Jacques Labillardière

“ The mountains in the neighbourhood of the town serve as a place of refuge for slaves, whom the barbarous treatment they endure compels to attempt their escape. Driven by hunger they then frequently approach, under cover of the night, to habitations, in order to procure by theft their scanty means of subsistence. That they prefer such a miserable state of existence to remaining with their masters, proves how inhuman the treatment must be to which they are exposed. ”

“ All these evils have arisen from the Dutch government having so grossly mistaken its own interest, as to leave a place of the last importance to the navigation of India, under the direction of a company of private merchants. But it is known, that the political views of this people generally act in subordination to the desire of gain, which governs them, and is often in contradiction with their interests as a nation. ”

“ This kind of situation is common to all the establishments at any considerable distance from the Cape. The cultivators are necessitated to go more than 500,000 toises into the interior of Africa, in order to seek out some spots of arable land, scattered like islands in an ocean of sand; and after they have found them, every one applies to the ground he has cleared whatever mode of cultivation he thinks most adapted to the soil. The black slaves, though obliged to labour very hard, are in general treated with humanity. ”

“ Near to the most easterly of these islands they observed several boats, amongst the crews of which there were many persons who wore European stuffs and pieces of cloth in their dress; they even distinguished some who were clothed in the uniform of the French Marine. These people hung out the white flag as a signal for the English to approach; but though Commodore Hunter was very desirous of doing it, he found it impracticable, on account of the contrary currents and winds, and the danger to which the numerous shoals would have exposed them. ”

“ Fuel is very scarce at the Cape of Good Hope; but though the mildness of the climate exempts the inhabitants from the necessity of employing artificial heat as a defence against the severity of the weather, they want it, however, for the purposes of cookery, and send their slaves even far beyond the Table Mountain, to fetch the small supply of wood which they require. ”

“ This avaricious spirit gradually undermines the prosperity of this country, as it renders navigators unwilling to touch at the Cape whenever they can avoid it. A ruinous propensity to extravagance, which has for some years past prevailed amongst the women, has produced a great change in the manners of the inhabitants, who are now eagerly intent upon adopting all the fashions of Europe. ”

“ The clouds, with which the summit of the ridge is at such times covered, are naturally produced from the enormous mass of air, which, after becoming surcharged with moisture during its passage over a vast extent of ocean, when it ascends into the higher regions of the atmosphere, deposits, in the form of clouds, the superabundant water which, on account of the change of temperature, it can no longer retain in a state of solution. ”

“ We were here in a pleasant valley, where the rays of the sun, reflected from the surrounding mountains, soon ripen the grape, which is the chief source of wealth to the inhabitants. A good deal of cheese is also made here. ”

“ It is remarkable that, contrary to the practice of the Spaniards, who always endeavour to make proselytes of their slaves, the Dutch planters leave theirs in the most profound ignorance of their religion.
We frequently saw the snakes, which are much dreaded by the inhabitants of the country, lying in wait under the trees for the birds which often become their prey.
The zebras are very common in these mountains: they run away with prodigious swiftness upon the approach of a man. ”

“ It seems still more strange that so important a trust should be committed to the hands of an officer of police, who is thus enabled to practise all the extortions for which his office affords him such ample opportunities ”

“ The vegetable kingdom appeared here in its highest luxuriance. Where the grounds rose with an easy ascent, they were bespangled with the tulip of the Cape of Good Hope (hæmanthus coccinea, Linn.) ; a variety of different kinds of shrubs projected from the cleft between the rocks, and at their bases grew the beautiful stœbe gnaphaloides, amongst an abundance of other plants.
24th. As the preparation of the plants, which I had collected on the preceding day, occupied a great portion of my time, I had not leisure to undertake any long excursion ”

“ We employed the two following days in climbing up the mountains in this neighbourhood. I here collected specimens of the protea florida and serraria, amongst a great variety of other plants.
These mountains are composed chiefly of granite, and a very hard sort of free-stone. The mould produced by the decay of the vegetables grow upon them, is the cause of the fertility of the vallies where the colonists reside. Hence they are obliged to travel over sandy desarts in order to carry the produce of their labour to the town. ”

“ Although there blew but little wind at that time upon the Table Mountain, the clouds, after passing over its summit, precipitated themselves in the form of mists, in the same manner as when they are impelled by the south-east gales.
28th. I enriched my collection with a number of plants which I gathered in the vicinity of the town.
I had hitherto observed but very few insects, as they do not generally frequent places so much exposed to currents of the air. ”

“ Beyond the farther end of the bay there is a vast plain of sand, on which one is surprised to see a prodigious number of plants vegetating. The most frequent are various species of the diosma, polygala, and borbonia. These plants, however, would not be able to support themselves in so barren a soil, if they did not shoot their roots to a great depth into the ground, so as there to imbibe the moisture necessary for their vegetation. ”

“ Commodore Hunter is at present upon his return home to England, from whence he will probably transmit a more circumstantial account of this affair to France.
From his own experience in approaching the Admiralty Islands, the English Commander thinks that any vessel intending to sail thither ought to endeavour to get early into its latitude, in order to avoid being carried away by the currents, which set to the east with prodigious strength. ”

“ The spirit of speculation that prevails amongst the Dutch Company, has often induced them to feign a great scarcity of provisions at the Cape, in order to enhance their price. The cultivators are not permitted to enter into a direct bargain with strangers for the produce of their lands ”

“ The dilatation of the lower column of air is so much impeded by the compression which it suffers, in its ascent towards the summit of this ridge, from the weight of the superincumbent column, that, whenever it has passed these heights, the reaction of its elasticity is proportionate to the diminution of the resistance before opposed to its expansion. ”

“ The vexatious interference of the superior agents in the concerns of their subordinate officers, turns likewise to the disadvantage of strangers, who find it impossible to escape from the rapacity of so many persons, all combined against their interest. ”

“ One of the officers of the Pandora lately arrived at the Cape, assured us that Bligh had behaved very ill to Christian, and that an abuse of authority on the side of the captain was the cause of all his subsequent misfortunes. ”

“ Two officers of health came on board from the Cape Town, in order to learn whether any of our crew were infected with contagious disorders. The small-pox is the disease most dreaded by the inhabitants ”

“ The violence of these winds is the greatest where they descend along the declivity of these mountains: in the interior of the country situated at a small distance to the eastward, on the contrary, they are very moderate ”