CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
423 
houses, and their blossoms and fruit, although within reach of all, are 
respected. The houses are painted of various colours, without any 
regard to taste, and are of a clean though antiquated appearance. No 
two of them are alike, yet their styles are so marked, that the country 
whence their builders came may be judged with tolerable certainty 
from each. Badly-painted signs are as numerous as in our own 
country, and vanes pointing in every direction surmount the gables. 
The Dutch costume still prevails among the inhabitants, and afforded 
us much amusement. In the schools the Dutch language is still 
taught; though in many the English is a branch of education. Con¬ 
sidering the number of years that this colony has been under the 
British dominion, it surprised me to find that a knowledge of the 
Dutch was much more necessary than that of English, while dealing 
with the inhabitants. 
There are two hotels in Cape Town, the Royal George and the 
Victoria, both kept on the English plan. The former we frequented 
during our short stay, and found it comfortable, although far inferior 
to what might have been expected from the size of the town. 
The Cape of Good Hope was originally settled by the Dutch in 
1652; captured by the British in 1795; restored again after the peace 
of Amiens in 1802; again taken possession of in 1806; and finally 
ceded to Great Britain in 1815. During its occupation as a Dutch 
colony, it had twenty-eight governors, and since it has been under 
British rule it has had eighteen. By this it will be perceived that 
the changes in its administration have been frequent, and what might 
naturally be expected to follow, the policy and character of its 
governors have been vacillating. It has been generally ruled very 
much after the ideas of those who presided for the time being. The 
government is nominally vested in the governor, and an executive and 
legislative council, who are all appointed by the crown, or with its 
approbation and consent. 
Under this system of government it has been the misfortune of the 
Cape colony to be placed ; and the advantages it has possessed under 
some, have been counterbalanced by others, and not unfrequently the 
salutary regulations made by one, have, without any apparent reason, 
in the minds of the colonists, been annulled or set aside by others; 
which, of course, has tended to foment discord and produce a feeling 
of opposition to British rule : this has prevented the advancement of 
the colony, and retarded its usefulness by giving license to crime that 
otherwise would not have existed. 
Of late years, however, although the government still remains the 
same, yet they have been more fortunate in the individuals who have 
