52 



VEGETATION OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE AND VAN 

 DIEMEN'S LAND. 



Extract from a letter written by a Lady at Hobart Town in January, 1839. 



*' How I tliouglit of you at the Cape, that Paradise of 

 flowers ! though the first bloom was over on our arrival, yet 

 enough was left to shew what had been, nor without seeing 

 can you imagine the profusion ; there are actually no weeds. 

 Our favourite little blue Lobelia is the chickweed of the 

 place, the ditches and all damp places are filled with Cape 

 Lilies, Heaths of all colours, the Erica, 1 believe coccinea, 

 growing very high, Diosmas, Crassulas, &c. &c. I saw a 

 great deal of the Cape, we were above a fortnight there, 

 and travelled above a hundred and eighty miles into the 

 interior. With the general appearance of the country I was 

 disappointed, there are no trees. The silver tree, a Protea, 

 is the highest indigenous plant that I saw. There are oaks 

 in and about Cape Town, Constantia, Wyneberg, &c. and in- 

 deed wherever a house is built, a few trees are planted for 

 shade, but the country for miles has nothing higher than 

 heath, and for the greater part of the year is sterile looking. 

 But in the season the whole face is covered with flowers ; and 

 such a face ! fancy acres of heaths, of all colours, interspersed 

 with Gladioles, Ixias, Watsonias, Babianas, Lachenalias, &c. 

 without end, all growing and flourishing in their native 

 luxuriance. Some bunches of Mesembryanthemums near 

 Sir Lowry Cole's pass were actually too bright to look at. I 

 lived in one constant whirl of delight, that extacy in which 

 we behold perfection. I could not see fast enough. Most 

 of the Ixias were out of bloom, but their remains were like 

 patches of a hay-field in seed, only the stems closer together. 

 Myrtle hedges were eight and ten feet high ; the one I saw 

 at Sir John Herschell's must have been more, and as close 

 and substantial as our best holly hedges. We visited Villette's, 

 and Baron Ludwig's garden, but where the whole country is 

 a garden, these were of less interest. The Melia Azedarach, 

 with its sweet lilac blossoms, is a beautiful and ornamental 

 tree which I did not see wild. We visited the Constantias ; 

 Great Constantia is beautiful, the soil is white, and looks 

 like lime and sand intimately mixed. I thought of our 

 gardener's recommendation of lime rubbish for vines. 



To the Cape, Van Diemen's Land is a direct contrast. 



