1810. 
EARTHQUAKE. 
27 
It was, however, not without some foundation ; for we learned after- 
wards that a shght trembling of the earth was felt, at the same time, 
at Genadendal, a place at the distance of ninety miles eastward. 
In the preceding year, on the 4th of December, the inhabitants 
of Cape Town were thrown into the greatest consternation by 
repeated shocks of an earthquake, the first recorded since this land 
has been discovered. They fled from their houses, and pitched 
tents in the Boer Plain, in the Market Plain, on the Parade, in their 
gardens, and in various other places, to avoid being buried under the 
ruins of their houses, many of which were rent from top to bottom, 
although none fell in altogether. Some persons lived in that manner 
for more than a fortnight, impressed with the idea that tlie end of 
the world was come. Many attended divine service, in the churches 
and meeting-houses, for the first time in their lives ; and all business 
was neglected for a few days. A great number of the urns which 
ornaiiiented the parapets of the houses were shaken down ; leaving 
only the bar of iron to which they had been fixed. No material 
damage, however, was occasioned by this event ; and all went 
off more quietly than was expected: but the alarm which it 
inspired continued for a long time ; and, with many, its religious 
effects are said to have been permanent. It was therefore not to be 
wondered at, that the slightest symptom of its recurrence should 
be viewed with anxiety : more especially as the time of year coin- 
cided so nearly. 
21th. Accompanied by my friend Hesse, I made a pedestrian 
excursion to Camps Bay^ attended by a servant to carry my boxes 
and our dinner. We took the road round Green Pointy an extensive 
sandy level, which forms the western point of Table Bay ; and which, 
in the month of September, becomes a complete flower-garden, by 
the astonishing variety of the tribe of EnsatcE, Oxalides, and small 
liliaceous plants. 
On this level, the races are held twice in the year ; at the end of 
April and the beginning of October. It is then a gay scene for the 
Cape fashionables; vehicles of every description, from the elegant- 
London-built carriage of the Governor, and the English curricle, 
E 2 
