174 



the earth supplied abundance of fruit and vegetables, and the 

 extensive sand bank, at the end of their promontory, a variety 

 of fish. 



Some of the interior districts are said to contain inexhaustible 

 forests of timber, but from a want of means to convey it to the 

 Cape, the Dutch company preferred sending timber and plank 

 from Holland and Batavia. It could probably be transported by 

 sea from Mussul-bay and other places at less expense. From this 

 cause timber and plank were at an immoderate price; firewood 

 was procured with difficulty: to gather it in small quantities was 

 the sole occupation of numerous slaves; and a small cart-load of 

 roots and brush-wood could not be purchased for less than three 

 or four dollars, consequently all manufactures requiring the opera- 

 tion of fire were extravagantly dear. 



Although there is so great a deficiency of timber, and useful 

 trees, near the Cape, no country can boast of more curious and 

 beautiful plants than this part of Africa. The variety of erica, 

 geranium, ixia, and other elegant tribes, lately brought to Europe, 

 is astonishing, and the number is continually increasing. Were 

 I master of the subject, it would be loo copious to enter on a 

 Linnsean description of the lovety plants which " waste their 

 sweetness on the desert air" of Africa, but become the pride and. 

 delight of the English collections. In the season of spring, be- 

 tween the months of September and December, the infinite variety 

 and beauty of these plants springing up on the sandy plains, cover- 

 ing the sides of the mountains, and adorning their rugged summits, 

 is astonishing; their colours are brilliant, and many are extremely 

 odoriferous. 



