,transcriber's ,note3 ,inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,italic text is denoted by underscores4 ,,the ,,cape ,,peninsula ,illustration3 ,,cape ,,town ,,from ,,table ,,bay ,,the ,,cape ,,peninsula ,,pen ,,and ,,colour ,,sketches ,,described ,,by ,r,n ,,juta ,,painted ,,by ,w4 ,,westhofen ,,london3 ,,adam ,,charles ,,black ,,cape ,,town3 ,j4 ,c4 ,,juta ,,co4 #aiaj ,,dedication ',only those who see take off their shoes4 ,the rest sit round and pluck blackberries and stain their faces with the natural hue of them4' 99 99 99 99 99 ',i am told there are people who do not care for maps1 and find it hard to believe4 ,the names1 the shapes of the woodlands1 the courses of the roads and rivers1 the prehistoric footsteps of man still distinctly traceable up hill and down dale1 the mills and the ruins1 the ponds and the ferries1 perhaps the ,standing ,stone or the ,druidic ,circle on the heath2 here is an inexhaustible fund of interest for any man with eyes to see or twopence worth of imagination to understand with4' ,r4 ,l4 ,,stevenson4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,castle #a ,,ii4 ,,eighteenth-,,century ,,society ,,and ,,slavery #ae ,,iii4 ,,in ,,the ,,blue ,,shadow ,,of ,,table ,,mountain #cj ,,iv4 ',,paradise' ,,and ,,the ,,barnards #df ,v4 ,,the ,,liesbeek ,,river #ec ,,vi4 ,,the ,,bosheuvel1 ,,or ,,hen ,,and ,,chickens ,,hill #fb ,,vii4 ,,the ,,constantia ,,valley #gc ,,viii4 ,,the ,,mountain #gh ,,ix4 ,,round ,,the ,,lion',s ,,head ,,and ,,the ,,victoria ,,road #ib ,x4 ,,false ,,bay #ajj ,,xi4 ,,the ,,blue ,,shadow ,,across ,,the ,,flats #aaj ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations #a4 ,cape ,town from ,table ,bay 7,frontispiece7 ,,facing ,,page #b4 ,on the ,ramparts of the old ,castle 7moonlight7 #e #c4 ,table ,bay from the ,kloof ,nek #ag #d4 ,blaauwberg and ,head of ,table ,bay #cb #e4 ,tigerberg and ,diep ,river #cd #f4 ,blue ,hydrangeas at ,groote ,schuur #da #g4 ,the ,blue ,shadow--,view from ,rhodes's ,monument #de #h4 ,the ,southern ,part of ,false ,bay1 with ,cape ,hangclip #dg #i4 ,oak ,avenue1 ,newlands #ei #aj4 ,silver ,trees and ,wild ,geraniums #fb #aa4 ,fir ,avenue--',alphen' #gb #ab4 ,constantia ,valley and ,false ,bay1 with ,cape ,point #gh #ac4 ,a ,sunset on the ,lions ,head3 ,effect of ,south-east ,wind #hh #ad4 ,on the ,victoria ,road1 near ,oude ,kraal #ib #ae4 ,camps ,bay1 on the ,victoria ,road #ie #af4 ,hout ,bay and ,hangberg #ig #ag4 ,chapman's ,peak and ,slang ,kop ,point from ,hout ,bay #ii #ah4 ,at ,lakeside1 looking towards ,constantia #ajb #ai4 ,at ,lakeside1 looking ,south-,east #ajc #bj4 ,on ,fish ,hoek ,beach1 ,nord ,hoek ,mountains in ,distance #aje #ba4 ,simonstown ,mountains1 with ,cape ,point and ,roman ,rock ,lighthouses #ajf #bb4 ,table ,mountain from ,retreat ,flats #aaj #bc4 ,sand ,dunes #aab #bd4 ,on the ,sandhills near ,muizenberg #aae #be4 ,at the ,head of ,false ,bay #aah ,,characters ,,marinus and ,,the ,,writer1 two slightly sentimental travellers1 in modern dress1 generally riding-clothes4 ,immortals4 ,,mynheer ,,van ,,riebeek1 ,,and ,,all ,,the ,,dutch ,,commanders4 ,,captain ,,cook4 ,,marion ,,le ,,roux4 ,,mr4 ,,and ,,lady ,,anne ,,barnard4 ,,old ,,man ,,van ,,der ,,pool4 ,,the ,,english ,,governors4 ,,some ,,english ,,midshipmen4 ,,mynheer ,,van ,,rheenen1 a brewer4 ,,mr4 ,,barrow1 a naturalist4 ,,monsieur ,,le ,,vaillant1 a ,french explorer with a temperament4 ,,lieutenant ,,abraham ,,schut4 ,,kolb1 a great liar with a sense of humour4 ,,mynheer ,,cloete1 a wealthy farmer1 ,and some others4 ,chorus4 ,hottentots1 ,bushmen1 ,saldanhas1 ,dutch ,soldiers and ,sailors1 ,english ,soldiers and ,sailors1 ,burghers1 ,slaves1 ,market-,gardeners1 ,wine-,makers1 ,fishermen1 and ordinary people from #afea to #aiaj4 ,,the ,,cape ,,peninsula ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,castle ,under three purple-flowered trees standing in the ,castle courtyard1 one blazing hot morning1 we1 more sentimentally than travellingly inclined1 sat and rested while a khaki-clothed ,tommy wandered round to find a guide to show us over the old ,dutch fort4 ,we thanked ,heaven for his half-heartedness and for some shade4 ,marinus1 fortunately for us both1 smoked his pipe of peace and of ,transvaal tobacco1 and ,i opened the ,brass ,bottle1 which1 indeed1 is no bottle at all1 but1 as everyone not vulgarly inclined knows1 a fairy-tale metaphor for one's imagination4 ,the barometer registered #ig ,f4 in the shade1 which is a perfect state of atmosphere for the fumes of the ,brass ,bottle1 in which1 all mingling with the smoke from ,marinus' pipe1 the building of the ,castle began4 ,the walls dissolved into blue air3 the brasswork of the ',kat1' the block of buildings dividing the ,castle into two courtyards1 melted into one small spot of liquid1 leaving a dry1 dusty1 levelled yellow plain1 with an earthwork wall embodying the spirit of the dykes of the ,netherlands in its composition--for the green waves of ,table ,bay lapped at its base4 ,it was the second day of ,january1 #afff2 under the blazing sun three hundred discontented-looking men were digging and levelling the hard earth4 ,at the westerly land-points were the foundations of two bastions4 ,suddenly a group of men appeared1 looking like ,rembrandt's ',night-,watch' come to life1 carrying sealed parchments and plans1 followed by many ,madagascar slaves in clean white linen tunics not to be renewed for six whole months1 this being the ,new ,year4 ,the slaves carried bags of food and a long tray made of wood1 on which were about one hundred small moneybags4 ,one of the ,night-,watch1 who was the ,commander ,wagenaar1 walked up to a long table whereon was a white stone2 the guns of the old fort1 crumbling to pieces across the parade-ground1 fired4 ,it was noon1 and the foundation-stone of the ,castle was laid4 ,the three hundred weary1 sweating men raised a feeble cheer1 the masons1 carpenters1 and smiths1 advancing separately1 received from the hands of the ',fiscal1' ,chief ,magistrate and ,attorney-,general of the ,colony1 the gift of the ,general ,netherlands ,east ,india ,company of thirty ,rds41 or rix-dollars1 tied up in the small black bags4 ,then the ,company moved across to another part of the ground1 and the ,predikant1 the ,rev4 ,joan van ,arckel1 proceeded to lay another stone1 followed by the ,fiscal1 ,sieur ,hendrick ,lucas1 to whose honour fell the laying of the third great corner-stone4 ,then were the entire three hundred malcontents1 as well as the soldiers who had also laboured1 presented with two oxen1 six sheep1 one hundred fresh-baked wheaten loaves1 and eight casks of ,cape-brewed beer1 'which food and drink1 well cooked and well prepared1' whispered the ,chief ,surgeon1 ,sieur ,pieter van ,clinckenberg1 to ,lieutenant ,abraham ,schut1 'let us hope may induce these sluggish fellows to be better encouraged and made more willing to work4' ,lieutenant ,abraham ,schut1 to whose duties of supervising the ,company's stables and the ,mounted ,guards in the country1 and the watch-houses1 and the supervising of the workings and workers of the vineyards1 the orchards1 and the granary1 were also added those of 'keeping an eye' on the 'lazy fellows at work in the brick and tile fields1' very solemnly stared before him at the 'encouraged' diggers1 and wondered what reward the ,general ,netherlands ,east ,india ,company had laid up for him4 ,but the ,fiscal was addressing the crowd gathered round the ,commander4 ,i had missed some of his speech because of these two babbling ,night-,watchers next me1 but ,i now listened3 ',and that it may also somewhat be evident that by this continual digging and delving in and under the ground1 poets have also been found and thrown up1 a certain amateur this day presents to the ,commander the following eight verses4' ,the crowd drew closer to the ,fiscal1 who continued with the amateur's verses3 ,,den ,,eersten ,,steen ,,van ',t ,,nieuwe ,,casteel ,,goede ,,hoop ,,heeft ,,wagenaar ,,gelecht ,,met ,,hoop ,,van ,,goede ,,hoop4 ,ampliatie4 ,soo worden voort en voort de rijcken uijtgespreijt1 ,soo worden al de swart en geluwen gespreijt1 ,soo doet men uijt den aerd' een steen wall oprechten1 ,daer't donderend metael seer weijnigh 7an ophecten7 ,voor ,hottentoosen waren 't altijts eerde wallen4 ,nu komt men hier met steen van anderen oock brallen1 ,dus maeckt men dan een schrik soowel d',europiaen1 ,als vor den ,aes6 ,ame6 en wilden ,africaen1 ,dus wort beroemt gemaeckt 't geheijligst ,christendom1 ,die zetels stellen in het woeste heijdendom1 ,wij loven 't ,groot ,bestier1 en zeggen met malcander1 ,augustus heerschappij1 noch winnend' ,alexander1 ,noch ,caesars groot beleijd zijn noijt daermee geswaerd1 ,met 't leggen van een steen op 't eijnde van de ,aerd6 ,,the ,,first ,,stone ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,castle ,,good ,,hope ,,has ,,wagenaar ,,laid ,,with ,,hope ,,of ,,good ,,hope4 ,thus more and more the kingdoms are extended2 ,thus more and more are black and yellow spread2 ,thus from the ground a wall of stone is raised1 ,on which the thundering brass can no impression make4 ,for ,hottentoos the walls were always earthen1 ,but now we come with stone to boast before all men1 ,and terrify not only ,europeans1 but also ,asians1 ,americans1 and savage ,africans4 ,thus holy ,christendom is glorified2 ,establishing its seats amidst the savage heathen4 ,we praise the ,great ,director1 and say with one another3 ',augustus's dominion1 nor conquering ,alexander1 ,nor ,csar's mighty genius1 has ever had the glory ,to lay a corner-stone at earth's extremest end6' ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,ramparts ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,castle 7,,moonlight7 ,lieutenant ,abraham ,schut came towards me2 no1 it was not this wonderful ,abraham1 though he wore a uniform--the cheering of the crowd still rung in my ears4 ',who wrote it8' ,i said4 ',wrote what8' ,the subaltern stared at me4 ',built it1 ,i suppose you mean1' he smiled4 ',oh yes1 built1 of course1 of course1' ,i muttered1 hotter than ever4 ,marinus' pipe had burnt out1 and the officer who stood before us wore khaki4 ,with the last words of the quaint ,dutch poem ringing in my ears1 we followed our guide across the courtyard into an arched white doorway4 ,the old entrance1 the sea entrance to the ,castle1 was blocked up1 because on the other side runs the ,cape ,government ,railway1 with all its paraphernalia of tin walls1 engine-rooms1 dirty1 ugly workshops1 gasometers1 coal-heaps1 all making up the foreshore scenery of ,table ,bay1 and delighting the eyes of the workers and drones who are daily hurried 7sic7 along like 'animated packages in a rabbit hutch4'#a ,in the plaster ceiling of this archway is such a charming miniature plan1 in raised stucco1 of the ,castle buildings4 ,from here we climbed some stone steps and came on to the ramparts1 called after the ships that first brought ,company rule to the ,cape--the ,reiger1 the ,walvis1 the ,dromedaris4 ,we climbed up stone stairs1 and in white stucco1 in the wall1 were the ,company's arms--the big galleon in full sail4 ,we passed the cells--the one used by ,cetewayo1 the rebellious ,chief of the ,zulus1 the ',children of ,heaven1' had a special little fireplace sunk into the wall--walked along wonderfully neat1 bricked ramparts past the ,guard ,tower1 and climbed down more steps into the courtyard4 ,we rambled through the quarters of the old ,governors4 ,everything is groaning under heavy military paint--teak doors1 beautiful brass fittings and beamed ceilings--and about a mile away1 shut up in a small ugly museum room1 are the ,rightful ,inhabitants--the proper belongings of these long rooms3 the oak tables1 the big chairs1 which once held the old ,dutch ,governors1 the glass they used1 the huge silver spittoons1 their swords1 the flowered panniers of their wives' dresses1 fire-irons1 brasses1 china1 the old flags1 someone's sedan-chair--all bundled together in grotesque array4 ,the teak-beamed rooms in the ,castle would make a better setting than the little room in the museum4 ',marinus1' ,i said1 'isn't it awful--this horrible clean paint and these little tin sheds in the old garden8 ,oh1 ,marinus1 do let us scrape this tiny bit of latch1 just to peep at the lovely brass beneath6 ,and let us pretend we are putting back the old cupboards1 and coffers1 and china1 and let us burn all that'--with my eye on sheets of neat military maps and deal tables4 ,but ,marinus1 with the fear of ,god and of the ,king1 pushed me rudely past a ,georgian fireplace into a large room with a big open chimney4 ,over the grate1 let into the wood1 ,i saw the most ridiculous old painting--like a piece of ancient sampler in paint instead of silk--an absurd tree with an impossible bird on a bough1 and beneath it a terraced wall with some animals like peacocks1 with the paysage background la ,noah's ark1 but slightly less accurate4 ',there is a superstitious story about that picture1' said ,marinus4 ',they say some treasure was hidden in the thick wooden screen over the chimney1 and the picture was gummed over it4 ,the story goes that whoever should touch this picture1 or attempt to remove it1 would die shortly afterwards4 ,it may be that the curse1 or a bit of it1 landed on the old1 stamped brass screen which was taken to ,groote ,schuur1 shortly before ,rhodes died4 ,but no one would want this horror1 would they8' ,this story made me love the chintz picture1 and1 after all1 the colours were good2 it was antique2 it was old2 and there was treasure behind it6 ,above this room are ,anne ,barnard's apartments1 where she came to live when the ,secretary of ,state1 ,melville1 gave 'the prettiest appointment in the world for any young fellow'--the ,secretaryship to the ,governor of the ,cape--to ,lady ,anne's husband in #agig4 ,she had to write ,melville several letters before she got this appointment4 ',to pay me all you have owed and still owe me1 you never can--but what you can you should do1 and you have got before you the pleasure of obliging me1' she wrote4 ,there is stuff for a novel in this sentence4 ,the last appeal1 ',you owe me some happiness1 in truth you do1' brought this pretty appointment with a salary of #c1ejj a year4 ,i looked out of a window of her room1 which opened on to a small balcony1 and conjured up the procession she saw the day after she landed--the taking of the oath of allegiance to ,king ,george ,,iii41 the crowd trooping in through the yellow-bricked gateway1 clattering over the cobble-stones1 every man with his hat off 7an old ,dutch regulation on entering the ,castle on a public occasion74 ',well-fed1 rosy-cheeked men1 well-powdered and dressed in black6 ,boers from the country1 farmers and settlers1 in blue cloth jackets and trousers and very large flat hats1 with a ,hottentot slave slinking behind1 each carrying his master's umbrella1 a red handkerchief round his head1 and a piece of leather round his waist comprising his toilette4' ,i heard voices under the arch-gateway leading to the inner courtyard2 the subaltern had another party in tow1 and his nice voice was very clear3 ',oh yes1 wonderful people1 these old ,dutch ,johnnies2 everything they built lasts so well4 ,now look at this old sundial2 same old thing6 there it is1 keeping the right time still--what8' ,i laughed quite loudly1 and the party looked up1 but ,i had flown back into ,anne's room1 which is haunted1 so perhaps they thought it was the ghost--same old ghost6 a good lusty ghost--what8 ,i met ,marinus in the inner court with a man carrying a lantern and some huge keys--our guide to the magazine and armoury1 which might have been the crypt of some old ,european monastery1 with what seemed to be miles of white arches1 arches with broad brass shutters over the windows1 covered with red or grey army paint4 ,the garden of this second courtyard exists no longer1 though the man with the lantern and the keys told us he remembered it--a pond with bamboos and trees4 ,beyond the moat on the mountain side1 on a low level1 is a disused ,tennis court1 a real court for the ',jeu de ,paume' of the seventeenth century1 with hard cement walls and cement floor4 ,although ,governor ,borghorst1 with his entire family1 amused themselves by carrying the earth in baskets from the ditch which was to form the moat1 the real work of the ,castle was carried out from old plans of ,vauban by ,isbrand ,goski1 in a great hurry1 with the shadows of ,french cannon and ,french flags disturbing his dreams4 ,the shadows proved worthless phantoms1 for peace was declared before the fort was ready4 ,later on1 ,sir ,james ,craig1 filled with zeal for the defence of this ultra-important outpost1 which had come1 with some slight misunderstanding1 into the hands of ,england1 caused more blockhouses to be built along the slopes of the ,devil's ,peak1 realizing the ridiculous position of the ,castle for defence purposes4 ,fort ,knokke was connected with the ,castle by a long1 low1 fortified wall1 called the ',sea ,lines4' ,beyond the ,castle stood the ',rogge ,bay1' the ',amsterdam1' and the ',chavonnes' batteries1 while at the water edge of the old ,downs--now called ,green ,point ,common--stood the little ',mouille' battery4 ,the land on which1 unfortunately1 the ,amsterdam battery was built has become a valuable adjunct of the docks1 and it now stands a scarred1 maimed thing with its sea-wall lying in dbris4 ,a sad spectacle1 like a deserted beehive1 with all its cells and secrets exposed to the dock world--half solid rock1 half small1 yellow ,dutch brick4 ,it is ,wednesday morning in present ,cape ,town1 we have left the ,castle1 wept over the ,amsterdam battery1 and marched up ,adderley ,street4 ,at the top of ,adderley ,street is the old ,slave ,lodge1 now used for ,government ,offices and the ,supreme ,court1 low and white1 with cobbled courtyard and thick walls4 ,about here1 in the old days1 began the ,government ,gardens or ',company's' ,gardens1 a long oak avenue running through them4 ,at the time of the ,cession of the ,cape to the ,english1 the ,gardens had been very much neglected4 ,lord ,macartney appropriated a large slice for the rearing of curious and rare plants 7the ,botanical ,gardens74 ,government ,house1 on the left1 was originally built as a pleasure pavilion or overflow guesthouse during the ',company's' rgime4 ,one or two of the later ,dutch ,governors used it as their residence1 and during the short ,english rule in #agig ,lord ,macartney and his successor1 ,sir ,george ,younge1 ceased to use the large suite of rooms in the old ,castle4 ,poor ,lord ,macartney1 because of his gout1 found the narrow1 steep stairs in the ,gardens ,house a great trial4 ,he hopped up the stairs like a parrot to its perch1 says one of his staff in a private letter2 but ,sir ,george ,younge1 fresh from ,holyrood1 rebuilt the stairs and kitchens and the high wall round a part of the garden4 ,for the occasion the avenue was shut to the public1 which nearly caused a revolution4 ,it has seen much1 this low1 yellow ',pavilion in the ,gardens4' ,it has sheltered ,french1 ,english1 and ,dutch3 famous for its ancient hospitality1 its big white ball-room saw our great-grandmothers1 in white muslin and cashmere shawls1 dancing under the tallow candles3 every tree in the garden hung with lights3 ,van ,rheenen and ,mostaert ladies dancing away1 while their husbands and fathers and mothers stood outside and cursed their partners3 but one must dance1 no matter what one's politics may be4 ,hanging on the walls of the present day ,government ,house are portraits of the ,past-,governors--,milner with the thinking eyes1 dignified ,lord ,loch1 ,rosmead1 ,grey1 ,bartle ,frere benignly gazing4 ,skip some history1 and you have ,somerset1 stern and disliked2 ',davie' ,baird1 full of good round oaths1 in ',raeburn' red2 ,sir ,harry ,smith of the perfect profile1 too short for the greatness of his spirit4 ,marinus grows sentimental before this portrait1 because of ,juanita1 ,lady ,smith1 her beauty1 and her bravery4 ',but she was fat'--this from me4 ,marinus looks compassionately on such doubtful tactics4 ',she was not fat when he found her in that sacked ,spanish town2 she was not fat when he sent her that long ride to return the looted silver candlesticks2 she was not fat when she rode with him into danger during the ,kaffir wars--wonderful energetic woman6' ',sir ,harry was very short1' continued ,marinus1 whose methods are quite unoriginal4 ',but his dignity1 and his beautiful nose6' ,i said2 'it reminds me of that story told of ,napoleon1 who tried and failed1 through being too short1 to reach a certain book from a shelf4 ,a tall ,marshal came to his aid1 and1 looking down at the little ,emperor1 said3 ,ah1 sire1 je suis plus grand que vous4 ,pas du tout1 vous tes plus long1 said the ,emperor4' ,then there is the portrait of ,macartney1 looking straight across the room at old ,dutch ,rhenius in wig and satins1 whose shrewd1 amused eyes follow one about the room4 ,i think ,rhenius' dinner-parties were probably amusing4 ,there are no other portraits of ,dutch ,governors2 none of those who followed in such quick succession just before the first ,british occupation4 ,one of these1 ,de ,chavonnes1 ruled with pomp and circumstance4 ,there is an amusing story set down in the #agbj ,journal wherein the ,governor maintained his dignity in the face of a humorous situation4 ,de ,chavonnes was at the ,castle1 and into ,table ,bay sailed the ,english ship1 the ,marlborough4 ,she failed to salute the ,castle on arrival4 ,much bustle and fuss--such an insult cannot be passed over4 ,the ,wharf-master1 ,cornelius ,volk1 is ordered to proceed on board and inform the captain that no one will be allowed to land before the usual salute is fired4 ,with more haste arrives an ,english midshipman1 very pink and well-mannered3 ',we have on board an elephant1 your ,excellency1 and are afraid the firing might frighten him4' ,his ,excellency and the ,wharf-master and the chief merchant1 ,jan de la ,fontaine1 together with the members of the ,council and officers of the garrison1 stared at the pink-faced middy4 ,de ,chavonnes hesitated only one minute1 which is a long period of time for the middy1 who ,i am quite sure had compromising dimples2 then came ,his ,excellency's answer3 ',the excuse is allowed4' ,a very dignified finale6 ,smaller things than elephants have unbalanced the scales of peace4 ,,footnote3 #a ,the ,right ,hon4 ,j4 ,x4 ,merriman4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,eighteenth-,,century ,,society ,,and ,,slavery ,we walked across the parade-ground1 and past the spot where1 in my dream1 ,i had seen the old ,van ,riebeek fort crumbling to pieces1 with its canal and little bridges3 now1 there is a building called the ,post ,office1 and instead of the canal1 with its tree-bordered pathways1 a street called ,adderley ,street1 with shop-windows where the trees stood4 ,even the old ,exchange is gone1 with its stiff row of trees and its chained posts and kiosque1 before which1 in the turbulent days of ,sir ,harry ,smith's rgime1 all ,cape ,town1 ,english1 ,dutch1 ,malay1 in stock1 and crinoline1 and turban1 with one united voice roared against the ,imperial ,government's decree1 which was to turn the ,peninsula into a dumping-ground for convicts4 ,crinoline1 stock1 and turban kept the half-starved convict ships with their unwelcome freight for five months at anchor in ,simon's ,bay4 ,sir ,harry1 with an eye of sympathy on the mob1 and the other eye of duty on the starving convict ships1 ordered food to be sent1 offered famine prices3 no one moved4 ,a few judicious civil servants1 with both eyes on the main chance1 smuggled a small supply on board4 ,but the crowd in front of the old ,exchange won the day1 and ,australia profited instead4 ,at the end of the eighteenth century a young lady described the ,cape and its inhabitants in a few words3 ',di menschen zyn moei dik en vet1 di huizen moei wit en groen' 7,the people are very fat and plump2 the houses are pretty white and green74 ,up ,strand ,street1 which was the ',beach ,street1' lived all the high in the land1 the ,koopmans1 or merchants--'a title1' says an old writer1 'that conferred rank at the ,cape to which the military even aspired4' ,there they lived1 in flat-roofed1 high-stoeped houses with teak doors and small-paned glass windows1 facing the sea2 the men smoking1 drinking and selling2 the women eating1 dressing and dancing4 ,not a decent school in the town1 not a sign of a library1 only a theatre whose productions bored them intolerably3 ',ach1 foei toch1 ,mijnheer ,cook1' says the lady with the smallest feet in all ,kaapstad to the famous sailor ,cook1 who was the guest of her father1 ,mijnheer ,le ,roux1 'go to the theatre8 to listen for three hours to a conversation8' ,cook gave in1 and1 instead1 was carried off in a big 'carosse1'#b with a ,malay coachman in large reed hat over his turban1 pointed and with flowing ribbons at the side1 to the ,avenue in the ,company's ,gardens1 a modest ,vauxhall1 and then on to one of the monthly dances given in the ,castle by the ,governor ,van ,plettenberg4 ,illustration3 ,,table ,,bay ,,from ,,the ,,kloof ,,nek ,dancing was the great form of exercise4 ',the ladies of the ,cape are pretty and well dressed1' says the ,french traveller ,le ,vaillant1 visiting the ,cape about this time--#aggb4 ,he expressed great surprise at the way they dressed3 ',with as much attention to the minuti of dress as the ladies of ,france1 with neither their manners nor their graces4' ,how could they have manners and graces8 ,with the adaptability which amounts to genius1 which the women of newly-arisen cosmopolitan nations possess as ,fate's compensation for depriving them of the birthright of history1 tradition1 and ancient habitation1 they imitated the manners and fashions of the passing passengers resting a few days at the ,cape on their way to ,india4 ,those belonging to the better class all played on the harpsichord and sang2 they had generally a good knowledge of ,french1 and often of ,english2 were experts with the needle1 making all kinds of lace1 'knotting' and tambour work2 and they usually made up their own dresses4 ,the men and youths1 who never mixed with the ,english or foreign visitors1 were entirely different3 phlegmatic and dull1 badly dressed and badly mannered4 ,anne ,barnard1 writing ,cape gossip to ,london1 has many stories to tell of pretty ,cape ladies running off with ,englishmen or ,frenchmen4 ,the thanksgiving sigh of one worthy ',koopman' is conclusive3 ',grace ,dieu1 ma femme est bien laide6' ,however1 we must return to the house of ,le ,roux in the ,strand ,street4 ,it is the day after the fte in the ,avenue and the ,governor's ball4 ,at an old ,french bureau1 with metal inlays1 praising ,monsieur ,buhl in every beautiful line1 this gallant ,captain ,cook wrote in his ,journal while the pretty little ',foei toch1' with sighs of neglect1 sat playing the spinet in a corner of vantage4 ,they changed places presently--he would dictate and she should write4 ,two minutes passed1 and ,cook got up and looked over her shoulder4 ,she had written1 atrociously1 a funny little ,french verse and signed it3 ',marion pleurt1 ,marion rit1 ,marion veut1 qu'on la marie4 ',,marion4' ,cook smiled and bowed4 ',me dear1 you have the most adorable foot in the world1 but ,i dare say little for your hand4' ,very witty of him1 but of course she wrote badly2 there were no schools1 only ill-paid writing masters4 ,the parsons1 all well paid by the ,government1 would not condescend to such a worthless occupation4 ,so ,cook wrote his ,journal himself1 in large1 scrawling writing1 with old-fashioned s's1 while his two ships1 the ,resolution and the ,adventure1 anchored by stout chains instead of cables in this ,bay of ,storms1 lay waiting for a good wind to sail away round the world4 ,and ,marion sang from her corner at the spinet3 ',marions ci1 ,marions a1 ,mais jamais1 jamais marions l4' ,cook writes3 ',,the ,,cape ,,of ,,good ,,hope1 ',monday1 ,november #b1 #aggb4 ',the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 in ,caffraria1 or the ,country of the ,hottentots1 is the most southern promontory of ,africa4 ',it is very mountainous4 ',the ,table ,mountain is of a great height 7sic71 and the top of it is always covered with a cap of clouds before a storm4 ,there are no harbours1 though there is a sea-coast of a thousand miles4 ,when ,commodore ,byron touched at the ,cape he was obliged to work into ,table ,bay with his top sails close reefed4 ,indeed1 the ,cape is scarce ever free from storms a week together2 the winds blow hard and on every side from the vast southern ocean1 and the waves of the sea rise to a height never seen or experienced in any part of ,europe4 ,the ,bay of ,biscay1 turbulent as it is1 has no billows that mount like those on this extensive ocean2 the stoutest vessels are tossed and almost lifted to the skies4 ,a number of rich ships have perished on this coast2 the ,dutch have lost whole fleets even at anchor before the ,town4 ',the climate is very healthy1 the country is fine1 and it abounds with refreshments of every kind4 ,the ,company's garden is the most ravishing spot4' 7,he read this to ,mademoiselle ,marion1 who had found ,mr4 ,pickersgill1 his ,third ,lieutenant1 a good second when the gallant ,captain1 with his tongue in his cheek and a wink at ,marion1 escorted the fat wife of ,governor ,van ,plettenberg round the most ravishing ,gardens47 ,the ,captain went on with his diary3 ',the garden produces all the most delicious fruits of ,asia and ,europe4 ,it is guarded from the winds and storms by hedges of bay1 very thick and high1 affording a most refreshing shade in the hottest season4 ,it abounds with peaches1 pomegranates1 pineapple1 bananas1 citrons1 lemons1 oranges1 the pears and apples of ,europe1 all excellent in their kind1 and the crimson apple of ,japan1 appearing through the green leaves1 of all the most beautiful4 ,the ,dutch have large plantations of almond-trees1 and many sorts of camphor-trees1 and there is scarce a cottage without a vineyard to it4 ,their cabbages and cauliflowers weigh from thirty to forty pounds1 their potatoes from six to ten1 raised from seed brought from ,cyprus and ,savoy4 ,their corn is ripe in ,december1 and our ,christmas is the time of their harvest4 ,in ,january they tread out their corn1 and in ,february the farmers carry it to the ,company's magazines4 ',they sow every kind of grain but oats4 ,lions1 tigers1 leopards1 elephants1 and the rhinoceros are to be found here2 the elephants are very large2 their teeth 7sic7 weigh from sixty to one hundred and twenty pounds4 ,the ,dutch keep up a body of regular forces1 and have a strong garrison at the ,cape2 they have also a militia1 a corps of men in all nations formidable in themselves1 most dreadful to an enemy1 and1 when called out for service1 spreading destruction all around them in the heights of their ungovernable fury4 ,they are of so robust a disposition1 and so naturally inclined for war1 that1 like the ,devonshire and ,northamptonshire champions in ,england1 they are ever ready to solicit employment1 even against the principles of their own institution4' ,next day the ,governor1 the ,english ,consul1 the ,fiscal1 ,marion and her father1 together with a large party1 boarded the ,resolution1 to see them make fresh water out of salt water2 and when they left1 and before the ,resolution1 firing fifteen guns1 and the ,adventure nine1 sailed away round the world1 ,mr4 ,pickersgill and ,marion had found time to fall in love4 ,marion at her spinet that evening shed very salt little ,dutch tears when she came to the lines1 ',mais jamais1 jamais marions l4' ,there is a charming poem by ,ian ,colvin which ,marinus thinks might be inspired by ,marion and her ,lieutenant4 ,in the ,museum at the top of the old ,company's gardens lies a little ,english shoe of surprising smallness--surprising1 for not only ,anne ,barnard remarked on the size of the ,cape ladies' feet3 there is that nice story of the enterprising merchant who chartered a large shipload of out-sizes in ladies' shoes1 and the ladies sent their slaves in the dark to buy them6 ,the poem goes3 ',there's a tiny ,english shoe ,of morocco1 cream and blue1 ,made with all a cobbler's skill ,by ,sam ,miller in ,cornhill4 ',many a story1 quaint and sweet1 ,of the lady fair1 whose feet ,twinkled with a charm divine ,beneath her ample crinoline1 ,making her tortured lovers dream ,that heaven itself was blue and cream4' ,the story tells of how this dainty creature walked down the ',heerengracht1' followed by the tortured lovers3 ',van der ,merwe1 ,jacques ,theron1 ,the ,captain of the garrison1 ,petrus de ,witt1 or ,van ,breda1 ,or ,cloete of ,constantia4 ,and then the ,fiscal--fat and old-- ,what matters8 he had power and gold1 ,coffers of dollars1 and doubloons1 ,gold mohurs1 pagodas1 ducatoons1 ,and in his cupboards stored away ,the priceless treasures of ,cathay4' ,then it tells of how she loved this ,english sailor1 how he left to sail to many strange lands1 and asked her what she wished to have4 ',and she1 although her cheeks were wet1 ,was in a moment all coquette3 ,your ,english fashions would1 ,i fear1 ,but ill become my homely sphere2 ,besides1 you know not how to choose-- ,bring me instead a pair of shoes4' ,so the ,english lover sailed away1 and the ,fiscal became a menace to the poor little cream and blue ',jonge ,vrouw1' and the wedding-day arrived3 ',from ,signal ,hill to ,witteboom1 ,from ,kirstenbosch to ,roodebloem1 ,with cannon1 bugle1 bell and horn1 ,they ushered in the wedding morn4' ,but the ,english lover and the shoes arrived just in time2 the bride was missing2 the wedding-party and the storming ,fiscal rushed down to the sea-shore--'a ship in a cloud of sail was riding out of the ,bay in a favouring gale4' ',they heard above the ocean's swell ,ring faint and clear a wedding bell2 ,and where the boat put off1 they found ,a tiny shoe upon the ground4' ',marions ci1 ,marions a1 ,et jamais1 jamais marions l4' ,a charming idyll to amuse us as we climbed up the hill to ,riebeek ,square1 where the flat-roofed houses and the old ,slave-,market with a few wind-twisted pines have so much of the 'old order' in their keeping4 ,behind the square were the old brickfields1 where poor ,lieutenant ,schut's duties lay4 ,the ,slave-,house stands in the middle of the square4 ,this energetic young man disappears from the pages of the ,journals and presumably from society4 ',august #a1 #affh4 ',lieutenant ,schut is expelled from the ,council1 because he has passed a deed of reclamation to the widow of the late ,reverend ,wachtendorp for libellous words uttered by him behind her back1 and to her injury4 ',the ,council should keep itself free from obloquy1 and unpolluted4' ,praiseworthy sentiments1 but they must have suffered for them4 ,i find no mention of another paragon who was able to accept the responsibilities imposed upon ,schut4 ,indiscriminate gossip or libel was most severely punished at the ,cape1 the desire to be free from obloquy not being confined to the ,council4 ,in #affc ,teuntje ,bartholomeus1 wife of the burgher1 ,bartholomeus ,born1 is banished for six weeks to ,dassen ,island for having libelled a certain honest woman4 ,a perfect rest-cure6 ,six weeks on ,dassen ,island6 alone with ,nature1 wind1 sea1 rock-rabbits1 and seals6 ,there is no official mention of her return from exile4 ,,slaves4 ',for there is no country in the world where slaves are treated with so much humanity as at the ,cape1' writes ,le ,vaillant in #aghj1 but in reading through the old day-books of ,van ,riebeek1 ,hackius1 ,borghorst1 ,isbrand ,goski1 and the ,van der ,stels1 the punishments inflicted on slaves might have been inspired by those old1 over-praised painters1 who gloried in an anatomical dissection of a poor wretch whose miserable body possessed no anatomy at all4 ,the ,mozambique1 ,madagascar1 and ,malay slaves were keel-hauled2 they were tied in sacks and thrown into the ,bay2 they were tortured4 ,here is the sentence of one3 ',bound on a cross1 when his right hand shall be cut off1 his body pinched in six places with red-hot irons1 his arms and legs broken to pieces1 and after that to be impaled alive before the ,town ,house on the ,square1 his dead body afterwards to be thrown on a wheel outside the town at the usual place1 and to be left a prey to the birds of the air4' ,could any torture of the ,inquisition be worse8 ,but these tortures were in #afif1 years before the enlightened days of ,le ,vaillant4 ,the half-breed slaves of the early days were a source of worry to the ruling council2 several times in the ,journals one may come across a case of a freeman or burgher marrying his emancipated slave3 ',maria of ,bengal1 a ,hindoo woman1 set the fashion1 and the famous interpretress1 ,eva1 during her extraordinary career of diplomatic and immoral episodes within the walls of the ,fort1 where she wore garments made by kind ,maria van ,riebeek1 or outside the walls1 where she wore the filthy skins of her own people1 the ,hottentots1 beguiled the senior surgeon to such lengths that he was granted permission to marry her4 ,he fortunately was killed during an expedition to ,madagascar1 but not before he had had sufficient time to regret the beguilings of ,eva4' ,many of the slaves were children of convicts sent from ,batavia and the ,malay ,settlements4 ,here is the case of a half-breed girl1 which was sent to ,batavia for judgment3 ',regarding the half-breed girl1 you order that she is to serve the ,company until her twenty-second year1 when she is to be emancipated on condition that she makes profession of the ,christian faith1 and1 moreover1 pays ,r4 #aej for her education4 ,we are well aware that this rule is observed in the case of slave children having ,dutch fathers1 but whether it applies to children of convict women by ,dutch fathers1 as in the case of this girl1 would like to hear from you4' ,when ,le ,vaillant wrote1 all these rules had changed1 though even he talks with some mystery of a runaway slave having received a slight correction4 ,when slaves landed at the ,cape1 they cost from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty dollars 7i4e41 rix-dollars7 each1 that being about #bb #ajs4 to #bg #ajs4 ,the negroes from ,mozambique and those of ,madagascar were the best labourers2 the ,indians were much sought after for service in the house and in the town4 ,malays were the most intelligent and the most dangerous4 ,barrow1 in whose days 7#agih7 the price of slaves had gone up considerably1 tells a story showing the revengeful spirit of the ,malay4 ,a slave1 thinking that he had served his master sufficiently long and with great fidelity1 and having also paid him several sums of money1 was tempted to demand his liberty4 ,he was met with a refusal4 ,he straightway went and murdered his fellow-slave4 ,he was taken up and brought before the ,court1 acknowledged that the slave he had murdered was his friend1 but said that the best form of revenge he could think of was not to murder his master1 but to deprive him of a slave worth the value of a thousand rix-dollars 7i4e41 #ahg #ajs47 and of another thousand by bringing himself to the gallows6 ,the ,creole slaves were sold for a higher price than the others1 