1811. 
THE PARSONAGE AT TULBAGH. 
127 
and at several farms on the road, we made enquiries for draught- 
oxen, but without success. 
Under the mountains westward of us, lay an extensive flat 
country, called Goudinie, (the original Hottentot name,) said to be 
very fertile ; but I had little time for observation, as the day-light, 
drawing to a close, obliged us to make all haste ; and it was not be- 
fore the evening twilight had ended, that we arrived at Tulbagh. 
Here we were received with every mark of hospitality, by The Rev. 
Mr. Ballot, the clergyman of the village. This gentleman, before he 
came to the Cape, had lived several years at Malacca ; and, in speak- 
ing comparatively of the two countries as a place of residence, de- 
cidedly gave the preference to Africa. Indeed, his situation here, 
appeared to me as one capable of affording every comfort and enjoy- 
ment. The parsonage-house was not only large, handsome, and com- 
modious, with a number of suitable offices and out-buildings, and a 
large garden attached to it ; but it stood in the most eligible spot, and 
commanded the principal view of the village ; that, of which a part is 
represented in the engraving at the head of this chapter, 
16th. The village of Tulbagh'^, so named after a Dutch go- 
vernor, who died at the Cape in 1771, stands at the northern end of 
the valley of Roodezand, on a spot which, if pleasantness of situation 
and beauty of landscape should decide such a choice, has been judi- 
ciously selected. But the difficulty of access to it, from any other 
quarter than the south, is an inconvenience never to be obviated, 
and which must always continue to operate against its rising pros- 
perity. It seems probable, that the great inducement to erect a 
town in this place, was the circumstance of its being on the great 
north-eastern road ; a consideration which ought to have its weight, 
but which should not have had a preponderance : for a town placed 
in a suitable part of a country, will never fail to draw towards itself 
a proportionate traffic. The number of houses and inhabitants has 
increased in a slower proportion here than in most of the other 
villages ; though there is no want of good water or garden-ground. 
* Pronounced Ti'dbak. 
