130 Letters of a late Adventurer to the Cape oj Good Hope. [Marcli 1 « 



but 1 cut close when I can. • • * maker till at least six months old, or 

 Be assured I shall leave notliiug un- more. After arriving in Cape-town it 

 done, wlieie there is tiie least proba- commonly requires further prepara- 



bility of success. What you have so 

 kindly lent ought and shall, if possi- 

 ble, be wisely used. 



A vessel from the whale-fishery sails 

 in two days for England ; and, as this 

 does not occur everyday, I forward you 

 all the news I am master of. Remem- 

 ber me aflectiouately to * * *. 



LETTER 11. 



Dec. 30, 1821. 

 • * * * A few days ago I was 

 introduced by JMr. E — , one of the 

 partners alluded to in my last, to Mr. 

 S — , one of the first wiue-merchants in 

 town : his credit is good, his stock ex- 

 tensive, and his cellars very well ar- 

 ranged. The whole pleased mejnuch, 

 though it is true there are many defi- 

 ciencies. The prices, however, ex- 



tion ; the ualive spirit used for this 

 purpose is execrable stuff, and conse- 

 quently diminisiies the quality of the 

 wine: formerly the latter, from bad 

 management, sometimes became sour, 

 without a due admixture of Cape 

 brandy; but that is not the case now. 

 I observed to him, that a great defect 

 in their wines was a want of pleasant 

 flavour: he admitted it, and said he 

 had often tried to counteractthe earthy 

 taste generally remarked by strangers, 

 though not with complete success ; it 

 was, however, much diminished, and, 

 if not owing to the soil, of which he 

 was afraid, might in time be overcome. 

 He jocularly added, that it had another 

 essential fault in England,— that of 

 beins: too cheap. Its native body he 



cecded my calculations, and perhaps thought equal to the majority of white 



the value of the article. I found some 

 as liigh as sixty and seventy rix-dol- 

 lars the Iialf-aum (about nineteen 

 English gallons); varying, according 

 to quality, down to twelve and fifteen 

 rix-dollars. Constantia ranges from 

 100 to 140 dollars : these are the retail 

 prices. Cape Madeira is a mere 

 name; there being, in fact, no such 

 thing without admixture. The great 

 body of the commodity is called Steeii 

 wine ; and tiiis, v^ heii originally of 



wines ; their strength, which English- 

 men seemed all to cry out for, was 

 well known to he an afiair of art, and 

 might therefore be arranged according 

 to the taste of the owner : for his own 

 part, he liked a genuine « inc, free as 

 circumstances would admit of the ad- 

 dition of spirit ; and such tiie Cape 

 wine was. In this I perfectly agree 

 with him. 



Soon afterwards I accompanied a 

 young Dutchman (or Afriiandcr), 



good quality, and kept for a few years, friend of J\Ir. R — , who was going on 



becomes really very fine : I have 

 drank it at Mr. R — 's table most ex- 

 cellent, fit for any epicure, however 

 nice, if called by another name ; but, 

 as things in general receive the least 



a sporting visit to Mynheer R- 

 wine-boor in the district named Dea- 

 kenstein ; to wiiom I was furnished 

 vsith a letter of introduction. The old 

 man received us cordially, but quite 



honour in their own country, it is often unceremoniously ; gave my companion 

 slighted here for execrable black-strap, some hearty thumps, as proofs of 



called port, and other inferior foreign 

 wines, — valued only because they are 

 foreign, and of course expensive. My 

 i'riend is above this aflectation ; to an 

 uitni he adds about six gallons of Ma- 

 deira, when laid down in tiie wood : 

 in this he lets it remain for about three 

 years, sometimes longer ; then bottles 

 it for a year; and he tlii iks it then as 

 good as ever it will be. I must con- 

 fess, my own opinion is, that it does 

 improve : some of his eight-year-old 

 pleased me better than his four. 



Mr. S— , finding 1 knew the busi- 

 ness, was more unreserved than per- 

 haps he otherwise would have been. 

 I could not, however, expect to learn 

 all the secrets at once. All wine is 

 t^xamined by inspectors and tasters 

 appointed by govcrnnunt, and is not 

 permitted to quit the custody of the 



friendship, — shook me very cordially 

 by the hand, — pushed me into a chair, 

 — asked me how long I was from Eng- 

 land, — how I liked the Cape; and, call- 

 ing a pretty mulatto girl, produced a 

 bottle of snaps or spirits, — of which, 

 whether right or wrong, I was com- 

 pelled to swallow a glass previous to- 

 a repast, wiiich he said was an old 

 custom in the colony, and called Di\ 

 Snell; I suppose from some grave me- 

 dical professor. The evening was 

 passed at cards witli some tolerably 

 pretty girls, chiefly of his own family, 

 whose names I found at first some dif- 

 ficulty in pronouncing, but whose good 

 nature made ample allowance for a 

 stranger. They are in general, per- 

 haps, not what we term perfectly well- 

 bred, but not more so than farmer's 

 daughters of the second class in our 



own 