and were often 'acquainted with a trade1' when their price became exorbitant4 ,they were clothed properly1 but went barefooted4 ,twenty to thirty slaves were generally found in one house4 ',that insolent set of domestics called footmen1' writes the ,french explorer1 'are not to be seen at the ,cape2 for pride and luxury have not yet introduced these idle and contemptible attendants who in ,europe line the ante-chambers of the rich1 and who in their deportment exhibit every mark of impertinence6' ,the abolition of the ,rack and ,torture was responsible for an extraordinary occurrence3 the public executioner made an application for a pension in lieu of the emoluments he used to receive for the breaking of legs and arms2 the second hangman upon inquiry learnt that not only did the ,english of this new rgime abolish the ,rack and ,torture1 but that they were not thinking of establishing breaking on the wheel2 this was more than he could bear1 and1 fearing starvation1 he went and hanged himself6 ,strange irony of fate4 ,in every family a slave was kept whose sole duty was the gathering of wood4 ,it was strictly forbidden to gather any fuel1 scrub1 or bush on the ,downs or ,flats1 so the slave would go out every morning up the mountains1 and would return at night with two or three small bundles of faggots--the produce of six or eight hours' hard labour--swinging at the two ends of a bamboo carried across his shoulder4 ,in some families more than one slave was kept for this purpose1 and this gives a very good idea of the scarcity of wood at the ,cape as late as #agih4 ,from the diaries of that time one gathers that1 though wood was only used for cooking purposes--as only the kitchen possessed a fireplace--yet the cost of fuel for a small household amounted to forty or fifty pounds a year4 ,,footnote3 #b ,barouche4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,in ,,the ,,blue ,,shadow ,,of ,,table ,,mountain ,the blue shadow of ,table ,mountain falls straight across the ',flats1' or the sandy isthmus of the ,cape ,peninsula--a long1 intensely blue line stretching from one ocean to the other4 ,in #afec this shadow meant something more than a beautiful shade2 it was a boundary-line2 it meant safety and shade within its depth1 war and barbarians beyond4 ,along its borders were dotted small forts and watch-houses2 there were even the beginnings of a canal running parallel with the definite shade1 to intensify its significance4 ,the ,dutch ,east ,india ,company's long-suffering and harassed ,commander1 ,van ,riebeek1 with infinite undertaking of dangers and difficulties1 wild beasts1 ,hottentots1 and quicksands1 rode across it1 and fixed its boundaries as proper limits to the ,settlements1 which its most honourable directors were pleased to call ',goode ,hoop4' ,the blue shadow begins on the other side of the ,wind ,mountain or ,devil's ,peak1 and we will go where it leads4 ,in #affc there was a narrow road running close up to the mountain rather higher up than the present dusty main road4 ,it ran as far as ,rondebosch1 or ',rond die ,bostje1' whose round-wood traditions are untraceable1 ,van ,riebeek having given orders that only the outer bushes should be preserved as a convenient kraal for cattle4 ,along this narrow road a small ox-cart rumbled every day from the fort in ,cape ,town1 dragging home logs of wood from the almost unknown land beyond2 its driver running momentary risk of meeting in the narrow way the lions1 tigers1 or rhino1 that roamed the mountain slopes4 ,one end of the shadow falls into the sea at ,maitland or ,paarden ,island1 and covers some stretches of beach1 small houses1 and railway workshops4 ,there the rivers meet--the ,diep ,river from ,milnerton1 the ,liesbeek and the ,black ,rivers from across the ,flats4 ,they join and form the ,salt ,river1 a wide1 overflowing stream that is constantly flooding the green lands between the sea and the old ,trek road to the north4 ,in the old days1 this beach between ,salt ,river and ,milnerton was the setting of tragedies3 backed in on the north and east by the ,blaauwberg ,mountains and the ,stellenbosch ,ranges1 and on the south-east by the ,hottentot's ,holland4 ,from behind the ,blaauwberg1 or ,blueberg1 came that long thin stream of ,saldanhas from the north1 lighting their fires among the rushes of the ,diep ,river and the ,salt ,pans near the ,tigerberg or ,leopard ,mountains1 which are the green1 corn-sown hills of ,durbanville and ,klipheuvel4 ,they brought with them1 past the outpost ',doornhoop' on the ,salt ,river1 to the very gates of ,van ,riebeek's ,fort1 then standing where the railway station now is1 cattle and sheep and wonderful stories of rich countries to the north and north-east1 where kings lived in stationary stone houses and had much gold1 their wives loaded with bracelets and having necklaces of sparkling white stones6 ,the little dysentery-stricken settlement1 growing thin and determined on a carrot and a snack of rhinoceros1 opened the gates1 bought the scurvy cattle1 believed the stories1 and had visions of reaching the fabulously renowned river ',spirito ,sancto4' ,they dragged their waggons and their precious oxen and horses over the scrub and sand-dunes2 and now one may see the fruits of these brave but small expeditions in carefully compiled but imaginative maps and plans1 telling of how one or another reached the banks of the ,orange ,river and found 'a great desert1' but found no great kings1 no gold1 no cities4 ,illustration3 ,,blaauwberg ,,and ,,head ,,of ,,table ,,bay ,lying close to the shore are many wrecks1 an old order which has changed but slowly4 ,this corner of the bay was a dangerous roadstead before the year #afec4 ,a scurvy gang of bastard natives called ',watermen' or ',beach ,rangers1' crawling like mammoth cockroaches among the seaweed and wreckage1 had eked out their monstrous living long before the ,harlem dragged her anchor and stranded at the mouth of the ,salt ,river4 ,a grand string of names in the records of these old wrecks2 no cheap sloops1 galleots1 or second-rate pirating-hulks1 but big1 stately merchantmen3 one1 from ,france1 ,la ,marchale1 with a ,bishop on board who is uncommonly like the man who became a ,cardinal during the reign of ',le ,roi ,soleil4' ,he was on his way to ,madagascar with something political behind his mad-sounding schemes for church-building 7on such a sparsely inhabited island7 and for personally endowing the buildings to the tune of hundreds of thousands2 it may be heresy1 but there was something politically consequent in the extraordinary story of this wreck of ,la ,marchale and the energy of the ,french seal-fisheries at ,saldanha ,bay4 ,to continue the rle of backstairs glory3 an ,english ship--a well-known name1 ,the ,mayflower--on her way from the east with ,john ,howard1 her captain1 got a bad time in the terrible bay1 tearing winds coming from the ',wind ,mountain' and across from ,robben ,island4 ,the clearing of the roadsteads became almost a yearly festival and a certain necessity4 ,so the blue shadow begins by the sea and ends by the sea2 but to reach the other end will take us in a motor more than thirty minutes2 an ox-waggon lumbering across sandy dunes and along stony mountain-paths took the early settlers something more than a day or two4 ,we did it riding1 and took something like a month2 but one must compromise to really enjoy life4 ,we rode one day along the main road to ,rondebosch1 where the old ,commanders would ride out two hundred years ago1 to inspect the ,company's granary1 ',groote ,schuur1' and the ,company's guesthouse1 ',rustenburg4' ,the ,cape ,town length of the road has little of interest4 ',roodebloem' comes into the list of old homesteads2 and down in the swampy green fields of ,observatory ,road1 where the clerk life of ,cape ,town has its two acres and a cow1 and near the ,royal ,observatory1 lived the ,company's free miller2 and the ,liesbeek waters worked his mill4 ,there is still an old mill in existence1 but probably of later date4 ,illustration3 ,,tigerberg ,,and ,,diep ,,river ,in #afeh the ,company gave grants of land along the ,liesbeek ,river1 mostly all along the west side1 beginning with the swampy land below the ,wind ,mountain or ,devil's ,peak1 granted to the ,commander's nephew-in-law1 ,jan ,reyniez1 and ending on the south side1 somewhere in ,wynberg1 with the lands of ,jacob ,cloeten of ,cologne4 ,the burghers1 having formed into three companies--one called ,vredens ,company--lying in lands on the wrong side of the river at ,rosebank1 sent in a petition1 which was forwarded with all due delay to the ,commander and ,council1 who1 'having found1 according to the many deeds and diagrams1 that the land is quite dangerously situated1 the owners being exposed to the depredations of the ,hottentots1' granted new lands near the ,company's orchard1 called ',rustenburg4' ,the conditions laid down by the ,company to freemen varied slightly in each little colony3 there were three along the ,blue shadow3 '#a4 ,they might fish in the rivers1 but not for sale4 '#b4 ,the ,company would sell them at ploughing time a plough and twelve oxen4 ,the ground should be theirs for ever4 '#c4 ,that they should grow tobacco4' ,these are some of the rules4 ,everyone knows the story of how the rules later became unbearable--the fixing of selling-prices by the ,company1 the paying of taxes1 the limitations set on selling produce to the ships4 ,the conditions1 however1 and the dangers from the ,hottentots on the east side of the shadow1 were thankfully accepted4 ,in the old records there is the entry which explains the position of these little colonies3 ',february #ba1 #afeg4 ',fine sunshine1 fickle weather4' ',many having been informed of the intention of the ,masters to establish freemen all about and under favourable conditions1 a party of five selected a locality on the other side of the ,fresh ,river 7,liesbeek71 named by us the ,amstel1 below the forests and beyond it where our woodcutters are1 near the crooked tree about three leagues from the ,fort1 and as long and broad as they wished it1 on condition that they were to remain on the other side of the river4 ,another party of four selected a spot about a league nearer1 at the ,rondebosjen1 on this side of the river or ,amstel1 from the small bridge leading to the forest as far as the spot chosen for the redoubt1 near where the bird trap is to be built4 ,the boundary of that land will be three-quarters of a league long1 the river will divide them from the other party1 and they will go back as far as they like to ,table ,mountain and the other mountains4 ,the party of five may go forward towards the mountains of the continent proper1 as far as they like2 these two parties are therefore stationed right on the isthmus in fruitful soil4 ,the further colony has therefore been named ,amstel1 or the ,groeneveld1 and the farthest redoubt will be about quarter of a league beyond it4 ,the nearer colony at ,rondebosjen 7which is to be converted into a cattle kraal and to be provided with a gate7 is to be called the ,dutch garden4 ,a redoubt will also be built there4' ,and then began some amusing correspondence between the ,honorable ,commander and his honorable employers at ,amsterdam4 ,very few of these freemen had wives4 ,jan ,reyniez had married the ,commander's niece ,lysbeth1 ,jacob ,cloeten sent to ,cologne for ,frau ,fychje ,raderoffjes1 and a few other wives were ordered out2 but1 grumbled the ,council from this strenuous settlement1 ',here are good freemen1 who would willingly marry if there were any material 7stoffe7'--to quote from the old documents-- ',these young men have accordingly prayed and begged us the ,council spared no words to ask girls 7meis-jen7 for them1 whom they may marry4 ,we therefore request outward-bound families to bring with them strong1 healthy farm girls1 and the ,company would make the condition that1 when arriving at the ,cape1 the good ones might be retained and all others permitted to go on2 as between ,patria and this1 it will be easily discovered what sort of persons they are4' ,so in like manner1 as bread fell from heaven to the ,israelites in the desert1 or as the ,british ,government supplied wives to their ,virginian ,colonies1 came wives to the freemen at the ,cape4 ,but rather hard for the families who were to have their good maids retained4 ,it is a surprising thing1 in looking over the old ,roll-call1 to find so few old ,cape names4 ,the varying forms of spelling may account for this4 ,in the old title-deeds one finds some lands in ,table ,valley granted to one ,cornelius ,mostaert1 a well-known name2 then there are mentioned ,cloeten1 ,cloetas1 ,muller1 ,theunissen1 ,visagie1 and a ,van der ,byl1 who was a 'messenger of justice1' and rode from ,cape ,town to the ,bosheuvel on his rounds2 but the large majority are almost unknown names4 ,but we have arrived at ,rustenburg1 off the wagon road which leads to the forest on the slopes of the ,bosheuvel1 or ',hen and ,chickens ,hill1' where ,amman ,erichiszen1 the keeper of the forest lands1 planted most energetically the great pine-trees which now1 like an invincible army1 have marched over all the lands4 ,it is said that the original buildings at ,rustenburg have been destroyed4 ,marinus and ,i choose to think differently1 as the position of the present building must be on the exact spot4 ,rustenburg has degenerated into a high school for girls1 and bears itself like an aristocrat in the stocks4 ,its long teak windows and rows of ,doric pillars look imposing enough to suggest the ancient glories which are so carefully recorded3 ',this day the ,commander takes out a party to inspect the ,company's corn-lands at ,rond die ,bosje'--,van ,riebeek on his famous horse1 ',groote ,vos'2 ,maria de ,quellerai1 his wife1 in a coach with the guests2 ,governors on their way to the ,east--the ,great ,drakenstein1 ,van ,oudtshoorn1 ,governor ,van ,goens1 the ,java ,commander who gave so much advice on his way to and fro1 the ,van der ,stels still working in the ,east2 the ,admirals of ,return and ,outward ,fleets--,vlemdingh1 ,van ,tromp1 ,de ,reuyter--with their wives and families2 the famous ,commander of the ,french ,fleet1 ,m4 le ,marquis du ,quesne1 and so many others4 ,do their ghosts disturb the dreams of the little high-school 'backfish'8 ,at the back of the ,rustenburg buildings1 to the left1 following a path which was probably a way to the ,groote ,schuur1 are the remains of some old orchard lands1 and some years ago ,i remember going with a troop of excited girls1 in the terrifying hour of twilight1 to see the old slave burial-place1 which lay to the right of a path leading to the summer-house and ',rustbank'--a small white seat still to be seen near the little red-roofed tea-house4 ,to the right of this spot is the house called ',the ,woolsack1' where ,rudyard ,kipling has lived every summer for years4 ,here were remains of graves1 old bits of tombstone1 old decaying skulls--oh6 the horror and pleasure of these evening desecrations6 ,an orgie for the emotions which makes one adore the past4 ,above the ,woolsack towers the ,wind ,mountain1 on its slopes the white and grey granite temple of the ,rhodes ,monument4 ,,the ,,rhodes ,,memorial4 ,one day someone sat gazing at the big ,devils ,peak1 which shadows ,groote ,schuur and stands like a rampart of the ,citadel ,mountain behind4 ,as he gazed he became inspired2 he said3 ',there should be a monument to ,rhodes1 just there1 on those steep green slopes under the ,watch ,house1 where the heavy ,dutch cannon were dragged up to defend the bay4' ,the ,rhodes trustees rose up and formed the chorus4 ,so began the drama of the monument4 ,the players were reinforced4 ,watts from ,london sent a huge bronze group1 ,physical ,energy1 which is the beginning in the game of progress4 ,john ,swan1 with his wonderful head of a ,michael ,angelo prophet and a later ,roman ,emperor1 ,rodin of the ,english1 came himself and drew designs for paradoxical lions4 ,this was our train of mind as we rode up the fir avenue of ,groote ,schuur bordered with blue periwinkle flowers4 ,illustration3 ,,blue ,,hydrangeas ,,at ,,groote ,,schuur ,home of ,rhodes and a hostel for passing visitors of name and fame1 it was the ',great ,barn' of long ago--the ,great ,barn where the ',company's' corn1 grown under such difficulties1 was stored in times of plenty1 that there should be food for the ,company's servants1 ever busy fighting off the ,hottentots across the ,flats1 when the ,batavian ,directors1 with great omnipotence1 decreed that the homeward-bound fleet should find no room to carry rice to the vegetable settlement of ,bonne ,esperance4 ,for the ,company settled in the shadow1 not to found an empire beyond the seas1 but to 'grow vegetables for their ships4' ,groote ,schuur1 the great barn with its present building carefully imitative1 its masses of blue hydrangeas and wisteria1 white-walled terraces of plumbago and magenta bougainvilla1 and its tall pine-trees and deep1 fern-banked glen4 ,there is something adorable in the green plaque over the front entrance--and instinctively it is chapeau bas--a small group of ,dutchmen and ,hottentots on the seashore--',the ,landing of ,van ,riebeek4' ,the simplicity of the thing starts the weaving of the spell1 which1 in the plod1 plod of life at the ,cape1 is a forgotten aspect4 ,no nation can ever be great that has no time for sentimental patriotism4 ,why is it that this ,africa cannot hold its people8 ,there is talk of the ,call of the ,sun1 but it does not hold fast1 this ,sun call4 ,if ,progress goes north and all new effort must wander away from the ,patria1 it must not be allowed to wander without the shibboleth of sentiment4 ,a domestic simile would be invidious4 ,marinus1 my guide1 is used to my wanderings1 and the horses are slowly climbing the steep gravelled path behind the house4 ,past cool woods filled with arum lilies and fantastic1 twisted young oaks1 looking to the heated imagination like fauns and satyrs1 which send back one's mind to a long-ago atmosphere of mythology4 ,this atmosphere increases1 and culminates at the ,temple of the monument4 ,in a large sloping field to the right of the path live1 in happy monotony1 four or five llamas1 while in another teak-gated enclosure the striped zebras are gazing in mild surprise at a fierce wildebeeste stalking along the other side of the thin wire fence4 ,far across the purple sandy flats with their blue barriers to the north--the ',mountains of ,africa'--lie the big vleis1 or lakes1 and near them the tall white spire of the tiny ,lutheran church1 little shepherd of all the ,german souls who cluster round in white farms1 growing lettuce on week-days and singing ,lutheran hymns on ,sunday4 ,at the top of the gravel road1 almost buried in a kloof of stunted oaks and yellow protea-bush1 is a cottage1 where the two sons of that fat ,king of the ,matabele1 ,lobengula1 lived and were educated4 ,what has happened to them since ,rhodes's death ,i do not know2 they may be studying ,french and science at the ,sorbonne1 or1 having married somebody's 'respectable ,english housemaid1' may be the happy fathers of a tinted family of pupil teachers or typewriters6 ,we climbed higher1 and were soon in the shadow of the ,devil's ,peak or ,doves ,peak4 ,the name ',devil' must have drifted from the ',cape' to the ,wind ,mountain4 ',windberg' was the ordinary name for the ,peak1 and ',devil's ,cape' was the name given to the ,cape many years before ,diaz's ship was driven round into the ,indian ,ocean4 ,humboldt1 the ,german traveller1 has interesting information about this name4 ,he says that on ,fra ,mauro's world