Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks/Chapter 19

by Joseph Banks

 

CHAPTER XIX

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO ENGLAND

 

Account of the Cape of Good Hope—Its settlement by the Dutch—Cape Town—Dutch customs—Government—Climate—General healthiness—Animals—Wines—Cost of living—Botanical garden—Menagerie—Settlements in the interior—Barrenness of the country—Hottentots: their appearance, language, dancing, customs, etc.—Money—Leave Table Bay—Robben Island—St. Helena—Volcanic rocks—Cultivation—Provisions—Introduced plants—Natural productions—Ebony—Speculations as to how plants and animals originally reached so remote an island—Leave St. Helena—Ascension Island—Ascension to England—Land at Deal.

 

Notwithstanding that hydrographers limit the Cape of Good Hope to a single point of land on the S.W. end of Africa, which is not the southernmost part of that immense continent, I shall under this name speak of the southern parts of Africa in general, as far as latitude 30° at least. The country was originally inhabited by the Hottentots alone, but is now settled by the Dutch, and from the convenience of its situation as a place of refreshment for ships sailing to and from India, is perhaps visited by Europeans oftener than any other distant part of the globe.

The Dutch, if their accounts can be credited, have also people much farther inland. They have upon the whole of this vast tract, however, only one town, which is generally known by the name of Cape Town: it is situated on the Atlantic side about twenty miles to the north of the real Cape, on the banks of a bay sheltered from the S.E. wind by a large mountain level at the top, from whence both itself and the bay have got the name of Tafel or Table. It has of late years very much increased in size, and consists of about a thousand houses, neatly built of brick, and in general whitened over. The streets in general are broad and commodious, all crossing each other at right angles. In the chief of them is a canal, on each side of which is a row of oak trees, which flourish tolerably well, and yield an agreeable shade to walkers. Besides this there is another canal running through the town, but the slope of the ground is so great that both have to be furnished with sluices, at intervals of little more than fifty yards.

In houses the same poverty of inventions exists here as at Batavia. They are almost universally built upon one and the same plan, whether small or large. In general they are low, and universally covered with thatch; precautions said to be necessary against the violence of the S.E. winds, which at some seasons of the year came down from the Table Mountain with incredible violence.

Of the inhabitants, a far larger proportion are real Dutch than of those of Batavia; but as the whole town is in a manner supported by entertaining and supplying strangers, each man in some degree imitates the manners and customs of the nation with which he is chiefly concerned. The ladies, however, do not follow their husbands in this particular, but so true are they to the customs of the fatherland, that scarcely one of them will stir without a sooterkin or chauffette ready to place under her feet, whenever she shall sit down. The younger ones, though, do not in general put any fire in them, but seem to use them merely for show. In general they are handsome, with clear skins and high complexions, and when married (no reflections upon my country-women) are the best housekeepers imaginable, and great child-bearers. Had I been inclined for a wife, I think this is the place of all others I have seen, where I could have best suited myself.

Their servants are in general Malay slaves, who are brought here from Batavia; to these they behave much better than the Batavians, in consequence of which these Malays are much quieter, honester, and more diligent, and less wicked than in that place: in instance of which I need only say that there has never been a case of running amoc here.

The town is governed by a Governor and Council who are quite independent of Batavia. The present Governor is Ryck Tulback. He is very old, and has long enjoyed his present station with a most universal good character, which is easily explained in this manner: he is unmarried, and has no connections which may make him wish to make more money than his salary furnishes him with; consequently, not entering into trade, he interferes with no man, and not wishing to be bribed, does strict justice on all occasions to the best of his abilities.

The climate, though not at all too hot for those who come from India, would doubtless appear sufficiently warm could any one be transported immediately from England to this place. Upon the whole it seems much of the temperature as the island of Madeira, though scarcely quite so hot. This I judge from the productions. In general, during the whole summer, the air is frequently fanned by S.E. winds, which come off the hills above the town with vast violence, and during the time of their blowing, especially at first, are very troublesome to such as are obliged to be abroad in them, by raising the sand with which the whole country abounds, and filling their eyes with it. Nor are the houses quite free from its effects; however closely they are shut up, the sand will find an entrance, and in a short time cover every kind of furniture with a thick dust.

