Hitherto the altitude of a wave has been_Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume I (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy.

eye, so that the result depended too much on the accuracy of individual

observation to admit of its being exactly ascertained; and it is for this

reason that the statements relative to the maximum height of the ocean

wave are so various that they cannot be considered reliable, for whilst

some observers estimate them to be from 60 to 70 feet, others reckon them

only at from 30 to 40 feet.

On board the _Novara_ the following method of admeasurement was adopted:

we first determined, by a chronometer, the time that a wave takes to pass

from one end of the ship to the other, whereby the velocity of the

progressive motion of the wave could be calculated in relation to the

ship's course and speed, regard being had to the direction and velocity

of the ship against it. With this velocity ascertained, we were in a

position to determine and fix the average distance between two consecutive

waves. Lastly, the height of the wave was ascertained from the angle at

which the frigate rose and fell in the line of its keel, by the influence

of each successive wave and by means of the ascertained distance from the

trough of the sea to the crest of the wave. Though this method, likewise,

has many difficulties and deficiencies, yet it appears well suited to make

correct comparisons between the different waves; and, under certain

favourable conditions, it yields so accurate a result, that at any rate it

is to be preferred to mere guess-work, besides that the experiment itself

is susceptible of many improvements. It seems safe to assume that waves

scarcely ever attain an elevation of more than 40 or 45 feet.

The gale had driven us a long distance out, and only after great trouble

did we again near the land. On the 1st of October the Cape came once more

in sight; we tacked, in order to get into the wide gulf termed False Bay,

by which in some respects the peninsula of the Cape is formed, being

separated only by a low sandy plain from the Atlantic. Whittle's rock

renders tacking in its neighbourhood in so far more difficult, as the

existing charts of the bay are not sufficiently exact to be implicitly

relied on. Buoys have often been fixed in that quarter, but every new gale

carried them away again; so that the position of the rock is not

indicated. An English pilot now came on board, who brought papers, and

intelligence that a number of letters were waiting for us. Our impatience

became stronger when towards evening the light breeze entirely ceased, and

we thereby were forced to bring up at a distance of a mile and a half from

the actual anchorage. About the same time an officer arrived from the

British line-of-battle-ship _Boscawen_, under the flag of Rear-Admiral

Grey, in order to serve as a guide should no pilot have boarded us.

On the 2nd of October, at 7 A.M., the anchor was let go in Simon's Bay, a

spacious but gloomy-looking sheet of water. Here ships ride much more

secure than in Table Bay, from which, in a stiff westerly or

north-westerly breeze, vessels are often forced to run out to sea to avoid

being driven on shore. The communication with the land is thus sometimes

interrupted for days. From Simon's Bay to Table Bay, round the Cape the

distance is forty miles, whilst by land the journey to the capital of the

colony is, with good horses, performed in three hours.

[Illustration: CABO TORMENTOSO.]

[Illustration: CAPE TOWN.]

VI.

Cape of Good Hope.

STAY FROM 2ND TO 26TH OCTOBER, 1857.

Contrasts of scenery and seasons at Cape Colony. Ramble through

Simon's Town.--Malay Population.--The Toad-fish, or

Sea-devil.--Rondebosch and its delightful scenery.--Cape

Town.--Influence of the English element.--Scientific and other

Institutions.--Botanical Gardens.--Useful plants.--Foreign

Emigration.--A Caffre prophet and the consequences of his

prophecies.--Caffre prisoners in the Armstrong Battery.--Five

young Caffres take service as sailors on board the _Novara_.--

Trip into the interior.--Stellenbosch.--Paarl.--Worcester.--

Brandvalley.--The Mission of Moravian Brethren at

Genaadendal.--Masticatories and intoxicating substances used

by the Hottentots.--Caledon.--Somerset West.--Zandvliet.--Tomb

of a Malay Prophet.--Horse Sickness.--Tsetse-fly.--Vineyards

of Constantia.--_Féte champêtre_ in honour of the _Novara_.--

Excursion to the actual Cape of Good Hope.--Departure.--A life

saved.--Experiments with Brook's deep-sea sounding apparatus.--

Arrival at the Island of St. Paul in the South Indian Ocean.

There can scarcely be a landscape more gloomy and desolate than the

sterile, rocky mountains, and white sandy plains, which, like

snow-fields, inclose Simon's Bay. Coming from the charming coast of

Brazil, with its luxuriant verdure, the contrast becomes doubly

unpleasing. A narrow green strip of land, running along from a small fort,

forms a refreshing sight and a resting point for the eye fatigued with

looking at these grim masses of stone. The traveller who merely touches at

Simon's Bay without pushing into the interior, or who visits the Cape in

the winter of the southern hemisphere (from April to September), can

scarcely form an idea of the voluptuous loveliness which reigns during

spring and summer in the interior of the colony, and will regard as

fictitious those brilliant descriptions of its natural beauties, related

by travellers who have been fortunate enough to visit this point of South

Africa at those genial seasons.

Had we left the Cape without seeing anything else than the melancholy

neighbourhood of False Bay and the dull little settlement of Simon's Town,

on its left bank, we should have carried away very different impressions

and ideas to those entertained after having during spring passed some

weeks in the delightful interior, and obtained at the same time an insight

into the social condition of the colony.

On the very day that we cast anchor in the bay, we took a stroll (our

first footfall upon the soil of Africa) through Simon's Town, which

consists of a single street of about forty clean, neat, and tidy-looking

houses, straggling along the shore. The principal buildings are the

Arsenal, the residence of the admiral of the station, five churches (one

of which belongs to Roman Catholics), and two tolerably large hotels.

It is hardly possible to conceive any town occupying a more dreary dismal

site, with the exception, perhaps, of some of the Peruvian settlements on

the west coast of South America. While the eye, below this row of houses,

beholds nothing but granite rocks thickly strewn with shells, the main

street is overhung by steep sandstone rocks, which, despite the marvellous

richness of the blooming flowers, that well repay the researches of the

naturalist, have a naked gloomy aspect, viewed from a distance, and are

environed right and left by waste patches of white sand.

The favourite walks of this small place seem to be along the shore, or on

the road to Cape Town, into the soft sand of which the foot of the

traveller is continually sinking. A number of ladies and gentlemen whom we

met walking appeared to be somewhat surprised at the unusual appearance of

an Austrian man-of-war, the flag of which was gaily fluttering in the

gloomy bay. The residents in Simon's Town, amounting to about 800 souls,

are mostly Malays, descendants of those numerous compulsory emigrants,

who, during the period of Dutch ascendency at the Cape, had been

transported from Java and other islands of the Indian Archipelago, owing

to the want of labour or for political causes. For the Dutch used to send

to the Cape Colony, as a place of banishment, many wealthy and influential

Malay families, by whom the first germs of Mohammedanism were introduced

into South Africa. It would even seem that the religious opinions of the

Malay population exercise some influence on the habits of the Christian

settlers of Simon's Town, as no butcher, for instance, would venture to

kill and sell pigs for fear of giving offence to his Mohammedan customers.

On a fine spring morning we started in a handsome vehicle from Simon's Bay

to Cape Town. The road runs close along the seashore, which, seen from a

distance, apparently consists of nothing but sand and rock, but, on more

near acquaintance, exhibits at various points delightful nooks decked with

most beautiful flowers. Everything indicated, by its glorious blooming

garment, the bursting forth of spring.

One hour's ride led us to a neat little fishing hamlet where an immense

number of fish were hanging up to dry in the sun. The bones of whales are

used by the inhabitants for all sorts of purposes; they fence their fields

and gardens with the ribs, build walls with the vertebræ, make steps and

stairs of the shoulder bones, and use the large jaw-bones as arches at the

entrances of their huts. One of the owners of this fishing station was

kind enough to offer us, as a particular dainty, a piece of flesh cut from

the jaw of a whale and boiled in fat; but we were not exactly of the same

opinion after having, from curiosity, tasted a few mouthfuls. The bay is

very rich in the snook-fish (_Thyrsites Atun_), of which several hundred

tons are pickled here annually and sent to the Mauritius.

Another fish caught here is said to be extremely injurious to health, and

even to endanger life--the small toadfish (_Tetraodon Honkenyi_), which

exists in shoals, and may easily be caught with a line. One of the harbour

regulations consists of a special paragraph warning seamen against using

this poisonous "sea-devil." Foreign sailors who have eaten of it have died

a few minutes after.

On leaving this fishing station the road, leaving the coast, proceeds in a

straight line over the plain which unites the Cape with the continent. The

mountains recede, and the eye of the traveller gazes, charmed and

surprised, on the mountain range of the peninsula, the celebrated Table

and Devil's Mountains. The plain, which, during the dry season, is nothing

but an arid desert, was now seen in its fullest beauty, like a flowery

carpet, on which innumerable blossoms of varied hues and forms were

interwoven. On the left lie the renowned vineyards of Constantia, and to

the right stands what is called Halfway-house, the property of a native of

Würtemberg who, some twenty years before, came to the Cape a poor

emigrant, and is now a wealthy and respected man, known far and wide,

holding several official appointments, and showing himself a warm patron

of his German countrymen. Being a zealous sportsman, and intimately

acquainted with the locality, Mr. Rathfelder was of great service to our

zoologists, who took up their residence at this place.

From the Halfway-house to Cape Town the character of the landscape

completely changes. The road leads through a park-like country; charming

wood plantations, pines and oaks, stretch on either hand to the extreme

limits of an undulating plain, intersected by long shady paths, the

vistas terminating with elegant villas built in the Dutch or English

style. Here are Cape waggons, drawn by ten to twenty oxen, side by side

with elegant two or four-horse carriages and densely-packed omnibuses,

such as one may see in Cheapside. We have now arrived in the charming

Rondebosch, a village that might well aspire to the dignity of a town,

chiefly inhabited as a summer residence by the wealthier inhabitants of

Cape Town. The impression made by this beautiful road will never be

obliterated from the memory of any one who has ever ridden over it in the

spring. We were as much delighted by the sight of this smiling and verdant

landscape as we had been depressed by the sandy plains of Simon's Bay.

There, extended in charming variety before the fascinated eye, lay Table

Bay with its ships, Cape Town, and the gigantic rocky wall of the Table

Mountain resting on its granite base, and rising nearly perpendicular to

an altitude of 3500 feet, together with the Lion's Head and the Devil's

Peak. The distant background on the other side of the plain is bounded by

the precipitous face of high, rugged, and broken mountain walls, the

summits of which were covered with snow.

Convenient and comfortable quarters were found in the Freemasons' Hotel,

situated in the Parade, a large square planted with pines. Here, to our

surprise, we met an Austrian, attending as waiter, who had been driven by

the wild waves of the late revolution into the wide world, until he met

with a peaceful existence at the Cape of Storms!

Favoured by introductions to the most eminent men of science, who received

us in the most friendly way, we succeeded, in the course of a few weeks,

in acquiring rich and valuable scientific collections, and forming

important connections for the future supply of our museums. A most cordial

reception was accorded us by Mr. Julius Mosenthal, the Austrian Consul,

and the head of one of the leading mercantile firms of the colony. In his

hospitable house, German music and German song made us entirely forget

that we were sojourning thousands of miles from home at the southernmost

point of Africa.

Cape Town is oblong in plan, with long wide streets, intersecting at right

angles. It is destitute of imposing buildings; a commercial place, with

pretty dwelling-houses, built in the English style and comfortably

furnished, all of a light brown hue, owing to the dust, which, in

south-east or north-west winds, envelopes the town in whirling clouds, and

may indeed be considered the only plague of this healthy delightful

climate. The English element, which, with the stereotyped customs of its

life and its equitable laws, possesses, wherever it obtains a footing, so

powerful an influence, has almost entirely superseded the Dutch, which

continues to exist only in the lonely farmhouses far in the interior.

There is scarcely anything remaining to indicate that Cape Town was

founded by the Dutch; and were it not for the yellow Malay faces, with

their gaudy head-coverings or umbrella-shaped straw hats, and the tawny

mestizoes, who remind us of the aboriginal inhabitants, and give a

completely foreign colouring, one might easily fancy one's self to be in

an old English provincial town. Generally speaking, any one arriving here

with preconceived notions of finding himself amongst Hottentots and

Bushmen, or in a state of society differing materially from that of

Europe, will soon discover that he has been entirely mistaken. The

aborigines whom Jan van Riebeck found, when, with three Dutch ships, he

landed in 1652 at Table Bay, and in the name of the Dutch East India

Company established a settlement, have now almost entirely disappeared

from the capital. If any one desires to see a veritable Hottentot or

Bushman, he must undertake a troublesome journey, of weeks' duration, into

the inhospitable interior. In Cape Town this singular race is only now and

then to be met with in prisons or hospitals, and even then of a mixed

breed.

