44 
A VOYAGE TO 
1776. 
November. 
\ 1 •mj 
produced, in the valleys, than in any part of the country 1 
had hitherto feen. 
In the afternoon, we went to fee a ftone of a remarkable 
ftze, called by the inhabitants the Tower of Babylon, or 
the Pearl Diamond It lies, or hands, upon the top of 
fome low hills, at the foot of which our farm-houfe was 
lituated; and though the road to it is neither very Iteep nor 
rugged, we were above an hour and a half in walking to it. 
It is of an oblong fhape, rounded on the top, and lies nearly 
South and North. The Eaft and Weft lides are fteep, and 
almoll perpendicular. The South end is likewife fteep, and 
its greateft height is there; from whence it declines gently 
to the North part, by which we afcended to its top, and 
had an extenftve view of the whole country. 
Its circumference, I think, muft be at leaft half a mile; 
as it took us above half an hour to walk round it, includ¬ 
ing every allowance for the bad road, and flopping a little. 
At its higheft part, which is the South end, comparing it 
with a known object, it feems to equal the dome of St. Paul’s 
* In the Philofophical TranfacUons, Vol. lxviii. Part I. p. 102, we have a Letter 
from Mr. Anderfon to Sir John Pringle, defcribing this remarkable ftone. The account 
fent home from the Cape, and read before the Royal Society, is much the fame with that 
now publifhed, but rather fuller. In particular, he tells Sir John, that he went to fee it 
at Mr. Majjori’s defire , who, probably, had not had an opportunity of fufficiently examin¬ 
ing it himfelf. In the account of his journies, above referred to, p. 270, he only fays, 
“ there are two large folid rocks on the Per el Berg , each of which (he believes) is more than a 
mile in circumference at the bafc , and upwards of two hundred feet high. 'Their furfaces are 
nearly fmooth , without chink or fijfures ; and they are found to be a fpecies of granite , different 
from that which compofes the neighbouring mountains .” 
Mr. Anderfon having, with his Letter to Sir John Pringle, alfo fent home a Ipecimen 
of the rock, it was examined by Sir William Hamilton, whofe opinion is, that “ this fn- 
gular , immenfe fragment of granite , rnof probably has been raifed by a volcanic explofion , or fome 
fuch caufeP See his Letter to Sir John Pringle, annexed to Mr. Anderfon’s, in the Phi¬ 
lofophical Tnmfa&ions. 
church. 
