Col^l.. Macquarie & I took a very pleasant ride with M^r.. Pringle & M^r.. Lawson, round the Kloof, which is a road that carries you from Green Point winding by the Sea till it comes to a pass in the mountains, and terminates by descending on Cape Town, the view of which from the summit of the hill is very fine, we were much pleased by seeing a curious Place found by Captain Macnab of the 91^st.. Reg^t.. with great industry & labour, he has certainly the merit of having made a very curious & habitable place where no one but a Highlander would have thought it possible. [T]here are vast numbers of wild animals near Cape Town, but they are seldom known to come within some miles of it, a few days however before we were there, a Tiger had been shot on this road, within a mile of the Town. M^r.. Pringle took us another very fine ride some days after, when we were accompanied by Colonel O'Connell, Major Dale of the 93^d. Reg^t.. & M^r.. Lawson; we went from some miles on the road to False Bay, & then struck off the road to the right, & went by many different winding paths with which M^r.. Pringle was well acquainted over wild moores, [sic] but beautifully wild; being cover'd with the most luxuriant shrubs, & the greatest variety of heaths that I suppose can be seen in any part of the world; it is impossible for any person who has not seen them to form an idea of their beauty, and variety; a bottanist [sic] it would seem must be lost in admiration in this Country, even persons who have no knowledge of that interesting study can make but slow progress in their persuit, [sic] from the irresistible desire to take a specimen of the lovely flowers which at every step arrest the attention. ---M^r.. Pringle led us on thro' this forest of beauties till he brought us to the foot of a great mountain, part of which indeed we ascended, where there is a small valley which is known to be inhabited by Hiennas, [sic] Tigers, & many others of these tremendous animals; I could not help thinking with wonder of the composure with which I sat on my little horse in the immediate neighbourhood of ungentle Folks; I may indeed say with truth at the door of thier [sic] habitation; & indeed I cannot say that I thought it a wise thing to do; before I left England I should not have thought myself capable of going willingly into such a place, but such is the force of example, that I went thro' with it without any apparent effort. M^r.. P. then led us down the hill & winding a little to the left, brought us to a rising ground above False Bay, of which we had a fine veiw; [sic] from this spot we turn'd our faces homewards, where we arrived about five o'clock, after one of the most delightful rides I ever had in my life, of not less then [sic] eighteen miles. ----

I had heard much of the extraordinary good conduct of the Private Soldiers of the 93^d.. Reg^t.., and during this ride Major Dale began to boast a little of his men. [H]e at last said perhaps you have hear'd of this Reg^t.. before, they were known in Scotland as the Sutherland Fencibles; Oh then said I, I don't wonder at their behaving so well for they are all Gentlemen! this unpremeditated exclamation was never forgot to me during my stay at the Cape and the Soldiers of this Regt.. went by the name of my Gentlemen ever after. ----

Colonel Macquarie met with the greatest attention & kindness from Lord Calledon and indeed I may say from every one at the Cape who had it in their power to be civil to us, we dined with his Lordship twice, he call'd on us several times, and offer'd us his Carriage & every other accommodation he had in his power, if we chose to make an excursion into the Country; his Lordship is a very good looking young Man, of pleasing manners but apparently extremely diffident; he reminded me much of my friend Sir James Riddle both in appearance, & manner. ---There are regular Balls given at the Cape, M^rs.. Pringle, tho' extremely delicate, ventured to go to one, which took place while we were there; It was the best conducted thing of the kind that could be. [I]t commenced at eight o'clock, and every person who [**indecipherable] going is there at the hour; after the first dance the Ladies draw for places; Supper is announced at 12 o'clock, & the Ball terminates in an hour after. The company there very respectable, the dresses of the Ladies particularly neat & plain. -- Lord Calledon staid till near supper time, his Lordship does not dance at these Balls, Admiral Bertie figured away with great industry in every dance, as if he seem'd to consider it a duty incumbent on him to dance his own, & the Governor[']s share too. Colonel Sorrell was Stewart, he was attentive to every person, I liked him by far the best & thought him the most gentlemanly looking Man I saw at the Cape, which is saying a great deal, as there were several very pleasant persons there, among others I must not forget Cap^t. Blake, who was very kind in lending Col^l.. Macquarie his horses. We became acquainted with M^rs.. Hawkes at the Cape and I liked her so much, that I should consider it a very great acquisition; indeed if Captain Hawkes was to effect an exchange into the 73^d.. & come to us, which he said he should like to do above all things; however, I fear M^rs.. H. would not willingly undertake another long voyage, having been in great want of even the necessaries of life on the last part of her voyage to the Cape; in so much that she assured me she had many times cried for want of something to eat, when she could not help thinking how the knowledge of her situation would effect [sic] her Father & Mother if they could have been sensible of it --; her Father is a Man of great wealth M^r.. Borradale [Borradall?] a Citizen of London, whose Table no doubt at the very time his child was in want of food, abounded in all the luxuries of good living. Our situation in this Ship has hitherto been very different from that of M^rs.. Hawkes, we have been supplied with all the necessaries of life, & tho' our table has never been neat, elegant nor our cooking of the delicate kind; yet our table has always furnished what any person inclined to eat; could make a good dinner of, and we have had A luxury which I understand is seldom experienced on so long a voyage, which is that of having very fine water. ----