The colony has now a population of 280,000 white and coloured inhabitants,

of whom about 30,000 live in Cape Town; half of these are whites, and

probably not more than 1000 form the higher and influential class. There

can be no doubt that when, in 1815, the English took possession of the

Cape, a firm foundation had been laid already by the Dutch 150 years

before; but the real progress of the country, and the development of its

natural resources, date only from the commencement of British rule, by

which those shackles were thrown off with which the narrow-minded colonial

policy of the Dutch had fettered this settlement, like all others that

owned their sway.

The Cape Colony since 1850 has possessed a Legislative Council of 15

members, and a House of Assembly of 40 deputies. The executive power rests

in the hands of the Governor-General, appointed by the British Government.

All bills passed by this parliament require the royal assent before they

become law.

It is impossible to speak in too high and eulogistic terms of Sir George

Grey, whom we had the happiness at the time of our stay to find in the

important position of Governor-General of the colony. Owing to the wisdom

with which Sir George governed this important colony, he gained for

himself the love and admiration of the people to such an extent that,

after the expiration of the regularly fixed period of his office as

Governor, they petitioned the Queen of England for his re-appointment. Sir

George is not only an able statesman, but also a sound scholar, possessing

a most complete collection of books and manuscripts on the Australian,

Polynesian and African languages, and he is a most zealous patron of the

numerous scientific institutions of the colony.

The astronomical observatory, under the superintendence of Mr. Maclear,

has preserved the celebrity which it attained by the great work on the

constellations of the southern hemisphere, the materials for which were

collected by Sir John Herschel during his residence here some twenty years

since. There is now a transit instrument, which in accuracy excels even

that of the Observatory at Greenwich, and which is said to have cost

upwards of _£_2000.

The South African Museum, containing collections of natural history, is

now under the superintendence of Mr. L. Layard (brother of the celebrated

investigator of Nineveh). This institution, as well as the South African

public library, the literary, scientific, and mechanics' institutions,

besides nearly fifty other establishments and societies for religious,

benevolent and industrial purposes, owe their foundation and flourishing

condition to the public spirit and the charitable disposition of the

inhabitants of the colony. In 69 schools scattered over its surface,

upwards of 18,000 pupils are educated according to a system introduced in

1841 by Sir John Herschel.

The Botanical Gardens, likewise founded and kept up by private

subscription, are not only a most agreeable resort, but also afford much

instruction, arising from the many interesting and useful plants gathered

here from all quarters of the world. To those which are adapted for

cultivation in the sandy plains of the Cape, great attention is devoted.

Some of them have been found available in forming as it were vegetable

walls of protection against the inroads of the sand, so destructive to all

cultivation. As particularly serviceable for this purpose, were mentioned

to us _Fabricia variegata_, a sea-shore shrub of from 6 to 10 feet high;

_Protea myrtifera_; the so-called Hottentot fig: _Mesembryanthemum

edulis_; and the Cape wax-myrtle _Myricacordifolia_;--all these are found

to thrive in the sand without cultivation, put a stop to its ravages, and

in some respects may be considered as the pioneers of all other plants,

which do not thrive before the sandy soil has been prepared for them. Nay,

singularly enough, some of these (as for instance the Hottentot fig),

become extinct as soon as others make their appearance, just in the same

way as the pioneer of civilization, the backwoodsman in the west of the

United States, leaves his lonely blockhouse and hurries on as soon as

overtaken by the peaceful settler. The wax-berry shrub is also otherwise

useful to the inhabitants; from its berries a substance is prepared well

suited for making candles. According to a treatise on its culture two

workmen are able to realize with a defecator daily 100 lbs. of white wax

from the berries gathered by six persons. The expense of labour, &c., does

not exceed 18_s._ per 100 lbs., or about 2_d._ per pound. A large quantity

of this vegetable substance has lately been sent to London, where it is

said to have met with a profitable market. In the Botanical Garden of Cape

Town we first met the two celebrated grasses known as _Holcus Caffrorum_

and _Holcus saccharatum_, which, by their usefulness in domestic life,

have more extensively, and perhaps quickly, than any other plant, spread

over the world. We are indebted to the Secretary of the Board of Public

Roads, W. De Smidt, Esq., for some seeds of these and other plants, as

also to Mr. McGibbon, manager of the Botanical Gardens, for similar

favours.

Considering the deficiency of labour, and the large sections of fertile

land as yet uncultivated in the colony, Sir George Grey has directed great

attention to the immigration of German emigrants of respectable

characters, of all trades, as well as those attached to agricultural

pursuits. The plan adopted is an excellent and thoroughly honest one.

Every emigrant, if single, obtains from the Government thirty acres of

good land, and, if married, fifty; five for each child above one, and ten

for every one exceeding ten years of age. The rate of the land is to be

fixed by Government at a fair and reasonable sum, and, together with the

passage-money, to be paid four years after the location of the emigrant,

in five annual instalments. From the moment the colonist steps on African

ground he is an independent owner of land, although not entitled to sell

his property until his obligations to the Government are liquidated. The

local parliament has granted a sum of _£_50,000 to promote emigration. The

Cape probably offers to an industrious emigrant a more advantageous field

for active energy than any other country in the world. Some of the German

colonists, the remnant of the British Legion engaged in the Crimean war,

who, under General Stuttersheim, have settled in British Caffraria, are

thriving prosperously. They are the first pioneers of the German element

in South Africa, and, under the protection of a liberal and free

government, are increasing in number annually in consequence of the

favourable reports which they transmit to their native country.

An emigration of a peculiar kind has unexpectedly taken place. An impostor

amongst the Caffres, who had assumed the character of a prophet,

pronounced the end of the world as imminent, in consequence of which large

numbers of them slaughtered their cattle and left their fields

uncultivated. Being thus, in a short time, reduced to a state of perfect

destitution, not less than 19,000 of starving Caffres sought help and an

asylum in the British territory during the year 1857, and before its close

the number had increased to 30,000. The colonial Government, out of

consideration to the welfare of the colonists, admitted only those Caffres

who bound themselves to act as servants, for at least one year, at

reasonable wages, and in order to prevent any danger arising from being

congregated in too large numbers, they were located by the Government

officers in various detached parts of the colony.

A very active society of philanthropists exists here, under the title of

"The Committee of Emigration from Holland." Its object is to bring over

orphans and children of the poor from the overpopulated Dutch provinces.

These useful emigrants are partly located as apprentices to farmers, and

remain until they are of age under the care of the Committee. During our

stay a party of seventy boys and girls just arrived from Holland

assembled, with their conductors, in one of the large avenues of the

Botanical Garden, to be inspected by the Governor-General. They all looked

healthy and cheerful, and seemed to have but little suffered from the

fatigues of a long voyage. When Sir George Grey made his appearance the

children sang the English National Anthem, translated into Dutch, and

afterwards the sweet, affectionate song, "When the swallows homewards

fly." Some young emigrants, who, two years ago, had come under similar

circumstances from Holland, had already obtained good situations, and

greeted their little compatriots most heartily. Being asked if they wished

to return to Holland, they replied, without the slightest hesitation, in

the negative, declaring that they felt very happy where they were,--an

announcement of course peculiarly agreeable to the new-comers.

An interesting opportunity was afforded to us of seeing a large number of

Caffres, of both sexes, who had been brought in as prisoners in

consequence of having made predatory incursions into the British

territory. They all arrived in a state of nudity, and in most wretched

plight, but were immediately provided with European clothes--blue striped

shirts, sheepskin trousers, shoes, a Scotch cap, and a blanket which

served during the day as a cloak, and at night as a covering. Their food

was tolerably good, but their abode during night, in the damp casemates of

the fort, seemed not to agree with them, and many were visibly in a

diseased state of health. Nearly all were muscular, and some were really

specimens of manly beauty. Not one of them knew his age. Their only mode

of calculating is by certain important events, as by the death of a

chieftain, or the various wars with the English. The superintendent, Mr.

Walsh, a very obliging Irishman, had the kindness to cause them to perform

some of their national dances, wild exercises which served the purpose of

exciting their warlike spirit. The first dance they performed they called

"Ukutenga." Six handsomely-built dancers advanced, whilst about thirty men

closed in a circle around them, and, by their howlings and clapping of

hands, formed as it were a musical accompaniment to this singular

performance. The dancers sighed, groaned, hissed, and made the most

extravagant grimaces and contortions, in order to arouse in themselves an

artificial excitement. One, a lad twelve years of age, engaged so

earnestly in the sports, that he perspired from his whole body. There is

another dance, called "Tklombo," performed in the presence of diseased

persons whilst the quack doctor practises his deceptive remedies; and a

third, called "Umduta," which is only practised at weddings and other

festive occasions. This last seemed to be the most characteristic. The

semi-nude, slender men hopped, their arms clung together, in ranks of six,

hissing with scorn, occasionally uttering a cry, then suddenly separating

and marching one after the other in slow time, in a circle, uttering the

most singular sounds. Now they bent forward the whole upper part of the

body, and then back again, each of them making the same violent gestures

as in the former dance, and pronouncing some words to excite their

companions, such as, "Be active!" "Be alert!" until they all trembled and

became fearfully and feverishly excited. The surrounding Caffres, who were

at first mere spectators, by degrees were seized with this singular

dancing mania, till at last the entire number, as if stung by a tarantula,

lashed themselves into a wild and apparently ungovernable frenzy. The

great difference in the colour of the skin of these Caffres was

particularly striking, as they evidently belong to one and the same race.

From the blackness of coal to bronze, all tints and shades were observed,

and one of them, called "Ngduba" (Sea-shell), appeared to be even of a

reddish yellow. He belonged to the tribe of the Fingoes, and said that

both his parents were of the same colour.

The governor permitted five young Caffres to be engaged on board the

_Novara_, with their own consent, as apprentices, and although they were

prisoners sentenced for several years, yet the Government took every care

to secure their welfare. An agreement was signed to provide that their

return, should they desire it, might be facilitated in every possible way.

Faithful subjects could not be cared for with more anxiety than were these

legally-sentenced Caffre prisoners by the colonial Government. Two of them

went one day on shore, during our stay at Auckland, in New Zealand, and

never came back; the other three made the whole voyage with the _Novara_,

and are now sailors on board the imperial yacht _Fancy_. They, of course,

understood, at their embarkation, only their own singular mother-tongue;

yet the chaplain of the expedition, the Rev. E. Marochini, after having

made himself acquainted with their idiom, succeeded in instructing these

black youths, by means of their own language, in the doctrines of

Christianity, and, by degrees, imparted some knowledge of the Italian and

German languages, the happy results of these endeavours being a complete

vocabulary and a small catechism in the Caffre language, which the

reverend gentlemen composed during the voyage; and such progress did his

three pupils make, that, on our return to Trieste, they were so far

prepared as to be fit for reception, by baptism, into the Christian

community.

In the house of correction there were a number of female Caffres who had

been made prisoners at the same time with their brothers and husbands,

some belonging to the family of chiefs. One, the sister of the chieftain

Sandilli, was a handsome, tall and slender woman, with mild features and

piercing small black eyes; another, by the name of Mnovenkeli, the sister

of the chieftain Mkoseni, was an imposing and earnest-looking figure.

Several of these women bore a long stripe tattooed on their breasts as an

ornament. Several were deficient of a little finger of the left hand: this

mutilation is the effect of superstition, as it often occurs that, in case

of the severe illness of the child, the distressed mother causes a finger

of her offspring to be cut off and sacrificed to the evil spirit, in order

that the rest of the body may be saved and permitted by the evil spirit to

recover.

One of these young Caffre women had her child wrapped up in a piece of

linen tied to her back, and endeavoured to lull it to sleep by continually

moving the left elbow, by which the baby was kept in a swinging motion,

and an effect was produced like that of a cradle. Various questions were

put, through an interpreter, to several of these females, who, after their

timidity was overcome, answered with great readiness. Polygamy is said to

prevail amongst them. Many women have from ten to twelve children. The

children are suckled sometimes from two to three years. A numerous progeny

is the pride of a family. As a proof of the legitimacy of a child, there

is said to exist a kind of milk trial. Notwithstanding considerable

trouble in endeavouring to procure information, we were unable to obtain a

very lucid idea of this singular experiment: it consists in the father

giving the infant, in the bottom of his hand, directly after its birth,

some cow's milk to drink, and if the child refuses the draught it is

considered illegitimate. Caffre women very rarely salute their husbands

with a kiss, except after a long separation, and even then only on the

cheek--never on the lips.

