40 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



We were quickly into Graaff Reinet, and out- 

 spanned at the comfortable, old-fashioned hotel in 

 the Market-square, where we enjoyed the unwonted 

 luxury of a bath and a good dinner of rump-steaks 

 and fried eggs — a standing dish in South Africa — 

 peach pie, and some excellent bottled beer. Then 

 we sallied forth to inspect the town. 



Graaff Reinet, which takes its name from the 

 surnames of the then Dutch Governor, Van der 

 Graaff, and his wife's family — Reinet or Reynet — 

 was founded in 1784, and for very many years, until 

 Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth rose into emi- 

 nence, was the principal, and, indeed, the only large 

 town in the eastern part of the Colony. The streets 

 are broad, well-kept, and laid out at right angles in 

 the prim fashion of the Dutch ; they are further 

 supplied with broad channels of clear water led out 

 from the Sunday River, and are beautified by rows 

 of trees — oak, syringa, orange and others, which 

 impart a delightful aspect and give grateful shade. 

 ' The houses are mostly old-fashioned, roomy, white 

 messuages, quaintly peaked and gabled after the 

 old Dutch manner, and lit up by sun-shutters and 

 windows of vivid green, and often covered with deep 

 and overhanging thatches. The vineyards, orchards, 

 and ample gardens add greatly to the beauty of the 

 town. The interiors are wonderfully good. The 

 rooms in these old houses are exceedingly lofty 

 and handsome, and of quite refreshing coolness. 

 The inhabitants number about 5,000, and are well 

 provided with churches, banks, shops, and hotels. 

 Indeed, I think we found the accommodation here 

 better than anywhere else in the Colony, with, 

 perhaps, one exception. In old days, when Graaff 



