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 Robbcn'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, was 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 