I believe it is a general remark that Scotch Men find there [sic] way to every part of the world, & so I have hitherto found it; I believe it is also allow'd that they are always friendly to persons from their own Country, & I am happy in saying that we found this true also. [A]t the Cape I became acquainted with Major Campbell of the 72^d.. Reg^t.., who is married to a Miss Clout a Lady of a Dutch family; he brought his wife & mother in law to see us, & M^rs.. Clout who is a very pleasing woman invited us to her house to dinner, & here we saw the best dinner we had at the Cape, it was quite an elegant entertainment, M^r.. & M^rs.. Pringle were of the Party and it was very pleasant. Major Campbell was not satisfied with this instance of hospitality but insisted on our dining with him in his Barrack at the Castle, he also invited my two Nephews, & found beds for them as often as they chose to accept of them. [T]his was true kindness, & I hope never to forget it, M^rs.. Campbell seems [?] a very good kind of woman indeed, of plain friendly unaffected manners. ----

M^r.. Pringle with his usual kindness took us to see the famous Constantia where the wine of that name is made, we went in his Barouch [sic] & four to breakfast by invitation with General & M^rs.. Cockell & they accompanied us to Constantia, where we all went on horse back; Captⁿ.. & M^rs_ Pascoe were also of the party, they overtook us a short time after we left the Cape in a Gig, which in the true seaman style he drove at a full Canter, not consulting the inclination of the tidy little horses, which drew them, on the subject; Colonel O'Connel [sic] & M^r.. Lawson were also with us; The day was extremely fine, we walk'd about the grounds which are very pretty, we went to see the vineyards which are very extensive & kept in high order. M^r.. Clout was extremely civil, shew'd us his Cellars &c. &c. & gave us an elegant cold collation to which we did ample justice -- I could have spent a day or two here with great satisfaction, the people were so civil, & the place so beautiful; after having stay'd a few hours here we mounted our horses again and return'd by the Hottentot Camp to General Corkells; the Reg^t..were at parade when we came to the ground -- they went thro' their exercise with great correctness, they are a very good looking body of men as fair as figure goes, and they were very clean & neatly dress'd -- their fifes & drums I thought the finest I had ever hear'd, and we were told that these people have a great natural genious for music; after seeing the Reg^t.. exercised we rode among their Huts, their wives and children are sad looking creatures, some of the children attempt to clothe themselves with pieces of sheeps skins, others appear in thier [sic] birth day suit, & altogether they form a most savage like Groop [sic], much more so indeed than any persons I had ever seen. [T]he situation of their Camp is very fine, the officers have very neat snug houses built on convenient spots in the neighbourhood, they have nice gardens, & really with planting hedges & other little improvements, their houses have quite an appearance of comfort. -- we proceeded from this novel sight to General C's, where we got into M^r.. P[']s elegant carriage again, and return'd to Cape Town to dinner, the morning having been spent in a viriety [sic] of the most interesting & pleasing amusement. -- to my great joy we had a quiet party at dinner, not so with M^r.. & M^rs.. Pascoe who I fancy must have exchanged the canter of their horse into a gallop to enable them to reach the Town in time to dine with the Governor; M^rs.. P being desirous of enjoying as much of his Lordship[']s company as she could, declined playing cards, but sat down most boldly to attack him at Chess; to his great consternation he soon found that his willing antagonist hardly knew the moves, he did all he could to lose the game, but that he found quite impossible; on which the Lady wish'd to renew the attack, but his Lordship had quite enough of it, & beg'd leave to resign his place to some other person. -- Lord Calledon sent home his Carriage with M^rs.. Alexander & the other Ladies; by this time poor M^rs.. Pascoe herself so much gratified what with the morning drive, dining at a Lords house; playing chess with the great Man, & being sent home in his grand Coach with a coronet, that she fairly burst out in an exclamation of joy, clapping her hands & dancing with her feet, I vow! I vow! this has been the happiest -- & the best day of my life. --this is all very vulgar no doubt, but who can avoid being pleased at this natural conduct, call'd forth by sensations of gratitude, & satisfaction. ----