Inconvenient as this certainly is, it, however, does not seem to have any effect beyond the present moment, though the inhabitants must in the course of a summer inhale an immense quantity of this sand, which has been thought by some physicians to be productive of ulcers in the lungs, etc. etc. Yet consumptions are diseases scarcely known here, and the healthy countenances, fresh complexions, and above all, the number of children with which all ranks of people here are blessed, abundantly prove that the climate in general is very friendly to the human constitution.

Diseases brought here from Europe are said to be almost immediately cured, but those of the Indies not so easily, which latter we ourselves experienced: our sick recovering very little for the first fortnight, and after that very slowly, so that after a month's stay several of them were far from recruited.

The industry of the Dutch, so well known, and so constantly exerted in all foreign settlements, has supplied this place with a profusion of all kinds of European provisions. Wheat and barley are as good here as in Europe; hops, however, will not grow, so that they cannot make beer, even tolerably. Cattle are in great plenty, and beef is very fair; sheep likewise are in great plenty. Both these the native Hottentots had before the Dutch settled the place, so that they differ a little in appearance from those of other places: the oxen are lighter, more neatly made, and have vast spreading horns; the sheep, instead of wool, are covered with a kind of substance between hair and wool. Their tails also are very large: I have seen some which could not weigh less than ten or twelve pounds, and was told that they are often much larger. Of the milk of their cows they make very good butter, but cheese they know not how to make in any degree of perfection. Besides these they have goats in plenty, which, however, they never eat; and hogs, but these are less plentiful. Poultry, as fowls, ducks, geese, etc., are in tolerable plenty. They have also wild game, as hares exactly like ours in Europe, partridges of two kinds, quails, antelopes of many kinds, and bustards, in general very well flavoured, but rather drier than those of the same kinds in Europe.

As their fields produce European wheat and barley, so their gardens produce the same kinds of vegetables as we have in Europe. Cabbages, turnips, potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, etc., are all plentiful and excellent of their kind. Their fruits are also the same, apples, pears, oranges, peaches, apricots, figs, etc. Of Indian fruits, they have plantains, guavas, and jambus; but neither of these in any kind of perfection. Their vineyards produce a great quantity of wines, which they class into many sorts, calling one Madeira, another Frontinac, etc. None of these are comparable to the wines which we commonly drink in Europe, yet they are all light, well cured, and far from unpalatable; in taste not unlike some of the light French and Portuguese white wines. The famous Constantia, so well known in Europe, is made genuine only at one vineyard about ten miles distant from Cape Town. Near that, however, is another vineyard, which is likewise called Constantia, where a wine not much inferior to it is made, which is always to be had at a lower price.

The common method of living is to lodge and board with some one of the inhabitants, many of whose houses are always open for the reception of strangers. The prices are 5, 4, 3, and 2 shillings a day, for which all necessaries are found you, according as your situation leads you to choose a more or less expensive method of living, in what may truly be called profusion in proportion to the price you give. Besides this there is hardly an expense in the place. Coaches are seldom or never used, but may be hired at the rate of 6 rix-dollars or £1:4s. a day. Horses are 6s. a day, but the country is not tempting enough to induce any one often to make use of them. Public entertainments there are none, nor were there any private ones owing to the measles, which broke out about the time of our arrival: at other times I was told there were, and that strangers were always welcome to them if of any rank.

At the farther end of the High Street is the Company's garden, which is nearly two-thirds of an English mile in length. The whole is divided by walks, intersecting each other at right angles, and planted with oaks, which are clipped into wall hedges, except in the centre walk, where they are suffered to grow to their full size. This walk, therefore, at all times of the day furnishes an agreeable shade, no doubt highly beneficial to the sick, as the country has not the least degree of shade, nor has nature made the soil capable of producing a single tree, at least within several miles round the town. By far the largest part of this garden is utilised for producing cabbages, carrots, etc.; two small squares, however, are set apart for botanical plants, which are well taken care of and neatly kept. At the time we were there the greater part of the plants, as the annuals, bulbs, etc., were underground. Upon the whole, I am of opinion that the number now to be found there will not amount to above half of what they were when Oldenland wrote his Catalogue; indeed, at that time it is possible that more ground was employed for the purpose.