chart1 published between #adeg and #adei1 the ,cape of ,good ,hope is marked ',capo ,di ,diab6' ,diaz1 to his surprise and unintention1 rounded the ,cape in #adhf4 ,but even before this1 others than the ',flying ,dutchman' sailed these seas4 ,on the old planisphere of ',semito1' made in #acjf1 the tricorned shape of ,south ,africa is shown1 and in a note added later to the planisphere it is stated that an ,indian junk coming from the ,east circumnavigated this ,cape ',diab4' ,to those who have thought of this ,cape as shrouded in mystery until the ,portuguese sailors rounded it1 the shock might be similar to the state of mind of the ,ignoble ,vulgar 7used in the sense of ignorance71 who find1 one day1 that quite a decent system of education existed before the ,flood2 but shattering a fallacious perspective may not necessarily widen a horizon1 and ,sheba's ,mines of ,ophir1 the voyages of the ,phoenicians1 ,moorish slavers1 ,indian junks1 gold1 and apes1 and peacocks1 and ,flying ,dutchmen1 may still be in the jig-saw pattern border of ,south ,africa4 ,groups of almond-trees guide us to two cement and iron cages4 ,there1 lying blinking benignly in the sun1 are the famous lions of ,groote ,schuur--almost monuments in themselves4 ,did not their ancestors roam over these very slopes of the mountain1 and swoop down into the cornfields and ricefields of the ,company's burghers1 seeking water and shelter from the raging north winds1 in the comfortable piece of land ',rond die ,bosch' below8 ,passing the lions1 we are still mounting to the east ridge of the ,peak4 ,somewhere ,george ,eliot says1 'attempts at description are stupid--how can one describe a human being8' ,the assertion does not apply entirely to human beings4 ,who but refuses to bear attempt at minute description1 and who but would fail in the attempt to describe the wonderful view which suddenly appears--the shining blue rim of ,table ,bay1 a harmony in blue and silver1 ,watts's ',energy' in silhouette1 the giant horse and rider dominating a huge precipice1 the precipice which is the narrow1 flat1 and sandy isthmus of the ,peninsula8 ,all round and down the slopes are soft1 green forests of firs4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,blue ,,shadow--,,view ,,from ,,rhodes' ,,monument ,the inscription on the statue runs3 ',physical ,energy1 by ,g4 ,f4 ,watts1 ,r4,a41 and by him given to the ,genius of ,rhodes4' ,from the foot of the group in bronze and granite we look up the huge steps to the grey granite temple1 the grey rocks of the mountain behind1 and the ',silver-,trees' keep the eye and senses running along the gamut of greys4 ,behind the tall pillars runs another inscription--',dedicated to the ,spirit and ,life ,work of ,cecil ,john ,rhodes4' ,the paradox to this will be found in the statue1 or bust1 of ,cecil ,john1 to be placed by the trustees in the niche below4 ,it is in the nature of man to embody1 allegorically1 in human form1 virtues and vices1 but surely it were better to leave the good deeds of the man1 which belonged to the ,spirit1 in the care of this wonderful grey granite temple4 ,to the ,life and ,spirit6 ,few bodies make temples worthy of the ,spirit1 and ,cecil ,john failed to prove the rule4 ,but 'how truly great is the ,actual1 is the ,thing1 that has rescued itself from bottomless depths of theory and possibility1 and stands as a definite indisputable fact 444' and the ,knowledge and the ,practice1 which are the elements of the mighty ,physical ,energy1 hang over the abyss of the ,known1 the ,practicable4 ,the man and his life 'rest on solidity and some kind of truth4' ,so we came down from the heights4 ,,chapter ,,iv ',,paradise' ,,and ,,the ,,barnards ,from ,newlands we rode1 one glorious afternoon1 up a small1 conical hill at the back of ,fernwood1 or the old homestead ',boshof4' ,there are several ways of arriving1 but we1 full of enthusiasm1 chose to take a stony path hedged by scented wild-geraniums and ripening blackberry hedges1 along which more than a hundred years ago a big wagon had rolled1 dragging up the hill1 as far as the ravines and rocks would allow1 two occupants--,mr4 ,barnard1 ,his ,excellency's secretary1 and ,lady ,anne1 his wife4 ,there has been a great ',barnard' cult of late1 and the people who have wondered at the romantic and witty correspondence of ,lady ,anne and the ,secretary of ,state for ,war1 ,lord ,melville1 have perhaps gained some geographical knowledge of the ,cape ,peninsula one hundred years ago4 ,i adore ,anne for her sense of humour2 ,marinus adores her for her faithfulness to ,barnard1 whom for various reasons ,i have depicted to him as a dullish and obliging man4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,southern ,,part ,,of ,,the ,,false ,,bay1 ,,with ,,cape ,,hangclip ,behind this overgrown hill at the top of the ,newlands ,avenue lies ',paradise1' where ,anne ,barnard lived during the summer1 and which she called her ,trianon6 ,so ,mecca-wards we rode1 with the gigantic grey wall of ,table ,mountain towering before us4 ,we turned our horses round to face the ,flats6 ,we saw the great plains before us1 once so bare that you could have seen a ,hottentot crawling among the sandhills miles away2 the ,bosheuvel ,hill1 or ',hen and ,chickens1' standing out to the right1 with its crown of silver-trees shivering and shining in the sun4 ,to the east lay ,false ,bay--thousands and thousands of emeralds set in cream2 to the left1 the dull1 low1 crouching ,tygerberg ,hills1 full of propriety1 sleek and smooth4 ,below us lay the ,bishopscourt woods--the old ,company's ',forest lands' hiding the river and the squirrels and the black babies of ,little ,paradise1 or ,protea1 with the branches of their enormous oak-trees--chapeauz bas to ,wilhelm ,adrian ,van der ,stel4 ,anne ,barnard wrote other letters than those to ,lord ,melville2 she wrote in long charming letters to her sisters at home a description of the pretty little place called ',paradise1' halfway up the hill1 which ,lord ,macartney wished her to have2 'how she could not drive up the hill1 but had to alight1' and walk1 and thought the way to ,paradise the proverbial path1 hard and steep1 and thought less and less of ,his ,excellency's offer the steeper the path became4 ,she writes--all out of breath3 ',on turning round1 a sequestered low road appeared1 over which oaks met in cordial embrace--the path which1 suddenly turning1 presented to us an old farmhouse1 charming in no point of architecture1 but charming from the mountain which reared itself three thousand feet perpendicular above its head1 with such a variety of spiral and gothic forms1 wooded and picturesque1 as to be a complete contrast to the hill which we had ascended or the plains over which we gazed4 ,before the house1 which was raised a few steps from the court1 there was a row of orange-trees4 ,a garden1 well stocked with fruit-trees1 was behind the house1 through which ran a hasty stream of water descending from the mountain2 on the left a grove of fir-trees1 whose long stems1 agitated by the slightest breeze of wind1 knocked their heads together like angry bullocks in a most ludicrous manner4' ',anne6 ,what do you say to this8' ,mr4 ,barnard speaks in much admiration4 ,anne1 still breathless1 feeling happier1 but her skirts are torn by the blackberries and low bushes3 ',why1 that ,i like it1 ,i am vexed to say1 beyond all things4' ,his ,excellency's ,secretary1 becoming more elated 7,anne having bright pink in her flushed cheeks73 ',and if you do1 my dear ,anne1 why should we not have it8' 7,this with all acknowledgment of the lamentable fact1 which ,i impress upon ,marinus1 that ,anne's approval is the only thing which will matter2 ,marinus always argues that in the other scale are ',robin ,gray' and that packet of letters which ,lord ,melville tied up with blue ribbon47 ,anne answers the adoring ,barnard1 not too decisively3 ',because the ,world's end is not so distant as this spot from the haunts of men4' ,barnard's last effort is worthy of a diplomatist2 he sighed3 ',it's very charming1 however4' ,they visited a number of other places1 but ,barnard's sigh won the day2 and a new road was made to ',paradise' by the slaves--a road we were presently to see1 still showing the hard brick foundation1 winding and hugging the mountain from the present ,groote ,schuur ,road4 ,there is a delicious description of a day at ',paradise' in the wonderful ',lives of the ,lindsays'--the mad1 witty ,lindsays6 and ,anne was one of them--and she wrote as amusingly and wittily to her sisters as she wrote to ,melville1 and she tied up the beautiful ,cape wild flowers in gauze bags to send to 'my dearest ,margaret4' ,i sometimes think that the letters1 which are known to be in a famous collection kept from the world1 must be less philosophical1 less cynical1 less amusing1 and more in accord with the mood in which ,anne wrote ',old ,robin ,gray4' ,that in #agig4 ,this in #aiji--,marinus and ,i asking our way of an old black woodcutter1 with feathery green ',newlands ,creeper' twisted round his hat--that heirloom of the old slave descendant--a broad1 passive grin crinkling over his face3 ',jaa1 ,missis2 ,missis want ole slavy-house--want get by ole ,paradise8 ,yaa1 vat ,i know ole ,paradise2 working by dese woods tirty years--fader1 grandfader1 all working by ,paradise4' ,so we followed him1 our guide1 our ponies scrambling up the slippery1 moss-covered pathway1 the trees growing low and thick1 obscuring the sunlight1 the dark figure of the woodman always running before us4 ,deeper and deeper we plunged into the low woods1 when turning suddenly to the right and going slightly downhill1 quite behind the fir-covered koppie1 we came into ',paradise4' ,found6 and in ruins6 ,and ,i picked ferns from the walls of ,anne ,barnard's dining-room6 ,here was the courtyard with the chief buildings facing north2 on the right1 the long stoep showing remains of the curved1 rounded steps4 ,on the left are the walls of lower buildings--probably the kitchens which the ,barnards built4 ,we left our ponies with the black man and pushed our way in silence through the overgrown garden1 all the terraces still banked up by small stone walls1 now moss-covered1 past little garden paths running along the mountain-stream1 and fig-trees long since overgrown and forgetful of bearing fruit2 and higher up towards the mountain we found two graves and four or five chestnut-trees--'the finest chestnuts ,i ever saw by many1 many degrees1' says ,anne4 ,but wherever we went the thin1 twisted1 fantastic oaks1 like deformed gnomes reared in the dark1 barred the way of ',paradise' to intruders1 and with the rustling breeze the frightened squirrels and the ghosts of this ,trianon rushed away before us into the gloom4 ,once1 when sitting alone1 only breathing a little ,greek poem of praise to ,pan1 ,i thought ,i saw a ghost of this dead ',paradise1' forming etheresque1 vague and elusive1 between the green hanging strands of creepers4444 ,it was only the web of a wood-spider caught in a shaft of sunlight which had shot through the heavy roof of leaves4 ,the garden which should have grown the most sensitive plants now grows weeds2 only in a deserted corner we found a quaint1 aromatic pink flower with a scent which suggested the ,east4 ,the light was fading2 ,anne in her letters remarks upon this3 ',the sun sets here in ,paradise two hours sooner than on the other side of the hill1 which ,i am told marks its height1 but with lamps and candles it makes no difference4 ,we have nothing here to annoy us--except mosquitoes and the baboons who come down in packs to pillage our garden of the fruit with which the trees are laden4' ,so we recovered our ponies from the woodcutter1 who told us he had cut wood round ',paradise' for over thirty years1 and followed the red-brick slave-road which brought us to the middle of the ,newlands ,avenue4 ',paradise1' with its shy ghosts1 its decay1 its charm1 and its memories of ,anne1 we placed at the back of our minds like little sacred hidden temples1 and the essence of it all burnt like incense in their shrines4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,liesbeek ,,river ,we traced one day the old boundary-line1 the ,liesbeek ,river1 from its mouth near the ,salt ,river to its sources in the woods of ,paradise and ,bishopscourt4 ,in some of the old record-books ,i found this entry1 which will do as a prologue to the chapter3 ',,cabo ,,de ,,bonne ,,esperance1 ',september1 #afeb4 ',riebeek and the ,carpenter proceed' 7it was proceeding with some great care and danger in those days7 'to the back of ,table ,mountain' 7a vague term for everything which was not visible from the fort74 ',here to examine1 whether there are any forests other than already mentioned on the ,lion ,mountain1 as the timber from home has been much spoilt1 and is too light for the dwellings1 in consequence of the heavy winds from the mountain we dare not leave our heaviest houses without supports4 ,we found in the kloofs fine1 thick1 fairly strong trees1 somewhat like the ash and beech1 heavy and difficult to be transported4 ,we found on some trees the dates #afjd1 #afbj1 and #afbb1 but did not know who carved them4 ,astonished that so many ,east ,india voyagers have maintained that there is no wood here4 ,found also fine soil1 intersected by countless rivulets1 the biggest as broad as the ,amstel 7,liesbeek71 and running into the ,salt ,river4' ,this well-watered ground round ,bishopscourt and ,newlands became the ,company's forest lands4 ,in #afef1 when the ,commander went on another tree-hunting expedition1 there is another entry3 ',august #ca1 #afef4 ',the ,commander proceeds to the cornland1 has some tobacco sown1 and proceeds behind ,table ,mountain1 where the forests are4 ,he found very many sorts of trees similar to pine1 but no real pines1 and not one higher than #f1 #g1 or #h feet4' ,the ,commander grew to love the forests1 and land was granted him on the banks of the ,liesbeek 7where ,bishopscourt now stands7 in an almost dangerous situation1 for day and night a watch was kept on the ,hottentots lurking in the bushes of the ,hen and ,chickens ,hill1 or secretly striving to drive their cattle across the river into the ,company's grazing-ground4 ,the river1 the watch-houses reported1 was fordable1 and cattle were constantly stolen4 ,and as we were now pushing our way through the bushes and brambles along the overgrown banks1 so in #afeh did ,van ,riebeek ride out with ,van ,goens 'all through the reeds1 shrubs1 lilies1 and marshes4' ,the old ,diary goes on3 ',he found the forest so closely grown from the one point to the other that no opening could be found than the wagon road1 which might be easily closed with a bar4 ,no cattle could pass through this wood1 even if thousands of ,hottentots were driving them4 ,it is about two hours distant from the fort1 as far as ,visagie's dwelling and brewery below the foot of the ,bosheuvel1 where the ,commander one morning showed ,commander ,van ,goens1 when they were walking over the ,bosheuvel 7with a ,hottentot who did not wish that land should be cultivated there71 a spot on which to build a small redoubt or watch-house1 to protect the lands in the neighbourhood1 and to which spot the ,river ,liesbeek could be made navigable for small boats from the fort and through the ,salt ,river4 ,but as the ,liesbeek is thickly studded with reeds1 etc41 #a and #b feet high1 it will be necessary to make a clearing on the sides1 in order to examine the whole more carefully4' ,then started a great labour1 and many seamen were busy for months clearing the river1 until1 with much triumph1 it was written in the journal that in 'some places it was found to be the depth of a pike4' ,the river as far as ,rondebosch is not interesting1 and often impossible to follow1 as it runs through private grounds and is very overgrown by oaks and poplars4 ,at the extreme end of ,rondebosch it becomes wider4 ,at ,westerford1 or the ,west ,ford1 the main road crosses it on a bridge1 and the old history is perpetuated in the name given to a shaded road running past the brewery--,boundary ,road4 ,at ,westerford is one of the old1 fast-disappearing ,outspan places--a big1 bare spot under the oaks1 with the white walls and thatch outhouses of the homestead which once belonged to ,mostaert1 'living on the other side of the ,schuur4' ,here we saw1 as we rode past1 some wagons outspanned1 the small black boys busy watering the mules and oxen in the river below1 farmers lying about wreathed in tobacco smoke--the old days seem so quaintly characteristic1 in spite of the near proximity of a wine-store and a forage-loft4 ,a scene of busy lethargy--if such a paradox is permitted4 ,i imagined how much more it meant in the olden days1 when the hard-grown corn1 and flax1 and hemp1 and tobacco were brought in from the brave little colony in the ,groeneveld2 how they rushed through the deep ford to this outspan of safety on the right side of the river4 ,the river runs through a lovely wood at the bottom of ,government ,house1 ,newlands1 and on its steep opposite bank is ',the ,vineyard1' which little place--lately belonging to the ,manuel family--was designed and built by the ,barnards1 when the angel with the flaming sword1 in the guise of a new ,governor--decrepit1 weak old ,sir ,george ,younge1 with his debts and dissipations--turned them out of ',paradise4' ,anne writes to ,melville from ',the ,vineyard' on ,march #ad1 #ahjj3 ',i am living out of town at our little country place1 which we purchased1 built a cottage on1 and called ,the ,vineyard1 removed from all party work1 except working parties in our fields1 rooting up of palmiet roots#c and planting of fir-trees and potatoes4' ',the ,vineyard1' which is in due order the correct place to fly to when one has lost ',paradise1' must have been a great refuge to the ,barnards4 ,those were troublous times of social intrigue--the old order and the new--the ,barnards weeping over the departure of the poor ,governor ,macartney1 wary1 well-bred and witty1 all crippled with gout2 old ,younge1 arriving with his sycophants2 the ,general1 ,dundas1 busy fighting the natives and courting the rather dull lady who came out to marry him2 the entire gang eyeing poor ,anne in her comfortable stronghold in the ,castle1 and 7one may gather7 keeping no judicious guard over their tongues4 ,anne rose to the occasion1 offered her ,castle home to the ,general and his ,cummings gave a good party for the ladies of the staff1 and retired to watch the dnouement from the comforting distance at ',the ,vineyard1' and to write philosophical letters on the political situation1 which1 in the district of ,graff-,reinet1 was of an inky blackness4 ,the long oak avenues of ,newlands ,house on the opposite bank gave us ,canaletto-like perspectives of the low white house and twisted chimneys1 the green lawns and deer-park1 and the intensest blue hydrangeas4 ,i have seen a drawing of the house as it was in the time of ,lord ,charles ,somerset1 with oval verandah1 otherwise very much the same4 ,it ultimately became the property of an old ,van der ,pool1 who left it to the famous ,hiddingh family1 who have for years leased it to the ,government4 ,a namesake of his was an amusing character1 living in semi-darkness and dirt1 hoarding up his unprofitable wealth4 ,an old black woman who was once his cook told a very good story of this old miser4 ,van der ,pool was noted for having in his cellars the best wine at the ,cape--no one ever tasted it4 ,he hated spinach1 but spinach grew in the garden1 and therefore must not be wasted4 ,in the dark dining-room1 with an old gazette serving for a tablecloth1 sat