No matter in which direction one goes, the great Table Mountain, at the
foot of which Cape Town is built, makes its presence _felt_. You cannot
look along a street without seeing it; it is the first object that meets
the gaze on rising and the last impression the drowsy brain relinquishes
at night. It is a fine old mountain, rising sheer from the sea in an
almost perpendicular wall above the first slope on which the town is
built to a height of 3,852 feet. Its summit is cut off perfectly
square, thus suggesting its name. It is four miles long and is very
often crowned with a huge white cloud that slowly rises like a vapour
from the other side, and then gradually settles over the top of the
mountain, hanging like a tablecloth on it.
This always brings with it a storm of wind and sand or rain that can be
heard shrieking and tearing down the mountain-side, while the town lies
in sultry heat and silence. This cloud is almost like a barometer to
the residents. When asked if there will be a storm, the questioned one
will quietly look at Table Mountain and will tell you the strength of
the storm that may be coming by the size of the tablecloth on the
mountain.
It rises and falls like a veil of steam. The moon clearly defining the
outline of the mountain with its vapour-covered summits on glorious
nights with the bluest of skies above, the wind thundering down its
sides, screaming and filling the ear with strange sounds, and the sea
rolling in and breaking at its base, make a grand scene.
Imagine the tremendous surface this almost vertical mountain-side
presents to the ocean, four miles long and three-quarters of a mile
high. How the heart of an American manufacturer would sigh if he saw
it, to think of such a "stand" being unutilised for advertising
purposes!
The mountain is flanked on the north by a peculiarly formed hill, shaped
like a crouching lion, the lion's head, 2,100 feet high, which is
nearest the sea, being used for a signal station. On the southwest
extremity is the Devil's Peak, an ugly-looking spiky-topped mountain,
with an elevation of 3,300 feet. The sides of the lion's head and the
base of the mountain are covered thickly with the "silver-tree," only
found here and in Natal. The leaves of this tree are three inches long
and one inch wide, and are like an exquisite piece of silver-coloured
satin, with a white, hairy surface. Only a few short weeks had elapsed
since we left the cold, wintry shores of England, and here in December
the flowers were growing in abundance around us; for a very small outlay
we converted our room into a conservatory.
The number and diversity of the flowers, both wild and cultivated, that
thrive in the colony is unlimited, but alas! the perfume is so faint as
to be almost imperceptible. We had huge bunches of roses of all shades,
vying in beauty with the very finest of their species to be found
anywhere, but almost entirely scentless. The plants of South Africa are
of great beauty and fill the conservatories of Europe. This
southwestern region is the home of the Cape flora. Orchids innumerable
abound on the streams of Table Mountain and the Hottentot Holland
Mountain, thirty miles inland. Some of the enthusiastic collectors we
had met in England would surely have been made happy by the privilege of
classifying them. There are said to be 350 species of beautiful heather
in this region, at times making the whole mountain-side look like a
warm-hued carpet. There are geraniums, asters of all sorts,
heliotropes, lobelias, and so many sorts and varieties of lovely twining
vines and beautiful ferns that I give up all hope of ever recording
one-half of them.
During the winter months of May, June, July, and August rain falls, and
from January to April it is very dry. The climate is warm and moist to
an almost sub-tropical extent, owing to the currents of the Indian
Ocean, so that flowers are to be found the year round. The lovely "Lily
of the Nile" is so common as to be designated by the less euphonious
name of "Pig Lily."
During a few days in the month of December the heat was intolerable, but
not more so than the summer heat of New York; and it did not last long.
It was a dry heat with generally a breeze stirring, and then the nights
were cool and lovely beyond description. In the dryness of the climate
is to be found the reason of its giving such comfort to the invalid.
There is immunity from ague or bronchitis. But the invalid suffering
from pulmonary disease must not think that Cape Town is going to cure
his tired lungs, but must hasten on up country, where the great
physician Nature receives him and restores him healed to his loved ones
at home.
There are three climates to choose from in Africa: the coast climate
with more or less moisture; a midland climate, cooler and drier; and a
mountain climate drier still, with a bracing atmosphere.
The hotel, although as good as any in the colony, would be considered a
very ordinary one in America. The smells exhaled on all sides from the
blacks who wait on you and from the ditches over which you take your
constitutional walk, the sand, filled with fleas that make you
occasional visits unless grease and ointment are used freely on the
body, these are the chief annoyances offered the health-seeker; but the
colonist will tell you they are nothing as an offset to the "great and
glorious climate," and he is right.
Before the end of the first week we came to the conclusion that South
Africa was charming. We were hasty in thus concluding, for, in truth,
the scenery in and around Cape Town gives the newcomer an impression of
the country which subsequent experiences of sandy plains and barren
hills fail to justify. We were invited to visit the home of a wine
merchant, who owned the most extensive vineyards at Constantia, some
distance from town, reached partially by train. From the train you go
then by carriage, through delightfully shady roads, to the cool,
rambling old house.
In the rear were the vaults, in which were many hogsheads full of wine
made from the grapes grown on the place. The grapes of Constantia are
said by some enthusiastic visitors to be the finest in the world; they
are certainly most luscious, and the wine really delicious. They grow
on low bushes about two and a half feet high and are similar to our
California grapes, though, if possible, even more palatable.
The manufacture of wine is the principal industry of the suburbs of Cape
Town. Pontak and Cape Sherry, the native sweet wines are the favourite
beverages and within the reach of the purse of all classes. In the
garden was a beautiful flowering vine, and as we stood admiring it Eva
spied what appeared to be a lizard on one of the tendrils; it was about
two and a half inches in length, with a long, flexible tail and funny
little bulging eyes which seemed to act independently of one another,
turning in any direction, up, down, in front or behind. As we watched
it, it crawled on to a green leaf, and gradually began to assume the
same tint as the leaf itself; at last the little creature, from being of
a light brown hue, became almost invisible, so thoroughly had it assumed
the shade and tone of the surrounding foliage. Suddenly it shot out a
long tongue, apparently longer than itself, and "snaked" (the word
expresses the action) a fly that had incautiously approached too near.
It was our first introduction to the chameleon, and we watched it with
wondering interest during the afternoon.
After remaining three weeks in Cape Town, we found that the changes of
temperature caused by the south-easters retarded Frank's recovery, and
we hastened our departure for the upland region.