At the farther end of the garden is a vivarium or menagerie, supported also at the expense of the Company, where rare beasts and birds are kept. Here were ostriches, cassowaries, antelopes of several kinds, zebras and several other animals seldom or never seen in Europe; particularly that called by the Hottentots coedoe, whose beautiful spiral horns are often brought over to Europe. This animal, which was as large as a horse, died while we were there, but not before I had time to get a description and drawing of him.

Near this enclosure is another for birds, in which were the crowned pigeons of Banda, and several more rare birds, especially of the Dutch kind, of which there was indeed a very fine collection. Both birds and beasts were very carefully and well taken care of.

It remains now, after having described the town and its environs, to say a little of the country about it. Of this, indeed, I can say but little, and even for that little am obliged to depend entirely upon hearsay, not having had an opportunity of making even one excursion, owing in great measure to Dr. Solander's illness.

The Dutch say that they have settled the country as far as 2000 miles inland, at least that is the distance to the furthest habitations of Europeans: how far it may be, however, in a straight line north and south, is hard to say, nor do they pretend to guess. Supposing it, however, the shortest distance possible, it is sufficient to prove the infinite, and indeed to a European almost inconceivable, barrenness of the country in general, that the mere supply of food should make it necessary for men to spread themselves over such an immense tract of country, in order to find fertile spots capable of producing it. How far distant such spots are from each other may be concluded from what one farmer told us while there. On being asked why he brought his young children with him to the Cape, from whence he lived fifteen days' journey, and told that he had better have left them with his next neighbour: "neighbour," said he, "my nearest neighbour lives five days' journey from me."

Nor does the country in the immediate neighbourhood of the Cape give any reason to contradict the idea of immense barrenness which must be formed from what I have said. The country in general is either bare rock, shifting sand, or grounds covered with heath, etc., like the moors of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, except the very banks of the few rivulets, where are a few plantations chiefly utilised, if well sheltered, for raising garden stuff, and if rather less sheltered as vineyards; but if exposed nothing can stand the violence of the wind, which blows here through the whole summer or dry season. During my whole stay I did not see a tree in its native soil as tall as myself; indeed housekeepers complain of the dearness of firewood, as almost equal to that of provisions, nothing being burnt here but roots, which must be dug out of the ground. What, indeed, proves the influence of the wind in prejudice to vegetation is that a stem not thicker than my thumb (and thicker they never are) will have a root as thick as my arm or leg.

As their distant settlements are directly inland, and the whole coast either is, or is thought to be, totally destitute of harbours, their whole communication is carried on by land carriage. Waggons drawn by oxen are employed in that service: they are, however, very light, and the cattle so much more nimble than ours in Europe, that they assured us that they sometimes travelled at the rate of eight miles an hour. Travelling is also very cheap. As there are no inns upon the roads, every one must carry his own provisions with him, and the oxen must live upon the heath or ling which they meet with upon the road. Great as these conveniences are, the people who come from afar must do little more than live, as there is no trade here, but in a few articles of provisions, which are sent to the East Indies, and curiosities. They can bring nothing to market but a little butter, such skins of wild beasts as they have been able to procure, and perhaps a few kinds of drugs.

There remains nothing but to say a word or two concerning the Hottentots, so frequently spoken of by travellers, by whom they are generally represented as the outcast of the human species, a race whose intellectual faculties are so little superior to those of beasts, that some have been inclined to suppose them more nearly related to baboons than to men.

Although I very much desired it, I was unable to see any of their habitations, there being none, as I was universally informed, within less than four days' journey from the Cape, in which they retained their original customs. Those who come to the Cape, who are in number not a few, are all servants of the Dutch farmers, whose cattle they take care of, and generally run before their waggons: these no doubt are the lowest and meanest of them, and these alone I can describe.

