an humiliation
of the Company's principal servant and officers in a commercial community
bore, it must be confessed, rather an extraordinary appearance; but such,
as we were informed, was the distinction between the two services; and
Mr. Van de Graaf was obliged to obtain his prince's permission before he
could accept of the government of the Cape from the East India Company.

Residence at the Cape would be highly agreeable, were it not for the
south-east wind. This during the summer season blows with such violence,
and drives every where such clouds of sand before it, that the
inhabitants at certain times dare not stir out of their houses. Torrents
of dust and sand, we were told, had been frequently known to fall on
board of ships in the road. This circumstance accounted for every thing
we got here being gritty to the taste; sand mixing with their flour,
their rice, their sugar, and with whatever was capable of receiving it,
finding its way in at doors, windows, and wherever there was an entrance
for it. From the great height of the Table Mountain*, whatever clouds are
within its influence are attracted when the south-east wind prevails; and
as it increases in violence, these clouds hang over the side of the
mountain, and descend into the valley, sometimes rolling down very near
the town. From the curling of the vapour over the mountain, the
inhabitants predict the arrival of the south-easter, and say, 'The
Table-cloth is spread;' but with all its violence, and the inconvenience
of the dust and sand, it has a good effect, for the climate and air of
the Cape Town (though wonderfully beneficial and refreshing to strangers
after a long voyage) is not reckoned salubrious by the inhabitants, who,
we understood, were at times visited by pains in the chest, sore throats,
and putrid fevers; and the place would certainly be still more unhealthy
were it not for this south-east wind, which burns as it blows, and while
it sweeps disorder before it purifies the air.

[* 3353 Rhineland feet--a Rhineland foot being twelve inches and 5/12
English.]

The Cape is celebrated for producing in the highest perfection all the
tropical and other fruits; but of the few that were in season during our
stay we could not pronounce so favourably. The oranges and bananas in
particular were not equal to those of Rio de Janeiro. The grape we could
only taste from the bottle; that of Constantia, so much famed, has a very
fine, rich, and pleasant fla