In the ethnographical part a detailed description will be presented of

this most peculiar race, of whom the Bushmen are evidently only a decrepid

branch. Here it will suffice to observe that a girl, only sixteen years of

age, was noticed, whose father was a degenerate Hottentot, and whose

mother was a Bushwoman. The girl measured 4 feet 6 1/2 inches, and weighed

75lbs. Another Bushwoman, thirty years of age, measured 4 feet 9 inches.

All the individuals we saw of this race were remarkable for their

exceedingly small hands and feet.

One week of our stay at the Cape was devoted to an excursion into the

interior. On the 1st October, early in the morning, we left Cape Town in a

light two-wheeled vehicle, drawn by four horses--a turn-out which

certainly seemed better suited for a drive in Hyde Park than a journey,

however short, in South Africa: for who would suppose that the principal

roads on the southernmost point of the most unknown quarter of the globe,

are, in consequence of English civilization and the geognostic nature of

the ground, in a better condition than most bye-roads in the civilized

states of Europe? For a country where labour is so deficient and

expensive, such enormous works could only be executed by means of

compulsory labour: in this respect the high-roads and mountain passes of

the Cape afford the most evident proofs of how much more beneficially and

usefully convicts may be employed in colonial works than in allowing them

to rot within prison walls, alike a burden to themselves and to society.

Only ten years ago the streets of Cape Town looked at least highly

dangerous, and the steep rugged old roads, which sometimes run parallel

with the new ones, evince very clearly the great difference between bygone

days and the present, as regards the internal communications of the

colony. The uncultivated state of the country formerly, which indeed, in

some parts, continues even yet to exist, is the cause of the ancient

custom having been retained of placing before every vehicle, however

lightly laden, sixteen to twenty powerful oxen, even on perfectly level

roads. All longer journeys into the interior are undertaken in heavy

waggon-like vehicles, exclusively drawn by oxen. As a family is sometimes

compelled to take up abode in such waggons for weeks together, they are

completely covered and provided with all possible conveniences; indeed, it

is a sort of locomotive house. The waggon, which much resembles the

goods-trucks used on European railways, is at least 18 feet long, and the

entire length of the set-out, including the oxen, embraces not less than

from 120 to 180 feet. It may readily be imagined how such a custom impedes

speedy intercourse, and how much more usefully a great part of the animal

power might be employed. On the excursion from Cape Town to Stellenbosch,

a small place only ten miles distant, we met more than 100 waggons, of

which not one had less than ten, and many double that number of oxen, so

that at least 1500 heads of cattle were employed in a work which might

easily have been performed by a third part of the number.

The coachman was a Malay, and wore that singular screen-formed straw hat,

which so peculiarly distinguishes the male population of his race. These

men have the reputation of being particularly skilful drivers, and thus

form a considerable portion of the coachmen of the place. The Malay driver

had an assistant by his side, who seemed, however, chiefly to serve as

ballast, in order that our two-wheeled vehicle might not lose its

equilibrium; for the disconsolate condition of the horses rendered the

fear of their running away quite superfluous. Our charioteer drove his

horses, which now and then were rather restive, with so much adroitness,

that we arrived as early as nine o'clock in that charming settlement

Stellenbosch, which Wilkes, the American Commodore, even in 1839,

designated as the loveliest and most beautiful in the whole colony. It has

completely preserved the aspect of a little Dutch town; the streets are

straight and wide, adorned with avenues of oaks, many centuries old; the

houses are extremely tidy and clean, and are built in the genuine Dutch

style. There is no trace of English influence perceptible. Its 4000

inhabitants mostly speak Dutch, and cultivate the vine, grain, and fruit.

No country town seen in the whole course of our long voyage made a deeper

impression, or left more pleasing recollections, than Stellenbosch. The

occasion of our visit was certainly of an uncommonly cheerful and festive

character. On the day of our arrival the Governor was about to review a

corps of volunteers, raised in Cape Town and its neighbourhood, to supply

the place of the regular troops about to be dispatched to the Indian

battle-fields. Extraordinary enthusiasm and interest was manifested

everywhere in the military movements. Thousands of visitors had assembled

even from great distances to witness this novel national spectacle. The

Governor had proclaimed the day as a general holiday; all shops were

closed; the streets presented an extremely animated appearance, and in

front of every house was a crowd. The Austrian Consul had been kind enough

to favour us with a letter of introduction to one of the first families in

the place; but, taking into consideration the general bustle and continual

arrival of strangers, we were much afraid of being, at this moment, very

unwelcome guests, as every nook and corner would already be occupied; for

in this colony visitors do not come, as with us, for a short time, and

without encumbrance, but with waggons, horses, servants, household and

all, regularly to settle down for an indefinite period.

Our own party consisted of five persons provided with four horses, and we

were now, for want of other lodgings, about to claim the hospitality of

Mynheer Van Schultze. A pretty, youthful, rosy-cheeked lady, who appeared

at the door, took--not without some embarrassment--our letter of

introduction, and disappeared with it into the interior of the stately

house. We were requested to enter, and were shown into a suite of very

neat rooms, and were received, not merely with great politeness, but with

the heartiest welcome.

At ten o'clock we drove out with our hospitable friend, Mynheer Van

Schultze, to the review, which took place on the common in the

neighbourhood of the village. The number of spectators was probably twenty

times greater than that of the volunteers; they had surrounded the ground

with a wall of carriages, on the tops of which women and children were

grouped in every picturesque attitude. The rifle volunteers marched, with

the Governor, Sir George Grey, at their head, and preceded by a band, to

the ground. There might have been about 300 cavalry and 200 infantry, with

several pieces of artillery. They all looked very well; their uniform was

plain and remarkably suitable for the purpose, consisting of tunics and

trousers of black cloth with metal buttons, and a common cap with a silver

ornament. They went through the usual man[oe]uvres, whilst a good deal of

gunpowder was expended. The evolutions of the cavalry were executed with

wonderful precision, a result due chiefly to the circumstance that, at the

Cape, every inhabitant is a good equestrian, and is trained from childhood

to manage a horse.

[Illustration: RIFLE VOLUNTEER _FÊTE_ AT STELLENBOSCH.]

The review finished, a breakfast was served at the Drosdy, or

Municipality, on long tables, in a magnificent avenue of oak trees;

nearly 600 volunteers and many other guests sat down, whilst in the

back-ground a large number of ladies and gentlemen were present as

spectators. The presence of some members of the Novara Expedition at the

festival led the Burgomaster, after the toast of the Queen was given, to

propose the health of the Emperor of Austria, prefacing it with various

laudatory remarks on the Expedition. The toast was most heartily received,

the whole company raising their glasses, whilst the band performed the

Austrian national anthem. The officer to whose lot it fell to return

thanks, said:--"That he felt deeply gratified with the honour done to his

country and nation by the enthusiasm with which the health of his

sovereign had been received by so distinguished an assembly, and that he

could not forbear expressing his admiration and delight in observing the

prosperous condition of this fine country, which, like all others where

the Anglo-Saxon race was predominant, was blessed with freedom, with the

spirit of progress, and the blessings of Christianity;" and he concluded

by proposing "Old England for ever."

On the day after the review the journey was pursued early in the morning

to the village of Paarl (Pearl), about four hours distant. We had come as

strangers to the hospitable Stellenbosch, and left as old friends, the

entire family accompanying us to the carriage, and the worthy old mother

of our amiable host, a thoroughly genuine Dutch matron, was visibly

touched on taking leave of those whom, in all probability, she would never

On the route to Paarl several immensely large ant-hills were met with,

some of which measured from two to two-and-a-half feet in diameter, by

about three feet high. The insects were partly black and partly of a

greyish-brown colour, and must be very troublesome to the farmers.

Paarl, an extremely neat village, consists of a single long street, and

contains nearly 4000 inhabitants, chiefly occupied in the growth of the

vine. They are the descendants of those French Protestants who, at the

close of the 17th century, left their native country in consequence of

religious persecution. All the detached farm-yards were extremely neat,

and bore evidence of the wealth of their owners. Nothing reminds one of

Africa and the neighbourhood of Hottentots, Bushmen, or Caffres. The

landscape becomes grander the more the mountains, 4000 to 5000 feet high,

are approached. Among them lies the little town of Wellington, charmingly

situated; though but a few years in existence, and numbering only 2000

inhabitants, it has already a joint-stock bank with a capital of £45,000,

several schools, and some neat places of worship. While taking an evening

stroll, we passed a well-lighted Reformed Dutch Church, from the interior

of which the devotional tones of a pious Christian congregation floating

through the night air, died away among the mountains.

Singular to say, the small, and, one would think, essentially prosaic and

practical little town of Wellington boasts a quack doctor, named Brabna,

whom the common people, far and near, come to consult, more, one would

imagine, to be relieved of their money than their ailments.

[Illustration: PAINE'S KLOEF AS IT WAS.]

[Illustration: PAINE'S KLOEF AS IT IS.]

The route to Worcester, whither we set out the following morning, leads

at first through the wide, highly-cultivated Waggonmakers' Valley, adorned

with numbers of rich farm-steads (so named from a number of artisans of

this handicraft having settled here in former times), after which it

passes over the difficult pass called Paine's Kloef, 4000 feet high, which

frequently recalled the well-known road over the Sömmering Alp, or that at

Optschina. This mountain-pass, first completed in 1853, by the engineer,

Mr. Paine, greatly facilitates the traffic between Cape Town and this

fertile district, which previously was quite inaccessible, and whose

immense natural resources are only now beginning to be developed.

When we reached the highest point of the pass we found a strong south-east

wind blowing. The thermometer marked 55° F., and when plunged in a spring

that issued from the mountain close at hand, 48°. South-east winds are

especially prevalent here, particularly in summer, when they frequently

cause serious damage; hence all the upper branches of the trees incline to

the north-west.

We now came to the finest bridge in the country, named Darling Bridge,

after a late governor, which is thrown across the broad stream called by

the Dutch, Breede River, and by the English, Broad River, a frequent

source of error. The English colonists are bent upon driving out the Dutch

names of rivers and localities, and supplying them with new names of

English origin. The Dutch, however, hold on obstinately to the names they

have been accustomed to, and continue to use the ancient nomenclature.

In the neighbourhood of Darling Bridge is a farm where the traveller can

be comfortably accommodated, and from which, being a post-station, letters

can be forwarded to all parts of the country. It has regular communication

with the rest of the colony three times a week. The vehicle, however, in

which the letters and packets are forwarded, in consequence of the

wretched roads in the interior, and with the view of expediting the

transmission of mail matter, is simply a light, open, eminently

uncomfortable, two-wheel waggon, in which but one passenger can be taken

each trip. Day and night, up hill and down dale, it continues its journey,

changing driver and horses every two hours, only the unfortunate

passenger being condemned to remain glued to the jolting uncomfortable

car, until he has attained the end of his journey. We were told of an

English captain, who once travelled on urgent business 400 miles in fifty

hours in this fashion, and arrived at his destination in such a pitiable

plight, that he had to be lifted from the car and put to bed forthwith,

which he kept for several weeks, before he was able to get about again.

Unfortunately, we were not told whether this unlucky passenger returned to

Cape Town by a similar conveyance.

In the dining-room of the farm we made acquaintance with several families

from Graaf Reinet, in the north of the colony, who were _en route_ for

Cape Town, and had been already three weeks on the road, during which they

must have passed every night in their unwieldy waggon, or under tents.

There was also among the assembled travellers a Quaker Missionary, of

Worcester, who was on his way to the opening of the Spiritual Synod at

Cape Town, and who was so kind as to furnish us, on the spot, with some

introductions to his friends in Worcester, a lovely little town, which we

reached towards the evening. There are places which charm at the first

glance, just as there are many men who take us by storm as it were.

