438 
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
Before concluding my remarks on the climate of the Cape, it is 
necessary to advert to the curious effects of refraction that are often 
observed. A strange distortion of objects is frequently seen, and even 
at a short distance from Robben’s Island the surf sometimes appears 
to be thrown up into lofty jets of foam, or a wave is so distorted that 
it seems rolling in high enough to submerge the whole island. These 
distortions occur not only in the sea but in the land view. I noticed 
them during our visit to the observatory, and now call attention to 
them again, because the same effect seems to be produced on sea or 
on land by contrary causes. When at sea, refractions have been 
observed by us, whenever the thermometer at the masthead showed a 
higher degree of temperature than that at the surface of the water; 
but at the Cape the current of air in contact with the heated and 
sandy soil must be of a higher temperature than that immediately 
above it, and thus causes the distortion of distant objects; or the fact 
may be accounted for on the supposition of two parallel currents of 
different temperatures, moving in opposite directions, and beyond any 
immediate influence of the earth. I know of no place so favourable 
to the observation of this description of atmospheric phenomena as 
the Cape and its vicinity. 
The population of the Cape colony, by the returns in 1841, w r as one 
hundred and fifty-three thousand, on an area of one hundred and nine 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four square miles. The deaths 
amount annually to about one in forty. The coloured population 
exceeds the white by about ten thousand. A table containing the last 
statistical returns will be found in Appendix XV. Landed estates in 
the colony are generally held by those cultivating them, under a lease, 
and not in fee. The early settlers had not sufficient funds to enable 
them to purchase as large farms as were necessary, and the present 
system was in consequence resorted to. The leases, however, were 
made perpetual, and the farms held under this tenure are known in the 
colony as “Loan Farms;” they contain about three square miles, and 
there are many of this description still existing: these are con¬ 
sidered as desirable tenures, being good as long as the rent is regularly 
paid, which is generally at the low rate of ten dollars for the tract. The 
lands, however, about the Cape, and in the Cape district, were obtained 
by grants, and are now known as “ Gratuity Farms.” 
There are likewise freehold estates, which consist of a small farm, 
not much exceeding one hundred acres. These, I was told, were in 
the immediate vicinity of Cape Town. They were usually obtained 
by purchase of the first settlers. 
The system of quit-rents is in perpetuity, and the rent is made to 
