l88 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



Town, the aspect of which, at the foot of the Table Moun- 

 tain, is exceedingly picturesque. The town is constructed 

 with much regularity, and the houses are very comfortable 

 dwellings, principally of one flat only. Almost every Eu- 

 ropean comfort is to be found there ; they have good hotels, 

 elegant shops, handsome public buildings, an exchange, a 

 theatre, and several others, and the town is well lighted 

 with gas ; I was surprised at not being pestered at the Cape 

 by beggars, a peculiarity I do not recollect to have met with 

 in any other place I visited in my travels. 



On our arrival at the Cape, the harvest season was just 

 over, and we were able, on our walks through the town, or 

 in country excursions, to refresh ourselves with some of the 

 most delicious grapes I ever tasted. To some of my 

 readers, it may, at first, appear strange, that the harvest 

 season should be over so early in the year as April ; but, 

 be it remembered, the Cape is in the southern hemisphere, 

 where the seasons are precisely the reverse of ours ; Janu- 

 ary being the hottest, and July the coldest month of the 

 year. After a stay of four days, we again put to sea, hav- 

 ing, during that time, taken in a supply of fresh water, 

 poultry, &c., but we had not long been out of sight of land, 

 when our poultry were attacked by an epizootic, and des- 

 troyed, so that we were obliged to call at St. Helena, to 

 procure fresh provisions. There were a few cases of death 

 on board, viz., some invalids and a sailor who had been 

 notorious for his immoderate drinking. The bodies were, 

 according to the custom of mariners, wrapped in linen 

 cloths, and weights having been attached, they were com- 

 mitted to the deep, accompanied with prayers. 



Besides these cases of disease, which terminated fatally, 

 there were a {^^^ others, with regard to the treatment of 

 which I was consulted. I may mention two of them, as the 

 diseases frequently occur, and I had the good fortune to 

 extricate the ship's surgeon from an embarrassment res- 

 pecting them. The first was that of a testy old colonel, 

 who, according to his own assertion, was troubled with 

 severe rheumatic pains to such a degree, that he was on the 



