AND GENERAL VIEW OF THE COLONY. 
81 
two in the feet of the Centaur, and the brilHant constellation of the 
Cross. 
The winter and spring are the most delightful part of the year ; 
the summer and autumn in the country along the coast, being con- 
stantly dry, and consequently a season when verdure almost disap- 
pears. In the districts remote from the sea, the wet season com- 
mences in the summer months, the rain falling in heavy showers, 
accompanied most frequently by lightning and thunder. Cape Town 
is subject to violent winds, and the dust of the streets, at such times, 
becomes extremely disagreeable. 
The degree of heat and cold varies in different parts of the 
country ; in Cape Town, the highest degree at which I observed the 
thermometer, was 102° of Fahrenheit's (31°"1 of Reaumur's: or 38"*8 
of the Centigrade) scale in the shade ; but, during the warm season, 
it ranges between 80° and 90° R, (21° and 26" R., and 27° and 32° C.) 
In the winter it seldom sinks below 50° F. (8° R., 10° C): ice is, how- 
ever, sometimes found on the top of Table Mountain ; and during 
a few days in every year, the summits of the Stellenbosch and Hot- 
tentot-Holland mountains are seen covered with snow. Cold Bok- 
keveld, as its name implies, is a country distinguished by a colder 
atmosphere ; and the same may be remarked of the Roggeveld, where I 
found the thermometer in August, so low as 26° F. ( — 2*6 R., — 3-3 C.) 
But the coldest district is that called Sneeuwbei'g, or the Snow Moun- 
tains, in which more particularly, a small and elevated table-land 
called Coudveld (Cold country), is considered by the boors to be the 
coldest spot in the whole colony : in many farms on Sneeuwberg, 
the summers are not warm enough to bring grapes and peaches to 
perfection. At a farm-house on these mountains, I was assured by 
the owner that snow falls often to the depth of a foot, remaining 
on the ground two or three days ; and that it has sometimes been 
seen as deep as two feet. As far as my own experience enables 
me to decide, it is the coldest region in Southern Africa. 
The hottest parts of the colony are to be found in those barren 
plains which are distinguished by the general appellation of Karro, 
and in the low arid lands situated towards the coast ; but in such 
M 
