182 REMARKABLE FEATURES IN CAPE BOTANY. 26, 27 June, 
on account of its close resemblance in character to the plants of New 
Holland. It was in fact a species of Metrosideros (M. angustifolia) 
a genus peculiar to that quarter of the world and the neighbouring 
islands. There is a certain affinity between the botany of that country 
and that of the Cape of Good Hope, of which numberless proofs are 
known ; but none perhaps so remarkable as this. Of the boundless 
study of natural history, no part is more instructive than tlie com- 
parative view of the productions of different countries. By this, the 
peculiar features by which each are characterized may be discovered. 
Reflections of a pleasing nature were always produced when I hap- 
pened to detect any plant, which, not according with these peculiar 
features, led me to fancy that, like myself, it had strayed from a 
different and far distant clime. Of such, 1 found many in the course 
of these travels. Some appeared as if they had migrated from India, 
some from China or Japan, others from North America, the West 
Indies, South America, the Straits of Magellan, Madagascar, the 
Mauritius, Barbary, Egypt, Southern Europe, and even the colder 
countries of the North. Sometimes, the unexpected discovery of a 
plant whose garb and features were English, changed the whole train 
of ideas, and filled the mind with other thoughts. 
In a couple of hours we were safely through the Kloofs and 
soon afterwards arrived at the widow De Wet's, a farm-house of 
a superior description. Here my fellow-travellers took up their 
abode, during our stay at Tulbagh. 
The mistress, whose respectable appearance and hospitable 
manners took our attention, immediately prepared dinner expressly 
for us. She offered me accommodations at her house, but Mr. Ballot, 
With other species of 
Othoima 
Serruria 
Blairia 
Cotyledon 
Cassine 
Restio 
Oxalis 
Gladiolus 
Phylica 
Calendula 
Adiantum 
Buchnera 
Erica 
Periploca 
Salvia, antl 
Lemospermum. 
