24 September 1809
On the 24th.. at 10 o'clock in the morning Colonel Macquarie took me on shore, there was great swell & it was with very great difficulty we got landed, the swell being on the side of the Pier where the steps are, Coll.. O'Connell was much amused at seeing me clim [sic] these steps on all fours, and said he saw I had not been brought up in the Highlands for nothing, I was not well pleased at being laugh'd at, but this speach [sic] made up for the insults, if such it could be call'd. ---[W]e walk'd to the house of Mr.. Pringle Agent for the E.I. Company, who is an old friend of Coll.. Ms, we were received by him & his wife in the kindest manner, they had waited breakfast for us having insisted on our living with them during our stay at the Cape, which on account of Mr.. Pringle[']s very bad state of health Coll.. M. at first declined doing -- I never felt a change of situation so sensibly as at this breakfast, in an elegant large room, where all was stillness and quiet; it was such a change from the noise, continual motion, and confinement of the Ship; in the forenoon Mr.. Pringle drove me out in his Curricle to Green Point, which is the extent of carriage road on the West side of Cape Town; here I saw a house belonging to Mr.. Alexr. on which he is spending a great deal of money, and from the exposed situation and stirility [sic] of the ground, I cannot think that it will ever turn to any good account. [O]n our return we met Adr.. & Miss Berty [sic] watching a Ship which was coming in, Mr.. P. ask'd the Adr.. his opinion regarding her, for the arrival of a Ship is a matter of the greatest importance, and every one seems in a state of anxiety till it is known where she is from &c. &c.; I found afterwards that this query was merely complimentary, as whatever the Admiral opinions are on these subjects, they almost invariably turn out to be illfounded; I cannot say that I felt any favorable impression for this Gentleman, and from the account I had of his character there was no reason that I should; and I must observe that there is a natural instinct wisely given us of feeling either a predeliction [sic] for, or a prejudice against a person at first sight, which I think seldom decieves [sic] one; my dear friend Miss Meredith who[se] judgment I consider as very great, is much of this opinion. ---I was much delighted with this drive, a Curricle being my favorite carriage, the road goes along the shore all the way, which was cover'd with foam, the wind being strong drove the sea with impetuosity on the shore, which is all shelving coral Rocks; Mr.. P. saw a Ship wreck'd on this dreadful Coast, which indeed any Ship or Boat must be, which come near it ---We dined quietly at Mr.. P.; being one of the very few quiet days we had at the Cape. -----
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