They were in general slim in make, and rather lean than at all plump or fat: in size equal to Europeans, some six feet and more; their eyes not expressive of any liveliness, but rather dull and unmeaning; the colour of their skins nearest to that of soot, owing in great measure to the dirt, which, by long use, was ingrained into it, for I believe that they never wash themselves. Their hair curled in very fine rings like that of negroes, or a Persian lamb's skin, but hung in falling ringlets seven or eight inches long. Their clothes consisted of a skin, generally of a sheep, and round their waists a belt, which in both sexes was richly ornamented with beads and small pieces of copper. Both sexes wore necklaces, and sometimes bracelets, likewise of beads, and the women had round their legs certain rings made of very hard leather, which they said served to defend them from the thorns with which the country everywhere abounds. Under their feet some wore a kind of sandal of wood or bark, but the greater number went entirely unshod. For bodily qualifications they were strong, and appeared nimble and active in a high degree.

Their language, which appears to a European but indistinctly articulated, has this remarkable singularity, that in pronouncing a sentence they click or cluck with their tongues at very frequent intervals, so much so that these clicks do not seem to have any particular meaning, except possibly to divide words, or certain combinations of words. How this can be effected, unless they can click with their tongues without inspiring their breath, appears mysterious to a European: and yet I am told that many of the Dutch farmers understand and speak their language very fluently. Almost all the natives, however, speak Dutch, which they do without clicking their tongues, or any peculiarity whatever.

In general they have more false shame (mauvaise honte) than any people I have seen, which I have often had occasion to experience when I have with the greatest difficulty persuaded them to dance or even to speak to each other in their own language in my presence. Their songs and dances are in extremes; some tolerably active, consisting of quick music and brisk motions, generally of distortions of the body with unnatural leaps, crossing the legs backwards and forwards, etc.; others again as dull and spiritless as can be imagined. One dance consists entirely of beating the earth first with one foot and then with the other, without moving their place at all, to the cadence of a tune furnished with little more variety than the dance.

Smoking is a custom most generally used among them, in doing which they do not, as the Europeans do, admit the smoke no farther than their mouths, but like the Chinese suck it into their lungs, where they keep it for nearly a minute before they emit it. They commonly mix with their tobacco the leaves of hemp, which they cultivate for that purpose, or Phlomis leonurus, which they call dacha. Their food is the same as that of the farmers, chiefly bread and coarse cheese; but they are immensely fond of spirituous liquors, and will never fail to get drunk with them if they have an opportunity.

This little, and no more, of the customs of this much-spoken-of people I had myself an opportunity of seeing: from the Dutch I heard much, and select the following from their accounts:—

Within the boundaries of the Dutch settlements are many different nations of Hottentots, differing from each other in custom very materially. Some are far superior to others in arts. In general, however, all live peaceably with each other, seldom fighting, except those who live to the eastward, who are much annoyed by people called by the Dutch Boschmen. The latter live entirely upon plunder, stealing the cattle of the Hottentots, but not openly attacking them. They are armed, however, with lances or assagais, arrows (which they know how to poison, some with the juice of herbs, others with the poison of the snake called cobra di capelo^[1]), and stones (which some particular tribes throw so well that they will repeatedly strike a dollar or crown-piece at the distance of a hundred paces). They train up bulls, which they place round their crawls or towns in the night: these will constantly assemble and oppose either man or beast that approaches them, nor will they desist till they hear the voice of their masters, who know how to encourage them to fight, or to make them in an instant as tame and tractable as their other cattle.

Some nations know how to melt and prepare copper, which is found among them, probably native, and make of it broad plates to ornament their foreheads. Others again, indeed most, know how to harden bits of iron, which they procure from the Dutch, and make of them knives superior to any the Dutch can sell them.

Their chief people, many of whom have a large quantity of cattle of their own, are generally clad in the skins of lions, tigers, or zebras, etc., which they adorn and fringe very prettily, especially the women, who, as in all other countries, are fond of dress. Both sexes grease themselves very frequently, but never use any stinking grease if they can possibly get either fresh mutton suet or sweet butter, which last, made by shaking the milk in a bag made of skin, is generally used by the richer sort.