old man ,van der ,pool waiting for his dinner4 ,up came the dinner1 ',saartje' with a big dish of spinach rotten with long keeping4 ,old man ,van der ,pool cursed ,saartje and spinach in best ,dutch1 and 'made a plan4' ',saartje1 say ole ,bass1 very gentle1 soft like1 go fetch me from die cellar a best big bottle of ole ,pontac4 ,i run fetch ole ,pontac2 ole ,bass1 he put die bottle jus so1 in front of him4 ,now1 he say1 ,saartje1 you trek4 ,i trek out not farder dan die door keyhole4 ,i see ole ,bass pour out best old ,pontac and put die spinach in front too4 ,now1 he say1 ,hendrick1 you see dis fine1 werry1 werry fine ole ,pontac1 you eat dis verdommte spinach first1 den you drink dis wine1 wot's been standin1 ,hendrickie1 ,kerl1 for werry many years4 ,ole ,bass1 he eat1 eat fast as ,i nebber seen him before2 den1 when all spinach done1 ole ,bass he pour die wine back in die bottle4 ,he laf1 laf1 and he say1 putting his finger to his nose1 ,hi6 ,hendrick1 ,i fool you dis time1 ,i tink1 fool you pretty well4' ,illustration3 ,,oak ,,avenue1 ,,newlands ,we left the river for a time and got up a side avenue into the big ,newlands ,avenue1 near ,montebello and the brewery4 ,all this estate1 once called the ,palmboom1 or ,brewery ,estate1 belonged to old ,dirk ,van ,rheenen1 or ,van ,rhnen1 ,anne ,barnard's friend1 the most hospitable man in all the ,peninsula4 ,dirk got the ,government beer contract and built a wonderful mansion1 designed with all its white stateliness and ,doric pillars by a ,frenchman who came out to build the ,amsterdam ,battery--at least1 ,marinus says so4 ,but ,i have another story which is as well told4 ,anne ,barnard is my authority1 and she says she considers the ,van ,rheenen house possessed the air of a ,european mansion1 it being erected by his own slaves from an ,italian drawing he happened to meet with4 ,there is a quaint description of how the ,barnards' party went a-dining with ,mynheer ,van ,rheenen3 ',the family received us all with open countenances of gladness and hospitality1 but the openest countenance and the most resolute smile1 amounting to a grin1 was borne by a calf's head1 nearly as large as that of an ox1 which was boiled entire and served up with the ears whole and a pair of gallant horns4 ,the teeth were more perfect than dentist ever made1 and no white satin was so pure as the skin of the countenance4 ,this melancholy merry smiler and a tureen of bird's-nest soup were the most distinguished plats in the entertainment4 ,the soup was a mass of the most aromatic nastiness ,i ever tasted1 somewhat resembling macaroni perfumed with different scents2 it is a ,chinese dish1 and was formerly so highly valued in ,india that five-and-twenty guineas was the price of a tureenful of it4 ,the springer#d also made its appearance1 boiled in large slices--admirable6 ,it is a fish which would make the fortune of anyone who could carry it by spawn to ,england4 ,the party was good1 the game abundant1 but ill-cooked1 the beef bad1 the mutton by no means superior1 the poultry remarkably good1 and the venison of the highest flavour1 but without fat2 this1 however1 was supplied by its being larded very thickly--all sorts of fruits in great perfection1 pines excepted1 of which there are not many at the ,cape4 ,mynheer carried us off after dinner to see his bloom of tulips and other flowers2 the tulips are very fine1 and the carnations beautiful2 all were sheltered from the winds by myrtle hedges4 ,our gentlemen returned delighted with the day they had spent1 and very glad to have the prospect of another such4' ,gigantic appetites1 hadn't they8 ,and if ,anne hadn't tasted it all how could she have commented with so much definiteness8 ,they grew tulips here6 ,why not8 ,but they won't grow1 is the answer4 ,i expect the secret lies in the neat myrtle hedges1 which can yet be seen in some old-fashioned gardens in ,sea ,point and ,cape ,town4 ,they drank well and unwisely1 also1 these ,peninsula people4 ,thompson remarks upon this in his book on the ,cape3 ',the ,pokaalie cup1 like the blessed beer of ,bradwardine1 too often drowns both reason and refinement4' ,,footnotes3 #c ,palmiet is a high1 strong river-weed4 #d ,a fresh-water fish4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,bosheuvel1 ,,or ,,hen ,,and ,,chickens ,,hill ,we crossed the river at the bottom of the ,bishopscourt gardens1 and found ourselves looking down the long fir avenue1 arched as perfectly as the nave of a ,gothic cathedral4 ,opposite1 ran another little avenue along the side of the hill1 and to the right1 staring at us like black and white toadstools of monstrous size out of the green gloom1 the thatched cottages of ,bishopscourt4 ,we chose a little narrow pathway running up the hill from the middle avenue1 winding through low protea-bush and silver-trees4 ,illustration3 ,,silver ,,trees ,,and ,,wild ,,geraniums ,there is cruel1 continuous1 silent fighting on this hillside--the battle between the silver-trees and the firs4 ,the firs1 or pines1 who came here last1 are creeping1 year by year1 higher and higher up the hill2 year by year the brave little 'witteboomen' 7white trees7 are driven before this strong green army of invaders2 soon there will be a last stand on the hilltop--the survival of the fittest4 ,we shall all see it2 we are seeing it every day of our lives--and will no one help8 ,the pines are helped by unthinking man in his horrible materialism--the silver-tree branches are easy to break off1 and make good fuel4 ,day by day1 like a file of gaudy beetles1 the dwellers of ',protea' crawl along our little path and down again to the river huts1 with loaded shoulders1 and leave the silver woods leaner4 ,a hundred years ago ,anne ,barnard1 herself a tree-planter for the generations to come1 talks with satisfaction of ',the ,marriage of ,miss ,silver-tree and ,donald ,fir-tops4' ,marinus says ,i am a sentimental traveller1 but it is a distressing end to such a mnage after only one hundred years6 ,barrow1 the naturalist1 speaks of the moth which feeds on the ,protea argenta1 and suggests turning them to some account1 seeing that it is said to be exactly the same insect which spins the strong ,indian silk called ',tussach4' ,here is an idea of interest1 but that means the protection of the silver-tree4 ,there is in ,cape ,town a society for the preservation of objects of national interest--a slumbering giant of the moment4 ,the protection of natural objects of national importance and beauty should appear as an amendment on its syllabus4 ,in ,france1 a fat little bourgeois ,ministre de l',instruction ,publique et des ,beaux ,arts1 or the fatter and more bourgeois ,sous-,prfet of a small town1 will run about on any hot day or any cold day1 with all the importance and authority of the ,state embodied in his active patriotic ,french body and his 'red ribbon1' and behold6 ',messieurs1 you would destroy this tree--tiens6--destroy the beauty of ,france1 je vous demande8 ,never1 jamais de la vie6' ,the tree stays4 ,that ancient wall destroying the value of a good building site--'tant pis6' ,it remains6 ',libert1 ,egalit1 ,fraternit'--the ,new ,rule2 but we must perforce worship the ,old4 ,such the snobbism of ,la ,patrie1 ,la ,france4 ,such is my plea for the shining1 ,ancient ,inhabitants of the ,bosheuvel4 ,most travellers assert that they are unique1 growing in no other part of the world2 and many affirm that they are indigenous4 ,their evolution is distinctly traceable in the soft grey silkiness on the back of the leaves of the large1 yellow protea-bush4 ,a careful walk across the ,wynberg hills1 and you will come back to report that nearly every shrub or even quite tiny ground plant is of the protea family1 vastly productive and attractive family1 from the yellow giants with their pink-tipped cousins1 the sugar-bushes--the treasure caves of the bees and tiny1 brilliant1 green sugar-birds--to the top-heavy white protea1 sometimes painted1 like ,alice's red rose-tree1 a deep crimson4 ,some very distant cousins1 who have not risen sufficiently high in their world1 have no flowers at all1 only brilliant-coloured red and yellow stem tops4 ,we have seen the ,bosheuvel in many moods and seasons2 we have been there when the sweet-smelling pink flower1 half acacia1 half pea1 the ,keurboom1 lines the paths1 and ,bishopscourt lies in a deep blue sea of mist1 while above1 the ',skeleton' and ',window' ,gorges are mauve with aching buds of the oaks in early spring4 ,now it is middle summer1 with fields of yellow mustard flower1 tall blue reeds1 and wild-geraniums1 of which it is said that 'this tribe of plant alone might imitate in their leaves every genus of the vegetable world4' ,our ponies crackled their way over the dead silver leaves as we climbed over this old outpost hill1 from whose summit the agitated freemen or soldiers would see the ',caapmen' dancing round their fires below4 ,the hill has a fighting reputation2 terrible murders of slaves and burghers and cattle-thieving were daily recorded from the vicinity of the ,bosheuvel in the first ,commander's journal4 ,van ,riebeek1 walking up from his farm below1 saw ',kyekuyt1' his second outpost1 burning away to the tune of this ,hottentot singing2 saw the ,saldanhas pressing close to its base1 forming one long ominous barrier along the blue shadow4 ,his mind was full of tricks for peace4 ,by a clever ruse he turned these savages with their herds through the ,kloof ,nek1 hoping they might wander away to ,cape ,point4 ,but they hurried back over the ,constantia or ,wynberg ,pass1 and their cattle fed with the ,company's cattle1 and they danced once again on the ',hen and ,chickens1' whose grey granite boulders1 several small rocks clustering round a big one1 would form fit temples for these worshippers of the moon4 ,when we reached the famous ',grey ,hen' overlooking the ,wynberg ,park1 ,marinus produced a small piece of paper1 and read from it this scheme of peace1 signed in full by the ,council and the ,commander1 recommending their decision to the grace of ,god and the approval of ,amsterdam3 ',that not only should the ,colony be protected from the ravages of the ,hottentots by the redoubts placed at intervals along the river1 with the last and farthest on the ,bosheuvel1 called ,hout den ,bul 7,hold the ,bull71 but a fence of bitter almonds should be planted across the ,bosheuvel1 stretching to the bottom and then going off at a direct angle along the river lands to the seashore4' ,on our way along the river we have behaved with more inquisitiveness than respect2 most unsuspecting people have had their gardens and fields incautiously explored by ,marinus and me4 ,here and there we have found in the overgrown garden of a thatched house1 in a tangle of oleanders 7or ,chinese roses1 as the ,dutch call them7--and goodness knows they are the only flowers that can possibly account for the floral decorations on old ,china--myrtle hedges1 ,cape jasmine1 and magnolias 7can't you smell the garden871 a few little clumps of the shining1 green bitter almond1 the last of the old fence4 ,it is not1 however1 hard to find on the ,bosheuvel ,hill1 though it is always being destroyed in the bush fires so frequent on the hill1 when in a few minutes hundreds of trees have given one sharp crackle of agony1 and are charred heaps of silvery ashes4 ,we traced it1 this old warrior of a hedge which was once the only shade for the horsemen and soldiers stationed at the ,redoubt4 ,it crosses the middle of the hill4 ,it once looked on one side on the farm of the ,commander1 and on the other side on the huts and kraals of the ,hottentots1 whose erring cattle poked their uncivilized horns through its thick greenness2 and now its aged branches lap over a barbed-wire fence which runs along the farms ,oosterzee and ,glen ,dirk1 of ,mr4 ,philip ,cloete and his brother2 while1 on the other side1 the firs and oaks hide the white walls of ,bishopscourt4 ,the silver-tree and the bitter-almond hedge are the ,ancient ,inhabitants1 and ,marinus and ,i felt we were friends and in league with the barbed-wire fence1 and we hated the position4 ,so we rode down the hill into the ,wynberg ,park1 and leaving the camp on the left we crossed the glen at the bottom of ,glen ,dirk1 and1 behold1 we were in a sea of vineyards1 the purple bunches almost resting their ripe weight on the burning pink earth4 ,some old naturalist thinks that it is to the laziness of the old vine-growers that we owe the slow evolution of our wine4 ,no tall trellised vines or standards of ,france and ,spain and the ,rhine1 no rows of mulberry-trees supporting the hanging tendrils as in ,italy1 but low1 stubby-looking little vine-sticks2 and1 says my authority of a hundred years ago1 'as is well known1 the exhalations from the earth are so much imbibed by the leaves of the tobacco plant which grow nearest to it1 that those leaves are always rejected as unfit for use1 so it is natural to suppose that the fruit of the vine hanging very near to1 or even resting upon1 the ground1 will also receive the prevailing flavour exhaling from the soil4' ,this was the theory of a theorist4 ,i have the authority of a wine-maker who says that it is not only the heavy spring winds that have necessitated low vines1 but that the ,cape wine was1 and is1 essentially a sweet wine1 and to procure the right amount of sugar it is important to grow the vines as near the ground as possible1 that the radiation of the sun off the ground may ripen them4 ,later came the demand for a lighter wine1 and creeping vines were introduced grown on wire1 but as close to the ground as possible1 otherwise the wine does not maintain itself1 and becomes acid4 ,the old ,pontac vine1 which is a creeper by nature1 was treated in the old days1 and is still treated as a creeper1 by tying a long cane across the centre of the tree1 so that it lies horizontally across1 close to the ground2 no wire is used1 or the days of sweet ,pontac would be over4 ,my first authority1 the theorist1 deplores1 in excellent ,english1 the slackness that existed in the making of wine and brandy4 ,i remember with horror seeing in ,constantia cellars the old process in full swing4 ,huge vats--the hugeness of a fairy-tale ogre's bath--raised high up in the gloom of the cellar1 the sickening smell of fermentation1 the squash1 squash1 bubble1 bubble1 of the juice oozing through the vat holes1 and the sweating blacks1 in tunics that reached to the knee and were once white1 treading and squashing the grapes1 their black faces bobbing up and down in the great vats1 sometimes singing1 or spitting out the chewed tobacco1 the ,nirvana of the workers4 ,my whole body and soul revolted against this physical strength and stench--to me it was the greatest weapon in the total abstainer crusade2 the nauseous odour of malt and beer is nothing to it4 ,oh6 it's a fascinating subject1 this culture of the ,vine1 as old as the hills1 and with the greatest sympathy do the ,jew and the ,gentile view it2 and its cosmopolicy is almost perfect4 ,it makes brothers of strangers1 swine of brothers2 it is an everlasting monument to ,adam--he went out of ,paradise to till the ground1 and wherefore till unless to grow the vine which alone can make him forget ,paradise--and in its long pageant come passing by1 old ,noah and his sons1 who peopled the earth2 ,dionysius and his followers--his troupe of ,bacchantes revelling in leopard skins1 purple grapes and flowing hair1 and in turn their ghastly following of fauns and satyrs1 the chorus for their appalling rites and festivals2 then comes the solemn ,persian1 whose women carried the purple wine while he sang the praises of both1 in the guise of the philosophy of the most ancient ,abyssinian ,universities2 in great disorder crowd along the poisoners of early ,rome and the ,renaissance1 carrying their fatal goblets2 the decadent revellers of ,lemnos in artistic drunkenness--roses and pearls and wine and the heated dancers of inspiration1 which made luxury to be desired4 ,in the crowd1 jostling with all1 pass ,popes and ,cardinals with more wine--strange vicissitude6 ,the ,host of the ,lord followed by the faithful--it is now become the religion of the world4 ,then come the painters1 the great 'primitives1' and the makers of the new religion1 creators of sublime pictures--a ',last ,supper'2 the wine in the cup1 pure red1 as red as the wine ,bacchus is flinging over his drunken followers1 as red as the wine of ,omar1 of ,cleopatra's love-philtres dissolving pearls4 ,great ,fellowship of the ,vine2 it rules the world6 ,continue looking3 there is more procession2 picturesque1 besatined men who have fought picturesque duels1 and gambled and drunk wine in the coffee-houses 7what a paradox671 men who have made poems and books1 and run ,states and ,empires1 and have laid with unflagging regularity under their tables in the respectability which rank and custom made possible2 and looming in the gloom behind the pageant are the shadows of the invading army4 ,they1 too1 have kept their pattern in this kaleidoscope2 the men who have made a ,hell for the drunkards--the ,ironsides1 ,calvinists1 ,protestants1 a dull crowd to follow such gorgeousness4 ,the ,banners of ,temperance are ,grey and ,green3 and grey is an enduring colour1 and clashes with nothing2 and green is the colour of the ,world6 the ,earth6 and the woods6 leaves and pure water6 the singing of birds6 time to sleep1 time to eat1 time to listen6 ,this may be behind the grey banners2 but the ,eyes of the ,pageant are near-sighted and tired with overmuch colour and vibration1 and the ,ears of the ,pageant are tuned too high to hear the song of birds4 ,we have been round the ,mulberry ,bush1 round and round4444 ',this is the way we have brushed our hair2 ,this is the way we have washed our faces2 ,this is the way we have eaten our food2 ,this is the way we go to bed2 ,this is the way we get up again4' ,all the cynical philosophy of that child-game brings us back to where we started--the vineyards4 ,i told all this to ,marinus as we lazed along the path through the vineyards1 with ,klastenbosch ,woods on our right and tiny thatched farms with a symmetrical patch of cabbages and violets supporting each household3 the slopes of the ,tokai or ,steenbergen ranges before us1 ',un paysage aprs ,claud4' ,constantia was once divided into two big plots--,great and ,little--and a few things in between which didn't count much4 ,now--well1 there are such pretty names2 old ,klastenbosch1 its outhouses dying in their old faith1 with dilapidated ,dutch white and green and low stoeps1 while the dwelling-house flaunts its regenerated walls in newly-acquired glory1 full of comfortable ,english furniture--the fullest example of the new ,south ,african nation1 in ideals laid down by a clever man--enfin6 what could be more solid than such combination8 ,english1 ,dutch1 and ,german4 ,but the ,klastenbosch pigs are still black1 and they grunt and nozzle in the oak forest and along the stream with the wild olive-trees on its banks comme autrefois4 ,to continue the list of names4 ,just below us in a poplar forest lies ',belle ,ombre'2 to our left is ',alphen'2 and we trotted past its gates and low white walls1 along the avenue of twisted1 red-dusted stone-pines1 past ',hauptville1' a tiny spot in the midst of its acres of vines1 and up the pink1 pine-edged ,constantia road to ,groot ,constantia4 ,illustration3 ,,fir ,,avenue--,,alphen ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,constantia ,,valley ,lady ,anne ,barnard writes amusingly of a visit she paid to this green valley from her home on the other side of the hill1 to the house of ,mynheer ,cloete1 who once had to pay one thousand