Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume I Part 14

We also found time to listen to the singing in the church, quite a plain wooden building, erected in 1800, with white-washed walls, a s.p.a.cious gallery, and an elegant organ, the gift of a benevolent lady of Hamburg, who spent some months of the year 1843 at Cape Town in search of health, and took an opportunity of visiting the Moravian brethren at Genaaden Dal.

One of the missionaries sat in the middle of the chapel at a table covered with green cloth, and gave out, verse by verse, a hymn in the Dutch language, which was afterwards sung, with accompaniment by the organ, by the entire community a.s.semble in the edifice. The men and women sat apart from each other, on smooth wooden benches, the former on the left, the latter on the right of the officiating minister. The chapel was only illuminated with a few tallow candles; but the devotional feeling of the community seemed to gain by this simple unostentatious ritual, and the mysterious solemn obscurity of their place of congregational wors.h.i.+p.

Next morning, 12th October, some of the brethren paid us the attention of examining in our presence the scholars of the Seminary for Teachers, so that we might personally satisfy ourselves of their progress in the various branches of education. This academy for the education of suitable instructors, was originally established in 1838, through the generous a.s.sistance of a Saxon n.o.bleman, Count Schonburg, and year by year since, has been so liberally a.s.sisted by that benevolent n.o.bleman, that its future prosperity seems fairly established. At present there are in the seminary 14 pupils (Hottentots, Caffres, and half-breeds). Since the year of its establishment, 50 young persons in all have been sent out hence; of whom, however, only one half proved to be available for the duties of teachers. Up to the year 1856, twenty-two pupils were already at work in the service of the community, fourteen had been rejected as unsuitable, and fourteen were still in the inst.i.tute. They entered at from ten to fifteen years of age, remained within its walls six years for instruction, when they were clothed and maintained, and thereafter, without further obligations to the society which had educated them, were dispatched into the most remote districts of the colony as teachers and apostles of Christianity. The examination of the pupils of the seminary took place at the Library Hall, which boasts a portrait of a highly meritorious brother, the venerable C. J. Latrobe, who, in the year 1815-16, visited South Africa as a missionary, and, two years later published, in London, his very remarkable book of travels. The examination commenced with a performance on the piano by a Mestizo lad of about sixteen, son of a Mulatto father by a Hottentot mother. This youth displayed a decided talent for music, coupled with truly admirable execution; and besides the piano, played the organ, the violin, and the violoncello. Next, a variety of questions in geography and history were put to the pupils present.

These consisted chiefly of easy intelligible questions, princ.i.p.ally relating to England. Those examined were surprisingly well acquainted with the history of Liverpool, London, Manchester, Dublin, &c., and could enumerate many particulars about the Thames and Westminster Abbey. What proved most disagreeable, was the singular custom that prevailed, of all the pupils answering at once, each hoping, by out-clamouring his fellow, to prove his intimate acquaintance with the subject under discussion. The examiner, for example, put a question to a scholar, whereupon all the pupils yelled out the reply in chorus. But it was, on the whole, astonis.h.i.+ng, and indeed eminently suggestive, to hear Hottentots, Caffres, and negroes, at the extreme southernmost part of Africa, speaking of England, and her influence over the destinies of humanity, as a commercial, maritime, and industrial power. Already the youth of the settlement are thoroughly interpenetrated with esteem and affection for the mother country and its mighty people. As a _finale_, the a.s.sembled pupils sang a Dutch _Bergmann's Gruss_, "The Miner's Welcome," and one of Mendelssohn's delightful songs.

Before we quitted Genaaden Dal we breakfasted with the missionaries. They are all married, and manage their households in common, and accordingly partake of their various meals together, each with his family, all seated at one table, one of their wives attending to change dishes and wait at the table. Nowhere are any particular qualifications to be remarked, and it is difficult to conceive more thorough harmony than exists among the unpretending, yet zealously religious missionaries of Genaaden Dal.