Worcester is one of these; so neat, so clean, with a pretty garden in

front of each little house, every wall of which was entwined with roses,

and in the back-ground all around, bare, but picturesque groups of lofty

hills of a blueish-grey tint, which imparted to the entire landscape a

peculiar and almost magical colouring. Worcester, a creation of

yesterday, has about 4500 inhabitants, chiefly employed in vine growing

and sheep pasture. There are some of the peasantry here who own flocks of

3000 to 4000 sheep! The rich vegetation of the valley has an eminently

northern character. Alongside of oaks, pines, poplars, willows, will

appear a tree of Australian origin, of the order of Myrtaceæ, the blue

gum-tree (_Eucalyptus Globulus_), which, on account of its rapid growth,

is planted before each door for the purpose of shade. One of these trees

was shown to us of but four years' growth, the stem of which was already

twenty feet high! The leaves have a highly aromatic odour, and must be

especially suitable for the extraction of oil, as the rind is full of

camphor; as yet, however, the tree is not used by the colonists for any

other purpose than to supply shade to their gardens.

It is surprising what comfort the traveller encounters among these new

settlements, from which, even already, all traces have been eradicated of

the difficulties that originally beset the colonist; so that at every turn

one meets with evidences of the highest European civilization. Whenever,

indeed, he finds himself at a settlement, he will remark that it is not

merely provided with the necessaries of life, or the mere products of the

soil, but that it sparkles with numerous objects of luxury and refined

taste; such as handsome furniture, pianos, and other musical instruments,

engravings, English classics, besides telescopes, barometers,

thermometers, and other similar evidences of high cultivation. At the

hotel at Worcester, we met with a degree of comfort such as is found only

in the chief cities of Europe. Several of the inhabitants, among others

Dr. Esselin, a missionary of the Moravian brotherhood, and Dr. Meynard, of

the Episcopal Church, laid us under particular obligations by their

participation in the objects of our inquiry. The latter gentleman sought

us out at our hotel, and, after a hearty welcome, remarked that he

possessed, in his collection, several highly interesting petrifactions

from Beaufort, about 400 miles north-west of Worcester. We satisfied

ourselves, however, by a visit which we paid to Dr. Meynard at his own

house, that his collection was far from possessing the interest he claimed

for it. In all probability, however, judging by what we heard, Beaufort

must be a classic soil for the palæontologist, as there are numberless

fossils in that district, especially of reptiles. In like manner, the

stalactite grottoes, known as "The Congo Caves," 300 miles from Worcester,

have never yet been scientifically examined or described.

Dr. Esselin, who is a native of Hesse, was so kind as to accompany the

naturalists of the Novara Expedition to the hot springs of Brand Vley the

following morning. The road thither, which lies through a valley partly

overflowed towards the end of the rainy season, was exceedingly trying to

the horses, and, but for the kind offices of Dr. Esselin, who was

acquainted with the difficulties of the route, and undertook the guidance

of the waggon through the constantly recurring swamps and morasses, we

should in all probability have had to retrace our steps halfway, or even

have stuck fast, which would have been a still more serious matter. Only

after unspeakable exertions did we succeed in threading the valley of

Worcester as far as the shores of Breede (or Broad) River. Several times

we were compelled, in order to lighten the waggon, to dismount, and wade

up to our knees in water. Once the quag was so deep, that to avoid sinking

in it we had to be carried, one by one, on the back of our Malay driver.

[Illustration: CROSSING THE BREEDE RIVER.]

On the bank is the cottage, (_boeren plaats_), of a peasant who avails

himself of his proximity to convert the stream into a source of profit, by

ferrying travellers, who have occasion to pass here during the floods,

across the river in a small skiff, the waggon and horses being swum across

afterwards. In summer, on the contrary, the stream is readily forded on

horseback, and is indeed dry at several points. At the period of our visit

(in October, 1857), towards the end of the rainy season, this Breede River

was about 150 feet wide, and about 28 feet deep, and we accordingly found

ourselves compelled to call in the assistance of the ferryman. Under his

superintendence the work was gone about quite systematically. First of

all the four horses were swum across, by a halter round the neck; after

which the luggage was transported to the opposite bank in a small boat.

Last of all came the waggon, with the travellers therein. It was thought

that the upper portion of the waggon might be towed across, swimming on

the surface of the water, by fastening an empty water-tight cask between

the wheels; the cask, however, proved unequal to the weight. As the waggon

left the shore it sank deeper and deeper in the water, till about

mid-current it fairly capsized, hardly a spoke of the left wheel reaching

the opposite bank.

Amidst our perplexities, a violent shower of rain came on, making the

waggon leak in every corner, just as we succeeded, after great trouble, in

getting it to land, and were busy repairing it. Fortunately, every

requisite precaution had been taken to remedy any such disaster occurring

at this dangerous spot; so that the whole affair, though sufficiently

uncomfortable at the time, left only the recollection of a pleasant

adventure.

[Illustration: HOT SPRINGS OF BRAND VLEY.]

At last, towards noon, we reached the hot springs of Brand Vley, or Brand

Valley. This hot spring, which is quite exposed, like a pond or tank, and

even at the least accessible points is adorned with rich vegetation, is

about 100 feet in circumference, and is of a triangular shape, rounded off

at the corners. Among bananas, ferns, and cacti of all sorts, spring up

numerous specimens of _Calla Ethioptica_, silver poplars, pines, reeds,

and canes, in wild profusion. Many fruits even, such as pine-apples,

mangoes, rose apples, &c., which as a rule do not flourish at this

elevation, grew all round the edges of the basin. Some twigs of a rose

tree, which, growing luxuriantly in the warmth and moisture, spread across

the spring, like a green canopy, must have been a second growth of the

same year. We in fact enjoyed the unusual spectacle of seeing one portion

of the tree in the flush of its utmost beauty, while the upper and more

distant branches had not as yet put forth their leaves. The water at the

hottest point reached 145° F., while the temperature of the air was 75° F.

It is remarkably clear, has not the slightest taste, and in many

particulars greatly resembles the springs of Wildbad Gastein. The number

of patients during the season (October to April) does not exceed from 100

to 150, the waters being chiefly used in chronic maladies, rheumatic

affections, scrofula, erysipelas, cutaneous eruptions, and similar

complaints. Immediately adjoining is a small brook, with a temperature of

68° F., which rises at the foot of a neighbouring eminence, and has water

enough during the entire year to keep a mill in constant work.

The only animal inhabiting the spring is the larva of a _Tipularia_, which

frequents one quarter of the pool where the temperature of the water does

not exceed 113°.

On the 14th of August, 1857, two shocks of an earthquake were felt in

rapid succession in Brand Valley, of such violence as to arouse the

inhabitants out of their sleep, when several of the smaller houses were

found to have rents and fissures in their walls. The proprietor of the

bath alleged that the shocks in Brand Valley were much more severe than at

Worcester, although that town is but six miles distant.

At Brand Valley we took leave of our hospitable companion, Dr. Esselin,

who presented us with several books on leaving, and set out on an

excursion to the mission of the Moravian Brethren in Genaaden Dal, in the

district of Caledon. _En route_ we encountered several families, who came

from far in the interior of Cape Colony, driving before them enormous

herds of oxen, some of which were yoked to the waggons that formed the

caravan, these being fitted up something like dwelling-houses on wheels.

As night fell, a halt would be called at some selected spot, when the

draught oxen were unharnessed, a fire lit in the open air, and the evening

repast prepared. Horses are very rarely used on long journeys, although

these are in consequence seriously lengthened thereby, especially as it is

the custom all over the country to unyoke every two or three hours, so as

to allow the beasts to enjoy a roll on the ground, if only for a few

minutes at a time.

As neither of our drivers was acquainted with the road we were now to

pursue, we hired a black guide from Brand Valley, who accompanied us on

horseback as far as the next farm-house, where we were to pass the night.

Just as one requires a pilot to take a ship into an insecure or unknown

harbour, so we now had to avail ourselves of the services of this limber

young negro, who was an excellent rider, in piloting us through the

endless morasses and pools of water. Renden was the name of the solitary

farm (the property of Mr. Pretorius, a landed proprietor, to whom we had

letters of introduction), where we were to pass the night.

As we approached, we were saluted with the loud barking of a hound that

had been unchained, and who seemed ready to rush upon his unexpected prey,

so that we hardly dared to advance one step. At last a man made his

appearance at the door of the house, with a lantern in his hand, speedily

followed by the whole family, anxious to learn who could be in the

neighbourhood at so late an hour. We handed him the letter, which we

begged him to read, and requested to know whether we could be received for

the night. We were at once admitted, and speedily found a most cordial

welcome. We were shown into apartments very plainly furnished, but neat,

and scrupulously clean, after which we were invited to join the household

at supper. It was a very numerous family. The father and mother, genuine

Dutch figures, sat at the head of a long table; next to whom sat the

son-in-law, who had married the eldest daughter, and then commingled with

each other, the sons and daughters that were as yet unmarried. They all

seemed hearty and healthy, and their indurated hands were the best

diploma of their industry. The youngest son said a short prayer; after

which venison, potatoes, mutton, vegetables, bread, butter, and cheese

were set down in huge dishes, besides which two bottles of Cape wine, of

their own manufacture, went the round of the table. Although this place

had been only settled four years previously, an immense deal had been

already accomplished by this stirring, cheerful family to make the soil

thoroughly productive, and render the house habitable. Even a small garden

had been laid out in front of the dwelling-house.

The chief article of cultivation in the valley is the grape, for wine

manufacture, which must in this place return a very handsome profit.

From Renden to Genaaden Dal is a four-hours' journey. The road passes by

Donker's Hoek, a tolerably high mountain, to ascend the summit of which

cost our horses some strenuous exertion, although we marched a

considerable distance on foot. A wide belt of sandstone formation

presented a marvellous display of flowers, and gave us in little an idea

of the South African Karroos, a series of terraced clay-patches, estimated

at from 3000 to 4000 feet high, which, hard and steppe-like in the dry

season, are speedily transformed in the rainy season into smiling,

flower-bespangled plains, quite sponge-like under foot, and rich in

alkaline products.[52] We advanced some six hours before reaching another

farm-house. This was known as Kleene Islea Plaats (Little Island Farm),

near which flows the Zonderend River (River Without End), the property of

a kind and hospitable family of French extraction, whose parents emigrated

hither from France during the revolution in 1793. As it was Sunday, the

servants had gone to church, so they could only offer us cold mutton,

syrup, butter, and bread. Before and after our repast, the devout old lady

of the house put up a short petition.

[Footnote 52: The English appellation "Karroo" seems to be derived from

_Karusa_, signifying "hard" in the Hottentot language, and to refer to a

quality appertaining to the clayey substance of which these terraces are

composed, by virtue of which the red clay, strongly impregnated with iron,

and mixed with sand, becomes in the dry season as hard as burnt clay.]

Here, too, we remarked that those born in the country of European parents

are called Africans: only the English form an exception to this rule, and

remain with persistent patriotic obstinacy, "Englishmen."

The journey from Kleene Islea Plaats to Genaaden Dal is extremely

picturesque. One first catches sight of this retired Moravian settlement

only when actually entering the place itself, embowered as it is among

lofty trees. What a surprise, when, still fancying one's self at a

considerable distance from the village, on reaching the end of a beautiful

valley at the entrance to Bavian's Kloef, one sweeps by a circuit into the

very heart of the settlement. We alighted at what is called "The

Lodgment," a house set apart for visitors, and conducted by a brother, in

conformity with the laws of the community.

The dwellings of the Hottentots lie scattered among the rising grounds in

the neighbourhood, and with their poverty-stricken aspect impart a

somewhat melancholy impression. These are built of loam, low in the roof,

as though intended for a stunted race of men, and rarely have windows, so

that the door is, generally speaking, the largest aperture in the entire

building. Our Malay driver laughed at them, and called them _oete kripp_

(oxen stalls).

[Illustration: HOTTENTOT HUTS AT GENAADENDAL.]

There seem to be three distinct kinds of these dwellings, which apparently

indicate so many grades of social and pecuniary consideration among the

resident Hottentot families. The first sort, which consists simply of a

single apartment, serving at once for kitchen, work-shop, and sleeping

place, and receiving air and light through a narrow, low-pitched door-way,

is that most usually met with, and may not unaptly be compared to a

bee-hive. The next class is of a better description, and may at once and

definitely be distinguished from the first-mentioned, in so far as it

possesses a second room, which, if dark and windowless, is at any rate

partitioned off, and serves as a sleeping apartment. Finally, the third

kind, which can only be said to be the least poor-looking, consists of

one large, almost empty chamber, for occupation during the day, with wings

on either side, one of which is used as a kitchen, the other as a

bed-room. The wretched ventilation, and damp, moist location of these

habitations, combined with the bad quality of food, may be regarded as the

main causes of the unfavourable state of health of the coloured portion of

the inhabitants of Genaaden Dal, among whom, especially as regards the

female portion, pulmonary complaints are rife.

