THE CAPE. 17 



Indian officers on sick leave, mixed with Hottentots, Caffres, 

 Malays, Negroes, Mulattos, Hindoos, Portuguese, Lascars, 

 &c. &c., forming altogether a Babel-like scene, only to be 

 realized by ocular demonstration. 



A fine piece of ground near the town was styled the 

 Governor's Gardens, and was once kept in a state of culti- 

 vation by the East India Company. Lord C. Somerset, the 

 Governor at this period, had turned it into a farm, on the 

 produce of which he fed his horses, and nothing remained 

 of the original design but a long and broad gravel walk, 

 overshaded by trees, which was the evening promenade 

 and resort of most of the inhabitants of the town during 

 the summer. Some very large barred cages, or rather 

 enclosed areas, containing five or six very fine lions, were 

 situated at the extremity of the garden. They had plenty 

 of space for exercise, and were well-grown, active, and in 

 high condition. 



We shortly made up a party to ascend the Table Mountain, 

 accompanied by an old Rugby schoolfellow of mine, whom I 

 had discovered holding an official position at Cape Town. 

 For a short distance the ascent was not very fatiguing, but 

 soon changed its character, and became full of obstructions. 

 Our road at first wound along the declivities of the mountain ; 

 but we now came to the foot of a range of cliffs about six 

 hundred feet high, in which there was an immense chasm, 

 wide at its mouth, but gradually narrowing towards its 

 its termination. Before entering this, we remained for a 

 short time to observe the prospect beneath us. The streets 

 of Cape Town, above which we were elevated upwards of 

 three thousand feet, appeared like white streaks, and no 

 moving object could be seen in any part of them. Thin 

 wreaths of smoke hung over the houses, and rendered them 

 more indistinct than they would otherwise have been. 



Table Bay was situated immediately beneath us, and re- 



C 