As we were preparing for our departure, Dr. Roser unexpectedly packed up a number of objects of natural history and scientific interest, which he kindly presented to the Imperial expedition as a _souvenir_ of Genaaden Dal. Besides these, there were also given to us two valuable little books,--one a small work upon the Nicobar Islands, written about the beginning of this century by a Moravian brother of the name of Gottfried Hensel; the other a treatise composed by the excellent Dr. Roser himself, upon the pharmaceutics and natural history of Genaaden Dal. With respect to the various substances chewed as stimulants, or intoxicants, by the Hottentots, in order to deprive themselves of sensation, or rouse themselves to a state of high excitability, we found the following particulars in this interesting essay. That most in use is composed of the bruised leaves of the "_Leonotis Leonurus_." This plant, which grows in great quant.i.ty in and beyond the Genaaden Dal, is called by the natives "Dagga," as also frequently, "Tacha or Takka," and this variation in p.r.o.nunciation is very probably the reason that we find in Berghaus's "_Volker des Erdb.a.l.l.s_" (Races of the Globe), this celebrated smoke-weed, marked as "Donha." What the same author says of certain stimulating properties of the plant may well be considered as an exaggeration. It is curious how the properties of this plant seem to be inextricably mingled with the destinies of the Hottentots. In many places it has been extirpated, in order more readily to wean the aborigines from the practice of chewing: at other places again, "_Leonotis Leonurus_" is expressly planted in order to attract the Hottentots, and so supply any deficiency in hands for labour, reckless of the moral consequences. Another narcotic, and the most widely prevalent, is the wild hemp (_Canabis Sativa_), the dried leaves of which are smoked by the natives. Dr. Juritz, one of the most respectable apothecaries in Cape Town, a.s.sured us he had been compelled, during a previous residence at Stellenbosch, where he was engaged in his business, to keep always on hand in his store a large quant.i.ty of wild hemp for sale to the natives.

The poison with which the Bushmen tip their arrows, rendering them such dangerous and terrible weapons, is extracted from the "_Cestrum venenatum_."[53]

[Footnote 53: The Dyaks of Borneo poison their arrows with the juice of _Strychnos Tieute_ and _Antiaris Toxicaria_ (Upas).]

Among the animal products of Genaaden Dal of importance in a scientific point of view is Hyrazeuma, a substance obtained from the urine of the Cape Marmot (_Hyrax Capensis_). It is of a dark-brown colour, somewhat tenacious, and nearly hard, of a very penetrating odour, and is found in cavities resembling a molehill. This article is made use of with much effect in hysterical complaints by the Hottentots. Dr. Roser is of opinion, that this Cape Marmot is in all probability the same animal which Martin Luther, in Leviticus, c. xi, v. 5, and Proverbs, c. x.x.x, v. 26, has translated by the word "_kaninchen_" (conies).

On our way from Genaaden Dal to Caledon, to which there is an excellent level road, we perceived a large number of silver poplars, with pendent nests of finches. On a single tree we counted more than forty such pendent nests, constructed in a very singular manner.

Caledon is a cheerful, ambitious little town, important as the centre of the wool trade, as also for the thermal springs in the neighbourhood.

These, situated about two English miles outside the town, on a rising ground, in a romantic and highly attractive neighbourhood, are impregnated with iron, and of a considerable temperature. Even in the bath-house, distant about a mile from the source of the spring, a thermometer held in a stone trough, filled to overflowing, marked from 1004 to 104 Fahr. At their respective sources the one spring has a temperature of 1166 Fahr.

and the other 1148 Fahr. The colour of the water is ochre yellow. From the terrace of the bath-house a rather extensive landscape opens to the view, backed by a splendid range of mountains, including the Tower of Babel, as the inhabitants have christened the highest peak in this vicinity.

Caledon has 600 inhabitants. About twenty years ago there were not more than ten bales of wool grown in the entire district. At present about 800,000 lbs. are s.h.i.+pped annually. One Merino sheep supplies from 1 lb. to 1-1/2 lb. of wool, worth from 1_s._ 2_d._ to 1_s._ 4_d._ sterling per pound. Besides Caledon, the princ.i.p.al wool districts of Cape Colony are Swellendam, Beaufort, and Graaf-Reinet. All these districts united produce yearly about 15,000,000 lbs. of wool, worth about __1,000,000 sterling.

Within two years the wool produce of the entire colony has increased 30 per cent., and during last year a strenuous and very costly experiment has been made to introduce the Angora breed, with the intention of increasing the wool-producing powers of the less fleecy race by a judicious cross with the native species.