We were provided with letters of introduction to the Superintendent of the

Community, Dr. Köbling, as also to the Physician and Pharmaceutist, Dr.

Roser, a Würtemberger by birth, and experienced a most cordial reception.

We availed ourselves of the last hours of declining day to make an

excursion to the hills, in the country immediately adjacent, so as to

command at a glance the entire colony. The principal buildings, the

Church, the school, the workshops, the warehouses, and the dwellings of

the missionaries, are assembled in a quadrangular open place, to which a

number of lofty, massive, leafy, venerable oaks impart a sombre, but

poetical, appearance, eminently characteristic of the community. All the

buildings are of a uniform dingy-grey tint. Close in the rear of these

buildings is a large garden, which reaches as far as what is called

"Bavian's Kloef" (defile), in which, even at present, apes, antelopes, and

zebras, abound. Near the kitchen-garden is the cemetery of the community,

which seems to be used by meditative brethren as a favourite resort and

promenade.

This settlement, situated at the entrance of a mountain defile, at the

foot of an immense sandstone range, of from 3000 to 4000 feet high, was

founded in the year 1787, by a brother of the persuasion, named George

Schmidt, from Moravia, who settled fifty-five miles east of Cape Town,

near Sargent's River, with a number of Hottentots, whom he began to

convert to Christianity, and called the station "Bavian's Kloef." From the

year 1806, the settlement assumed the beautiful name of "Genaaden Dal"

(Vale of Benevolence), so exquisitely correspondent with the benevolent

exertions of the brotherhood. It at present numbers 3100 souls, mostly a

race crossed between Hottentots and Mozambique negroes, of the latter of

whom a considerable number have settled here since the Slave Emancipation

Act of 1826. The settlers are partly proprietors of the land, partly

artisans, cutlers, waggon-makers, tanners, carpenters, millers, &c. In the

workshops the most exemplary cleanliness and neatness are imperatively

insisted on. At the Great Exhibition, held in London in 1851, the

wood-work of the Hottentot carpenters of Genaaden Dal received "Honourable

Mention," and this elegant testimonial in recognition of their efforts now

hangs, framed and glazed, in the library hall of the community. It

somewhat surprised us that the cutlers did not receive, in their section,

a similar distinction, since, in that department of industry, the

Hottentots produce articles, which, so far as concerns quality and

cheapness, are really astounding. The workpeople receive a fixed weekly

payment, which they may expend as they please. The net proceeds, however,

of the various articles manufactured belong to the community, and are

expended in defraying the expenses of, and supporting, the mission. The

inhabitants of Genaaden Dal are closely connected, by religious ties, with

the community; and only those who profess the principles of the Moravian

brotherhood are permitted to settle among them.

The field-labourers, who hire themselves out to labour elsewhere, are

frequently absent from the settlement for months at a time, and return to

Genaaden Dal immediately after the completion of seed-time or harvest. It

is significant that these labourers regard this period of emancipation, as

a sort of relaxation from the severe discipline and rules to which they

are subjected in the religious community.

The principal articles of food of the inhabitants consist of maize, beans,

pumpkins, rice, fruits, tea, coffee, and occasionally mutton. Wine is

strictly prohibited throughout the settlement, and when a member of the

_Novara_ Expedition, never imagining that this interdict extended to

strangers as well, desired the attendant at the house we were occupying to

fetch a bottle of sherry, that individual regarded him with as

horror-stricken an air as though he had asked him to participate in some

crime.

Although the first settlers in Genaaden Dal were pure Hottentots, not more

than five or six at present speak the idiom of their fathers, the rest

knowing only the Dutch tongue. The Superintendent had the kindness to

allow an old blind man, of the name of Sebastian Hendrik, to be presented

to us, born in the colony in 1775, of Hottentot parents, "_een opregt

Hottentot_" (an out-and-out Hottentot), as he called himself, and who

still could speak a number of phrases in his mother tongue, with its

extraordinary "clicking" sounds; but, on the other hand, no longer had the

slightest recollection of the customs, usages, or proverbs of that nation

to which he belonged by birth. In the library of the community, where this

conversation took place, there were also shown to us numerous sketches by

Hottentot and Caffre lads, which gave great hope of future excellence. It

is an especially gratifying indication of intellectual progress, that

several works of natural history are to be found on the shelves of the

library.

[Illustration: CHURCH AND MISSION HOUSES OF THE MORAVIAN SETTLEMENT AT

GENAADENDAL.]

We also found time to listen to the singing in the church, quite a plain

wooden building, erected in 1800, with white-washed walls, a spacious

gallery, and an elegant organ, the gift of a benevolent lady of Hamburg,

who spent some months of the year 1843 at Cape Town in search of health,

and took an opportunity of visiting the Moravian brethren at Genaaden Dal.

One of the missionaries sat in the middle of the chapel at a table covered

with green cloth, and gave out, verse by verse, a hymn in the Dutch

language, which was afterwards sung, with accompaniment by the organ, by

the entire community assemble in the edifice. The men and women sat apart

from each other, on smooth wooden benches, the former on the left, the

latter on the right of the officiating minister. The chapel was only

illuminated with a few tallow candles; but the devotional feeling of the

community seemed to gain by this simple unostentatious ritual, and the

mysterious solemn obscurity of their place of congregational worship.

Next morning, 12th October, some of the brethren paid us the attention of

examining in our presence the scholars of the Seminary for Teachers, so

that we might personally satisfy ourselves of their progress in the

various branches of education. This academy for the education of suitable

instructors, was originally established in 1838, through the generous

assistance of a Saxon nobleman, Count Schönburg, and year by year since,

has been so liberally assisted by that benevolent nobleman, that its

future prosperity seems fairly established. At present there are in the

seminary 14 pupils (Hottentots, Caffres, and half-breeds). Since the year

of its establishment, 50 young persons in all have been sent out hence; of

whom, however, only one half proved to be available for the duties of

teachers. Up to the year 1856, twenty-two pupils were already at work in

the service of the community, fourteen had been rejected as unsuitable,

and fourteen were still in the institute. They entered at from ten to

fifteen years of age, remained within its walls six years for instruction,

when they were clothed and maintained, and thereafter, without further

obligations to the society which had educated them, were dispatched into

the most remote districts of the colony as teachers and apostles of

Christianity. The examination of the pupils of the seminary took place at

the Library Hall, which boasts a portrait of a highly meritorious brother,

the venerable C. J. Latrobe, who, in the year 1815-16, visited South

Africa as a missionary, and, two years later published, in London, his

very remarkable book of travels. The examination commenced with a

performance on the piano by a Mestizo lad of about sixteen, son of a

Mulatto father by a Hottentot mother. This youth displayed a decided

talent for music, coupled with truly admirable execution; and besides the

piano, played the organ, the violin, and the violoncello. Next, a variety

of questions in geography and history were put to the pupils present.

These consisted chiefly of easy intelligible questions, principally

relating to England. Those examined were surprisingly well acquainted with

the history of Liverpool, London, Manchester, Dublin, &c., and could

enumerate many particulars about the Thames and Westminster Abbey. What

proved most disagreeable, was the singular custom that prevailed, of all

the pupils answering at once, each hoping, by out-clamouring his fellow,

to prove his intimate acquaintance with the subject under discussion. The

examiner, for example, put a question to a scholar, whereupon all the

pupils yelled out the reply in chorus. But it was, on the whole,

astonishing, and indeed eminently suggestive, to hear Hottentots, Caffres,

and negroes, at the extreme southernmost part of Africa, speaking of

England, and her influence over the destinies of humanity, as a

commercial, maritime, and industrial power. Already the youth of the

settlement are thoroughly interpenetrated with esteem and affection for

the mother country and its mighty people. As a _finale_, the assembled

pupils sang a Dutch _Bergmann's Gruss_, "The Miner's Welcome," and one of

Mendelssohn's delightful songs.

Before we quitted Genaaden Dal we breakfasted with the missionaries. They

are all married, and manage their households in common, and accordingly

partake of their various meals together, each with his family, all seated

at one table, one of their wives attending to change dishes and wait at

the table. Nowhere are any particular qualifications to be remarked, and

it is difficult to conceive more thorough harmony than exists among the

unpretending, yet zealously religious missionaries of Genaaden Dal.

As we were preparing for our departure, Dr. Roser unexpectedly packed up a

number of objects of natural history and scientific interest, which he

kindly presented to the Imperial expedition as a _souvenir_ of Genaaden

Dal. Besides these, there were also given to us two valuable little

books,--one a small work upon the Nicobar Islands, written about the

beginning of this century by a Moravian brother of the name of Gottfried

Hensel; the other a treatise composed by the excellent Dr. Roser himself,

upon the pharmaceutics and natural history of Genaaden Dal. With respect

to the various substances chewed as stimulants, or intoxicants, by the

Hottentots, in order to deprive themselves of sensation, or rouse

themselves to a state of high excitability, we found the following

particulars in this interesting essay. That most in use is composed of the

bruised leaves of the "_Leonotis Leonurus_." This plant, which grows in

great quantity in and beyond the Genaaden Dal, is called by the natives

"Dagga," as also frequently, "Tacha or Takka," and this variation in

pronunciation is very probably the reason that we find in Berghaus's

"_Völker des Erdballs_" (Races of the Globe), this celebrated smoke-weed,

marked as "Donha." What the same author says of certain stimulating

properties of the plant may well be considered as an exaggeration. It is

curious how the properties of this plant seem to be inextricably mingled

with the destinies of the Hottentots. In many places it has been

extirpated, in order more readily to wean the aborigines from the practice

of chewing: at other places again, "_Leonotis Leonurus_" is expressly

planted in order to attract the Hottentots, and so supply any deficiency

in hands for labour, reckless of the moral consequences. Another narcotic,

and the most widely prevalent, is the wild hemp (_Canabis Sativa_), the

dried leaves of which are smoked by the natives. Dr. Juritz, one of the

most respectable apothecaries in Cape Town, assured us he had been

compelled, during a previous residence at Stellenbosch, where he was

engaged in his business, to keep always on hand in his store a large

quantity of wild hemp for sale to the natives.

The poison with which the Bushmen tip their arrows, rendering them such

dangerous and terrible weapons, is extracted from the "_Cestrum

venenatum_."[53]

[Footnote 53: The Dyaks of Borneo poison their arrows with the juice of

_Strychnos Tieuté_ and _Antiaris Toxicaria_ (Upas).]

Among the animal products of Genaaden Dal of importance in a scientific

point of view is Hyrazeuma, a substance obtained from the urine of the

Cape Marmot (_Hyrax Capensis_). It is of a dark-brown colour, somewhat

tenacious, and nearly hard, of a very penetrating odour, and is found in

cavities resembling a molehill. This article is made use of with much

effect in hysterical complaints by the Hottentots. Dr. Roser is of

opinion, that this Cape Marmot is in all probability the same animal which

Martin Luther, in Leviticus, c. xi, v. 5, and Proverbs, c. xxx, v. 26, has

translated by the word "_kaninchen_" (conies).

On our way from Genaaden Dal to Caledon, to which there is an excellent

level road, we perceived a large number of silver poplars, with pendent

nests of finches. On a single tree we counted more than forty such pendent

nests, constructed in a very singular manner.

Caledon is a cheerful, ambitious little town, important as the centre of

the wool trade, as also for the thermal springs in the neighbourhood.

These, situated about two English miles outside the town, on a rising

ground, in a romantic and highly attractive neighbourhood, are impregnated

with iron, and of a considerable temperature. Even in the bath-house,

distant about a mile from the source of the spring, a thermometer held in

a stone trough, filled to overflowing, marked from 100°·4 to 104° Fahr. At

their respective sources the one spring has a temperature of 116°·6 Fahr.

and the other 114°·8 Fahr. The colour of the water is ochre yellow. From

the terrace of the bath-house a rather extensive landscape opens to the

view, backed by a splendid range of mountains, including the Tower of

Babel, as the inhabitants have christened the highest peak in this

vicinity.

Caledon has 600 inhabitants. About twenty years ago there were not more

than ten bales of wool grown in the entire district. At present about

800,000 lbs. are shipped annually. One Merino sheep supplies from 1 lb. to

1-1/2 lb. of wool, worth from 1_s._ 2_d._ to 1_s._ 4_d._ sterling per

pound. Besides Caledon, the principal wool districts of Cape Colony are

Swellendam, Beaufort, and Graaf-Reinet. All these districts united produce

yearly about 15,000,000 lbs. of wool, worth about _£_1,000,000 sterling.