The garrison at the Cape consists of about six thousand Men, we went to see a Review of four Reg^ts.. one of them of Cavalry, by General Grey at Green Point, it was a very pretty sight; the military are in the best possible state of discipline, the Reg^ts.. very strong and fine healthy handsome bodies of Men. [T]hose we saw review'd were the 21^st.. L^t.. Dragoons commanded by L^t.. Col^l.. Pigot, the 24^th.. foot command'd by L^t.. Col^l.. Marriott, the 72^d.. by Major Ronald Campbell, the 93^d.. by Major Dale & a detachment of Royal Artillery by L^t.. Col^l.. Cox. -- besides the Garrison at Cape Town there is the 83^d.. Reg^t.. at Stillingbush, & the 87^th.. at Simons Town, besides the Hottentot Corps before mentioned. General Grey was particularly attentive to us in ordering a Dragoon to attend Col^l.. Macquarie, & on the return of the Troops to Town made them pass us in review order. The day was very fine, & poor M^rs.. Pringle accompanied us, for which I fear she suffer'd afterwards, her state of health being so indifferent when we left her, as to occasion us much uneasiness on her account. ----

The Military at the Cape were (as is usual with Soldiers) very hospitably inclined to their Brother officers of the 73^d.. Reg^t.., Col^l.. Macquarie could not decline the kindness, tho' he felt it a great fatigue dining out so frequently, and sitting so late as he was obliged to do at these great Regimental Feasts; M^r.. Pringle accompanied him to that given by the 72^d.., Major Campbell being a friend of his, he gave them a magnificent dinner, & in the true Highland style the Piper play'd all the time, & after the Cloth was removed enter'd the room marching round the Table to M^r.. Pringle[']s great annoyance. Major C. who has a very slow formal manner address'd Col^l.. Macquarie in the most serious manner, saying that it was their usual custom of these occasions to have three Coursts (that is three rounds of the Piper about the table), but that as M^r.. P. did not seem very partial to it, he would dispense with the third courst; Col^l.. M. most wickedly said that M^r.. P. liked it above all things, & beg'd it might go on. [T]he time bestow'd on this entertainment was far beyond all reasonable limits. ----

These late hours were a serious distress to me, & on that account only I felt very glad when the time for our quitting the Cape drew near. [T]he preparations for our departures were much facilitated to me by the kindness of M^r.. Lawson, who accompanied me on all my travels thro the Towns, & took me to the Shop of John Heger a most singular sort of Man, who as a burlesque on his enormous charges goes by the name of Cheap John; among various other articles I purchased a box of Tools from him, at the enormous price of forty pounds; I was almost afraid that Col^l.. M. might find fault with me for spending so large a sum on this article, without previously asking his opinion on the subject, but if he thought it wrong, was too good natured to say so. ----