The road to Somerset-West leads over the high and picturesque Hauw-Hoek Pa.s.s and Sir Lowry's Pa.s.s; the latter is very steep, and parts of it are hardly, if at all, inferior in extent and variety of landscape to those presented by the Styrian Alps. At the culminating point of the latter pa.s.s, which surpa.s.ses even Paine's Kloef in height and width, one stands as upon the ruins of a lofty tower, from which the eye can range at will over the entire country beneath. South-east and eastward towers the Hauw-Hoek Pa.s.s, while southwards and westwards the charming Lowry's Vale, and far in the distance the smiling settlement of Somerset-West come into view, while all around, farther than the eye can reach, are luxuriant pasturages, that only wait to be settled and cultivated in order to produce magnificent returns.

Somerset-West, a prettily-built, and very charmingly situated settlement, already supports so considerable a traffic with the capital that a daily omnibus has proved a remunerative speculation to the promoters.

We now proceeded to Zandvliet, the property of one of the oldest and most highly considered families in the colony, named Cloete, where we spent the night. With these genial kindly people we soon felt ourselves as entirely at home as if with our own families; we sang, laughed, and frolicked, till far into the night.

The following morning we drove to a hill, about a mile and a half distant from Zandvliet, known as Maca.s.sar Downs, on which is the spot of interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOMB OF A MALAY PROPHET AT ZANDVLIET.]

This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering research, could nowhere be found. This circ.u.mstance appeared to those simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are regarded with much veneration by the Malays. An extensive flight of stone steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and, but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of front outhouse, which rather disfigures the facade, and much more resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus; but this is so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to consist of the first propositions of the Koran.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF THE MAUSOLEUM.]

The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet long, 9 wide, and 7 high. In the middle rises the monument, to which access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quant.i.ties of unwashed white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled with a brown odoriferous liquid (_dupa_). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph, so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin, which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fas.h.i.+oned English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days'

fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh, so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor.

During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white ma.s.s of stuff, and as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces disgustingly loathsome stains.

On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also, in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays, enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make s.h.i.+rts for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter.

Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.

At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now entirely illegible.

On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned, grows wild in vast quant.i.ties, and visibly prevents the further encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil adapted for vegetation.

The same evening the naturalists of the Expedition left hospitable Zandvliet, though not till after they had been presented by Herr Cloete with a splendid collection of fruits indigenous to Port Natal. Having been everywhere received with distinction, and enjoyed every sort of a.s.sistance in our researches, we set out on our return so richly freighted with objects of natural history, that the waggon, as we drove through the wide streets of Cape Town, presented such a various and substantial a.s.sortment of each as spoke volumes for the success of our journey. Every available corner was called into requisition to dispose of our prizes--even between the open windows hung suspended the bottle-shaped nests of the finch, and the slender sticks that supported the tilt were entwined with gigantic festoons of flowers. In a word, the whole waggon, with its variegated contents, resembled a holiday-van on its return from a country excursion, so gaily and cheerfully was it decorated.