Within two years the wool produce of the entire colony has increased 30

per cent., and during last year a strenuous and very costly experiment has

been made to introduce the Angora breed, with the intention of increasing

the wool-producing powers of the less fleecy race by a judicious cross

with the native species.

The road to Somerset-West leads over the high and picturesque Hauw-Hoek

Pass and Sir Lowry's Pass; the latter is very steep, and parts of it are

hardly, if at all, inferior in extent and variety of landscape to those

presented by the Styrian Alps. At the culminating point of the latter

pass, which surpasses even Paine's Kloef in height and width, one stands

as upon the ruins of a lofty tower, from which the eye can range at will

over the entire country beneath. South-east and eastward towers the

Hauw-Hoek Pass, while southwards and westwards the charming Lowry's Vale,

and far in the distance the smiling settlement of Somerset-West come into

view, while all around, farther than the eye can reach, are luxuriant

pasturages, that only wait to be settled and cultivated in order to

produce magnificent returns.

Somerset-West, a prettily-built, and very charmingly situated settlement,

already supports so considerable a traffic with the capital that a daily

omnibus has proved a remunerative speculation to the promoters.

We now proceeded to Zandvliet, the property of one of the oldest and most

highly considered families in the colony, named Cloete, where we spent the

night. With these genial kindly people we soon felt ourselves as entirely

at home as if with our own families; we sang, laughed, and frolicked, till

far into the night.

The following morning we drove to a hill, about a mile and a half distant

from Zandvliet, known as Macassar Downs, on which is the spot of

interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.

[Illustration: TOMB OF A MALAY PROPHET AT ZANDVLIET.]

This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the

Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled

from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the

colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the

neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca

to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for

conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened

that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering

research, could nowhere be found. This circumstance appeared to those

simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot

in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day

the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and

celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of

the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are

regarded with much veneration by the Malays. An extensive flight of stone

steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and,

but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary

dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of

front outhouse, which rather disfigures the façade, and much more

resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this

vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus; but this is

so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost

illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to

consist of the first propositions of the Koran.

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MAUSOLEUM.]

The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at

irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet

long, 9 wide, and 7 high. In the middle rises the monument, to which

access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quantities of unwashed

white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled

with a brown odoriferous liquid (_dupa_). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph,

so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to

ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of

the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it

appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite

significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal

pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin,

which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fashioned

English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the

curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white

bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole

interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay

pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days'

fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in

paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen

cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh,

so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor.

During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white mass of stuff, and

as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces

disgustingly loathsome stains.

On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also,

in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays,

enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with

large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any

injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual

interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants

of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make shirts

for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter.

Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these

ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which

the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.

At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a

large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small

apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and

desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished

certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the

tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are

likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now

entirely illegible.

On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult

walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the

entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned,

grows wild in vast quantities, and visibly prevents the further

encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be

regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil

adapted for vegetation.

The same evening the naturalists of the Expedition left hospitable

Zandvliet, though not till after they had been presented by Herr Cloete

with a splendid collection of fruits indigenous to Port Natal. Having been

everywhere received with distinction, and enjoyed every sort of assistance

in our researches, we set out on our return so richly freighted with

objects of natural history, that the waggon, as we drove through the wide

streets of Cape Town, presented such a various and substantial assortment

of each as spoke volumes for the success of our journey. Every available

corner was called into requisition to dispose of our prizes--even between

the open windows hung suspended the bottle-shaped nests of the finch, and

the slender sticks that supported the tilt were entwined with gigantic

festoons of flowers. In a word, the whole waggon, with its variegated

contents, resembled a holiday-van on its return from a country excursion,

so gaily and cheerfully was it decorated.

During our residence in the Cape colony, severe depression existed among

the agricultural inhabitants of the Western and Eastern districts, in

consequence of an epidemic which, within two years, had carried off 64,850

horses (draught horses, mares, and foals), of the value of £525,000

sterling.[54] Many landowners in consequence entirely gave up rearing

horses, and turned their attention almost exclusively to the breeding of

sheep. The visitations of this malady are by no means of late

introduction, but hitherto they had made their appearance at such long

intervals, that but little attention was paid to them and people regarded

their return without much alarm. This disease of the horse, usually

endemic in Cape Colony, assumed every twenty years, owing to some

inexplicable causes, an epidemic character, and on those occasions

extended over an extensive area, as happened with extraordinary regularity

in the years 1780, 1801, 1819, 1839, and 1854. Hitherto no further

precaution was taken, than, so soon as the disease appeared, to drive the

horses from the grass pastures to their stables or covered sheds, and

there supply them with fodder, the night dew being considered a main cause

of the complaint. A resident in Stellenbosch, indeed, maintained that the

dew which was deposited during the continuance of the disease tasted quite

bitter, and was of an unusual brownish tinge. Singular to say, not the

slightest symptoms of illness manifested themselves in the swine, dogs,

and birds of prey which devoured the carcases of horses that died of the

disease, while the consumption, whether boiled or roasted, of mutton

which was ever so slightly tainted with the mere germ of this malady,

never failed to produce the most mischievous consequences on the human

species. According to Dr. Livingstone the same malignant ulcerous

imposthumes were produced, if even sound portions were used of the carcase

of an animal that had died of this complaint. These observations, founded

on innumerable examples, run counter to the opinion of the French

physicians and physiologists, that the malignity of the poison in such

cases becomes neutralized by the process of cooking. Considering the

importance of the subject to a land-holding colony, it could hardly fail

that numerous individuals should devote themselves to elucidating the

causes of this devastating epidemic; but it must ever remain a striking

and significant fact, illustrative of the high standard of cultivation in

Cape Colony, that within a very few years 112 different authors published

treatises respecting this complaint among the horses. The result of these

numerous researches was, that the malady is epidemic, but not contagious;

that horses driven into the stable before sunset, and not permitted to go

out to pasture till the dew has evaporated off the grass, are as a rule

exempted from attack; that those horses which are kept at night in open

pounds, or in places where there are heaps of dung, take the disease in a

milder form than if suffered to roam at large day and night; lastly, that

horses for which no covered shelter can be provided, may with great

advantage be sent to hilly localities and dry runs of land. The practical

remedy which was most resorted to, consisted in immediate and prolonged

bleeding, pushed to actual exhaustion of the animal, in the first stage of

the malady, as also the exhibition of 1 drachm of tartar emetic and 2

drachms of calomel, or, at a later stage, of 30 grains of tartar emetic

twice a day.

[Footnote 54: At the same time 92,793 head of cattle (draught oxen, cows,

and calves) fell a sacrifice to a disease of the lungs, and we were

assured that the original cause of this terribly fatal malady

(_Pleuropneumonia_) is attributable to a bull having been imported from

Holland, in the year 1854, in a diseased state. The English public will

remember the severe panic under which Continental graziers, and others

connected with the cattle trade, laboured during the years 1854-55 and the

commencement of 1856.]

[Illustration: TSETSE FLY.]

Another appalling scourge of the settlers in the south-west district of

Cape Colony is a minute, almost imperceptible insect, of terrible omen,

the _tsetse-fly_ (_Glossina morsitans_), a puncture from which produces

such terrible destruction among horses and cattle, that several runs of

land are uninhabitable--nay, even the mere passing through districts which

they frequent, proves fatal to the draught beasts of the caravans. This

insect is principally encountered in copses and brushwood, very seldom in

the open country, and is about the size of a common house fly, but with

wings a little longer. In colour it resembles the honey bee. The tsetse is

uncommonly active, and usually escapes all attempts to catch it with the

hand; but in the cool of the morning or evening it is less active and

quick in its movements. The poison which it carries is so powerful that

the bite of three or four individuals is sufficient to kill the most

powerful ox. Many animals, especially such as appear perfectly sound or in

the best condition, die speedily after being bitten, but the majority are

ill for an entire week, and usually become blind before death. One

remarkable circumstance is that the bite of these insects is fatal to

dogs, even when fed with milk, while calves and other young animals, so

long as they are sucking, remain perfectly exempt from the malefic powers

of the tsetse. It is especially noticed that the danger seems to be

confined to domesticated animals, while such as are wild or only half

reclaimed, such as buffaloes, zebras, jackals, oxen, horses, and wild

dogs, have not the slightest occasion to dread this insect; nay more, it

attacks man himself without the least ill consequences. The sensation

which their bite produces on the hand, or other portion of the human

frame, would be confounded by any one travelling in the tsetse district,

with that of another minute and most troublesome, though by no means

dangerous insect, the flea. Fortunately the tsetse-fly has an appointed

circuit to range in, in the south-west of the Cape Colony, which it never

changes or extends. The landowner may erect his cattle-pound on one side

of the stream in perfect security, although the opposite bank may resound

with the hum of swarms of these insects. When the natives, who are

acquainted with the localities in which the tsetse-fly abides, are

compelled, as they constantly are, to shift their ground, and, in changing

their pastures, to transgress upon the district of the tsetse, they

usually select the moonlight nights of winter, when the insect, during the

quiet hours of the cold season, is not likely to molest their charge.

Many travellers whose draught oxen and horses have been killed by the

ravages of this insect, are annually not merely frustrated in their

journey, but, it appears, have their personal safety seriously imperilled

by being deprived of all means of locomotion. Anderson, in his admirable

work upon "Lake Ngami," relates that some twenty aborigines of the Griqua

race, who had been elephant-hunting in the north-west of that lake, and

were provided with three large waggons and numerous oxen and horses,

found, on their return to their encampment, that they had lost the whole

of their cattle-team by the bite of the tsetse. So, too, Dr. Livingstone,

during a short journey over a district frequented by the tsetse, lost

forty-three strong and useful oxen, although by dint of great vigilance

scarcely twenty flies had been able to settle among the entire herd. We

have dwelt at length on the description of the ravages caused by this so

much dreaded insect, with the view of pointing out the numerous and

amazing difficulties which present themselves to the traveller or settler

in certain localities, and how often not only wild and rapacious animals,

but even small, hardly perceptible insects endanger the life of the

wanderer, and render large tracts of lands valueless for settlement.[55]

[Footnote 55: Most valuable comprehensive details, as to the natural

history of the tsetse-fly, its ravages, and its migration into the

districts which it frequents, are to be found in the "Transactions of the

Royal Society," Volume XX., page 148; "Proceedings of the London

Geological Society," page 217; Charles John Anderson's "Lake Ngami; or,

Explorations and Discoveries during Four Years' Wanderings in the Wilds of

Western Africa," London, 1856; Dr. Livingstone's "Missionary Travels and

Researches in South Africa," London, 1857. The agent of the London

Missionary Society at the Cape of Good Hope, the estimable, highly

respected Dr. Thompson, gave us a small piece of a root called _fly-root_,

which is considered to grow from a parasite, and a decoction of which is

reckoned by the aborigines an antidote to the bite of the tsetse-fly.

Unfortunately the requisite material was not in sufficient quantity to

admit of determining the plant itself, or of instituting further

researches with it.]

No stranger can well leave Cape Town without having visited Constantia,

the chief seat of the wine cultivation of the country. Accordingly we had

a day of exceedingly pleasant relaxation while visiting High Constantia.

Mr. James Mosenthal, the very hospitable Austrian Consul, had carefully

selected the most beautiful spot in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town,

the charming residence of his friend Mynheer Van Reenen, at which to get

up a splendid _fête champêtre_ on an extensive scale, in honour of the

visit of this the first man-of-war that had borne the flag of our country

into these remote seas. The entire staff of our frigate was invited, and

over a hundred guests, comprising the flower of the fair sex of Cape Town,

took part in the festivities. Immense four-horse coaches conveyed the

company in the forenoon to the hill of Constantia. The company wandered at

leisure under the gigantic oak trees, or in the beautifully laid-out

garden of this extensive domain, and after a sumptuous _déjeuner_, the

majority set to dancing. A small orchestra of stringed instruments played

alternately with the ship's band in the garden, and in the tastefully

decorated apartment. Those who did not care to dance, or whom a burning

afternoon sun prevented from walking in the open air, might escape into

cool and most elegant cellars, where our hospitable entertainer had stored

large quantities of "spiritual treasures." The costly nectar which the

Cape, and especially High Constantia, produces, finds its way but seldom

to European tables, because the quantity produced is very much below the

demand; for although the first cultivation of the grape for wine dates in

Cape Colony so far back as 1668, the wine manufacture has only of late

years expanded in a marked degree,--viz., 45 per cent. from 1855 to 1856,

and 70 per cent. from 1856 to 1857, so that at present the entire quantity

produced of red and white Cape wine (Pontac and Frontignac) may be stated

at 24,000 pipes, worth £380,000 sterling.

