CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 193 



periods, called the good and bad monsoon ; but " as these," Mr. Bar- 

 row observes, " are neither regular in their returns, nor certain in 

 their continuance, the division into four seasons, as in Europe, ap- 

 pears to be more proper. The spring, reckoned from the beginning 

 of September to that of December, is the most agreeable season ; the 

 summer, from December to March, is the hottest; the autumn, from 

 March to June, is variable weather, generally fine, and the latter part 

 very pleasant; the winter, from June to September, though in general 

 pleasant, is frequently very stormy, rainy, and cold. The two most 

 powerful winds are the north-east, and south-west ; the first generally 

 commences towards the end of May, and blows occasionally till the 

 end of August, and sometimes through the month of September. The 

 south-east predominates the rest of the year, and when the cloud 

 shows itself on the mountain, sometimes blows in squalls with great 

 violence." The kind of corn generally cultivated in this country is 

 wheat, which richly repays the labour of the husbandman. Barley and 

 rye are likewise grown, the former of which is preferred to oats for 

 feeding horses. " The natural productions of the Cape," says Mr. 

 Barrow "are perhaps more numerous, varied, and elegant, than on 

 any other spot of equal extent in the whole world. Few countries can 

 boast of so great a variety of bulbous-rooted plants as Southern Af- 

 rica. Most of the European, and several of the tropical fruits have 

 been introduced into the colony, and cultivated with success. In every 

 month of the year the table may be furnished with at leat ten differ- 

 ent sorts of fruit, green and dry. The market is likewise tolerably 

 well supplied with the most of the European vegetables for the table, 

 from the farms that lie scattered about the eastern side of the colony, 

 in number about forty or fifty. On some of these farms are vineyards 

 also of considerable extent, producing, besides the supply of the mar- 

 ket with green and ripe grapes, and prepared raisins, about seven 

 hundred leaguers or pipes of wine a year, each containing 154 gal- 

 lons. Of these, from fifty to a hundred consist of a sweet luscious wine, 

 well known in England by the name of Constantia, the produce of two 

 farms lying close under the mountains, about mid-way between the 

 two bays. The grape is the muscatel, and the rich quality of the wine is 

 in part owing to the situation and soil, and partly to the care taken in 

 the manufacture. No fruit but such as is full ripe, no stalks are suf- 

 fered to go under the press : precautions seldom taken by the other 

 farmers of the Cape." 



The principal wild animals to be met with near the Cape, are 

 wolves, hyaenas, and various kinds of antelopes, among which are 

 those called by the Dutch the spring boke, the gemsboke, and the 

 greisboke, the former of which is remarkable for its agility, whence 

 it derives its name : according to the accounts of the peasants, they 

 sometimes go in herds to the amount of ten thousand in number. 

 More inland are lions, tigers, buffaloes, elephants, and in the rivers 

 hippopotami, called by the Dutch sea-cows. The horses of the Cape 

 are not indigenous, but were first introduced from Java, and since that 

 at different times, from various parts of the world. The heavy draught 

 work of the colony is chiefly performed by oxen. The Cape ox is dis- 

 tinguished by his long legs, high shoulders, and large horns. The 

 larger kinds of birds, which hover round the summit of the Table 

 Mountain, are eagles, vultures, kites, and crows. Mr. Barrow wound- 

 ed a condor, whose wings extended ten feet and an inch. 



The general character of the Dutch at the Cape is a phlegmatiu 



Vol. II. C c 