During our residence in the Cape colony, severe depression existed among the agricultural inhabitants of the Western and Eastern districts, in consequence of an epidemic which, within two years, had carried off 64,850 horses (draught horses, mares, and foals), of the value of 525,000 sterling.[54] Many landowners in consequence entirely gave up rearing horses, and turned their attention almost exclusively to the breeding of sheep. The visitations of this malady are by no means of late introduction, but hitherto they had made their appearance at such long intervals, that but little attention was paid to them and people regarded their return without much alarm. This disease of the horse, usually endemic in Cape Colony, a.s.sumed every twenty years, owing to some inexplicable causes, an epidemic character, and on those occasions extended over an extensive area, as happened with extraordinary regularity in the years 1780, 1801, 1819, 1839, and 1854. Hitherto no further precaution was taken, than, so soon as the disease appeared, to drive the horses from the gra.s.s pastures to their stables or covered sheds, and there supply them with fodder, the night dew being considered a main cause of the complaint. A resident in Stellenbosch, indeed, maintained that the dew which was deposited during the continuance of the disease tasted quite bitter, and was of an unusual brownish tinge. Singular to say, not the slightest symptoms of illness manifested themselves in the swine, dogs, and birds of prey which devoured the carcases of horses that died of the disease, while the consumption, whether boiled or roasted, of mutton which was ever so slightly tainted with the mere germ of this malady, never failed to produce the most mischievous consequences on the human species. According to Dr. Livingstone the same malignant ulcerous imposthumes were produced, if even sound portions were used of the carcase of an animal that had died of this complaint. These observations, founded on innumerable examples, run counter to the opinion of the French physicians and physiologists, that the malignity of the poison in such cases becomes neutralized by the process of cooking. Considering the importance of the subject to a land-holding colony, it could hardly fail that numerous individuals should devote themselves to elucidating the causes of this devastating epidemic; but it must ever remain a striking and significant fact, ill.u.s.trative of the high standard of cultivation in Cape Colony, that within a very few years 112 different authors published treatises respecting this complaint among the horses. The result of these numerous researches was, that the malady is epidemic, but not contagious; that horses driven into the stable before sunset, and not permitted to go out to pasture till the dew has evaporated off the gra.s.s, are as a rule exempted from attack; that those horses which are kept at night in open pounds, or in places where there are heaps of dung, take the disease in a milder form than if suffered to roam at large day and night; lastly, that horses for which no covered shelter can be provided, may with great advantage be sent to hilly localities and dry runs of land. The practical remedy which was most resorted to, consisted in immediate and prolonged bleeding, pushed to actual exhaustion of the animal, in the first stage of the malady, as also the exhibition of 1 drachm of tartar emetic and 2 drachms of calomel, or, at a later stage, of 30 grains of tartar emetic twice a day.

[Footnote 54: At the same time 92,793 head of cattle (draught oxen, cows, and calves) fell a sacrifice to a disease of the lungs, and we were a.s.sured that the original cause of this terribly fatal malady (_Pleuropneumonia_) is attributable to a bull having been imported from Holland, in the year 1854, in a diseased state. The English public will remember the severe panic under which Continental graziers, and others connected with the cattle trade, laboured during the years 1854-55 and the commencement of 1856.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TSETSE FLY.]

Another appalling scourge of the settlers in the south-west district of Cape Colony is a minute, almost imperceptible insect, of terrible omen, the _tsetse-fly_ (_Glossina morsitans_), a puncture from which produces such terrible destruction among horses and cattle, that several runs of land are uninhabitable--nay, even the mere pa.s.sing through districts which they frequent, proves fatal to the draught beasts of the caravans. This insect is princ.i.p.ally encountered in copses and brushwood, very seldom in the open country, and is about the size of a common house fly, but with wings a little longer. In colour it resembles the honey bee. The tsetse is uncommonly active, and usually escapes all attempts to catch it with the hand; but in the cool of the morning or evening it is less active and quick in its movements. The poison which it carries is so powerful that the bite of three or four individuals is sufficient to kill the most powerful ox. Many animals, especially such as appear perfectly sound or in the best condition, die speedily after being bitten, but the majority are ill for an entire week, and usually become blind before death. One remarkable circ.u.mstance is that the bite of these insects is fatal to dogs, even when fed with milk, while calves and other young animals, so long as they are sucking, remain perfectly exempt from the malefic powers of the tsetse. It is especially noticed that the danger seems to be confined to domesticated animals, while such as are wild or only half reclaimed, such as buffaloes, zebras, jackals, oxen, horses, and wild dogs, have not the slightest occasion to dread this insect; nay more, it attacks man himself without the least ill consequences. The sensation which their bite produces on the hand, or other portion of the human frame, would be confounded by any one travelling in the tsetse district, with that of another minute and most troublesome, though by no means dangerous insect, the flea. Fortunately the tsetse-fly has an appointed circuit to range in, in the south-west of the Cape Colony, which it never changes or extends. The landowner may erect his cattle-pound on one side of the stream in perfect security, although the opposite bank may resound with the hum of swarms of these insects. When the natives, who are acquainted with the localities in which the tsetse-fly abides, are compelled, as they constantly are, to s.h.i.+ft their ground, and, in changing their pastures, to transgress upon the district of the tsetse, they usually select the moonlight nights of winter, when the insect, during the quiet hours of the cold season, is not likely to molest their charge.

