DEDICATION. 
xi 
panics it with obfervations both interefting 
3^nd curious. 
" As I got further from the colonics/' 
(fays this wandering naturaiift) " the coun- 
try was ftill more beautiful ; the foil rich 
and fruitful. Here nature appeared in ail 
her majefty ; the lofty mountains offering 
from every fide the moft delightful and ro- 
mantic views I had ever feen. This prof- 
peft, contrafted with the idea of the parch« 
cd and tarren fands about the Cape, made 
me think myfelf at a thoufand miles dif- 
tance. 
What ! exclaimed I, lhall thefe charm- 
ing fields, thefe hills and vallies be for ever 
uninhabited, except by the lion and tiger ? 
" What a being is the fordid fpeculator, 
whofc views, bounded by commerce, port 
fees arid cuftoms, can prefer the ftorms and 
dangers of Table-Bay, to the fafe riding, or 
natural and charming ports, that are fo 
common on the oriental coafts of Africa/' 
On this occafion, a queftion naturally a- 
rifes, which, from its importance, I think 
defexves an unequivocal and decided anfwer* 
Kow comes it, that fo many known advan- 
tages could have fo long efcaped the vigilant 
and commercial fpirit of the Dutch ? To 
elucidate this queftion, and remove any dif- 
ficulty that may arife from the flow advan- 
ces the Dutch have hitherto made into the 
interior, I ftiall give you the reafons ad- 
duced by the fame traveller, %s they appear 
m 
