m TRAVELS IN 
appear ; but as I had fome curlofity to ex- 
amine thefe mountains, which, I had been told, 
contained very rich ores of copper, I was well 
pleafed to have it in my power ; and my guide 
fliowed me an old mine, which had been 
opened by order of one of the governors of the 
Cape, and was now abandoned. Every where, 
as I traverfed the different places we vifited, I 
found broken fragments of the ore, the heavi- 
nefs of which evinced that they were rich in 
metal. But I was in queft of virgin copper, 
and particularly of cryftallizations. However, 
as I could not fucceed in finding any after fe- 
veral hoars fearch, I contented myfelf with a 
few fpecimens of malachite. To fay the truth, 
I fet little value on thefe, though I brought 
them with me to Europe ; and it was with 
this fort of indifference that I offered them to 
Rome de Tlfle, on my return to Paris : but I 
was miftaken in them; for that naturalift prized 
them in fuch a manner, as to make me regret 
my having colleded no more. 
The mountains of which I fpeak are granitic 
and micaceous. The moft remarkable, moft 
common, and at the fame time moft pleafmg 
tree found there, is a particular fpecies of aloe, 
called 