 

A Table of the Value of Money, supposing a Dutch Stiver equal to a Penny Sterling

A guinea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	£0	18	0
Half do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	9	0
A crown-piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	4	0
Half do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	2	0
A shilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	0	10
A louis d'or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A French crown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	4	6
A ducat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	9	0
A ducatoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	6	0
A skilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	0	6
A dubblechey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	0	2
A stiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	0	1
An imperial rix-dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	4	0
Albert's do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	6	0
Dane's rix-dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	4	0
Spanish dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	4	6
A quarter of do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	0	1	0

 

14th April 1771. Sailed from the road, but having very little wind were obliged to anchor abreast of Robben Island.

15th. In the morning it was quite calm, so a boat was hoisted out in order to land on the island in hopes of purchasing some refreshments, especially of garden stuff and salletting, with which two articles it is said to abound; but as soon as the boat came near the shore the Dutch hailed her, and told the people in her at their peril to attempt landing, bringing down at the same time six men with muskets, who paraded on the beach as long as she stayed, which was but a short time, as we did not think it worth while to risk landing in opposition to them, when a few cabbages were the only reward to be expected.

The island, which is named after the seals (in Dutch Robben) that formerly frequented it, is low and sandy, situate in the mouth of Table Bay. Here are confined such criminals as are judged not worthy of death for terms of years proportioned to the heinousness of their crimes. They are employed as slaves in the Company's service, chiefly in digging for lime-stone, which, though very scarce upon the continent, is plentiful here. Their reason for not letting foreigners land is said to be that formerly a Danish ship, which by sickness had lost the greater part of her crew, came into the Cape and asked for assistance. When this was refused she came down to this island, and sending her boats ashore, secured the guard, and took on Board as many of the criminals as she thought proper to navigate the ship home.

28th. This day we crossed our first meridian and completed the circumnavigation of the globe, in doing which we, as usual, lost a day, which I should upon this occasion have expended properly had not I lost it a second time, I know not how, in my irregular journal at the Cape.

1st May. In the morning at daybreak saw the island of St. Helena about six leagues ahead, and consequently before noon arrived in the road where were found His Majesty's ship Portland, Captain Elliot, sent out to convey home the Indiamen on the account of the likelihood of a breach with Spain, also His Majesty's ship Swallow,^[2] which had the day before brought word of the pacific measures adopted by that Court, and twelve sail of Indiamen.

2nd. As the fleet was to sail immediately and our ship to accompany it, it became necessary to make as much of a short time as possible, so this whole day was employed in riding about this island, in the course of which we very nearly made the complete circuit of it, visiting all the most remarkable places that we had been told of.

3rd. Spent this day in botanising on the ridge where the cabbage-trees grow, visiting Cucold's Point and Diana's Peak, the highest in the island, as settled by the observations of Mr. Maskelyne, who was sent out to this island by the Royal Society for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus in the year [1761].

 

Some Account of St. Helena.

 

This small island, which is no more than twelve miles long and seven broad, is situated in a manner in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean, being 400 leagues distant from the coast of Africa and above 600 from that of America. It appears to be, or rather is, the summit of some immense mountain, which towering far above the level of the earth (in this part of the globe very much depressed) elevates itself even considerably above the surface of the sea, which covers its highest neighbours with a body of water even to this time unfathomable by the researches of mankind.

The higher parts of all countries have been observed almost without exception to be the seats of volcanoes,^[3] while the lower parts are much more seldom found to be so. Etna and Vesuvius have no land higher than themselves in their neighbourhood. Hecla is the highest hill in Iceland; in the highest parts of the Andes in South America volcanoes are frequent, and the Pike of Teneriffe is still on fire. These still continue to burn, but numberless others have been found to show evident marks of fire, although now extinct from the times of our earliest traditions.

That this has been the case with St. Helena, and that the great inequalities of the ground there have been originally caused by the sinking of the ground, easily appears to an observing eye, who compares the opposite ridges, which, though separated always by deep and sometimes by tolerably broad valleys, have such a perfect similarity in appearance as well as in direction as scarce leaves room for a doubt that they formerly made part of a much less uneven surface, and that this sinking in of the earth has been occasioned by subterraneous fires. The stones abundantly testify to this, as they universally show marks of having been at some time or other exposed to the effects of a great degree of heat. Some are evidently burnt almost to a cinder, especially those which are found near the bottoms of valleys, as may be seen in going up Side Path, and probably Ladder Hill also. Others show small bubbles as are seen in glass which has been heated almost to fusion; others again from their situation on the tops of ridges have been exposed to a far less degree of heat, or from their own apyrous qualities show scarcely any signs of having been on fire, yet in many of these, when carefully examined, are found small pieces of extraneous bodies such as mundics, etc., which have submitted to the fire, though it was not able to make any alteration in the appearance of the stone containing them.

