194 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. viii. 



apparently the elegantissima, a tall straggling plant with a 

 bunch of bright scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers near the termi- 

 nation of its long slender branches, was strikingly conspicuous 

 above the rest. 



As we approached to Paarl, the road was bordered with ver- 

 dant fir-trees and oak, and much of the neighbouring land 

 appeared to be under cultivation. Paarl is in the midst of a 

 wine country, and the white-walled houses of the farmers 

 presented a novel and agreeable spectacle, being generally 

 situated in the midst of their vineyards, which are fenced 

 with walls of turf frequently planted with a broad-leaved 

 briar bearing a large single white flower. The town appeared 

 to me almost Dutch. A sort of raised terrace, called a " stoup," 

 extends along the whole front of the houses. Here parties of 

 ladies were sitting, some reading, others working or chatting 

 with their companions, and all apparently enjoying the cool 

 of the evening. Proceeding to the dwelling of Mr. Barker, I 

 found him a blind and aged man, sitting outside his door 

 talking with some of the people. In very early life we had 

 been acquainted in England, but he had now been more than 

 forty years in Africa, and we had only met once for a few 

 hours on my previous visit to the Cape. We had passed 

 through widely different scenes during the long interval of 

 separation, and our unexpected meeting here led to retrospects 

 of the past mutually interesting, and deeply affecting to us 

 both. 



While sitting in Mr. Barker's house in the evening, I heard 

 the sound of singing in the adjacent school-room, and went 

 over to listen to the exercises of a singing-class taught by one 

 of Mr. Barker's daughters. The pupils were all Africans, and 

 I was much pleased with the excellent voices of many of the 

 young people. Here I also met with Mr. James Kead, whom 

 I had known in England, and who had been discharging the 

 duties of the pastor in the absence of Mr. Barker, his wife's 



