SEPTEMBER. 



213 



visions ; and it was quite a treat to see the good -will with which 

 they gave their attention to the contents of the bum-boat ; and the 

 good feeling between officer and men, of which it was at once both 

 the token and the cause, was well worth the purchase. 



The monkeys too, sitting on the booms, grinned and chattered 

 with delight as they saw it spread forth and lotted into messes ; for 

 what a tooth for fruit has a monkey ! they will leave any thing 

 else for it ; and with intelligence enough to know that they will be 

 thrashed for thieving, they cannot resist it. Speaking of monkeys, 

 I must say that the negro's opinion, that " they can speak, but 

 won't ; because if they did, they'd be made to w^ork," never seemed 

 to me far wide of the truth ; and I always think it one of the most 

 humiliating of sights to witness the actions and manners of the most 

 intelHgent of this tribe of animals. 



Those we had on board at the time I speak of were soon enjoy- 

 ing their share of the fruit which fell to their owner's lot ; and for 

 my own part, I followed their example, and gladly exchanged my 

 usual breakfast for some most delicious Frontignan-flavoured grapes, 

 which I ate upon deck, — for shame it would be to spend an un- 

 necessary moment below, where all before us was so very beautiful 

 and refreshing to the eye. 



Before we tripped our anchor and left the bay, every cabin was 

 furnished with bunches of grapes suspended overhead in every avail- 

 able space ; for such opportunities are never neglected, and particu- 

 larly when it can be done so well and at so small a cost as at Cape 

 Town. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At a late meeting in 21 Regent Street, Mr. Rivers of Sawbridge- 

 worth exhibited Cherries, Plums, Pears, and Peaches, in the shape of 

 small trees in pots, bearing (except the two latter) ripe fruit. Al- 

 though many of the Cherries and Plums had dropped in travelling 

 from Sawbridgeworth to London, still enough remained to shew that 

 very small plants of these kinds of trees in pots will bear heavy crops 

 of fine fruit. They were stated to have been produced in what Mr. 

 Rivers terms an Orchard House, i. e. under a glass roof, with a beech 

 hedge for a back wall, and a yew hedge for the front. The pots had 

 been standing on a raised border, and were open at the bottom, in 

 order to allow the roots to pass into the bed below. Two or three 

 were covered with Haythorn's muslin net, to shew how late Cherries 

 may be preserved in the autumn ; for being under glass, autumnal 

 rains do not injure them. Late Plums may also be preserved in the 

 same manner : they shrivel, and become very delicious. Some of the 

 pots were painted round with chopped horse-hair, tar, and salt, which 

 has been found to be a capital bar to the snail tribe. 