Many travellers whose draught oxen and horses have been killed by the ravages of this insect, are annually not merely frustrated in their journey, but, it appears, have their personal safety seriously imperilled by being deprived of all means of locomotion. Anderson, in his admirable work upon "Lake Ngami," relates that some twenty aborigines of the Griqua race, who had been elephant-hunting in the north-west of that lake, and were provided with three large waggons and numerous oxen and horses, found, on their return to their encampment, that they had lost the whole of their cattle-team by the bite of the tsetse. So, too, Dr. Livingstone, during a short journey over a district frequented by the tsetse, lost forty-three strong and useful oxen, although by dint of great vigilance scarcely twenty flies had been able to settle among the entire herd. We have dwelt at length on the description of the ravages caused by this so much dreaded insect, with the view of pointing out the numerous and amazing difficulties which present themselves to the traveller or settler in certain localities, and how often not only wild and rapacious animals, but even small, hardly perceptible insects endanger the life of the wanderer, and render large tracts of lands valueless for settlement.[55]

[Footnote 55: Most valuable comprehensive details, as to the natural history of the tsetse-fly, its ravages, and its migration into the districts which it frequents, are to be found in the "Transactions of the Royal Society," Volume XX., page 148; "Proceedings of the London Geological Society," page 217; Charles John Anderson's "Lake Ngami; or, Explorations and Discoveries during Four Years' Wanderings in the Wilds of Western Africa," London, 1856; Dr. Livingstone's "Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa," London, 1857. The agent of the London Missionary Society at the Cape of Good Hope, the estimable, highly respected Dr. Thompson, gave us a small piece of a root called _fly-root_, which is considered to grow from a parasite, and a decoction of which is reckoned by the aborigines an antidote to the bite of the tsetse-fly.

Unfortunately the requisite material was not in sufficient quant.i.ty to admit of determining the plant itself, or of inst.i.tuting further researches with it.]

No stranger can well leave Cape Town without having visited Constantia, the chief seat of the wine cultivation of the country. Accordingly we had a day of exceedingly pleasant relaxation while visiting High Constantia.

Mr. James Mosenthal, the very hospitable Austrian Consul, had carefully selected the most beautiful spot in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town, the charming residence of his friend Mynheer Van Reenen, at which to get up a splendid _fete champetre_ on an extensive scale, in honour of the visit of this the first man-of-war that had borne the flag of our country into these remote seas. The entire staff of our frigate was invited, and over a hundred guests, comprising the flower of the fair s.e.x of Cape Town, took part in the festivities. Immense four-horse coaches conveyed the company in the forenoon to the hill of Constantia. The company wandered at leisure under the gigantic oak trees, or in the beautifully laid-out garden of this extensive domain, and after a sumptuous _dejeuner_, the majority set to dancing. A small orchestra of stringed instruments played alternately with the s.h.i.+p's band in the garden, and in the tastefully decorated apartment. Those who did not care to dance, or whom a burning afternoon sun prevented from walking in the open air, might escape into cool and most elegant cellars, where our hospitable entertainer had stored large quant.i.ties of "spiritual treasures." The costly nectar which the Cape, and especially High Constantia, produces, finds its way but seldom to European tables, because the quant.i.ty produced is very much below the demand; for although the first cultivation of the grape for wine dates in Cape Colony so far back as 1668, the wine manufacture has only of late years expanded in a marked degree,--viz., 45 per cent. from 1855 to 1856, and 70 per cent. from 1856 to 1857, so that at present the entire quant.i.ty produced of red and white Cape wine (Pontac and Frontignac) may be stated at 24,000 pipes, worth 380,000 sterling.

At the conclusion of the _fete_ we sat down to a splendid banquet in the open air, in a shady avenue, so as to admit of all the guests sitting at one long table. At the upper end, under the umbrageous boughs of some venerable oaks, that towered like a canopy overhead, fluttered the flags of England and Austria. The mayor of Cape Town occupied the chair; the toasts customary on such occasions were given and responded to, allusion being made to the pleasure felt at the arrival of an Austrian man-of-war, as also to the grat.i.tude of the members of the Expedition for the hearty welcome prepared for them, and expressing an earnest hope that both Governments may ever continue faithfully allied, as both nations are, by descent, sympathy, and intellectual pursuits. A few days after this splendid entertainment, we returned to Simon's Bay, whence the _Novara_ was already preparing to sail. The several weeks' stay of the frigate at the little settlement of Simon's Bay, together with a certain quant.i.ty of repairs, had called forth a most unwonted briskness of business. Amid so circ.u.mscribed a population, the sudden influx of more than three hundred additional consumers, with their varying wants, speedily made itself perceptible in every cla.s.s of the community, the more so as most of the heavy stores for the voyage were bought here, so that the sum set in circulation during these few weeks amounted to some 2,000. At the same time the Expedition were readily permitted to contribute a mite towards building the Catholic Church in Simon's Town, and to present some priests'

garments, altar cloths, and church fittings, which had been intended by the Austrian Government for distribution among four Catholic Missionaries in the various quarters of the globe visited.