At the conclusion of the _fête_ we sat down to a splendid banquet in the

open air, in a shady avenue, so as to admit of all the guests sitting at

one long table. At the upper end, under the umbrageous boughs of some

venerable oaks, that towered like a canopy overhead, fluttered the flags

of England and Austria. The mayor of Cape Town occupied the chair; the

toasts customary on such occasions were given and responded to, allusion

being made to the pleasure felt at the arrival of an Austrian man-of-war,

as also to the gratitude of the members of the Expedition for the hearty

welcome prepared for them, and expressing an earnest hope that both

Governments may ever continue faithfully allied, as both nations are, by

descent, sympathy, and intellectual pursuits. A few days after this

splendid entertainment, we returned to Simon's Bay, whence the _Novara_

was already preparing to sail. The several weeks' stay of the frigate at

the little settlement of Simon's Bay, together with a certain quantity of

repairs, had called forth a most unwonted briskness of business. Amid so

circumscribed a population, the sudden influx of more than three hundred

additional consumers, with their varying wants, speedily made itself

perceptible in every class of the community, the more so as most of the

heavy stores for the voyage were bought here, so that the sum set in

circulation during these few weeks amounted to some £2,000. At the same

time the Expedition were readily permitted to contribute a mite towards

building the Catholic Church in Simon's Town, and to present some priests'

garments, altar cloths, and church fittings, which had been intended by

the Austrian Government for distribution among four Catholic Missionaries

in the various quarters of the globe visited.

Some members of the Expedition also set out on an excursion some thirty

nautical miles, to where the peninsula of the Cape stretches out to the

real Cape of Good Hope itself--a longer, more difficult, but also more

interesting expedition, which gave fresher impressions, and conveyed a

pretty accurate and more just idea of the physical features of the

Peninsula of the Cape, its vegetation, zoology, and geological structure,

than could be obtained by a cursory examination, of the natural features

of a large portion of South Africa. For whoever has clambered up the torn,

broken, rocky masses of Table Mountain, worn out and eaten away by the

atmosphere, and has scrambled among its wild hollows, with its forests of

the greyish green _Pratea Gargentea_ at his feet, amid its far extending

rocky plateaux, full of stagnant water-pools; whoever has strayed thence

among the wine-producing terraced hills of Constantia, with their rich

vegetation; over the sandy table-lands backed by rocky ridges, over

streams of copper-coloured water, and the boggy tracts that extend to the

extreme south-west point, as far as the Sandstone rocks, 800 feet high,

which, descending sheer into the tempest-tossed, fearsome, boiling ocean,

constitutes the actual Cape of Good Hope--obtains a tolerably just and

correct idea of the appearance of Southern Africa for one hundred miles

into the interior, and along the coast line, 400 English miles in length,

which stretches from St. Helena Bay as far as the River Samtoos, west of

Algoa Bay. All is sandstone or clay-slate, with occasional granitic knobs

cropping out; no trees, but such as are planted in clumps around the

sparsely scattered farms, conspicuous from an immense distance; while, on

the other hand, in spring, an indescribable flush of blossoms and flowers,

and instead of trees, millions of ant-hills, with their regularly shaped

cones from three to four feet high, impart a peculiar character to the

landscape of South Africa. But on the so-called Lowlands of Algoa Bay,

beyond the River Samtoos, Nature assumes an entirely different character

in her forest vegetation. Unfortunately, the original designs of the

geologists of the Expedition, of Examining the petrified treasures of this

renowned district, fell through, which was all the more to be regretted as

this geological Eldorado promised a great accession to our collection.

During our stay at Simon's Town, we also experimented with our

astronomical instruments, which, at our next station, St. Paul's Island,

were to be brought fully into requisition for the first time. On this

occasion, as on many others, the unfailing courtesy and kindness of the

renowned astronomer and director of the Observatory of Cape Town, Mr.

Thomas Maclear, assisted us most materially in the observations for

comparison with our own physical instruments.

[Illustration: PLATE IV.--FROM THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO ST. PAUL'S ISLAND.]

On the morning of the 26th October it fell calm, changing to variable

breezes and light puffs of wind, that made it doubtful whether we could

sail that day, as we needed a catspaw from the West in order to weigh

anchor. From the English line of battle-ship _Boscawen_, there floated

across the bay as we worked out, the Austrian National Anthem, played as a

farewell--a graceful mark of recognition--which was replied to by our band

performing the sister hymn, "God Save the Queen."

We steered between Noah's Ark and Roman Rock, coasting along till we made

Whittle Rock, but the wind shifting, we were, ere long, compelled to tack.

Had we not seized the favourable moment to get away, it would, a couple of

hours later, have been impossible to put to sea, as the wind sprang up

from the S.E. and blew fresh. Towards sundown, the sky cleared up, and we

once more caught sight of the serrated outline of the southernmost point,

with its desolate, worn, hollowed-out, rocky masses, which, however, with

the _souvenirs_ of the hearty reception that had been accorded us in Cape

Town seemed on this occasion much more home-like and habitable. All of

us, indeed, carried with us in our breasts the most cordial and agreeable

reminiscences of the Cape of Good Hope.

In spite of many drawbacks and deficiencies of physical requisites, which

oppose the rapid development of its natural resources, Cape Colony

possesses in its healthy climate its valuable indigenous products, and its

free political institutions, a guarantee for its perhaps gradual, but on

that account more substantial, progress. It is a favourable specimen of a

prosperous agricultural colony able to maintain itself, whose inhabitants,

seeking in the peaceable cultivation of the soil their sole reward, are

exposed to none of those ruinous reverses of fortune, which make life in

those lands that are rich only in a metallic currency so stormy and

uncomfortable, and render their future so problematical.

A colony, which already employs annually, in its commerce all over the

world, a thousand ships, which has a trade valued at nearly £2,000,000

sterling, and before long will be in a position to export 30,000,000 lbs.

of wool a year, besides an unlimited quantity of wines already in great

demand, whose soil, owing to its prolific nature, returns, under human

cultivation, crops of one hundred-fold, while in its unexplored districts

as many additional vegetable and mineral treasures lie unavailable as yet--

such a colony carries in itself the germs of a splendid development into a

great and most enviable future. Provided with laws of a most liberal

scope, and institutions corresponding to the spirit of our times, which

leave each colonist entirely at liberty to develope his powers and

capabilities in whatever direction he pleases, Cape Colony must, ere long,

stand forth as the pattern colony for all others in the different

countries beyond sea,--a majestic monument of the reward so justly due to

the English nation for its policy in promoting the moral and material

progress of mankind in the most remote corners of the earth.

We lay a southerly course in order to strike the regular Westerly winds,

which we might hope to fall in with in the neighbourhood of 40° S., and

already we again saw our old friends, the albatross, the cape pigeon, and

the stormy petrel, in innumerable quantities.

By the evening of the 28th we had attained our limit in the South-west,

but the West winds had not yet made their appearance, so that we had to

contend till 1st November with baffling light winds alternating with

calms. At length in 37° 30' S. and 18° 4' E., we encountered Westerly

breezes, which, ere long, freshened, veered to the southward, and

compelled us to shorten sail. We were at this time not quite as yet in the

zone of West winds, but had to do with variable winds; which, however, as

the prevailing winds must be west or south, could generally be made

available to enable us to lay our course for St. Paul. Although in the

month corresponding to May in the southern hemisphere, we found ourselves

shivering with cold, the thermometer barely reached 18° Cent. (64°·4 Fah.)

during the day in the open air, and our bodies, accustomed of late to a

milder temperature, felt as though it were twice more rigorous than it

actually was, in consequence of the wind coming from the ice-bound

antarctic regions.

On the afternoon of 4th November, a great excitement arose on board; a

violent shower filled the lifeboats with water, and a large black object

was observed swimming in the sea. Fortunately, it was not a man, though it

proved to be a great favourite that had fallen overboard. Bessy, an ape,

had got loose from her chain, and while being chased, fell in her

eagerness into the sea, which fortunately was tolerably smooth. The droll

little brute had quickly made itself such a favourite with the crew from

its comical attractive ways, that its sudden fall overboard awoke

universal sympathy. A boat was lowered, and Bessy rescued, who speedily

recovered from her fright, and although dripping wet, proceeded to consume

an orange that was handed her with an expression of entire satisfaction.

On reaching 40° S., 31° E., the West winds became more steady, with a

perceptible increase of motion, giving an average of 33 feet as the height

of the waves, while the frigate rolled heavily. Sometimes several

"Rollers" would follow one after the other, which made the ship heel over

from 20° to 25° on either side. At each roll, streams of water poured in

upon the gun-deck. The cannon-shot kept up a deafening dance from one side

to the other, while stools, tables, chests, and in short everything that

could move, were unmistakably "lively." The temperature of the air during

the night fell to 41° Fahrenheit, and was felt yet more keenly in squalls

accompanied by rain, which made our life on board anything but agreeable,

although the certainty that we were proceeding favourably with the

so-called "_Fair_" Westerly winds indemnified us in some degree for the

discomfort.

On 14th November, in 40° 44' S., 60° 8' E., we availed ourselves of a dead

calm and smooth sea to try a cast of Brooke's Patent Deep-sea Lead.

While at Rio, we had been supplied, through the kindness of Don José de

Barnabé, Commander of the Royal Spanish Frigate _Bilbao_, with a large

quantity of lead-line, after an unsuccessful attempt to purchase it there.

Unfortunately, however, the line had become somewhat decomposed by

moisture, and gave way at 6,170 fathoms (37,020 English feet) while still

running out, so that on this occasion also, we could only tell that bottom

had _not_ been reached with the portion of the line paid out.

The times occupied by the line in running out were as follows:--

1st 1000 fathoms 15 minutes 36 seconds.

2nd " " 26 " 59 "

3rd " " 34 " 20 "

4th " " 43 " 25 "

5th " " 61 " 5 "

6th " " 75 " 55 "

And the last 170 " 11 " 40 "

____ ______________________

Total 6,170 " 4 hours 29 minutes.

To the apparatus two 30-lbs. shot were attached, and the first 100 fathoms

of line were doubled. By this observation we satisfied ourselves that such

soundings are only successful when none but the best materials are

employed, and, moreover, that the line becomes deteriorated in an

extraordinary degree by long stowage on boardship, so that it is better in

long voyages not to take such large supplies of line, but to adopt most

stringent measures to prevent its being weakened by damp. Very probably a

light coating of tar over the line would tend to keep it in good

preservation, and it also seems advisable proportionately to strengthen

the first 500 or 1000 fathoms.

On the 18th November the look-out man descried from the main topgallant

mast-head the Island of St. Paul, the goal of our wishes, the object which

had so long occupied our thoughts, and on which our scientific

capabilities were to be called into enviable activity. The necessary

arrangements were completed for facilitating astronomical observations,

the instruments and other necessaries taken out and got in readiness to be

conveyed to the island, and the various stations and duties of the

different members specified, so as to admit of the observations being

completed in the shortest possible time.

On the 19th November, at daybreak, we found ourselves close in with St.

Paul's Island, while on our port-side the outline of New Amsterdam was

visible in the shape of two lofty peaks on the horizon. As the wind blew

from the N.W., we kept the ship's course past the north promontory of the

island, and ranged along the eastern side to the selected anchoring

ground. As we doubled the northernmost point, the conical-shaped Nine-Pin

Rock came into view, while the high and precipitous margin of the island

in the N.E. with the entrance into the crater became visible. How great,

however, was our astonishment, when we observed some neatly laid-out

terraces, of a fresher green hue than were observed in the upper

table-lands of the island! These were evidently spots cultivated by former

or present residents in the island. But no traces of habitation were seen,

whether of mankind or of the seal. Only flights of albatrosses, bryons,

ospreys, and sea-swallows, with now and then the protracted screams (like

human groans) of immense flights of penguins, those singular-looking

sea-birds, which awaken so deep an interest alike for their striking

appearance as by their mode of life.

An examination of the rock of the island showed layers of black lava,

alternating with yellow and red tufa, which seemed stratified regularly

from the rim of the crater to the extreme circumference of the island.

