VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 367 
our view, with a neat church, clean-looking houses, and a row of 
trees near the beach. Soiiie groves of cocoa and other trees 
adorn the gardens. 
When we had come to an anchor, the officer of the guard came 
on board, with whom Mr. Somerset and Captain Forbes went on 
shore, to make arrangements. I preferred spending the day on 
board, wishing to write letters, and complete my journal. On 
their return, however. Captain Forbes, who had procured per- 
mission for me to land, reported, that having seen the Governor, 
Sir Hudson Lowe, he had invited him to dinner at Plantation- 
house, his country-residence, and that I might, meanwhile, find 
amusement of various kinds on shore. I was thus persuaded to 
accompany him. 
The weatherwas so mild, that there was hardly any surf, which is 
sometimes very troublesome, even at the jetty. The landing-place 
lies under vast, and almost perpendicular rocks. About three hun- 
dred yards to the left, an abutment of the rock forms an arch, like 
that of a flying buttress. To the right, the road passes over a draw- 
bridge, along the beach, to a battery of heavy guns, commanding 
the entrance of the harbour. To the left, storehouses and offices 
range behind an avenue of trees, the stems of which are remark- 
ably crooked and ill-grown. 
About the middle of this range of buildings, a gate admits the 
traveller into the town, without any examination, but he is re- 
quired immediately to repair to the town-major's office, to sign 
his name, and declare his business. Our first visit was to Captain 
Stansfield, the senior naval officer, acting as commodore, in ab- 
sence of the admiral. Sir Pultney Malcolm. 
I was received with great politeness by Captain Stansfield, 
and, as Sir Pultney had oftered Captain Forbes a bed at his 
house, 1 was likewise provided with accommodations, as his com- 
panion. During his absence, I determined to spend the afternoon 
in examining the stones on the hills surrounding the town, being 
