lis Biography of the late Captain Diigald Carmichael. 



tops until they emerge into daylight ; but the lower branches 

 are all suffocated, and the trunk now converted into a root, sends 

 off a new system of branches, which direct their course down- 

 ward through the drift. In proportion as the sand accumulates, 

 the plants grow up, keeping their heads above the surface ; but 

 without any apparent stem. A squall comes on, the batik is 

 dispersed ; and the shrubs, now laid bare to the original level of 

 the soil, exhibit the grotesque appearance of so many Mangrove- 

 trees. 



" Though the flowering season was pretty nearly over, I ob- 

 served a variety of plants still in blossom ; among others, a large 

 blue-flowered Aristea, a Dianthus, and several species of Passe- 

 rina, particularly the P. grandiflora and uniflora. The greater 

 part of the Isthmus is covered with shrubs of this last genus, 

 which are in much request in Capetown, as the material usually 

 employed to heat the bakers' ovens. The genus Restio is likie- 

 wise abundant, and communicates somewhat of a glassy appear- 

 ance to the surface ; but these plants, except during the earliest 

 stage of their growth, are rejected by cattle. 



" The diagonal extent of the Isthmus from Capetown to 

 Brinksfarm on the Eerste River, is about twenty-four miles. 

 Throughout this dreary expanse, not a house is to be seen, nor 

 an object to relieve the eye, or divert the mind from its own re- 

 flections, except here and there a waggon in its progress to or from 

 Capetown, halted at the road-side, and its team of oxen brows- 

 ing amongst the shrubs. In their intercourse with the capital, 

 the boors are under the necessity of arranging their affairs so as 

 to remain there only a few hours, or, at least, to send off* their 

 waggons, the sterility of its immediate environs rendering it im- 

 possible to find subsistence for their cattle there for a single night. 



" From Brinksfarm, the road winds round the base of the 

 mountain of Stellenbosch, and commands a fine view of the 

 whole Cape Peninsula and the adjacent bays. Several neat 

 plantations are scattered over each side of the road, as far as 

 Hottentot-Holland Kloof. As we rode along, it was not with- 

 out interest we remarked the country people actively employed 

 in their various occupations ; some collecting the juicy produce 

 of the vineyard ; some cutting down the corn, conveying it home 

 in waggon-loads, piUng it up in huge stacks, or guiding the 



