t it was good brandy, and made from his own peaches.

Shortly afterward the wife of the boor made her appearance, and having
saluted them, took up her station at a small table, with the tea
apparatus before her. That refreshing beverage she now poured out for
the visitors, handing a box, with some sugar-candy in it, for them to
put a bit into their youths, and keep there as they drank their tea, by
way of sweetening it. The old boor told them he had expected them, as he
had been informed that they were to set out that day; but he had
concluded that they would arrive in the afternoon, and not so early.

We may as well here give a description of a Dutch farmer's house at the
Cape settlement.

It was a large square building, the wall built up of clay, and then
plastered with a composition made by the boors, which becomes
excessively hard in time; after which it is whitewashed. The roof was
thatched with a hard sort of rushes, more durable and less likely to
catch fire than straw. There was no ceiling under the roof, but the
rafters overhead were hung with a motley assemblage of the produce of
the chase and farm, as large whips made of rhinoceros-hide, leopard and
lion skins, ostrich eggs and feathers, strings of onions, rolls of
tobacco, bamboos, etc.

The house contained one large eating-room, a small private room, and two
bedrooms. The windows were not glazed, but closed with skins every
night. There was no chimney or stove in the house, all the cooking being
carried on in a small outhouse.

The furniture was not very considerable: a large table, a few chairs and
stools, some iron pots and kettles, a set of Dutch teacups, a teapot,
and a brass kettle, with a heater. The large, brass-clasped, family
Dutch Bible occupied a small table, at which the mistress of the house
presided, and behind her chair were the carcasses of two sheep,
suspended from a beam.

Inquiries about the news at the Cape, and details of all the information
which our travelers could give, had occupied the time till breakfast was
put on the table. It consisted of mutton boiled and stewed, butter,
milk, fruits, and good white bread. Before breakfast was over the
caravan arrived, and the oxen were unyoked. Our travelers passed away
two hours in going over the garden and orchards, and visiting the
cattlefolds, and seeing the cows milked. They then yoked the teams, and
wishing the old boor a farewell, and thanking him for his hospitality,
they resume