Some members of the Expedition also set out on an excursion some thirty nautical miles, to where the peninsula of the Cape stretches out to the real Cape of Good Hope itself--a longer, more difficult, but also more interesting expedition, which gave fresher impressions, and conveyed a pretty accurate and more just idea of the physical features of the Peninsula of the Cape, its vegetation, zoology, and geological structure, than could be obtained by a cursory examination, of the natural features of a large portion of South Africa. For whoever has clambered up the torn, broken, rocky ma.s.ses of Table Mountain, worn out and eaten away by the atmosphere, and has scrambled among its wild hollows, with its forests of the greyish green _Pratea Gargentea_ at his feet, amid its far extending rocky plateaux, full of stagnant water-pools; whoever has strayed thence among the wine-producing terraced hills of Constantia, with their rich vegetation; over the sandy table-lands backed by rocky ridges, over streams of copper-coloured water, and the boggy tracts that extend to the extreme south-west point, as far as the Sandstone rocks, 800 feet high, which, descending sheer into the tempest-tossed, fearsome, boiling ocean, const.i.tutes the actual Cape of Good Hope--obtains a tolerably just and correct idea of the appearance of Southern Africa for one hundred miles into the interior, and along the coast line, 400 English miles in length, which stretches from St. Helena Bay as far as the River Samtoos, west of Algoa Bay. All is sandstone or clay-slate, with occasional granitic k.n.o.bs cropping out; no trees, but such as are planted in clumps around the spa.r.s.ely scattered farms, conspicuous from an immense distance; while, on the other hand, in spring, an indescribable flush of blossoms and flowers, and instead of trees, millions of ant-hills, with their regularly shaped cones from three to four feet high, impart a peculiar character to the landscape of South Africa. But on the so-called Lowlands of Algoa Bay, beyond the River Samtoos, Nature a.s.sumes an entirely different character in her forest vegetation. Unfortunately, the original designs of the geologists of the Expedition, of Examining the petrified treasures of this renowned district, fell through, which was all the more to be regretted as this geological Eldorado promised a great accession to our collection.

During our stay at Simon's Town, we also experimented with our astronomical instruments, which, at our next station, St. Paul's Island, were to be brought fully into requisition for the first time. On this occasion, as on many others, the unfailing courtesy and kindness of the renowned astronomer and director of the Observatory of Cape Town, Mr.

Thomas Maclear, a.s.sisted us most materially in the observations for comparison with our own physical instruments.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE IV.--FROM THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO ST. PAUL'S ISLAND.]

On the morning of the 26th October it fell calm, changing to variable breezes and light puffs of wind, that made it doubtful whether we could sail that day, as we needed a catspaw from the West in order to weigh anchor. From the English line of battle-s.h.i.+p _Boscawen_, there floated across the bay as we worked out, the Austrian National Anthem, played as a farewell--a graceful mark of recognition--which was replied to by our band performing the sister hymn, "G.o.d Save the Queen."

We steered between Noah's Ark and Roman Rock, coasting along till we made Whittle Rock, but the wind s.h.i.+fting, we were, ere long, compelled to tack.

Had we not seized the favourable moment to get away, it would, a couple of hours later, have been impossible to put to sea, as the wind sprang up from the S.E. and blew fresh. Towards sundown, the sky cleared up, and we once more caught sight of the serrated outline of the southernmost point, with its desolate, worn, hollowed-out, rocky ma.s.ses, which, however, with the _souvenirs_ of the hearty reception that had been accorded us in Cape Town seemed on this occasion much more home-like and habitable. All of us, indeed, carried with us in our b.r.e.a.s.t.s the most cordial and agreeable reminiscences of the Cape of Good Hope.

