GOOD 
partly, perhaps, to tlie reluilance that a vanquilhecl 
people rauft always feel in mixing' with their conquerors. 
No real caufe, however, of complaint or difaffeftion 
could poflibly be alleged againlt the Englifli govern- 
meiit at the Cape. No new taxes have been impoled 
lince the conquell ; but, on the contrary, fome of the 
old ones have been diminilhed, and others modified. 
The demand and value of every.}>rodudHon of the co¬ 
lony have very conliderably increaled, while the arti¬ 
cles of import have fallen, in their praccs. More than 
two hundred thoufand rix-dollars of arrears in rent of 
land have been remitted to the inhabitants by the Bri- 
tifii government, as well as one luindred and eighty 
titoufand rix-dollars of dubious debts. They have pre- 
ferved their laws and their religion, both of which 
continue to be adminiftered by tiieirown people. They 
enjoy as great a lliare of rational liberty as men, bound 
to each other, and to the whole, by the ties that a tlate 
of fociety necell'arily impofes, could pollibly expedf, 
and much greater than under their former government. 
Property has been fecured in every iaftance, and has 
been faifed to double its former value ; and none lias 
the lofs of life of any friend or relation to lament fince 
tlie capture. Their paper currency, fabricated by the 
government in order to get over a temporary diftrefs, 
but which it had never been able to take out of circu¬ 
lation, bore a depreciation of 40 per cent. ;u)d a filver 
dollar w’as fcarcely to be fecn. The former is now at 
par with fpecie, and not lefs than two millions of the 
latter have been fent from England and thrown into 
circulation. Every perfon enjoys his lliare of the ge¬ 
neral prol'perit)'. 7 'he proprietor of houfes in town 
has more than doubled his rent ; and the farmer in the 
country, where formerly he received a rix-dollar for 
each of his llieep, novi' receives three.” Thus increafing 
profperity, uninterrupted peace, and domeltic tranquil¬ 
lity, have been the happy lot of the inhabitants of the 
fettlement of Good Hope; lince it has been in the hands 
of the Englifli. 
With rel’peift to the interior of the colony, Mr. Bar- 
row was deputed by earl Macartney, to whole govern¬ 
ment he was attaciied, to make feveral excurfions of 
enquiry and relearch. He relates his journey from the 
Cape acrofs the Karroo, or Arid Del'ert, to the Drofdy 
of Graaff Reynet, in the month of July 1797 ; and he 
th.us deferibes the characler of tlie people, and the Hate 
of population ;—“A Dutch farmer or boor, ashelfyles 
himfeif, has not the fmalleli: idea of what an Englilh 
farmer means by the word comfort. Placed in a coun¬ 
try where not only tlie neceli'aries, but almoli every 
luxury of life miglit by indultry be procured, he has 
the enjoyment of none of them. Though lie has cattle 
in abundance, he makes very little ule of milk or of 
butter. In tlie midlf of a foil and climate moll favour¬ 
able for the cultivation of the vine, he drinks no wine. 
He makes ufe of few or no vegetables nor roots. Three 
times a-day his table is loaded with malTes of mutton, 
fwimming in the greafe of the llieep’s tail. Mis houl'e 
is either open to the roof, or covered only with rough 
poles and turf, alrording a favourable Ihelter for Icor- 
pions and fpiders ; and the earthy floors are covered 
■with dull and dirt, and fwarm with inledls, particularly 
with a fpecies of termes, which, though not lo dellruc- 
tive as lome others of this genus, is neverthelel's a very 
troublefome and difagreeab.le animal. His apartments, 
if he happens to have more than one, which is not al¬ 
ways the cafe among the grazing farmers, are nearly 
dellitute of furniture. Yet he is abfolute mailer of a 
domain of feveral miles in extent ; and he lords it over 
a few miferable Haves or Hottentots without controul. 
His pipe fcarcely ever quits his mouth, from the mo¬ 
ment he riles till he retires to reft, except to give him 
time to fwallovv his fopie, or a glafs of llrong ardent 
fpirit, to eat his meals, and to take his nap after dinner. 
