BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS. 540 
Botanical Excursions in Sourn AFRICA, by 
C. J. F. BANBURY, Esq. 
1. Ascent of Table Mountain.—Rocks.— Plants of the moun- 
tains and flats.—Cultivated vegetables and  fruits.—The 
Paarl, and its botanical riches —Notes. 
Ir is not very easy, during the summer, to find a favour- 
able day for the ascent of Table Mountain, for it is scarcely 
to be attempted during the continuance of a south-easter, and 
these gales come on so suddenly as to thwart one’s projects 
not less vexatiously than rainy days do in England. It is 
not merely the violence of the wind that hinders one from as- 
cending, but the density of the cloud in which it envelopes the 
top of the mountain. It has happened to many people to be 
surprised, while on the summit, by the coming on of the “ ta- 
blecloth," which made it impossible for them to find their way 
back; some have perished by falling from the cliffs under 
these circumstances, and many have been obliged to remain 
on the mountain all night, or even more than one night; a 
very unpleasant bivouac. 
After being once or twice baulked by the sudden coming 
on of the south-easter, I undertook the ascent on the 28th 
of February, in company with my friend, Mr. Harvey, the 
Colonial Treasurer, a most zealous and accomplished bo- 
tanist. We started at 4 o'clock in the morning, when the 
stars were shining brightly in a clear sky; though about the 
top of the mountain, there were some clouds of a suspicious ap- 
pearance. For about two miles, the roadis practicablefor horses, 
and the ascent gentle; then we arrived at the Platte Klip, a 
broad smooth sheet of rock, washed by the only permanent 
stream which descends from the mountain on this side. Here 
the road ceases, and we enter upon what may be called the 
second region of the mountain, a kind of shoulder or but- 
tress sloping up to the foot of the cliffs. The path by which 
we ascended was rough and narrow, winding among bushes, 
scattered Silver-trees, and masses of rock; it became steeper 
