32 
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
passed there. AYliat rambles and serambles, 0 
Simonsberg, have I not had upon thy rugged sides ! 
YHiat .sunny hours have I not spent, among the 
gleaming, glittering silver-trees ! Ydiat exciting 
labour have I not undergone, in overturning huge 
flat stones for i^retty, spotted Anthiae, and other 
sand-loving beetles! What thrilling starts have I 
not experienced at an unexpected sight of a deadly 
cobra, with head erect and flat dilated neck vibrat- 
ing rapidly from side to side ! With what alarmed 
surprise have I not found unawares a coiled-up 
scorpion under a wayside stone ! How frantically 
have I not chased and dodged rock-rabbits among 
the harsh diy brushwood ! How eager have been 
my quests after the ripe fruits of the fig-marigold ! 
In what triumph have I not borne from the rocky 
heights above the great showy flow’-ers of Protea 
magnifica ! 
The uniform sober features of the Cape are indeed 
tame after the glowing scenery and exuberant vege- 
tation of Eio ; yet the breezy plains covered with 
heaths and bulbous plants, and the long stretches of 