Thus much for these suggestions, fit only for those who can believe a Babylonian chronology. I pass now to the present state of the island, a subject which affords much entertainment to a contemplative mind, and more food to an inquisitive one than the shortness of my stay gave me opportunity to collect.

Making it as we did, and as indeed most ships do, on the windward side, it is a rude heap of rocks bounded by precipices of an amazing height composed of a kind of half-friable rock, which, however, show not the least sign of vegetation, nor does a nearer view appear more promising. In sailing along the shore ships come uncommonly near it, so that the huge cliffs seem almost to overhang and threaten destruction by the apparent probability of their giving way; in this manner they sail until they open Chapel Valley, where stands the small town. Even that valley resembles a large trench, in the bottom of which a few plants are to be seen; but its sides are as bare as the cliff next the sea. Such is the apparent bareness of the island in its present cultivated state. Nor do you see any signs of fertility till you have penetrated beyond the first hills, when the valleys begin to be green, and although everywhere inconceivably steep, produce a great deal of good herbage. Among these are the planters' houses, near each of which is a small plantation of cocos, the only vegetable they seem to take much trouble to cultivate.

The town, very small, and, with the exception of a few houses, ill-built, stands just by the seaside. The church, which was originally a very poor building, is now almost in ruins, and the market-house is advancing by quick steps to the same situation.

The white inhabitants are almost to a man English, who, as they are not allowed to have any trade or commerce of their own, live entirely by supplying refreshments to such ships as touch at the place. To their shame be it spoken, they appear to have a supply of refreshments by no means equal to the extent and fertility of their soil, as well as the fortunate situation that their island seems to promise, situated as it is between temperate and warm latitudes. Their soil might produce most, if not all, the vegetables of Europe, together with the fruits of the Indies, yet both are almost totally neglected. Cabbages, indeed, and garden stuff in general, are very good, but so far from being in sufficient plenty to supply the ships that touch here, a scanty allowance only of them are to be got, chiefly by favour from the greater people, who totally monopolise every article produced in the island, excepting only beef and mutton, which the Company keep in their own hands. Although there is a market-house in the town, nothing is sold publicly, nor could either of the three King's ships that were there get greens for their tables, except only Captain Elliot, the commanding officer, who was furnished by order of the Governor out of his own garden.

Here are plantains, peaches, lemons, apples, and guavas, but, I believe, scarcely any other fruit. But while their pastures lie, as they really do, as much neglected as their gardens, there can be little hopes of amendment. In short, the custom of the Indiamen's captains, who always make very handsome presents to the families where they are entertained, besides paying extravagant prices for the few refreshments they get, seems to have inspired the people with laziness. Were refreshments cheap they would probably on the whole receive not much more money for them in the year, and the presents would be the same, so, at least, they seem to think. In short, the contrast between the Cape of Good Hope, which, though by nature a mere desert, supplies abundantly refreshments to all nations who touch there, and this island highly favoured by nature, shows not unaptly the genius of the two nations for making colonies. Nor do I think I go too far in asserting that were the Cape now in the hands of the English it would be a desert, as St. Helena in the hands of the Dutch would as infallibly become a paradise.

