26 
TRAVELS IN 
is uncommonly beautiful with its tall waving fpike of ftriped 
flowers, and has alfo a fragrant fmell *. That fpecies of a deep 
crimfon is ftill more elegant. Of thofe genera which botanifts 
have diftinguilhed by the name of the liliaceous clafs, many are 
exceedingly grand and beautiful, particularly the Amaryllis^ of 
which there are feveral fpecies. The fides of the hills are finely 
fcented with the family of Geraniums ; the different fpecies of 
which, exhibiting iuch variety of foliage, once ftarted an idea 
that this tribe of plants alone might imitate in their leaves every 
genus of the vegetable world. 
The frutefcent, or fhrubby plants, that grow in wild luxu- 
riance, fome on the hills, others in the deep chafms of the 
mountains, and others on the fandy iflhmus, furnifh an endlefs 
variety for the labors of the botanift. Of the numbers of this 
clafs of naturalifls, who have vifited the Cape, none have 
returned to Europe without having added to his colledtion 
plants that were not defcribed nor known. The eye of a 
ftranger is immediately caught by the extenfive plantations of 
the Protea Argentea^ whofe filver colored leaves, of the foft 
texture of fattin, gives it a diftinguifhed appearance among 
the deep foliage of the oak, and flill deeper hue of the flone 
pine. It is fmgular enough that though the numerous fpecies of 
Protea be indifcriminately produced on almofl every hill of the 
colony, the filver tree fhould be confined to the feet of the 
* A fmall yellow Iris furniflies a root for the table, In fize and tafte not 
unlike a chefnut. Thefe fmall roots are called U^Jitjis by the colonifts, and 
that of the Aponegeton dijiachion, which is alfo eaten, water uyntjes. 
Table 
