CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
435 
happened to be term-day, when an almost uninterrupted series of 
observations are taken; our stay was therefore but short, as I was 
disinclined to interrupt the constant duties of the observers. During 
our visit at the observatory, the weather was beautifully clear; no 
clouds were to be seen except over the Table Mountain, and objects 
viewed across the sandy plain were much distorted by refraction. 
The botanists attached to the Expedition attempted, during our 
stay, to ascend to the top of Table Mountain; but having taken a path 
different from that usually pursued, they were arrested by the per¬ 
pendicular wall when about six hundred feet below the top. A great 
collection of botanical specimens amply repaid them for their disap¬ 
pointment. They visited the valley between Table Mountain and the 
Devil’s Peak, and found it to consist of a dry spongy soil, densely 
covered with Rutacese, intermixed with low bushes of Heath, Thyme- 
lacese, Diosmas, and Composite, having a close resemblance and 
analogy to the upland bogs of New Zealand. 
The drives around Cape Town are pleasant; the one to Green 
Point is the most agreeable: this is a straggling village, with the 
• houses having pretty gardens in front, laid out in the English style: 
the distant view of the ocean, with the heavy surf breaking upon 
the rocky coast, are fine objects to seaward. The sides and tops of 
the hills in the rear are bare of trees, but the roads are lined with Cacti 
of large growth, giving to the scenery a decidedly tropical character. 
Green Point has a municipal government, and elects its commissioner 
and ward-masters in the same manner as Cape Town. The light¬ 
house is within this district: it is quite unworthy of the name, being 
decidedly the most inferior British establishment I have seen. This 
surprised me the more, because there is here a great necessity for a 
brilliant light. 
There is a Commercial Exchange at Cape Town, possessing a 
public library, consisting of about thirty thousand volumes, and con¬ 
taining a reading-room, as well as a large hall, which is used for the 
public meetings and festivities of the inhabitants. 
Different sects of Christians are vying with each other, to carry 
civilization and the gospel to the tribes in the interior; but as usual, 
there are many who deny the purity of their principles, and spread 
scandalous reports concerning their operations. 
The walks near the town are pretty, and kept in neat order. One 
that leads along the brook in the rear of the town, whose banks are 
occupied by hosts of washerwomen, is peculiarly picturesque; as soon 
as you ascend to the top of the hill, you overlook the town, bay, and 
