Simon's town. 29 



weather throughout was such that during' the period 

 of twenty-one days the sounding- boats were able to 

 work on six only^ — the other fine days were devoted 

 to swino'ing* the ships for mag-netical purposes. It 

 was also intended to survey the Whittle shoal in 

 False Bay^ but ^\hen we sailed^ the weather was so 

 thick and unsettled^ that Capt. Stanley was reluc- 

 tantly oblig-ed to g'ive it up. 



Simon's Town is a small strag'g-ling- place of 

 scarcely any importance^ except in connection with 

 the naval establishment kept up here— dockyard^ 

 hospital^ &c.— this being* the head-quarters of the 

 Cape station. It is distant from Cape Town twenty- 

 three miles. The neighbourhood is singularly dreary 

 and barren, with comparatively little level ground^ 

 and scarcely any susceptible of cultivation. I have 

 often been struck with the great general similarity 

 between the barren and sandy tracts of this district, 

 and many parts of New South Wales^ where sand- 

 stone is the prevailing rock. In both countries 

 there are the same low scrubby bushes^ at the Cape 

 consisting' of Heaths and Proteoe, and in Australia 

 of Epacridge and Banksioe, — the last the honey- 

 suckles of the Colonists. Even the beautiful sun- 

 birds of the Cape, frequenting- especially the flowers 

 of the Proteee^ are represented by such of the Aus- 

 tralian honeysuckers as resort to the Banksioe. 



We found the Cape Colony suffering from the 

 long' continuance of the Caffi'e war. As a natural 

 consequence, the price of everything had risen, and 



