108 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



scurvy ; so that the sufferings of the crew of the Endeavour, 

 considering her long absence from England, is a circum- 

 stance not at all to be wondered at. 



Cape Town consisted at this time of about a thousand 

 brick houses, the outsides of which were generally plastered, 

 and had a pleasing appearance ; the streets, which cross 

 each other at right angles, were spacious and handsome ; 

 the inhabitants, chiefly Dutch, or of Dutch extraction ; the 

 women beautiful in a high degree, and possessing those 

 blooming countenances which denote the most perfect 

 health ; they were most of them mothers of many children, 

 and Captain Cook says, they are the best wives in the world. 



The air of the Cape of Good Hope is pure and salubrious. 



The Constantia wine which is made here is excellent, but 

 the genuine sort is made only at one particular vineyard a 

 few miles from the town. The gardens produce many sorts 

 of European and Indian fruits, and almost all the common 

 kinds of vegetables. The sheep of this country have tails of 

 a very extraordinary size, many of which weigh upwards of 

 a dozen pounds ;* the meat of this animal, as well as of the 

 ox, is very fine food ; the wool of the sheep is rather of the 

 hairy kind, and the horns of the black cattle spread much 

 wider than those of England, while the beast himself is 

 handsomer and lighter made. 



On the 14th of April, 1771, the anchor of the Endeavour 

 was weighed, and she once more put to sea. On Monday, 

 May-day, they came to anchor off the island of St. Helena ; 

 and as they proposed to remain three days, Mr. Banks 

 employed the interval in surveying every object that was 

 thought worthy of notice. 



The island of St. Helena, which rises out of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, is about eighteen hundred miles from the coast of 

 America, and twelve hundred from that of Africa. It has the 

 appearance of a huge mountain, the foundation of which is 

 probably at the centre of the globe. It had formerly 

 volcanoes in several parts, as is evident from the appearance 

 of the earth and stones in many places ; and it looks like 

 a cluster of rocks, bounded by precipices of immense 

 height, which overhang a vessel sailing along the coast. 



On the 4th of May, the Endeavour sailed from St. Helena, 

 together with the Portland man-of-war, and several sail of 

 Indiamen. They kept company till the 1 Oth. But Captain 

 Cook, observing that they were outsailed by the other 

 ships, and consequently imagining that some would reach 

 England before him, made signals to speak with the Port- 



*" They are seldom less in weight than five or six pounds ; some- 

 times more than a dozen pounds." Barrow's Travels in South 

 Africa. 