Unwilling to woikj and unable to think j with a mind 
HOPE. fi8,i 
difengaged from every fort of reflexion, indulging to 
excels in the^jratification of every fenlual appetite, he 
grows to an unweildy fize, and is carried oft' the ftage 
by the firft inflammatory difeafe that a.ttticks him. How 
dift'erent is the lot of the labouring poor of England, 
w'ho lor fix days in the week are doomed to toil for 
twelve hours every day, in order to gain a rnorfel of 
bread for their family, and the luxury of a little animal 
food lor the feventh day !” The wives alfo of thefe far¬ 
mers appear, in liftlefs inaftivity, to lleep along the 
blank of life ; exciting no love, interchanging no aft'ec- 
tions, harbouring no lympathies, but alike infenfible to 
the ledate pleafures of focial intercourfc, and to the 
ttimultuous exhilarations of public feftivals, pafs their 
time from the cradle to the grave. Yet, rude and illi¬ 
terate as thefe people are, the virtues of liofpitality are 
cultivated by them to excefs ; and all travellers are 
equally welcome to the beft food and accommodation 
which their means can fupply. 
In crolling the deleft, Mr. Barrow met with large 
quantities of a fpecies of falfola or falt-wort, from the 
allies of which the Hottentots make their foap. He 
obferves that thefe allies, when carefully burnt and col¬ 
lected, are a pure white caullic alk.iii, a folutio'u of 
which, mixed up with the oily fat of the large broad 
tails of the Iheep of the colony, and boiled llowly for 
five or fix days, takes the coniiftency and the quality 
of an excellent white foap. This falfola grows in almoli 
every part of Southern Ai'rica, but particularly on 
thole plains known by the name of Karroo, and in fuch 
abundance that, fuppofing the plant, after being cut 
down and burnt, to be re-produced in five years, the 
quantity of foda, or barilla, that 'migiit annually be 
made from the allies, tvould be fufticient, befides fervin<i; 
the colony, for the whole confumption of Great Bri¬ 
tain; and as enormous fums of money have always been, 
and continue to be, drawn from England to pay the 
imports of this article, it may perhaps be confidered as 
an object worthy the conlideration of the Britilh go¬ 
vernment. 
On the thirtietli day of his travels, hir. Barrow 
readied the jurifdifliop of Graaff Reynet, the refi- 
dence of a landrojl ■, whbfe importance will not excite 
much envy, when his fituation is duly appreciated. 
.The village is chiefly inhabited by mechanics, and fuch 
as hold fome petty employment under the landroll. Its 
appearance'is more miferable' than that of tlie poorelt 
]ilace in England. Tlte nece.fi'aiies of .life are w;jth dif¬ 
ficulty procured in it; for, tliougli there be plenty of 
land, few are found indullrious enough to cultivate it. 
No milk, no butter, no cheefc, no vegetables, are to be 
had tipon any terms. There is no butcher, no grocer, 
no baker. Every one mull provide for himfeif as well 
as he can. They have neither wine nor beer ; and the 
chief beverage of tlie inhabitants is the water ot the 
Sunday river, which, in the fummer feafon, is llrongly 
impregnated with fait. When the landroll, who ac¬ 
companied Mr. Barrotv, came to the drojdy, o,r houfe of 
refidence, a long lift of grievances was prefented, rela¬ 
tive to t;;e incurlions of the Cafi'ers. Previoully to the 
arrival of the landroll, the farmers, afluated chiefly by 
the hope of plunder, had prepared to carry war into the 
country of the Cafi'ers; but, very humanely and poli¬ 
tically, thefe preparations were flopped. 
On tlte 18th of Augull, Mr. Barrow arrived at Zwart- 
kops, or Algoa bay, lituated in latitude 33. 56. S. lon¬ 
gitude 26. 53. E. Gi'cenwich, and dillant from the Cape 
in a direift line five hundred miles. He is of opinion 
that, from the vicinity of this place to the fait pans, 
from tl'.e eafe of procuring bullocks incredibly cheap 
and in good condition, and from the abundance of ex¬ 
cellent filli on the coall, great benefits would accrue to 
the Englifh Eaft India company, if an eftablifiiment were 
formed there for the preparation of lalted beef and fifli. 
Twenty years ago, the country beyond Camtoos river, 
which 