dollars for a large piece of ,druip#e stone4 ,in a cave beyond ,sir ,lowry's ,pass this gentleman saw the mass of petrifaction1 and thinking it a safe thing1 he made a bet with a ,boer standing near that1 though no one could possibly get such a fragile mass over the pass1 he would give one thousand dollars to have it at ,constantia4 ,the fragile mass1 and the ,boer1 turned up one day at ,constantia1 to the disgust of ,mynheer4 ,lady ,anne took ,lord ,mornington1 stopping at the ,cape on his way to ,india1 to lunch with this ,cloete1 who showed her a new blend of wine which he had himself invented4 ',i was astonished1' she remarks1 'to hear a ,dutchman say he did anything his father had not done before him1 for when ,i asked him why such and such a thing was not done1 he shrugged his shoulders and said 'it was not the custom4' ,a characteristic episode1 ,i fancy1 and one which has taken too long to change1 independence of mind and imagination not being smiled upon by cautious contentment4 ,as ,governors-,general did not often pass the ,cape1 ,mynheer brought out his best and oldest port1 sherry1 and claret1 and 'the gentlemen's prejudices got the better of their manners'2 ,mynheer ,cloete copiously drinking foreign claret1 remarking1 ',my wines are valuable2 and ,i am glad when others like them1 but ,i do not2 whoever prizes what is made at home8' ,a few years before ,mynheer did without his after-dinner 7luncheon7 'slaap' to entertain ,lord ,mornington and the ,barnards1 ,monsieur ,le ,vaillant1 turning his unappreciated ,french back on the town 'where only the ,english are loved1' wandered into the quince and myrtle-hedged vineyard of ,cloete's ,constantia1 where his host1 a ,jacobin to his finger-tips1 gave him a 'sopje'#f of his best ,constantia1 and ,le ,vaillant bewailed his prejudiced ,cape ,town audience aloud3 ',mynheer1 here in your ,kaapstad1 it is the ,english who are adored2 when they arrive1 everyone is eager to offer them a lodging4 ,in less than eight days everything becomes ,english in the house upon which they have fixed their choice2 and the master and the mistress1 and even the children 7with his fine laces ballet-dancing round his waving and gesticulating hands71 et mme des enfants6 soon assume their manners4' ,then came the currant in this suet4 ',at table1 for instance1 the knife never fails to discharge the office of the fork6 ,would you credit this1 ,mynheer8 ,i have even heard some of the inhabitants say that they would rather be taken by the ,english than owe their safety to the ,french4' ,mynheer1 deep in his 'sopje1' grunts a ,dutch grunt of uncompromising depth4 ,this garrulous ,french explorer found this rich old ,cloete less sympathetic than his ,jacobin friend ,broers1 for whose services at a critical time a grateful ,french ,government was not unwilling to shower rewards1 and ,le ,vaillant left ,constantia to write of it3 ',that this celebrated vineyard does not produce a tenth part of the wine which is sold under its name4 ,some say the first plants were brought here from ,burgundy1 others from ,madeira1 and some from ,persia4 ,however this may be1 it is certain 7in #aghb7 that this wine is delicious when drunk at the ,cape2 that it loses much by being transported2 and that after five years it is worth nothing4 ,close to ,constantia is another vineyard1 called the ,lesser ,constantia 7,klein ,constantia71 but it is only within these later years that it has begun to be held in the same esteem as the former4 ,it has even sometimes happened that the produce of it has been sold for a larger sum than that of the other at the ,company's sales6 ,as it is separated from the other only by a plain hedge1 it is probable that there was formerly no difference between the wines1 but in the manner of preparing them4 ,only the rich use the wine of other countries4' ,a not too flourishing 'koopman' 7merchant71 a lover of the ,english and a well-known despiser of the popinjay little ,frenchman1 hearing this remark in a coffee-house1 and not counting on the irrepressible ,broers1 sat one evening on the stoep of his long1 flat-roofed house in the ,wale ,street4 ,up from the ,heerengracht1 across the canal bridge1 came ,monsieur le ,franais with friend ,fiscal ,broers4 ,this was an opportunity to be seized4 ',dantje6' echoed in loud tones down the ,wale ,street4 ,dantje the slave came running up from the kitchens4 ',fetch some red wine immediately4' ',the vanity of this man1' says the triumphant ,le ,vaillant1 'is ridiculous4 ,mr4 ,broers assures me that he has not a single drop in his possession1 and that he had perhaps drunk of it ten times in his life4' ,on this account1 having reached the top of the street1 they turned round and beheld the knowing ,dantje pouring out beer6 ,slimmer ,kerl6 ,there seems justifiable reason for belief that ,dantje scored heaviest in this particular case4 ,by now we have passed the gates of ,high ,constantia and ,klein ,constantia1 and very soon have reached the ,government wine-farm1 ,groote ,constantia1 ,simon ,van der ,stel's home1 of which so much has been written1 and which we passed rather hurriedly2 for it does not please me to know that its best furniture has disappeared1 that the new wine cellars have iron roofs1 that the old bath is overgrown with brambles and weeds1 and that convicts in a plague of arrow-marked garments frighten the birds who come to 'steal in the vineyards4' ,we cut across country into the ,tokai road1 through a violet farm1 whose charm dies when the flowers fade in early summer4 ,there are acres and acres of violets1 hedged by poplars1 and deep streams which water them and overflow into potato lands lying lower down in ',retreat' country1 and help to feed the 'vleis' at ,lakeside4 ,we raced along a mile of sandy lane lined with firs and protea and heath1 called1 by reason of some virtue1 ',the ,ladies' ,mile4' ,this road led us to the farm ',berg ,vliet1' behind whose white walls we passed into a sandy vineyard track1 and soon we reached the ,tokai convict station and the oak woods of the ,manor ,house4 ,,footnotes3 #e ,druip stone--i4e41 stalactite4 #f ,a 'sopje' or 'sooppie1' a glass of rack or gin1 or1 rather1 a ,french brandy4 ,before sitting down to dinner it was etiquette to offer a 'soppe' or a little white wine1 into which wormwood or aloes had been infused in order to excite the appetite4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,mountain ,to realize the ,cape ,peninsula one must stand on the lower plateau of ,table ,mountain1 near the ,wynberg ,reservoir3 there is a clear1 neat map of the country laid out before one4 ,we drove up over the ,hen and ,chickens ,hill1 the road running parallel with the old bitter-almond ,hedge to the teak-gated enclosure on the ',rhodes ,road4' ,it was a misty morning1 though the sun was hot2 the ,flats were mostly in shade1 with long shafts of light striking across the sand-dunes and the 'vleis4' ,a trolley1 dragged by a white horse1 brought us through a grove of silver-trees to a tin shed1 where a coolie half-caste told us that we should have to wait for the mountain trolley1 which was then running up coal and food to the workers at the reservoir on the mountain above us4 ,illustration3 ,,constantia ,,valley ,,and ,,false ,,bay1 ,,with ,,cape ,,point ,the thin mist crept up and down the slopes1 and hordes of black flower-pickers passed us1 carrying huge bunches of pink and purple flowers1 gathered from the ,skeleton and ,window ,gorges1 to be sold next morning in ,adderley ,street4 ,a small black trolley1 with planks across the top to serve as seats1 slipped through a clump of gum-trees1 stopped at the shed1 and we climbed in4 ,the damp mists crept lower1 and ,marinus lent me his big black mackintosh4 ,the trolley was hauled up the one-in-one gradient by a rope worked by steam4 ,running from the front of the car to the iron bar at the back of it was a small piece of dilapidated-looking rope1 the object of which ,i could not imagine4 ,slowly we climbed through the gum-trees1 and came face to face with the grey wall of mountain towering before us4 ,the rays of sun caught the silver-trees below1 and they flashed their farewells as we mounted into the mists4 ,on our right were slopes of pale pink gladioli and gentian-blue flowering reed4 ,on our left1 clumps of scarlet-red ',erica' heath and brown grasses1 and far--terribly far--below us the ,rhodes ,road winding close to the mountain over ,constantia ,nek4 ,suddenly ,i felt the rope tighten1 and instinctively 7no need to ask its use now7 found myself clinging and crouching forward with a tense feeling in my throat4 ,the mountain seemed almost to hang over the car1 yet the line went straight up4 ,i smelt the pungent scent of wild-geraniums1 and knew there were pink flowers1 but my eyes saw not4 ,the rope slackened1 and ,i looked back6 ,i understood why ,lot's wife became a pillar of salt3 we had come up over the edge of the world4 ,once1 like a reassuring presence1 a small black car ran down past the trolley1 almost brushing my coat4 ,twelve minutes of this1 then before us were iron sheds and black and white genii--the men who had made the line and the men who worked the trolley4 ,inside the shed the puffing little engine of magic power4 ,then the 'man who makes' on the mountain hurried us off1 through a forest of thin firs1 on to a plain of rock and white sand1 with not more than ten feet of view around4 ,it was a mysterious walk1 this pilgrimage in silence through the rain--soft1 soaking stuff of spray--past huge water-worn boulders1 grey granite gargoyles that peered at us through the fog4 ,no sound but the noise of our footsteps on the damp white pathway1 and the crunch of small pebbles as we passed between grey walls of rock4 ,suddenly the way became a field of mauveness1 palest pink and purple flowers1 hedged by masses of tall1 yellow1 flowering reeds1 while close to the damp earth grew hundreds of sweet-smelling butter-coloured orchids and white crassula4 ,as we watched our phantom party moving through the flowers in their unpractical garments1 ,marinus reminded me of how ,anne ,barnard had climbed this mountain in scanty skirt1 her husband's trousers1 and pattens4 ,the memory of ,anne made me sing something ,scotch--not her own song1 ',robin ,gray1' but ',loch ,lomond4' ,i sang very softly to suit the mists1 elusive spirits with feathery wings4 ,as ,i sang there came a noise of driven waters1 the clouds moved away1 and before us was a lake3 a great ocean it might have been1 for one saw no farther shore1 but only big angry waves dashing against the rocks4 ,the 'man who made things' took us down the bank and led us on to a huge wall with a cement pathway and a thin iron rail4 ,on one side of the water1 a sheer drop of over a hundred feet1 a drop into ferns and creepers and gorgeous greenness4 ,on the other side1 sixty feet across1 were the wind-driven waters of the big ,cape ,town reservoir1 and the clever fingers of the 'man who made' pointed into the mist to where there was another of those caged seas1 ',the highest dam in ,africa--in all ,africa1' he said1 with some suspicion of satisfaction in his voice4 ,big waves splashed over the stone wall1 and through the mist we heard a dog bark from the caretaker's cottage across the water4 ,a ,,diary ,,from ,,disa ,,head1 ,,table ,,mountain4 ,,disa ,,head1 ,,table ,,mountain1 ,january #bi1 #aiaj4 ,a small ,norwegian ,pan is sitting on a big grey rock beside me as ,i write2 he is a ,christian1 civilized imp by birth1 and his name is ,olaf ,tafelberg ,thorsen1 and he is a ,viking by descent4 ,he is round and brown as one of the little pebbles that lie on the white shores of the big blue dams1 and his eyes are like the blue-brown pools that are in the shadow of the ',disa ,gorge4' ,this world1 which ,i had only seen through the grey mists1 is sparkling in the perfect atmosphere of some #b1jjj feet above the sea4 ,the same trolley ,i have spoken of before ran me and my baggage up the ,wynberg side of the mountain4 ,on top ,i was met by its inventor and the father of ,olaf ,tafelberg1 and we formed a procession1 to walk for three-quarters of an hour to this home on the grey rock above the dam1 where months before ,i had heard a dog bark out of the mist4 ,olaf ,tafelberg has a ,viking brother1 ,sigveg1 fair and blue-eyed1 who knows every flower on the mountain4 ,then there is a girl child with nothing more distinctive than the most distinctive name of ,disa ,narina2 but she has the same simpleness of manner as the buxom brown ,lady ,narina1 beloved by ,monsieur ,le ,vaillant--the 'model for the pencil of ,albano'--'the youngest of the ,graces1 under the figure of a ,hottentot4' ,this fascinating ,hottentot1 whom ,le ,vaillant met with on his inland travels1 became a kind of dusky and rustic ,egeria4 ,but ,narina possessed more morality than morals1 and made life very pleasant for herself1 acquiring many fine bracelets and head-handkerchiefs from her devoted ,frenchman1 whose 'sentimentality' induced him to weep over the far-travelled letters of ,madame ,le ,vaillant1 and to be content to see ,narina in the capacity of a game dog who would tramp for miles with him along the banks of the river ,groot-,vis4 ,but this is a diversion from the small ,disa ,narina of ,table ,mountain4 ,narina is the ,hottentot word for flower1 and the flower is a gorgeous species of lily in every shade of red1 pink1 and maroon1 covered with shining gold dust4 ,there is a picture by an old ,dutch master of the time of ,william of ,orange1 hanging in a room in ,hampton ,court--dull pink narinas in a gold vase4 ,the red grandiflora ,disa grows in a deep gully running right through the mountain4 ,the father of ,disa ,narina took me into the gorge over which the great white dam wall towers1 and down which #be to #ej million gallons of water rush weekly into the thirsty ,cape ,town reservoirs4 ,we watched it dashing and splashing out of its narrow valve pipe down this steep ravine with towering1 fern-covered cliffs on either side1 down into the soft blue distance1 where it rushes through a tunnel1 and is lost from sight4 ,poor water6 to leave those lovely blue lakes for dusty ,cape ,town2 no wonder it grumbles and foams all the long length of the ,disa ,gorge4 ,some of it escapes--for a rest--into the dark brown pools that lie round the low tree-roots in the shadow of the dripping fern cliffs4 ,i climbed along some fallen boughs into the coolness to pick the fern1 which is a bright pink colour where it grows in the shadow4 ,high above ,i saw the crimson disa and terracotta heath1 and1 edging the pathway1 a pure mauve flower and gentian-blue lobelia1 the ancestor of that little blue border for ,english flower-beds4 ,the first lobelia emigrant left the ,cape in #affj1 and arrived to find ,london almost too busy welcoming a new-old ,king to worry very much about its little ,colonial blueness4 ,still1 it has found a certain rural fame1 and has returned to the land of its birth2 but its mountain brothers1 who are citizens of the world1 would wonder at its small size4 ,we climbed down the gorge through an aromatic hedge of shrub and tall red gladiolus and royal blue agapanthus1 until we came to a projecting cliff1 called ',lover's ,leap1' which has the romantic and tragic tradition that its name implies4 ,instead of being overpowered by its tragedy and its height1 ,i sat down on a sun-warmed rock1 and so closely in our souls are the praises of all religions allied1 that1 stirred by the pureness of the air1 the blueness of the distances1 the sea before me and the distance of the world below1 ,i unconsciously quoted the words which are written by ,walt ,whitman in that creed of the vagrant philosopher1 the ',song of the ,open ,road'3 ',the efflux of the ,soul is happiness2 here is happiness2 ,i think it pervades the open air1 waiting at all times4 ',now it flows unto us3 we are rightly charged2 the earth never tires4 ',i swear to you that there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell4' ,sunday1 ,january #cj1 #aiaj4 ,i have spent the morning in the fir-woods which fringe the dams4 ,through a dip in the mountains facing east1 ,i see the blue peaks of the ,hottentot's ,holland ,ranges4 ,a trolley brought me and my books down from the house on the rock1 and ,i walked up the ',kitchen ,gorge' to find an old ,hottentot cattle kraal--the grey rocks covered with lichen--and close beside it1 on the side of the mountain1 a concave rock big enough to hold six herds4 ,just above us the famous ',echo' ,valley1 where ,anne ,barnard1 having discarded many pairs of pattens1 called on her party to drink the health of ,his ,majesty ,king ,george1 'not doubting that all the hills around would join us3 ,god save the ,king--,god save great ,george our ,king6 roared ,i and my troop4 ,god save--,god save--,god save--great ,george--great ,george--great ,george our ,king6 echoed the loyal mountains4' ,anne was almost the first woman to climb up the mountain1 and there was pretty heavy betting against it in the town4 ,among her party was one of the pleasantest1 best-informed1 and most eager-minded young men in the world--a ,mr4 ,barrow1 a naturalist and explorer1 who was employed by the ,governor1 ,lord ,macartney1 to report on the ,colony1 and especially its unexplored territory4 ,barrow wrote a life of ,lord ,macartney and a two-volume book of travels in ,africa1 in which it is amusing to trace the way of all explorers--the casting of dark doubts on the writing of those who have been before4 ,le ,vaillant dismissed the disgraceful old gossiper ,kolb in a few well-timed words3 ',the ,residence of this man at the ,cape is not yet forgotten4 ,it is well known that he never quitted the town1 yet he speaks with all the assurance of an eyewitness4 ,it cannot1 however1 be doubted that1 after an abode of ten years1 having failed to accomplish what he was commissioned to do1 he found it much easier to collect all the tipplers of the ,colony1 who1 treating him with derision whilst they were drinking his wine1 dictated memoirs to him from tavern to tavern1 tried who could relate to him the most absurd and ridiculous anecdotes1 and amused him with information until they had drained his bottles4 ,in this manner are new discoveries made1 and thus is the progress of the human mind enlarged6' ,in turn ,barrow treats ,monsieur ,le ,vaillant in like manner4 ,for while visiting some years later the farm on which ,le ,vaillant killed some tigers with so much clat and danger that a few pages are devoted to the feat1 ,barrow hears a very different story at the famous house of ,slabert in the ,groen ,kloof4 ,the family knew ,le ,vaillant well1 and ,mr4 ,barrow read his travels aloud1 to the intense amusement of the ,slaberts4 ,barrow says in his book3 '444 ,but the whole of his transactions in this part of the country1 wherein his own heroism is so fully set forth1 they assert to be so many fabrications'2 that the celebrated tiger-shoot was done entirely by their own ,hottentots' trap-gun2 and that the gay ,le ,vaillant found the animal expiring under a bush1 and1 with no great danger to himself1 discharged his musket into the dying tiger6 ,le ,vaillant had set out to find a barbarous race said to wear cotton clothing4 ,his first book of travels in the ,east had sold well1 and here in ,africa ,kolbe's imagination had left little scope for improvement2 hence these revilings4 ,,disa ,,head1 ,,table ,,mountain1 ,january #ca4 ,there was no sunrise this morning2 a driving mist and a howling1 black south-easter4 ',table ,mountain has put on its peruke1' says the witty ,le ,vaillant1 so there will be no fir-woods or flower-hunting this morning2 and ,i am sitting in a small