56 
JOUR>TAL OF A 
north-east the magnificent range of mountains of Stellenbosch and 
Drakenstein form a noble horizon. Various singular plants adorn 
the hedges and banks on each side of the road, among which the huge 
bushes of Indian fig in full bloom; the Chinese rose, growing to 
the height of sixteen or twenty feet; the aloe and pisang were parti- 
cularly conspicuous. Many elegant houses, belonging to the citi- 
zens, with l icli plantations surrounding them, lie along the foot of the 
mountains, precipices and grotesque rocks overhanging them in sul- 
len majesty. We reached Newlands in about an hour, and found the 
Governor, Lord Charles Henry Somerset, at home. I presented to 
his Excellency the letters I had brought with me, and had a long 
conversation with him on various subjects, in which he assured me of 
his favourable disposition towards our missionaries, and his appro- 
bation of tlieir exertions for the improvement both of the temporal 
and spiritual state of the Hottentots and other heathen tribes in this 
colony, as likewise of his readiness to remove every obstacle, that 
might impede the prosecution of their labours. 
28th. Having received an invitation from Mr. Schmidt, a gen- 
tleman possessing a farm in the kloof between the Lion's-Head 
and Table-Mountain, our whole party walked to his house to 
breakfast. It lies about three English miles from the town. 
Passing through the yard of Mr. Zorn, formerly landdrost of 
the Cape district, we observed a tame mongoose, or mausehund, 
from Java, a species of viverra, which ran about, and suffered it- 
self to be handled. It was a beautiful creature, about a foot long, 
with a sharp snout, from which the body rises, richly clothed with 
tine long hair, to about four inches in height, sloping off again to 
the end of the tail. Its colour Avas dark olive. When frightened 
or injured, it uttered a (^uick, jabbering noise. In its wild state, 
this creature is a most destructive depredator among all kinds of 
poultry. 
Mr. Schmidt's farm lies in a very romantic situation. It is 
built upon a mass of rock of coarse granite, containing large 
chrystals of feldspath, apparently in a state of slow decompo- 
