194 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
ciiap. viii. 
apparently the elegantissima , a tall straggling plant with a 
bunch of bright scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers near the termi¬ 
nation of its long slender branches, was strikingly conspicuous 
above the rest. 
As we approached to Paarl, the road was bordered with ver¬ 
dant fir-trees and oak, and much of the neighbouring land 
appeared to be under cultivation. Paarl is in the midst of a 
wine country, and the white-walled houses of the farmers 
presented a novel and agreeable spectacle, being generally 
situated in the midst of their vineyards, which are fenced 
with walls of turf frequently planted with a broad-leaved 
briar bearing a large single white flower. The town appeared 
to me almost Dutch. A sort of raised terrace, called a “ stoup,” 
extends along the whole front of the houses. Here parties of 
ladies were sitting, some reading, others working or chatting 
with their companions, and all apparently enjoying the cool 
of the evening. Proceeding to the dwelling of Mr. Barker, I 
found him a blind and aged man, sitting outside his door 
talking with some of the people. In very early life we had 
been acquainted in England, but he had now been more than 
forty years in Africa, and we had only met once for a few 
hours on my previous visit to the Cape. We had passed 
through widely different scenes during the long interval of 
separation, and our unexpected meeting here led to retrospects 
of the past mutually interesting, and deeply affecting to us 
both. 
While sitting in Mr. Barker’s house in the evening, I heard 
the sound of singing in the adjacent school-room, and went 
over to listen to the exercises of a singing-class taught by one 
of Mr. Barker’s daughters. The pupils were all Africans, and 
I was much pleased with the excellent voices of many of the 
young people. Here I also met with Mr. James Read, whom 
I had known in England, and who had been discharging the 
duties Of the pastor in the absence of Mr. Barker, his wife’s 
