1811. 
TABLE MOUNTAIN. 
47 
In surveying from this high eminence, so great an extent and 
such a variety of objects, sensations are produced of a very agreeable 
kind, not at all connected with the idea of picturesque scenery. They 
seem rather to arise from a feeling of superiority and command, which 
a sreat height above all we behold, and an elevation above the in- 
habited earth, seem to inspire in the spectator, who, at the same 
time, breathes the freest and purest air. 
After some time spent in admiring this scene, we returned by a 
route nearer to the edge of the precipice facing the town. Such a 
ramble was, we all confessed, not unattended with fatigue ; and, for 
my part, I had the more reason to complain, as the rugged and sharp 
rocks we traversed, had literally worn the shoes off my feet. They 
were, it is true, but an old pair at setting out ; and such only, is it 
advisable to take, on account of the greater ease and safety which 
they give the wearer in climbing rocky places. 
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the top of 
the ravine, by which we first ascended ; and near to it we found a 
spot very convenient for our dining-place, sheltered from the wind, 
on one side, by a ledge of rock, of which I brought away a small 
piece to serve as a specimen of the material of which the whole of the 
summit of the mountain is formed ; and, on another, by a tree of a 
species of Protea*j the largest I had seen of this kind ; being between 
eight and nine feet high, with a bushy round head, and trunk half a 
foot in diameter. The leaves which terminated every branch, were 
of a bright red color, and much more conspicuous than the flowers 
themselves. 
Before our dinner was quite finished, the weather began to 
change, and soon became very chilly; (at 4 P.M. 58° F.) the wind 
increased, and misty clouds flying with rapidity past us, threatened 
soon to envelope, both us and the whole mountain. Those who had 
visited the summit of this mountain before, were aware of the danger 
* The Protcea cucullata of Linnaeus, Mimetes^fimhriccfoUus of Salisbury, and Mimetes 
Hartogii of Brown. 
