1811. THE WILD CHESNUT. ' 
existing, it is said, and believed, that wine of the quality of Con- 
stantia wine cannot be made on any other spot in the colony ; a most 
fortunate circumstance for the proprietor, whose affluence, and that 
of his family before him, have probably been derived from it. But 
this is not literally a monopoly ; for the adjoining vineyard, called 
Little Constantia, produces wine scarcely inferior. 
Close to the house, stands a beautiful tree of Wilde Kmtanje 
(Wild Chesnut), the trunk of which was fifteen inches in diameter, 
and thirty feet high below the branches. It well merits the generic 
name it has received *, and the colonial name is equally applicable, 
as, in the appearance of both the flower and the fruit, it very much 
resembles a horse-chesnut ; but in foliage it is different. This is the 
largest, and, perhaps, the only tree within a great distance of Cap^ 
Town. Close to it, I saw a small tree of Gardenia Rothmannia, bearing 
a profusion of large and very sweet-scented flowers. These were an 
elegant sample of the trees of the Cape forests. 
At half-past four we took our leave, and returned to Wynberg 
by the high road leading from Simon's Town, which brought us out 
below the Camp ; and at the flag-staff", which stands at a short dis- 
tance from it, to convey telegraphic signals between Cape Town and 
Simon's Town, we took a road to the right, which led us again over the 
wild heath, f Soon after crossing the Liesbeck River, we rejoined 
the high road. The nearer we approached the town, the stronger we 
found the wind, which, blowing directly behind us, often forced us 
to run forward, although we were all exceedingly tired, and much 
exhausted. We reached home about eight o'clock, after a day's 
* Calodendron, or " beautiful tree." 
f On the sandy heath, or Sand Flats, north of Rondebosch, grow — 
Erica ramentacea Erica racemosa 
Erica margaritacea Erica calycina 
Diosma oppositifolia Blairia ericoides 
Restio tectormi Wiinanthus glaher, Th . 
Staavia radiata Cyperus fascicidaris. 