office4 ,through the windows1 in the minutes between the mists1 ,i can see the blue ,indian ,ocean and ,hout ,bay1 and the tallest heads of the ,twelve ,apostles ,mountains1 or ',casteelbergen' as they used to be called4 ,every hour it grows clearer1 and the wind keeps the clouds high up1 their great dark shadows flying across the grey rocks like a defeated army of ,erlkings4 ,a big bird battling against the gale in the ,disa ,valley reminds one of the story told by some old traveller1 who states that1 when the south-east wind blew very strongly1 whole swarms of vultures were swept down from the mountain into the streets of ,cape ,town1 where the inhabitants killed them1 like locusts1 with big sticks6 ,the world is showing itself now1 but all looks cowed and dominated by the fury of the wind4 ,a mad game this--wind and clouds in league1 making a sun-proof roof1 with only the noise of the gale1 the splash of the driven waters in the dams below1 and the bells of the goats walking round the house in the fog4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,sunset ,,on ,,the ,,lion',s ,,head3 ,,effect ,,of ,,south-,,east ,,wind ,,the ,,fir-,,woods ,,at ,,disa ,,head4 ,i have seen the kingdoms of the world1 and am satisfied--a wondrous state of mind and body6 ,i have sat on a ledge of crassula-covered rock and looked down upon ,cape ,town--,lion's ,head far below us1 the green slopes scarred by innumerable red roads1 the bay clear and calm beneath us1 and a gentle south-east breeze with the coolness of water behind us4 ,to the north1 line upon line of low hills swimming in blue haze1 the farms of ,malmesbury showing up like little white beacons in the plains2 to our left the ,platt ,klip ,gorge1 like a great rent in the grey mountain4 ,my guide1 who is a philosopher1 started a story--at least1 ,i thought it was a fairy-tale--of a sanatorium on the flat top and a railway4 ',cape ,town has got that up its sleeve'--,i realized that he really was speaking sense4 ,it will happen1 of course1 in the natural order of things2 and it will bring the believers and the unbelievers--those who see and those 'who pick blackberries to stain their faces'--the cool gorges will echo with their voices1 the ,disa will be hedged round with regulations stronger than barbed wire1 and the swampy ground which now grows shiny white pebbles will grow potatoes and lettuce for the multitude4 ,in the old journal we have the first record of the climbing of ,table ,mountain3 ',sunday1 ,september #bi1 #afeb4 ',fine day4 ,our assistants and two others ascended ,table ,mountain with the ,ottento1 who speaks a little ,english2 saw the fires lit by them2 ascent difficult2 top of mountain flat--as broad and three times as long as the ,dam of ,amsterdam1 with some pools of fresh water4' ,the present pool has very little water2 but then1 it is summer1 and we took the rain gauge for the month and poured back on to the earth three large drops of water6 ,barrow1 in his description of the ascent1 which he made in the charming company of the ,barnards1 talks of the view from the top3 ',all the objects on the plain below are1 in fact1 dwindled away to the eye of the spectator into littleness and insignificance4 ,the flat-roofed houses of ,cape ,town1 disposed into formal clumps1 appear like those paper fabrics which children are accustomed to make with cards4 ,the shrubbery on the sandy isthmus looks like dots1 and the farms and their enclosures as so many lines1 and the more-finished parts of a plan drawn on paper4' ,but we crossed the flat top and came to the ,wynberg side3 saw the country1 neatly mapped as ,barrow says1 bathed in sunshine4 ,my guide has been a sailor1 and has travelled round the world1 but here he says3 ',here is the best view in the world6' and he went off to examine more rain gauges4 ,it is a wonderful thing to be utterly alone with the earth and the sun2 to become a hill ,pantheist1 but to realize why1 in a hot stone church1 one can get up and sing that the ,sun1 the ,moon1 the ,air1 the ,mountains1 and the ,earth may bless and praise the ,lord4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,round ,,the ,,lion',s ,,head ,,and ,,the ,,victoria ,,road ,sea ,point lies1 white-roofed and aloe-hedged1 under the sanctified ,lion's ,head ,mountain2 sanctified1 because of a great white cross scarred into the bare rock by a nation to whom crosses and scars were almost inseparable4 ,da ,gama's gigantic cross on the ,lion's ,head is one of the many to be found round the coast2 but here begins and ends every trace of ,portuguese possession or atmosphere in the ,cape ,peninsula4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,victoria ,,road1 ,,near ,,oude ,,kraal ,old ,sea ,point savours of ancient ,dutch rgime1 but is hedged in on every side1 hidden1 almost lost1 by ,cape ,town ,commerce chez eux4 ,but along the ,beach ,road1 running from the old ,downs1 or ,common1 to the ,queen's ,hotel1 are houses with names which are historical3 flat-roofed1 whitewashed houses1 with high stoeps and stucco fountains1 syringa-trees1 cactus plants1 and hedges of flaming red aloes behind their white garden walls2 old-fashioned gardens with box and myrtle hedges1 lichens and gaudy mesembryanthemums crawling like giant starfish over the walls4 ,edging the road and hiding the beach from travellers are thick hedges of kei-apple1 a prickly red berry1 and of a low shrub whose leaves furnished correct food for the imported ,french snails1 whose descendants are purely a pest and have no justification4 ,but the ,french-lavender hedges and pink ,huguenot roses can still say ',bonjour' to the snails4 ,it is the only ,french word any of them remember2 it is prettier than the ',dag1' which the prickly-pear1 gorgeous with orange and carmine flower1 grunts across the road to the hedge of wax berries2 it is prettier1 too1 than the ',morgen1' which is the large white ',frau ,karl ,druschki's' morning greeting2 just a little daintier than ',saka bona1' from the purple jacaranda and scarlet kaffir-boom2 but far1 far more charming than the chorus of ',hullo6 hullo6' from the cheerful ,english trees and plants in this white-walled garden4 ,and then there is the sea--not the wind-swept sea of ,false ,bay1 but a cosmopolitan sea2 a highroad1 where ships of many flags sail past the rocks1 bound for the world4 ,in one white-roofed house lived a man on whose importance hung the beginning of a nation4 ,the resolution in favour of responsible government had been passed by the ,lower ,house of ,parliament4 ,the decision now rested with the ,council4 ,to be a member1 the qualification meant possessing property to the value of some thousand pounds over and above mortgages4 ,the member whose vote turned the balance was in such bad circumstances1 that even if the mortgaged white house at ,sea ,point was sold he would not be qualified for this momentous voting4 ,his friends1 filled with national and patriotic zeal1 rushed out to ,sea ,point3 ',have you1 then1 nothing of any value8' they cried4 ',yes2 ,i will show you something which might be of some value4 ,i was once in ,turkey and of service to the ,sultan4' ,he produced from a deep-shelved ,dutch cupboard with brass fittings1 then of little account1 a small gold case1 filigree-worked1 and inside a snuff-box sparkling with diamonds1 rubies and emeralds4 ',given by the ,sultan1' said he of the important vote4 ,nothing more1 just this soupon of adventure4 ,responsible government was carried on a snuff-box4 ,sea ,point possesses the two best private libraries in the ,peninsula4 ,one of them belonged to a great little man1 ,saul ,solomon1 of ,clarensville1 who died some years ago4 ,public men never live long enough at the ,cape to die in the fulness of attainment2 ambition and principle go but slowly hand in hand if you would have them travel along the same road1 but ,saul ,solomon's name is high in the annals of politics and principles4 ,the rocks below ,clarensville1 or probably those larger granite masses beyond the ,queen's ,hotel1 were celebrated fishing-places in the days of the early ,commanders2 but one short entry thrills one and dissipates the ideal dulness of the gentle art4 ,during the ,van ,riebeek reign a corporal went fishing for 'klip' fish amongst the brown seaweed which lies like a barren reef round the south-west coast1 when a lion wandered down to the beach1 and left so little of the angler that nought of him was found but his trousers and his shoes3 which we imagine he had discarded1 and was not discrimination on the part of the lion4 ,illustration3 ,,camps ,,bay1 ,,on ,,the ,,victoria ,,road ,marinus and ,i climbed into a green tram which ran along a high mountain road overlooking the lower ,victoria ,road4 ,we reached ,clifton1 a little kraal of houses and bungalows1 and left the tram and walked down to the lower road through an old farm-garden4 ,the steep slopes of the cliff down to the sea were covered with brilliant green shrub and purple flowers4 ,strolling along1 we came upon ,camps ,bay1 which we fancy was ,caapmans ,bay2 for here the ,caapmans1 or ,hottentots1 pastured their flocks during their 'merry-go-round' journeying from the ,fort1 over the ,kloof ,nek1 along the ,casteelbergen1 or ,twelve ,apostles ,range1 to ,hout ,bay2 then often over the ,constantia ,nek to worry the outposts on the ,bosheuvel1 and back to the ,fort2 or from ,hout ,bay to ,chapmans ,bay and ,noord ,hoek1 and on to ,cape ,point4 ,their last stronghold was in the ,hottentot's ,holland ,mountains2 but in the year #agad nearly all the tribe were exterminated by the smallpox4 ,four chiefs remained--',scipio ,africanus1' ',hannibal1' ',hercules1' and ',konja'--who received1 says the old chronicle1 'the usual stick with the brass knob1' the insignia of office4 ,camps ,bay gave the old map-makers and ,commanders some trouble2 but they all found the great line of breakers prevented the bay from being used either for themselves or for the landing of hostile forces4 ,on the slope of the ,lion's ,head1 above the bay1 is a little round white house1 the ,round ,house1 where ,sir ,charles ,somerset spent his week-ends4 ,sir ,charles1 whose reign here was during the end of the eighteenth century1 used several of the old homesteads as shooting-boxes4 ,marinus1 with enormous satisfaction1 found a stray taxi1 and soon we had passed the ',oude ,kraal' of the watermen on our way to ,hout ,bay4 ,the turreted tops of the ,casteelbergen1 or ,twelve ,apostles ,mountains1 were 'canopied in blue1' their slopes covered with a bright mauve ,michaelmas daisy4 ,the narrow road curves and curls round their sides1 and below stretch acres and acres of sea1 horizonless1 heaving and sinking1 blue and green and gold1 lapping against the edges of the land in crescent-shaped little bays1 or dashing against walls of rock4 ,the cliffs1 grass-grown down to the water1 are covered with flowers1 big clumps of prickly-pear1 and blue aloe1 every freshly-turned corner more lovely than the last4 ,there is one other road in the world to compare with it1 and that road runs along the ,south of ,france into ,italy2 but the waters of the ,mediterranean are fade1 lifeless waters to the ocean that fringes the ,casteelbergen in ,africa4 ,illustration3 ,,hout ,,bay ,,and ,,hangberg ,far out into the sea stretches a reef of sharp rocks where many ships have found a terrible end3 the steep1 slippery slopes beyond the little ,lion's ,head isolate the coast from all assistance4 ,in front of us a dull green car was swinging round the curves4 ',we'll pass her1' said ,marinus1 who was driving4 ,the road is not wide--just room enough for two cars to pass abreast4 ,the green car saw us coming1 and decided we should not pass her4 ,marinus jerked his head forward1 and vowed we should4 ,for ten minutes ,i sat rigid2 my eyes never left a small spot of mud on ,marinus' coat4 ,between us and the mountain was the green motor2 to our right was the sea4 ,we dashed round corner after corner1 a great juggernaut or machinery with not a spare yard of road4 ,it was a glorious gamble1 with almost a thousand to one that round the next corner we should meet something--a car or a cart4 ,the cars ran silently4444 ,suddenly someone's nerve failed2 we had passed the green car1 and ,marinus turned round to me and grinned4 ',all right8' he said4 ,my jaw seemed set in plaster of ,paris1 so ,i grinned too4 ,the chauffeur was cursing softly and rapidly4 ,over the brow of the ,hout ,bay ,nek was a big white car1 full of people and wild flowers1 coming towards us4 ,i bent forward close to ,marinus1 so that the chauffeur should not hear4 ',you brute6' ,i whispered2 'but it was simply great4' ,and ,marinus winked4 ,we rushed down the hill1 lined with pink protea1 into the village of ,hout ,bay1 or the ,wood ,bay1 where the ,company's yachts and sloops would come to carry away wood from the thick forests4 ,no sign of forest now--only some low1 wind-stunted trees along the beach4 ,the ,dutch fortified the bay1 and the ruins of their fort still stand4 ,chapman's ,peak hides the curve of the coast and the ,noord ,hoek and ,kommetje ,valleys4 ,near the village is the old home of the ,van ,oudtshoorn family1 whitewash and teak1 high-stoeped1 with stucco designs1 and the date over the door4 ,the ,hout ,bay ,valley has a distinctive charm of its own2 its river-bed is overgrown with palmiet1 and its thatched farmhouses have ,huguenot names3 for in this valley grants of land were made to the ,huguenot refugees1 the road is hedged with little pink ,huguenot roses growing over the ground which pastured the ,hottentots' cattle4 ,the farm1 ,orange ,grove1 lies low in an oak wood4 ,we climbed the long ,constantia ,nek1 and once more saw the widespread ,isthmus1 ,constantia1 ,wynberg1 and ,false ,bay2 little farms1 little woods1 the smoke from an engine--we had been round our world in a few hours4 ,illustration3 ,,chapman',s ,,peak ,,and ,,slang ,,kop ,,point ,,from ,,hout ,,bay ,,chapter ,x ,,false ,,bay ,the old road from ,wynberg to ,muizenberg is no longer traceable4 ,i imagine it started from ,waterloo ,green1 as all old ,wynberg was centred round the hill4 ,a convent stands back from the green1 but1 like the poem in the story of ',through the ,looking-,glass1' if you look again you will see it isn't a convent at all1 but the old ,wynberg homestead1 one of the early grants of land to a freeman1 the home of ,mynheer ,cloete4 ,wynberg hides its archives in overgrown gardens of oleander1 wild-olive1 blue plumbago hedges1 cool white gardenias and red hibiscus flowers1 cypress-trees and date-palms1 brought from the ,east by retired soldiers from ,india1 with large livers and small pensions1 making their curries and their chutneys in the little thatched bungalows of old ,wynberg4 ,to one of these1 still standing and acting as a stable to a big white house in the oak avenue which we fancy is part of the old road1 came ,wellington on his way to ,india1 and gave his name to the avenue4 ,on our way along the main road to ,muizenberg we passed a renovated homestead1 probably one of the old rest-houses1 now used as a convalescent home1 but its gardens are full of old-world memories1 willows1 and myrtle-hedge1 and arbours of strange trees1 bent and twisted into fantastic coolnesses4 ,there is a dull stretch of wattled road running through ,plumstead1 ,diep ,river1 and ,retreat4 ,at ,diep ,river the flooded lands grow potatoes1 at ,plumstead they grow vegetables1 all in amongst the wildness of the big plain covered with vleis and protea-bush and purple and crimson heath4 ,the ,retreat is historical4 ,it lies on the ,cape ,town side of the ,muizenberg ,mountains1 which seem to spring up in granite and green from the sea4 ,a narrow strip of land at their base spoils the illusion--',the ,thermopyl of the ,cape1' says an old enthusiast some hundred years ago4 ,through the narrow pass between the sea and mountains retreated the famous ,burgher ,cavalry1 abandoning their position at ,muizenberg before the guns of the ,america4 ,but history1 ,i fancy1 regards the ,battle of ,muizenberg more as a diplomatic coup than as a serious fight4 ,even the cannon-balls1 which are dotted along the road from ,kalk ,bay to ,muizenberg1 are ending their uneventful days in seaside peace1 and their resting-places in soft sand speak of further diplomacy4 ,near ,lakeside are several old farms with lost identity4 ,over the hill1 leaving the lovely vleis behind us1 we came upon ,muizenberg1 from an architectural point of view the saddest sight in the world2 here are two old landmarks1 the one so renovated that it is almost unrecognizable1 the other a ruin4 ,the first was a low1 whitewashed1 thatched homestead--an old inn1 or rest-house1 as the ,dutch called it--and it was named ',farmer ,pecks4' ,the oldest inhabitant cannot tell why1 but ,i remember the original building with its celebrated signboard4 ,the story of the signboard is as follows3 ',two middies1 many1 many years ago1 returning to ,simonstown from ,cape ,town1 where they had been on a jaunt1 arrived one dark night at ,muizenberg4 ,it was a twenty-mile walk--twenty miles along a difficult track1 across a dangerous beach of quicksands 7,fish ,hoek71 and they were travelling on foot1 because very few people could afford a cart4 ,it was too late and too dark to continue their journey1 so they had to put up at ,farmer ,pecks'4 ,when it came to paying for the night's board and lodging there was no money--all left in ,cape ,town4 ,we'll paint you a signboard1 they said--a ,utopian mode of finance to solve the difficulty and pay their debt4 ,they must have come from ,salisbury ,plain1 or ,farmer ,peck had1 for the signboard portrayed a mild-looking shepherd of a ,noah's ,ark type1 gazing over a hill at some fat wooden sheep1 grazing in emerald grass1 and in the background a very ,english-looking little farmhouse with rows of stiff ,noah's ,ark trees4 ,quite a premature attempt at modern conventional design1 inspired by the ideals of ,two ,years ,old playing at ,creation and landscape-gardening in the nursery4 ,here the momentous questions are3 whether ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,noah1 in red and blue sthetic garments of a wondrous purity of line1 shall stand under perfectly symmetrical trees which are on dear little rounds of wood1 or whether they shall be dotted over the farm together with ,shem1 ,ham1 and ,japheth1 in pure yellow1 pink1 and green1 in close proximity to two pink cows1 two red geese1 two black pigs1 and two purple horses4' ,illustration3 ,,at ,,lakeside1 ,,looking ,,towards ,,constantia ,illustration3 ,,at ,,lakeside1 ,,looking ,,south-,,east ,a domesticated sequel to the story of the ,flood4 ,everyone has played ',noah1' so everyone will understand the design of the poster4 ,the following verses were painted under the board1 springing from the same talented and amusing brains1 a quaint mixture of ,english1 ,dutch1 and ,latin3 ',multum in parvo1 pro bono publico1 ,entertainment for man and beast all of a row4 ,lekker kost as much as you please1 ,excellent beds without any fleas4 ',nos patriam fugimus now we are here1 ,vivamus1 let us live by selling beer4 ,on donne boire et manger ici1 ,come in and try1 whosoever you be4' ,in a balloon issuing from the mouth of the gentle shepherd was this motto1 carrying a deeper philosophy3 ',life's but a journey2 let us live well on the road1 says the gentle shepherd of ,salisbury ,plain4' ,on the opposite side of the road are the ruins of the barracks1 a low1 stone1 thatched house in a green field1 surrounded by a stone wall4 ,anne ,barnard drove down at the peril of her life1 she thought1 to ,simonstown1 or ,false ,bay as it was called1 and1 passing ,muizenberg on her way1 found the garrison living in huts1 and was regaled on boiled beef and ,constantia wine served by the late steward of the ,duke of ,orleans4 ',un mauvais sujet1' says ,lady ,anne4 ,the main road runs at the foot of the mountains1 with a railway-line and a few yards of beach and rock between it and the sea4 ,the most wonderful sea in the world6 emerald green1 with mauve reefs of rock showing through its clearness2 sapphire blue towards ,simonstown1 the colour of forget-me-nots sweeping the white crescent of ,muizenberg sands4 ,we passed ,st4 ,james and ,kalk ,bay1 where the steam-trawler was coming in like a big brown hen to roost surrounded by all the fishing-boats1 some still on the horizon1 like straggling chickens1 flying along with their white wings sparkling and fluttering in the sun and south-east breeze4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,fishhoek ,,beach1 ,,nordhoek ,,mountains ,,in ,,distance ,at ,fish ,hoek1 the dangerous beach of quicksands1 the setting sun poured through the ,kommetje and ,noord ,hoek ,valley1 tinting the sandhills until they glowed like gigantic opals2 the lights swept pink over the blue streams running across the beach into the sea1 and the long line of wave1 which rolled in to meet them1 made a bank of transparent aquamarine before it curled itself on to the shore--thin blueness with foam-scalloped edges4 ,we rounded another mountain corner and came upon ,glen ,cairn with its beach-streams and quarries4 ,clusters of stone huts1 like prehistoric dwellings on the mountain slopes1 are the homes of the quarrymen4 ,simonstown had begun to consider its nightcap when we rode slowly round the last corner4 ,the dark grey cruisers were hardly discernible in the dusk2 across the bay1 on the ,hottentot's ,holland1 a fire crawled like a red snake up the mountains2 the light on the ,roman ,rock ,lighthouse was lit4 ,the gardens of ,admiralty ,house are terraced above the sea by a long1 low white wall2 to the right is an enormous white plaster figure of ,penelope1 the old figure-head from the ship of that name1 and the unseeing eyes of the watchful ,penelope are turned towards the decrepit hulk lying a few hundred yards away4 ,great magenta masses of bougainvilla hid the low house1 and soon the darkness hid all4 ,the strains of ',god save the ,king' from the flagship woke me to the day1 and an hour later we were riding along the gum-tree avenue into the town4 ,the quaint little town was named after ,governor ,simon ,van der ,stel2 before that it was called ,false ,bay1 or the ,bay of ,falso4 ,here for five months1 beginning with ,march1 the ships from ,table ,bay would anchor1 while for five months ,table ,bay was given over to intolerable gales4 ,a traveller of the eighteenth century describes the town3 ',close to the shore of the ,bay there are a number of warehouses1 in which the provisions are deposited for the use of the ,east ,india ,company's ships4 ,a very beautiful hospital has been erected here for the crews1 and a commodious house for the ,governor1 who usually comes hither and spends a few days while the ships are lying in the ,bay4 ,commerce draws hither also a great number of individuals from the ,cape1 who furnish the officers with lodgings4 ,while the latter are here the ,bay is exceedingly lively1 but as soon as the season permits them to heave up their anchors1 it becomes a desert2 everyone decamps1 and the only inhabitants are a company of the garrison1 who are relieved every two months4 ,the vessels which arrive then and have need of provisions are in a dismal situation1 for it often happens that the warehouse has been so much drained that it is necessary to bring from ,cape ,town in carts whatever these new-comers are in want of1 and the carriage usually costs an exorbitant price4 ,the hire of a paltry cart is from twenty to thirty dollars a day2 ,i have known of fifty paid for one1 and it is to be observed that they can only make one journey in the twenty-four hours4' ,illustration3 ,,simonstown ,,mountains1 ,,with ,,cape ,,point ,,and ,,roman ,,rock ,,lighthouses ,we can nowadays1 for the exorbitant price of something more than a dollar1 run up to ,cape ,town in less than an hour2 but ,i have heard from not too ancient inhabitants wonderful stories of not too long ago of how1 packed like sardines1 parties would drive from ,town to ,simonstown to dance on a gunboat and home again in the dawn1 with some danger of the wrong tide over the ,fish ,hoek beach1 or of the bad road to ,wynberg4 ,in an old book of travels ,i find the raison d'tre for the name given to the ',roman' ,rock3 ',the finest fish are caught here1 and particularly the ,rooman 7or ,rooiman71 that gives its name to the ,roman ,rock1 in the neighbourhood of which it is found in great abundance4' ,the ,commander of old ,simonstown died a millionaire1 and his illegal dealings seem to have been well known and discussed1 as all the writers of this time and later speak of it4 ,he had the rank of 'under merchant1' and carried on a trade with the foreign vessels1 reselling necessaries at enormous profit4444 ',mr4 ,trail 7a great rogue71' writes ,anne ,barnard to ,melville4 ,we rode up the ,red ,hill--a steep roadway up the mountain--and saw a precarious-looking aerial car swaying up the mountain-side to the ,sanatorium and ,range4 ,we ultimately passed quite close to the ,range on the flat top in thick purple heath4 ,we looked north1 over the ,false ,bay and ,noord ,hoek ,mountains1 the ,steenbergen1 or ,tokai ,ranges1 and saw ,table ,mountain in a coronet of cloud4 ,across these flat-topped ranges1 over three hundred years ago1 had fled the ,hottentots1 before finding their asylum on the opposite shore--the ,hottentot's ,holland ,mountains4 ,the two ,passes--the ,kloof and the road from the ,castle to the ,flats--were carefully guarded4 ,the ,caapmans1 ,hottentots1 and ,watermen1 cattle-thieves1 tobacco-thieves1 garden-thieves1 wreck-salvagers1 hurried along with their cattle from ,hout ,bay1 ,chapmans ,bay1 and ,noord ,hoek1 to ,cape ,point4 ,the ,commander sent several parties to hunt them out1 and the majority made off over the ,flats1 led by their rascally chief ',herry4' ,the lowest of them1 the ,watermen1 remained behind1 hiding in caves and underwood4 ,one fine day ,corporal ,elias ,giero1 who1 with a considerable force1 had wandered for days round ,hout ,bay and the ,berghvalleyen1 reported that eighteen hours' walk from this neighbourhood1 almost at the southern end of the ,cape1 he had come upon their camp4 ,it sounds pathetic1 this great expedition for such a small enemy4 ,they found three reed huts1 with thirteen men and as many women and children4 ,they were making assegais1 when their dogs barked1 and they fled into the rushes1 crying out that they were ,watermen1 and not cattle-stealers4 ,but some were recognized by 'men who had felt their assegais1' and the chief was captured4 ,the former were killed4 ,the chief and a ci-devant kitchen-boy refused to walk to the fort1 'and1 as it was too difficult to carry them1 our men brought with them to the fort their upper lips4' ,many of them were recognized as wood and water carriers to the garrison at the fort1 and their names and aliases are carefully recorded--for example3 ',carbinza1' or ',plat neus'2 ',egutha1' or ',hoogh en ,laagh'2 ',mosscha1' or ',kleine ,lubbert'2 ',kaikana ,makonkoa'2 ',louchoeve'2 ',orenbare'2 ',diknavel'2 and so on4 ,translated into ,english--those that are translatable--they run3 ',flat-nose1' ',high and ,low1' ',quick1' ',bring1' ',unweary1' ',hold him fast1' ',he nearly1' etc4 ,this is a small bit of history which belongs to ,cape ,point4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,blue ,,shadow ,,across ,,the ,,flats ,our ponies met us at ,muizenberg1 and we crossed the railway-line on to the long white beach4 ,it was ,easter ,monday1 and trainloads of inhabitants swarmed like gaudy bees round the bathing-huts4 ,at no other time can one see to better advantage the wonderful fusion of races which has gone to the making of the population of the ,cape ,peninsula4 ,in the shade of one of the small1 stationary wooden bathing-houses ,i saw the gardener's family1 their colour scheme running through the gamut of shades from white to chocolate4 ,the gardener had once had a ,cockney wife1 and his life was ''ell1' so he married ,marlie1 the slightly coloured girl brought up on a ,german mission-station1 who made excellent stews1 washed his shirts well1 and sang ,lutheran hymns to the children when they howled4 ,there were ancestors1 black and white1 on both sides--and everyone hasn't ancestors4 ,illustration3 ,,table ,,mountain ,,from ,,retreat ,,flats ,we passed a wagon-load of ,malays in gala dress of silks and spangles--our washerwomen--possessing the wondrous ,oriental gift of elusive speech1 which will turn away good ,christian wrath4 ,one old ,malay told us he remembered the days when all the ,malays made their pilgrimage yearly to the grave of ,sheik ,joseph4 ,a political prisoner of the ,east ,india ,company1 of great wealth and position in the ,east1 he was exiled to the ,cape1 and lived at the mouth of the ,eerste ,river1 near the farm of the ,governor's witty brother1 ,franz ,van der ,stel4 ,there is a sepulchre which is called the ',kramat1' or resting-place of a holy man4 ,the wanderers of the ,flats in those early days would often come upon the ,sheik and his forty followers galloping across the sand-hills4 ,this generation of followers wore suits of neat blue serge1 and1 over the fez1 a wide reed hat with a low1 pointed crown4 ,marinus and ,i thought it would require a ,shakespeare to describe the heterogeneous mass we passed through4 ,pathetic sometimes--a knock-kneed clerk from ,cape ,town1 shivering in a new1 dark-blue bathing suit1 vainly trying to acclimatize his pasty-faced offspring to the waves4 ,complexions are hard to keep in ,south ,africa2 the sun is our master1 all-absorbing and requiring all--colour1 brain1 energy--your puny effort of concentration useless against this fierce1 concentrated mass1 this alluring ,south ,african sun--,lorelei of the ,south4 ,the very people here are an example--not one concentrated type4 ,marinus and ,i soliloquized quietly until we reached the shallow river which feeds the ,lakeside ,vleis 7lakes74 ,we avoided the beach and kept close up to the sand-dunes1 the white sand protected from the tearing gales of the 'south-easters' by a network of creeping ',hottentot fig1' a fleshy plant with wonderful bright flowers of every hue1 and bearing an acquired taste in fruit--a small1 dried-up-looking fig4 ,tall flowering reeds grow in 'klompjes1'#g and dotted about are small green bushes covered with red berries--'dinna bessies1' the coloured folk call them4 ',not much cover for the hippo1' laughed ,marinus4 ,my mind went back with a jerk to the old days of ,muizenberg1 the ,mountain of ,mice1 its cannon buried in the sand1 its battle1 its fort and barracks1 the ,caapmans1 who wandered with their herds over the flats and killed sea-cows1 or hippo1 on the very spot where the enterprising boatman of ,lakeside had built his caf4 ',and elephants roamed1' ,i quoted2 'and always the reflection of ,table ,mountain--always the same blue lotus lilies1 and the sand-hills1 and the blue river flowing across the beach4' ,we made for ,strandfontein1 regaining the beach as the tide was going out and we could avoid the quicksands4 ,strandfontein1 a little desolate bay boasting one reed-covered house and a celebrated beach--celebrated for its shells1 huge blue mussels1 pale pink mussels1 daintily carved nautili1 and rows and rows of coral and mauve fan shells4 ,illustration3 ,,sand ,,dunes ,again we talked of the old ',company days1' and the wonderful plan of ,commander ,van ,riebeek to drain the ,liesbeek and the ,salt ,rivers into one big canal which would cut off the peninsula from the mainland1 and1 like the great ,wall of ,hadrian1 would keep the barbarians out1 away from the ,company's freemen growing flax1 wheat1 and disaffection on the swampy flats4 ,van ,riebeek bewails the impracticability in his journal1 which1 bound in ancient brown leather1 and written in heavy ,dutch lettering1 is carefully preserved in ,cape ,town4 ',february #d1 #afef4 ',dry1 calm weather4 ,riebeeck proceeds to ,false ,bay 7roads being favourable71 accompanied by a guard of soldiers1 to see whether the ,canal1 proposed by ,van ,goens1 could be made across the ,isthmus4 ,took the river course to see whether it at all approached ,false ,bay4 ,found that the ,sweet ,river1 now ,liesbeek1 which with the ,salt ,river runs into ,table ,bay1 runs snake-like three or four leagues crosswise over the ,isthmus1 and at some places appears to be stagnant1 forming small lakes1 between which low and sandy lands lie1 until within a league of certain high sand-hills of ,false ,bay1 where it again turns into small streams1 which gradually become broader1 and form a river of fresh water running further on into a large lake1 almost as broad as the ,meuse and about two hours on foot in circumference1 with deep and brackish water full of sea-cows and sea-horses1 and supplied from the downs of ,false ,cape4 ,there was apparently no opening1 but the water percolated through the sands4 ,the ,lake is still about one and a half hours on foot from the seashore1 which is about half an hour's walk broad4 ,the ,downs about a league1 and so high1 that they are almost mountains1 twenty or twenty-four behind each other1 it would therefore be impossible to cut them through4 ,besides1 there would be lakelets on the ,flats1 some a quarter1 some half a league broad to be cut through4 ,this would also be difficult1 because of the rocky ground1 as we found the next day1 after having spent the night in the veldt4 ,the matter is therefore impossible1 and would be useless and most injurious to the ,company1 as the ,canal could not be made so wide and deep as to prevent the natives swimming across with their cattle4 ,in case it is supposed that on this side the passage would be closed to them1 it must be borne in mind that a large sheet of water on the south side of ,false ,cape about three hours' walk in circumference1 becomes a large dry and salt flat in summer1 so that no proper ,canal could be pierced through it--as the sand is soft and the downs are high--which latter would continually fill up the channel2 thousands of men would be required to keep it open2 so that the ,company cannot for a moment think of it1 as the expense would be enormous in comparison with the advantages derived4 ,millions of gold would be required6 and if finally the work be finished and communication with the natives cut off1 it would be absurd to suppose that they could be confined on this side--for the artificial island would have such dimensions that1 in order to control it1 a large number of men would be required1 scattered in the veldt1 not a few1 but a good many1 soldiers4 ',the idea that such a canal would enable the householders to live more securely is hardly worth considering1 as those who may choose to live here and there may build stone dwellings sufficiently strong to protect them from the natives4 ,should such free householders cost the ,company so much that soldiers are to be kept for their defence1 instead of their assisting the ,company8444' ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,sandhills ,,near ,,muizenberg ,we cantered over some small sand-hills1 and came down to the plains1 covered with 'quick' grass1 dotted with small yellow protea-bush1 tiny pink flowers1 and scarlet heath called 'erica1' intersected by blue pools of water1 their surfaces almost covered by a sweet-smelling1 white waterweed4 ,the ,malays gather the flower1 'water-eintje1' and curry it or stew it into a thick soup4 ,a narrow1 white1 sandy pathway ran between the pools1 and far away1 in a blue haze1 we saw ,table ,mountain and the ,devil's ,peak4 ,quoting again from the ,diary3 ',june #bi1 #afef4 ',proceeded to the ,flats where ,van ,goens wished to have canal dug4 ,find the whole country so inundated with rapid streams that the whole cutting1 with redoubts and all1 would1 if made1 be swept away at once4 ,the ,flats had become a combination of lakes2 the work would therefore at present be left in abeyance4' ,the ponies slopped through the wet sand1 and ahead lay the big lake called ,zeekoe ,vlei 7i4e41 ,sea-,cow ,lake71 separated from a smaller lake1 ,ronde ,vlei1 by a narrow isthmus4 ,skirting a huge1 precipitous mountain of sand1 we rode round the vlei1 disturbing great flocks of heron1 gulls1 and wild-duck4 ,straight up out of a yellow protea-bush flew a brown bird with a dull orange-red breast--a wip-poor-will1 or1 as the coloured people say1 the ',christmas bird1' or ',piet1 mij vrouw4' ,its call is more surely ',piet1 mij vrouw' than anything else4 ',do you know ,le ,vaillant's story8' said ,marinus4 ,i did4 ,but ,marinus loves to tell a story1 and he has to listen to many2 so ,i said3 ',his story of what8' ,then ,marinus1 being a dear1 told me the tale3 ',le ,vaillant and the faithful ,hottentot chief1 or ,piet1 as his master called him1 were out shooting4 ,le ,vaillant shot and killed a female bird4 ,piet brought up the bird4 ,go back1 you adorable ,hottentot1 said the traveller1 to the spot where you found this bird1 for surely there you will find ,monsieur le ,mari4 ,the adorable ,piet began to weep2 that ,baas would excuse him1 but this he could not do--never could he fire at the male bird4 ,go--,i insist6 said ,le ,vaillant4 ,no1 no1 ,baas6 ,and the astonished ,baas listened to the reason3 that no sooner had ,piet shot the female1 when the male1 to quote the old story1 began to pursue him with great fury1 continually repeating1 ',piet1 mij vrouw6 ,piet1 mij vrouw6' ,this1 in ,english1 is1 ',piet1 my wife6 ,piet1 my wife6' ,small wonder that ,le ,vaillant wrote of the misjudged1 ,dutch-ridden ,hottentot as being full of sensibility6' ,the sun had begun to set when we reached the other side of the vlei1 and a coloured woman1 carrying a mass of blue lotus lilies up to ,town for sale1 told us 'we had v-e-ry far way still to go4' ,marinus agreed that it was quite worth a hurried ride home1 seeing this wonderful kaleidoscope of colouring reflected in the vleis4 ,the sand-hills around were pink1 and over the tops of some appeared the purple of the ,muizenberg ,mountains4 ,in the north were the ,stellenbosch ,mountains1 with the ,helderberg1 in a blaze of red1 underlined by long patches of shining white sand-hills4 ,but all the while the great blue shadow of ,table ,mountain crept over the ,flats1 over the vleis1 until we watched it reach the north barriers4 ,slowly the blue mounted1 absorbing the flush of sunset1 reached the summits1 and drove the pink into the fleecy1 detached clouds above2 these1 like blazing balloons1 floated over the bay4 ,i sat up--to reality4 ',i have been lost on these ,flats1 ,marinus1 and still remember with horror the growing darkness and the interminable miles of sandy road and dense wattle plantations4 ,let us get on4' ,so we rode and rode1 through the brown rushes1 splashing through water1 over mealie patches1 dozens of little ,german children from the tiny farms hidden in low wattle rushing out to see us pass4 ,on we flew into the darkening blue shadow2 behind us1 whirlwinds of sand rising like white wraiths of pursuing ,erlkings2 and before1 the smoke from the ,kaffir location near the mouth of the ,salt ,river curling into the mist4 ,,footnote3 #g ,i4e41 clumps4 ,,billing ,,and ,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,,printers1 ,,guildford ,illustration3 ,,at ,,the ,,head ,,of ,,false ,,bay