100 Biography of the late Captain Dugald Carmichael. 



cannot throw the corresponding expression into a countenance 

 where the muscles are so deeply imbedded in blubber, that even 

 the convulsions of death could not produce any visible derange- 

 ment of features. 



" No difference of ranks exists at the Cape ; and, if the po- 

 pulation be not occasionally reinforced from Europe, the dis- 

 tinction of colour will soon vanish. The intermixture of Afri- 

 can with European blood can already be traced in some of the 

 first-rate families in the colony ; the hue of the skin and the li- 

 neaments of the countenance unequivocally betraying their ori- 

 gin. The abolition of the slave trade, and the facility with 

 which the poorest inhabitants can, by ordinary activity and per- 

 severance, obtain a competency, will accelerate this union, and 

 it is probable that before two centuries shall have elapsed, all 

 the colours will be blended in one. 



" The complexion of the Cape ladies is, in general, fair, per- 

 haps too fair. It is of that sickly delicate tint which indicates 

 exclusion from the air and light. It is altogether deficient in 

 the lively bloom Avhich gentle exercise and exposure to the ele- 

 ments diffuse over the cheeks of the British fair. Great care is 

 taken, while young and single, of their figures ; they are accord- 

 ingly then light and elegant in their form ; but they are no 

 sooner married than they begin to neglect their persons, and, by 

 indulging in the pleasures of the table, acquire a degree of obe- 

 sity that renders them objects of disgust. The habit of using 

 vegetable acids as seasoning to every article of food, soon de- 

 stroys the teeth. So universal, indeed, is this defect, that a fine 

 set of teeth never enters as an item into the catalogue of female 

 beauty ; and the total neglect of the brush renders such as they 

 have offensive to the sight of any person of delicacy. 



" Almost every private house in Capetown is open for the 

 accommodation of such strangers as have occasion to take lodg- 

 ings for any time in the town. This custom supersedes the use 

 of taverns ; but, as it was originally the offspring of poverty 

 and necessity, it will fall into disuse in proportion as the inhabi- 

 tants become more opu;ent. The town may at present be aptly 

 compared to a large inn on a well-frequented road. The same 

 incessant routine of arrivals and departures ; the same chaotic 

 medley of characters ; and the same insatiable thirst of gain, 