Small as the island is, and not raised very much above the surface of the sea, it enjoys a variety of climates hardly to be believed. The cabbage-trees,^[4] as they are called, which grow on the highest ridges, can by no art be cultivated on the lower ones, where the red wood and gum wood both grow; these in their turn refuse the high ridges, and neither of the three are to be found in the valleys, which indeed are in general covered with European plants, or the more common ones of the Indies, in all probability originally brought here by ships. This is the more probable, as much the largest proportion of them are natives of England. Among them I may mention the meadow grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), which is the chief covering of their pastures, and to which I am much inclined to attribute the verdure of the island, far exceeding anything I have before seen in equally low latitudes. The furze also (Ulex Europeus), the seeds of which were brought over in the beginning of this century, thrives wonderfully, and is highly praised by the islanders as a great improvement, though they make no use of it except for heating their rooms. Barley was sown here about forty years ago, and produced sufficient to supply the island without any being sent from home. Its cultivation has, however, suddenly dropped, for what reason I could not find out, and since that time has never again been attempted. Yams, the same as are called cocos in the West Indies, are what they chiefly depend upon to supply their numerous slaves with provisions: these, however, are not cultivated in half the perfection that I have seen in the South Sea Islands; nor have they like the Indians several sorts, many of which are very palatable; but are confined to only one, and that one of the worst.

All kind of labour is here performed by man, indeed he is the only animal that works, except a few saddle-horses; nor has he the least assistance of art to enable him to perform his task. Supposing the roads to be too steep and narrow for carts, an objection which lies against only one part of the island, yet the simple contrivance of wheel-barrows would doubtless be far preferable to carrying burthens upon the head, and even that expedient is never tried. Their slaves indeed are very numerous; they have them from most parts of the world, but they appeared to me a miserable race, almost worn out with the severity of the punishments, of which they frequently complained. I am sorry to say that it appeared to me that far more frequent and more wanton cruelties were exercised by my countrymen over these unfortunate people than ever their neighbours the Dutch, famed for inhumanity, are guilty of. One rule, however, they strictly observe, which is never to punish when ships are there.

Nature has blessed this island with very few productions either useful for the support, or conducive to the luxury, of mankind. Partridges and doves are the only animals, except possibly rats and mice; the latter, however, more probably brought here by ships. Among vegetables, purslain, celery, water-cresses, wild mint, and tobacco are now common among the rocks; though I doubt much whether they were so before people came here, as none, except the last, are found in parallel latitudes.

The first, indeed, is found on Ascension, and in many parts equally unlikely to have originally produced it, but that is accounted for by the ancient custom of the Portuguese, who, finding this herb particularly beneficial in complaints contracted in long voyages, made a point of sowing it wherever they went ashore, a custom from whence all nations have since reaped no small benefit. Amongst its native products, however, ebony^[5] must be reckoned, though the trees that produce it are now nearly extinct, and no one remembers the time when they were at all plentiful. Yet pieces of the wood are frequently found in the valleys, of a fine black colour, and of a hardness almost equal to iron; these, however, are almost always so short and so crooked that no use has yet been made of them. Whether the tree is the same as that which produces ebony on the Isle of Bourbon and the adjacent islands is impossible to know, as the French have not yet published any account of it. Other species of trees and plants, which seem to have been originally natives of the island, are few in number. Insects there are also a few, and one species of snail, which inhabits only the tops of the highest ridges, and has probably been there ever since their original creation.

Had our stay upon the island been longer, we should in all probability have discovered some more natural productions, but in all likelihood not many; secluded as this rock is from the rest of the world by seas of immense extent, it is difficult to imagine how anything not originally created in that spot could by any accident arrive at it. For my part I confess I feel more wonder at finding a little snail on the top of the ridges of St. Helena, than in finding people upon America, or any other part of the globe.

As the benefits of the land are so limited, the sea must often be applied to by the natives of this little rock; nor is she unmindful of their necessities, for she constantly supplies immense plenty, and no less variety, of fish. She would indeed be culpable did she do otherwise: she never met with a calamity equal to that of the earth in the general deluge, and her children, moreover, have the advantage of a free intercourse with all parts of the globe, habitable to them, without being driven to the necessity of tempting the dangers of an element unsuited to their natures; a fatal necessity under which too many even of us, lords of the creation, yearly perish, and of all others through the wide bounds of creation how vast a proportion must die. The seed of a thistle supported by its down, the insect by its weak, and the bird by its more able, wing, may tempt the dangers of the sea; but of these how many millions must perish for one which arrives at the distance of twelve hundred miles from the place of its rest. It appears, indeed, far more difficult to account for the passage of one individual, than to believe the destruction of all that may ever have been by their ill fate hurried into such an attempt.

Money of all nations passes here according to its real intrinsic European value; there is therefore no kind of trouble on that head, as in all the Dutch settlements.

