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THE PAARL, 
In a charming and fertile valley, through which the Klein Berg Riviere, or “ little river of the mountains,” viands its 
meandering course, surrounded on all sides by grand and glorious mountains, lies the picturesque village of the Paarl. 
Immediately above the village, which is scattered for some distance along the valley, rises the Paarl Mountain, the 
summit of which is well worth visiting: it consists of one enormous block of rounded stone, and commands a most 
extensive view on all sides. The village itself is inhabited almost entirely by Dutch; the houses are all in the old 
Dutch style, with their white gables shining out from amongst plantations of oak and Italian pine. The Paarl is 
celebi ated for its wine, and the entire valley of Drakenstein, with W agenmaker’s Vallei beyond, is sprinkled over with 
vineyards, orange-groves, and peach-gardens. The ranges of mountains seen in the engraving to the left, are those of 
Great Drakenstein and Fransche-hoek, and on the right is Simon’s-berg, above Stellenbosch. The Paarl is distant about 
forty-five miles from Cape Town, in a north-easterly direction, and has a population of upwards of 2000 individuals. 
During the winter season, the high ranges of mountains surrounding the valley of the Paarl are capped with snow; but 
in the summer the heat is very great. Corn and wine, vegetables and fruit, are the chief produce of this lovely and 
romantic spot, and are conveyed in bullock-waggons to the Cape Town market. 
The flora of South Africa is replete with beauty, and her rugged and grey mountains are clothed with blossoms of 
every dye; each locality has its own flowers, and these are so influenced by situation and soil, that the botanist may 
seal ch in vain foi some peculiar plant on the hill-side, whilst a hundred yards above him it is flourishing luxuriantly. 
Each season, too, has its ow n gay garland; you may ride across the Karroo one week through a field of lilies and 
gladiolus, and, on passing the same spot on the following week, you may look long for a single blossom. 
The months of August, September, October, and November, are the months of flowers in South Africa; but every 
month throughout the year has its flowering plants: in May and June, for instance, the country around Cape Town is 
carpeted with the white, yellow, and rose-coloured species of oxalis, all of which are exceedingly beautiful, and are the 
offspring of the autumnal rains of the previous month. 
Perhaps the most characteristic family of plants in the dry and sandy districts of the Cape Colony are the Proteas, 
or Suiher-hosches (sugar-bushes), as they are termed by the Dutch colonists. For six months in the year their singular, yet 
beautiful blossoms enliven every glen, and rock, and valley of the Cape district. In Kafirland and on the frontier, iu 
Albany and l itenhage, the protea is supplied by the Erytkrina, or coral-tree, and other gorgeous plants. The protea 
seems to be the type in Africa of the Australian Banksia , which it greatly resembles. 
