man- 

 ner very different from what we expected. He re- 

 ceived us with music ; and a band also played while 

 we were at dinner ; which, considering the situation 

 of the place, might be reckoned elegant. He shewed 

 us his wine-cellars, his orchards, and vineyards ; all 

 which, I must own, inspired me with a wish to know 

 in what manner these industrious people could create 

 such plenty in a spot where, I believe, no other Eu- 

 ropean nation would have attempted to settle. 



" In the afternoon we crossed the country, and 

 passed a few plantations, one of which seemed very 

 considerable, and was laid out in a taste somewhat 

 different from any other we saw. In the evening we 

 arrived at a farm-house, which is the first in the cul- 

 tivated tract called the Pearl. We had, at the same 

 time, a view of Drakenstein, the third colony of this 

 country, which lies along by the foot of the lofty hills 

 already mentioned, and contains several farms or 

 plantations, not very extensive. 



" I went, on the 19th in the forenoon, in quest of 

 plants and insects, which I found almost as scarce as 

 at Stellenbosh ; but I met with more shrubs or small 

 trees, naturally produced, in the valleys, than in any 

 part of the country I had hitherto seen. 



" In the afternoon, we went to see a stone of a re- 

 markable size, called by the inhabitants the Tower 



