1821.1 Voyage lo tlie Cape of the New Settlers. 



32i 



aaled herself with a cup of coffee for 

 breakfast, the lady of the house sits 

 at her ease in a corner till the next 

 meal time, seeming absolutely fixed to 

 an old clumsy chair ; little of female 

 delicacy can be expected about her, a 

 coarse loose dress thrown about her 

 shoulders leaves many parts of her per- 

 son altogether exposed. Of beauty the 

 females can rarely boast, they generally 

 go bare-footed, their feet are washed by 

 the male as well as the female slaves, nor 

 do they make any ceremony of having 

 this office performed before strangers ; 

 no amusement varies the scene, but one 

 day is like all the rest of the year with 

 tliera. Upon contemplating the various 

 circumstances respecting the Dutch, 

 with the line of conduct they have pur- 

 sued since their first settlement, one 

 cannot without surprise observe, that 

 they have, during so long a residence, 

 continued to remain entirely ignorant of 

 the vast improvement of which their 

 possessions are capable, the dictates of 

 common sense or common prudence 

 without any external instruction, might 

 surely have been sufficient to point out 

 the thousand advantages which force 

 themselves upon the attention of the 

 observer, and yet seem entirely to have 

 ^scaped the notice of the colonists. 

 There is, in this part of tlie world, an 

 instance to be found of European ad- 

 venturers entirely destitute of enter- 

 prize, and completely indifferent to 

 the art of bettering their situations. 

 On observing the innumerable local 

 advantages which the colony possesses, 

 the infinite means of becoming opulent 

 and comfortable which nature holds 

 out to the inhabitants, one cannot but 

 express a degree of regret that so fruit- 

 ful a portion of the globe should be as- 

 signed to those who are so little capa- 

 ble of estimating its value. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



The climate of this place is subject 

 to great varieties, but there is seldom 

 any rain except in the summer-months, 

 when it is accompanied with much 

 thunder and lightning; the heat at this 

 season of the year would be intolerable 

 were it not foi the violent storms that 

 frequently arise, which are absolutely 

 essential to the healtii of the inhabi- 

 tants. The spring, which commences 

 the l)eginning of September and con- 

 tinues till the entrance of December, 

 is, undoubtedly, the most pleasant 

 scawn of the year ; the summer from 

 Dpi'endx'r till Marcli, is sultry; the 

 autumn, from March to June, is dis< 



tinguished by a variety of weather ; and 

 the winter, from June to September, 

 is generally rainy, cold, and stormy; 

 the transitions, however, from heat to 

 cold, and from rain to fine weather, are 

 much less sudden than in England, 

 throughout the year, and upon the 

 whole the climate of the Cape appears 

 to agree well with Europeans. 



The soil consists, for the most part, 

 of a black loomy mould, so exceedingly 

 fertile, that every vegetable substance, 

 whether sown or planted, grows with 

 great luxuriance. English garden- 

 seeds, for the most part, thrive well, 

 though the coldness of the nights have 

 had some ill effect upon them, but have 

 little doubt that if sown at a proper 

 season of the year, we may insure a 

 plentiful return. A good garden en- 

 gine will, at certain seasons of the 

 year, be found a valuable acquisition. 

 A malt mill, or some other machine for 

 the purpose of grinding wheat, ■will 

 also be found of the greatest utility, as 

 there is at present no means of grind- ^ 

 ing com nearer than Utenhage, which 

 is more than 100 miles from Bathurst. 

 A settler will do well to furnish himself 

 with a good saddle, as nothing is (o be 

 done here without a horse, and a sad- 

 dle here will cost as much, (or perhaps 

 more,) than he will give for the horse 

 itself. 



Several descriptions of tea grow in 

 the colony as well as a sort of wild 

 coffee ; the former will bejfound a good 

 substitute, but the latter we have not 

 at present had an opportunity of giving 

 a fair trial, as August is the month in 

 which it ought to be picked. Letters 

 are forwarded from Bathurst (where 

 you pay Is. 6d. for the postage to Cape 

 Town,) by a Hottentot boy on horse- 

 back to the next post, where he deli- 

 vers his charge to another ; they are 

 thus conveyed there in a few days. A 

 good rifle, or a piece with a veiy large 

 bore, would be found extremely useful, 

 as there is little use for small pieces. 

 The chain of settlements at present ex- 

 tends about fifty miles. All officei-s, 

 whether naval or military, are entitled 

 to 500 acres each ; so that those on half- 

 pay may do exceedingly well here. The 

 clothing worn by the Dutch farmers 

 consists chiefly of tanned sheep-skins 

 made into jackets and trowsers ; govern- 

 ment have even supplied the settlers 

 with some thousand of tliese for (hat 

 purpose. The price of oxen has rather 

 increased with the demand, they now 

 tietch from twenty to thirty rix dollars 



ca(;h 