"Thirty fathoms, and no bottom," sung the wearied leadsman; and presently,

"Thirty fathoms,"--and a few minutes before 9 A.M. the anchor rattled out,

on the 24th day after we left Simon's Bay, after retracing our steps

Eastward some 3000 miles. Our anchorage, as we afterwards became aware,

was not the best possible, as we ought to have lain closer in to the

island. But when one anchors nearer the land in a less depth of water,

one is by no means more protected from storms sweeping in from seawards,

to which the entire eastern half of the island lies exposed. Only on the

west side does the island, with the steep margin of the crater some 700 or

800 feet high, afford any protection against the west winds, which,

however, seldom blow here.

[Illustration: ARRIVAL AT ST. PAUL.]

[Illustration: VIEW OF ST. PAUL.]

VII.

The Islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam,

IN THE SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN.

Former History.--Importance of the situation of St. Paul.--

Present inhabitants.--Preliminary observations.--To whom does

the Island belong?--Fisheries.--Hot springs.--Singular

experiment.--Penguins.--Disembarkation.--Inclement weather.--

Remarks on the climate of the Island.--Cultivation of European

vegetables.--Animal life.--Library in a Fisherman's hut.--

Narrative of old Viot.--Re-embarkation.--An official document

left behind.--Some results obtained during the stay of the

Expedition.--Visit to the Island of Amsterdam.--Whalers.--

Search for a Landing-place.--Remarks on the Natural History of

the Island.--A Conflagration.--Comparison of the two islands.--

A _rencontre_ at sea.--Trade-wind.--Christmas at sea.--"A man

overboard."--Cingalese canoe.--Arrival at Pont de Galle, in

Ceylon.

The visit of the Austrian frigate _Novara_ to the Islands of Amsterdam and

St. Paul, so long confounded with one another, was one of the cherished

objects of interest to the immortal Alexander von Humboldt.

Although St. Paul has been in very recent times visited and surveyed by

illustrious English navigators,[56] and although the doubt hitherto

existent as to the precise discoverer, and the correct application of the

names of the two islands, has been set at rest by the discovery of the

original log of Antonio Van Diemen, kept on his voyage from the Texel to

Batavia (16th December, 1632, to 21st July, 1633), by which it is made

plain, beyond possibility of contradiction, that that renowned navigator

passed for certain on 17th July, 1633, between both islands, and conferred

on the northern the name of New Amsterdam, and on the southern that of St.

Paul;[57] yet the two islands still continue to present points of great

interest on closer examination and observation. Of the various ships

which, since the discovery of those islands, have visited them for

scientific purposes, hardly any have remained long enough to be in a

position to acquire a thorough acquaintance with the various objects of

natural history and scientific interest that present themselves. Even the

visit paid by the naturalist attached to the expedition on board the

English ship _Lion_ and _Hindostan_ which, on the 2nd of February, 1793,

touched at St. Paul, _en route_ to China, and to whom we are indebted for

the first detailed account of this island, erroneously spoken of as

Amsterdam (following the example of former English navigators), did not

come within the original design of that Ambassadorial expedition. It was

the result rather of accident that, as the _Lion_ and _Hindostan_ were

passing close in with St. Paul, two human beings were descried on the

shore, waving in the air a piece of canvas fastened on poles, who

apparently were anxious to convey to the expedition their desire to

communicate with their ships. It was supposed these were shipwrecked

mariners, stranded on this dangerous coast, who regarded the arrival of

the _Lion_ as an unexpected means of rescue. To save these

fellow-creatures from so desperate a position, the Captain of the _Lion_

declared to be a pleasing duty assigned by Providence, and rejoiced to

have been selected as the instrument of their deliverance. When, however,

the boat of the British man-of-war, which was despatched to take off the

castaways and bring them on board ship, had landed on the island, the crew

speedily discovered the singular delusion which all had laboured under.

The men, whom motives of humanity had intended to rescue from this

inhospitable place, turned out to be anything but involuntary residents on

the island, being seal-hunters, who for five months had dwelt here, and

purposed remaining ten months longer, with the intention of completing a

cargo of 25,000 seal-skins, for which at that time there was a very

considerable and lucrative demand in the Chinese markets,[58] and the

signals which had first attracted their attention, it now appeared were

for no other object than to enable them to feel themselves once more,

after such an interval, in the company of their fellowmen.

[Footnote 56: Captain C. P. Blackwood, of H.M.S. _Fly_, 1842, and Captain

Denham, C.B., of H.M. Surveying Ship _Herald_, 1853. M. Tinot "_capitaine

du long cours_," who visited St. Paul in the summer of 1844, published

likewise some interesting memoranda relating to that island, in the

"_Nouvelle Annales de la Marine et des Colonies_," for November, 1853.]

[Footnote 57: Previous to the resuscitation, after considerable difficulty,

of this important, indeed decisive document, by Mons. L. C. D. Van Dyk,

among the archives of the East and West India Company of Amsterdam, of

which he was Librarian, the utmost uncertainty prevailed as to the

discovery, name, and geographical position of the two islands. Now,

William Van Flaming, a Dutch navigator, was supposed to be the

discoverer,--now, the hardy Van Diemen. Atlases, charts, and books of

travels, spoke of the name St. Paul belonging, here to the northern

island, there to the southern. This long-continued confusion of names had

naturally left ample space for the most contradictory statements as to the

position, conformation, and geological conditions of both islands. One

traveller, for instance, describes Amsterdam as an island with good

anchorage on the North side, and an extinct crater, into which ran a

fissure, forming a natural link with the ocean; while, on the other hand,

he described St. Paul as a desert island, with steeply sloping shores,

which make it matter of difficulty, if not utterly impracticable, to

effect a landing; while other voyagers, again, give directly contrary

accounts of both islands. Compare the following:--"An authentic account of

an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China,

together with a relation of the voyage undertaken on the occasion by

H.M.S. _Lion_, and the ship _Hindostan_, E.I.C.N., to the Yellow Sea and

Gulf of Pekin, as well as of their return to Europe, taken chiefly from

the papers of H.E. the Earl of Macartney, &c., by Sir George Staunton,

Bart. (London, 1797), vol. I., pp. 205-27."--"Rélation du Voyage à la

recherche de _La Pérous_ fait par l'ordre de l'Assemblée constituante

pendant les années 1791-92, et pendant la 1^{re} et la 2^{de} année de la

République Française. Par le citoyen La Billardière, Correspondent de

l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. Au VIII. de le République Française.

Tome I. pp. 120-123."--"Johnston, A.K., General Gazetteer of the World

(London, 1855)."--"Hamburgh, James, India Directory; or, Directions for

Sailing to or from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the adjacent

parts of Africa and South America (London, 1855). 7th Edition, vol. I., p.

101."--"Voyage to the South Pole, and Round the World, by Captain Jas.

Cook, R.N. (London, 1777)." An interesting and tolerably circumstantial

treatise on these islands is also to be found among the transactions of

the Imperial-Royal Geographical Society of Vienna for the year 1857,

second division, pp. 145-56, by Mr. A. C. Zhishman, Professor of Geography

and History, in the I. R. Nautical Academy at Trieste.]

[Footnote 58: "It seems," says Lord Macartney, "that the Chinese possess

remarkable skill in the dressing of seal-skins, by which they remove the

long coarse hair, so as to leave merely the soft tender skin, and

simultaneously manage to render the hide thin and pliant. Only the

prospect of some such enormous profit could at any time induce human

beings to pass fifteen months at a stretch on so ungenial a spot, which,

moreover, their occupation must render yet more loathsome. They killed the

seals as they basked in the sun on the rocks along the shore, and around

the broad natural rock basins. As only the skins were of any value to

them, they left the flayed carcases exposed to rot on the ground, and

these lie heaped together here in such masses that it was difficult to

avoid treading on them, when one reached the shore of the island. At every

step some disgusting spectacle presented itself, while an unutterably

nauseous smell of decaying matter poisoned the surrounding atmosphere. In

the summer months the seals flock hither, all at the same period, in herds

sometimes numbering 800 to 1000, of which usually only about one hundred

are killed at a time. This is the utmost number that five men can skin in

the course of a single day, it being necessary to peg them together on the

spot, on account of the drying up of the skin. For want of the requisite

vessels only an inconsiderable quantity of the train-oil, which these

animals contain, is collected. A portion of the best of the blubber is

melted, and serves these people in lieu of butter. The seal which

frequents these islands is the Southern or Falkland seal (_Arctocephalus

Falclandicus_ of Gray--_Phoca fusilla_ of Schreber). The female weighs

ordinarily from seventy to one hundred and twenty pounds, and is from

three to five feet long, the male usually considerably larger. In their

natural state these animals are not particularly timid; sometimes, indeed,

they plunge all together into the water when any one approaches them; but

quite as often they remain sitting quietly on the rocks, or raise

themselves erect with a menacing growl. A sharp blow on the snout with a

stick seems sufficient to kill them. Most of those that approach the shore

are females, the proportion they bear to the males being about thirty to

one. This apparent disproportion between the sexes, according to

observation hitherto, is explained as follows:--The Southern seal at

certain periods often undertakes distant wanderings from one tract to

another; and certain of these tracts, such as the Cape of Good Hope and

the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam, are only frequented by the females

when about to bring forth, and by the younger males of the school. In

winter the huge snouted seal, or Sea Elephant (_Macrorhinus_, "long

snout," _elephantinus_ of Gray--_Phoca leonina_ of Schreber), which

sometimes attains a length of twenty-five or even thirty feet, comes in

great numbers to these islands, where they herd together like sheep in the

natural coves which the coast is broken into, in which the males announce

the presence of a herd by a vehement growling, deepening into a loud

roar."]

Owing to the important situation of St. Paul, midway between the

southernmost point of Africa and the Australian continent (from each of

which it is about 3150 miles distant), a complete, accurate survey of the

island seemed of great importance, not merely to the scientific world, but

also in the interests of navigation; as most of the ships bound for China,

Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the East India liners, pass pretty

close to these islands, especially during the winter season. Many captains

trading in the Indian ocean see in St. Paul an advantageous haven for

recruiting the strength of their scurvy-stricken crews, while the ships of

others, shattered almost to the point of foundering in the storms of a

tract of ocean where for thousands of miles there is no other land, can

find here their only prospect of preservation.

For the voyagers on board the _Novara_, an interest of an entirely

personal sort attached to their visit to the island. Among the

unfortunates, who on the 24th August, 1853, suffered shipwreck on the

shores of New Amsterdam, in the British ship _Meridian_, was a native of

Brienz, in Switzerland, named Pfau. This person, together with the

captain, Richard Hernamann, and a Frenchman had disappeared, leaving no

trace, when, on the following morning, the surviving passengers of the

wrecked ship were rescued by a whaler that happened to be cruising in the

neighbourhood. It was supposed that the three unfortunate men had

endeavoured to reach the adjacent island of St. Paul in a small boat, and

probably were still living there. The father of the Swiss made

application, through an indirect channel, to the chief of the Expedition,

earnestly requesting him on his visit to the island to institute some

enquiries with the view of finding some trace of his ill-starred son,

still unwilling to renounce all hope that he might yet be found living at

St. Paul.

We hove to about one mile and a half distant from the great crater-basin,

in whose eastern buttress a natural communication has been opened with the

sea through a breach in its side. When the Dutch captain, William Van

Flaming, cast anchor before the island in 1697, the wearing action of the

waves had not yet completed this breach, there existing at that period a

dam of some five feet high between the sea and the cavity of the crater.

At present small boats can, at any hour of the day, pass into the

crater-basin, protected from the swell of the ocean by two natural

barriers, which leave between them a passage of about 300 feet wide. Our

last admeasurement gave a length of 600 feet for the southern barrier, and

1002 feet for that in the north; while the intervening water passage

measured 306 feet in breadth, with a depth of 9.6 feet at high water, and

from 2 to 3 feet at ebb tide. On the north side of the entrance to the

straits stands a lofty pyramidal rock, called Nine-Pin Rock, round which

circle innumerable sea-fowl, which to all appearance brood among the

chinks and crannies of the rock, while in the water below crowds of sharks

lash the water into foam. It must be highly dangerous hereabouts to be

capsized in a boat, as there would be little possibility of any one being

rescued, no matter how speedily assistance might be rendered.

Scarcely were we anchored, ere we in the ship perceived a boat approaching

from the island, which rapidly neared the frigate, with three men who had

taken up their abode in even this desolate wilderness. Our imagination

deluded us with the pleasing idea that these three forlorn, forsaken

figures might be the long lost men wrecked in the _Meridian_, whom pitying

billows might have wafted to this solitary island.

Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume I (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. · 第 12 / 15 章

Hitherto the altitude of a wave has been generally measured merely by the