no * TRAVELS IN 
secure in every instance, and raised to double its former 
value : and none had the loss of life of any friend or relation 
to lament at the time of, or since, the capture ; for it was 
taken and maintained without bloodshed. Their paper cur- 
rency, fabricated by the government in order to get over a 
temporary distress, but which it had never been able to take 
out of circulation, bore a depreciation of 40 per cent, at the 
time of the capture, and a silver dollar was scarcely to be 
seen. The former was brought back to be nearly at par with 
specie, and not less than two millions of the latter were sent 
from England and thrown into circulation. Every person 
enjoyed his share of the general prosperity. The proprietor 
of houses in town more than doubled his rent; and the farmer 
in the country, where formerly he received a rixdollar for 
-each of his sheep, afterwards received three. Seven years of 
increasing prosperity, of uninterrupted peace and domestic 
tranquillity, were not, however, sufficient to convince these 
silly people of their happy lot ; but the restoration of the 
colony to its ancient possessors corrected their mistake, in 
this respect, in as many months. 
2. The Vine-growers or, as they are usually called at the 
Cape, the Wine-boors are a class of people who, to the bless- 
ings of plenty, add a sort of comfort which is unknown to the 
rest of the peasantry. They have not only the best houses 
and the most valuable estates, but, in general, their domestic 
economy is managed in a more comfortable manner than is 
usually found among the country farmers. Most of them are 
descendants of the French families who first introduced the 
vine. Their estates are mostly freehold, in extent about 120 
6 
