82 
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE COLONY. 
places, the heat, being of a dry quality, is not so oppressive to bodily 
feeling as it would be in England at the same degree. The western 
districts are comparatively deficient in trees and water ; while those 
lying along the southern coast, beyond Zwellendam, to the furthest 
extent eastward, are, on the contrary, well-wooded, and abound in 
springs and rivulets ; and it may justly be said that the countries 
of Auteniqualand and the Zuureveld are extremely beautiful. 
In short, the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, as part of the 
British dominions, may be considered an important and valuable 
possession j not only in a political and commercial point of view, 
but also in the light of a territorial acquisition ; and, that any writer, 
who has seen the country, should assert otherwise, proves nothing 
more than his own want either of observation or of judgment. 