 

4th. Sailed after dinner in company with twelve Indiamen and His Majesty's ship Portland. We resolved to steer homewards with all expedition, in order (if possible) to bring the first news of our voyage, as we found that many particulars of it had transpired, and particularly that a copy of the latitudes and longitudes of most or all the principal places we had been at had been taken by the captain's clerk from the captain's own journals, and given or sold to one of the India captains. War we had no longer the least suspicion of; the Indiamen being ordered to sail immediately without waiting for the few who had not yet arrived was a sufficient proof that our friends at home were not at all apprehensive of it.

10th. This day we saw the Island of Ascension, which is tolerably high land: our captain, however, did not choose to anchor, unwilling to give the fleet so much start of him. Those who have been ashore upon this island say that it is little more than a heap of cinders, the remains of a volcano ever since the discovery of the Indies. Osbeck, who was ashore on it, found only five species of plants; but I am much inclined to believe that there are others which escaped his notice, as he certainly was not on the side of the island where the French land, in which place I have been informed is a pretty wide plain covered with herbage, among which grows Cactus opuntia, a plant not seen by that gentleman.

11th. Saw Holothuria physalis, which our seamen call Portuguese man-of-war, for the first time since we left these seas in going out.

23rd. Dined on board the Portland with Captain Elliot: while on board her saw a common house martin flying about the ship.

29th. Fresh trade, which quickly relieved everybody from the depression of spirits, etc, which is the constant companion of the damp calms we have now passed through.

1st June. Saw some gulph-weed to-day for the first time.

3rd. This day passed under the sun, and were for the last time ascii.^[6]

5th. Less gulph-weed than yesterday, so we began to catch it by means of a pole with six large hooks fastened at the end. Out of it we took Scyllæa pelagica, Medusa porpita, Syngnathus pelagicus, Lophius pelagicus, and Cancer minutus.

6th. More gulph-weed, in which took up several individuals of the afore-mentioned species, besides which were caught Cancer pelagicus, and a shrimp not described. Several tropic birds were seen, all of which flew in a straight line towards the coast of Africa.

18th. Saw three New England schooners cruising for whales: sent a boat on board one, who told us that she had yesterday spoken to an outward-bound Englishman, who had said that all was peace in Europe, and that the Spaniards had agreed to pay the Manilla ransom with interest for one year, and a million of dollars for damages done at Falkland's Islands.

This vessel had by their own account been out five weeks and caught nothing: they had chased a whale sixty leagues into Fayal harbour, where they could not follow it, as the Portuguese suffer no whaler to go into any of their ports in the Western Islands.^[7] They had, they said, no meat on board, but lived upon what they could catch. They readily sold us four large albecores, saying that they could catch more. As for American news, King George, they said, had behaved very ill for some time, but the colonists had brought him to terms at last.

23rd. Saw one shearwater: the reason of so few having been seen this passage, may be that during their breeding time they do not wander far out at sea.

4th July. My bitch "Lady" was found dead in my cabin, lying upon a stool on which she generally slept; she had been remarkably well for some days; in the night she shrieked out very loud, so that we who slept in the great cabin heard her, but becoming quiet immediately no one regarded it: whatever disease was the cause of her death, it was the most sudden that ever came under my observation.

7th. Caught Lepas cygnifera^[8] floating upon the water in round congeries, some of which were large enough to fill a man's hat.

8th. Calm: went in boat and shot fulmar and Manx puffin, of Pennant's British Zoology.

10th. This morning the land was discovered by young Nick,^[9] the same boy who first saw New Zealand: it proved to be the Lizard.

12th. At three o'clock landed at Deal.

 

1. The term cobra di capella is only applied to the common Indian species of the cobra.
2. This was not the consort of the Dolphin in 1766.
3. This is not accurate; nor is Hecla the highest mountain in Iceland.
4. Small trees and shrubs allied to the aster and groundsel.
5. Melhania melanoxylon, Br., now quite extinct.
6. i.e. without a shadow (Gr. ἅσκιος).
7. The Azores, of which Fayal is one.
8. Probably Lepas anatifera.
9. His real name was Nicholas Young.