In spite of many drawbacks and deficiencies of physical requisites, which oppose the rapid development of its natural resources, Cape Colony possesses in its healthy climate its valuable indigenous products, and its free political inst.i.tutions, a guarantee for its perhaps gradual, but on that account more substantial, progress. It is a favourable specimen of a prosperous agricultural colony able to maintain itself, whose inhabitants, seeking in the peaceable cultivation of the soil their sole reward, are exposed to none of those ruinous reverses of fortune, which make life in those lands that are rich only in a metallic currency so stormy and uncomfortable, and render their future so problematical.

A colony, which already employs annually, in its commerce all over the world, a thousand s.h.i.+ps, which has a trade valued at nearly 2,000,000 sterling, and before long will be in a position to export 30,000,000 lbs.

of wool a year, besides an unlimited quant.i.ty of wines already in great demand, whose soil, owing to its prolific nature, returns, under human cultivation, crops of one hundred-fold, while in its unexplored districts as many additional vegetable and mineral treasures lie unavailable as yet-- such a colony carries in itself the germs of a splendid development into a great and most enviable future. Provided with laws of a most liberal scope, and inst.i.tutions corresponding to the spirit of our times, which leave each colonist entirely at liberty to develope his powers and capabilities in whatever direction he pleases, Cape Colony must, ere long, stand forth as the pattern colony for all others in the different countries beyond sea,--a majestic monument of the reward so justly due to the English nation for its policy in promoting the moral and material progress of mankind in the most remote corners of the earth.

We lay a southerly course in order to strike the regular Westerly winds, which we might hope to fall in with in the neighbourhood of 40 S., and already we again saw our old friends, the albatross, the cape pigeon, and the stormy petrel, in innumerable quant.i.ties.

By the evening of the 28th we had attained our limit in the South-west, but the West winds had not yet made their appearance, so that we had to contend till 1st November with baffling light winds alternating with calms. At length in 37 30' S. and 18 4' E., we encountered Westerly breezes, which, ere long, freshened, veered to the southward, and compelled us to shorten sail. We were at this time not quite as yet in the zone of West winds, but had to do with variable winds; which, however, as the prevailing winds must be west or south, could generally be made available to enable us to lay our course for St. Paul. Although in the month corresponding to May in the southern hemisphere, we found ourselves s.h.i.+vering with cold, the thermometer barely reached 18 Cent. (644 Fah.) during the day in the open air, and our bodies, accustomed of late to a milder temperature, felt as though it were twice more rigorous than it actually was, in consequence of the wind coming from the ice-bound antarctic regions.

On the afternoon of 4th November, a great excitement arose on board; a violent shower filled the lifeboats with water, and a large black object was observed swimming in the sea. Fortunately, it was not a man, though it proved to be a great favourite that had fallen overboard. Bessy, an ape, had got loose from her chain, and while being chased, fell in her eagerness into the sea, which fortunately was tolerably smooth. The droll little brute had quickly made itself such a favourite with the crew from its comical attractive ways, that its sudden fall overboard awoke universal sympathy. A boat was lowered, and Bessy rescued, who speedily recovered from her fright, and although dripping wet, proceeded to consume an orange that was handed her with an expression of entire satisfaction.

On reaching 40 S., 31 E., the West winds became more steady, with a perceptible increase of motion, giving an average of 33 feet as the height of the waves, while the frigate rolled heavily. Sometimes several "Rollers" would follow one after the other, which made the s.h.i.+p heel over from 20 to 25 on either side. At each roll, streams of water poured in upon the gun-deck. The cannon-shot kept up a deafening dance from one side to the other, while stools, tables, chests, and in short everything that could move, were unmistakably "lively." The temperature of the air during the night fell to 41 Fahrenheit, and was felt yet more keenly in squalls accompanied by rain, which made our life on board anything but agreeable, although the certainty that we were proceeding favourably with the so-called "_Fair_" Westerly winds indemnified us in some degree for the discomfort.

On 14th November, in 40 44' S., 60 8' E., we availed ourselves of a dead calm and smooth sea to try a cast of Brooke's Patent Deep-sea Lead.

While at Rio, we had been supplied, through the kindness of Don Jose de Barnabe, Commander of the Royal Spanish Frigate _Bilbao_, with a large quant.i.ty of lead-line, after an unsuccessful attempt to purchase it there.