dec] 
CAPE-TOWN. 
21 
are very pleasant, and with proper caution health 
may be preserved. So far as the gentlemen could 
judge of the whole island from what they saw, they 
suppose the population must be very great. The in- 
habitants in the interior are completely a different peo- 
ple from those on the sea coast. 
Mr. Alexander, the colonial secretary, informed me 
that the king of the island of Joanna, which lies near 
the north end of the island of Madagascar, had lately 
sent an ambassador to the governor of the Cape, solicit- 
ing assistance against the people of Madagascar, who, 
as they alleged, fitted out ships that would contain 
from fifty to sixty persons, in which they sent small 
detachments to murder and plunder their neighbours, 
without provocation. The governor, however, would 
not interfere. It seemed to indicate a change of 
character since the time that Messrs. Oncruydt and 
Truter had visited them, which is more than thirty 
years ago. But as Augustine and Tulier, which they 
visited, lie on the south or opposite end of that exten- 
sive island, perhaps the inhabitants of that district may 
not discover the same character. 
26th. Returned to Stellenbosch. 
