CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
433 
are described as very ugly, being short, stout in the body, and having 
strong muscular limbs. 
Those who have visited the country of the Caffres, describe them as 
extremely hospitable, and very cheerful in their dispositions. They 
mostly go naked, particularly during the heat of summer, though they 
wear the caross of skin in the winter. Their arms consist of the spear 
and club, with a shield of bull’s-hide to protect the person. Their 
principal food is the milk of their herds, w T hich they value beyond any 
thing else: they are a pastoral people, and the cattle-fold is considered 
the great place of honour, so much so that their chiefs are always 
found to occupy it. They have of late years obtained many horses; 
formerly they used the ox for riding, and this animal is said to have 
been even trained by them for the race. 
The part of South Africa occupied by the Caffres enjoys a delightful 
climate, and they, consequently, need but little protection from the 
weather; and their huts are rudely constructed. 
Of late years the settlers at Port Natal, on the eastern coast, who 
are surrounded by the Caffre tribes, set themselves up as a sort of 
independent community, believing they were beyond the limits of the 
colony; they enacted laws and regulations, issued their declaration of 
independence, invited settlers, and for a time committed many atroci¬ 
ties on the Caffres. The Cape government, deeming it was advisable 
to check this disorderly spirit, sent an expedition to assert their proper 
supremacy. Troops were proceeding to Port Natal at the time of our 
visit 
During our stay we visited, as all strangers do, the estate of Con- 
stantia; it is situated about thirteen miles from Cape Town. There 
are three small estates that bear this name, viz.: High, Great, and 
Little Constantia. The country we passed through, although barren 
and sandy, was apparently well settled: the village of Wynberg is 
the residence of many persons who come here to enjoy the delightful 
air that generally blows from the eastward; most of the residences 
are pretty cottages, and some have the appearance of handsome villas ; 
they all have an air of neatness and comfort about them. Oaks and 
the pine are almost the only trees met with, and one is somewhat 
surprised that even these should be found; for the country is, to 
appearance, a barren waste, and many miles of it are quite unproduc¬ 
tive for agriculture. The scarlet heath, blue oxalis, and the yellow 
composite, not only enliven this waste, but give it somewhat the 
character of the flowery prairies of Oregon. The sandy soil looked 
like the sea-shore, and bears indubitable marks of having been once 
covered by the ocean. 
2 M 
VOL. V. 
55 