I had always hear'd much said of the neatness and beauty of Cape Town, but indeed I think not more than it deserves, the Streets are wide & spacious, the houses all large & handsome buildings, & the Town built on a regular plan; the Parade Col^l.. M. says is the finist [sic] he ever saw in any part of the world, except that at Petersburg -- but in one particular I fear the resemblance to Cape Town will no where be found, & that is, that there are no Beggars ever seen. [T]his uncommon advantage was accounted for to me by the lower orders of the people being all Slaves, & every possessor of a Slave provides for them for life, whether in sickness or health; those persons who have been slaves, & who have obtain'd their freedom all belong to an institution which supports them in comfort when their inability prevents their being able to work for their maintenance, at the moment a slave obtains his freedom he pays a sum of money to this most excellent establishment, and if he does not happen to have saved enough for that purpose, his Master makes him a present of what is wanting -- Indeed all the Slaves I saw at the Cape had every appearance of being well treated, they were respectably clothed, & looked well fed, contented & happy; when they do not find themselves so they take thier [sic] departure, & inhabit the most inaccessible precipices on the Top of Table Mountain, where there is a constant smoke seen ascending from thier [sic] wild abode, which to look at from below, one could not imagine a Goat much less a Man could find his way to. [T]o draw a comparison between the Slaves here & at Rio Janiero, [sic] the situation is wonderfully different; those at Rio were indeed in a miserable state. -- even the Bullocks & horses at the Cape look'd as if they were well cared for; the singular appearance of the large waggons which are here made up of must strike every stranger, they are drawn sometimes by sixteen oxen all guided by one Man, who sits as Coachman, having a whip of such extraordinary length as to reach the front pair, when they come into Town there is generally a Man at the head of them; I was inform'd that the construction of the carriage part of these waggons is very ingenious and extremely well calculated for rough mountainous roads, it can be all taken to pieces in a few minutes, being all constructed of wood in seperate [sic] lose [sic] joints; which making no resistance to the obstructions, which come in its way, lasts better & is capable of much more service than workmanship of a more solid texture; the creeking [sic] noise these waggons make is hear'd at a great distance, and is truly disagreeable; two days before we left the Cape M^r.. Pringle & M^r.. Alexander set off in one of them on an expedition of several hundred miles to the interior of the Country, their waggon was drawn by six horses, they had besides three riding horses, so that nine horses & four men were employ'd to transport two Gentlemen over the mountains; they look'd very droll when they got into their large machine, which was more like a house than a carriage, both outwardly & inwardly, being well supplied with provisions of all kinds wine &c . to last them during their excursion, which they expected would take them a fortnight to perform. --- There is a great space of uncultivated ground in the neighbourhood of the Cape, indeed I should rather say that there is but a small part in cultivation; the soil & climate seem very favorable for gardens, but not for the general purpose of agriculture; being for the most part barren sand, however I understand where it is practicable that very considerable additions has been lately made to the arable land. I have no doubt but that an object of so much importance does not escape the attention of Lord Calledon, who I believe is unremitting in his attention to every object of interest in the Colony. ----

The road which is now making round the Kloof is an improvement of his Lordships, for which the Inhabitants ought to feel grateful. ---I must not take leave of the Cape without mentioning the Government House & Garden, the House consists of very spacious appartments; the dining room in particular is a noble size, & has been finish'd in a very pretty manner by the last Dutch governor; the ornamental part being just completed when he was obliged to give it up to the English Governor. [A] very large fine looking Dog finding his quarters much to his liking, keeps possession of them [**indecipherable] who will be Governor; having lived to see the English supplant the Dutch, the Dutch the English, then the English again, who I hope will remain in possession during the remainder of M^r.. Wolffs life, & that of many branches of his descendents. [T]he Government house is situated in the Garden, which has a very fine walk of about three quarters of a mile long, & between 30 & 40 yards in breadth, is well shaded by an avenue of oak Trees, and enclosed on each side by a Hedge of cut myrtle; the garden contains 40 acres of rich land, divided into almost as many squares by oak hedges. The Bands of different Reg^ts.. were station'd at intervals on the great walk on Sunday, which seem'd to me an innocent and pleasing amusement to numbers of respectable persons, who walk'd in the Garden after Church time. [A]t the extremity of the Garden there is a Menagerie where we saw some curious Birds, a Lion & Lioness &c. &c.; but the collection is far inferior to what it was in the time of the Dutch. [T]he Government house tho' consisting of such good rooms, appear'd to me to be a very dull habitation; there is no view to be seen the front windows being shaded by the Trees of the Garden, the back of the house is enclosed by a great well. ----The most singular and beautiful object I saw at the Cape is the fleecy cloud which so frequently ornaments the Table Mountain, to describe the singular elegance of this fine drapery, would be a difficult task; beautiful as it is, it is no pleasing one to the Inhabitants, as the arrival of the cloud is a sure indication of bad weather. ----

There are two Churches at the Cape; one of which I was in, it is a plain building, but a good size, & finish in a very solid and as I think proper manner; being plain & handsome, & not overloaded with ornament. [I]t is first occupied by a Dutch, & then an English Congregation. ----

The Inhabitants of the Cape seem very well supplied with Butcher Meat, fish, & Game; vegetables are not good, very scarce, & high priced. [T]he article which is most wanting is fuel. [T]ho' the weather was extremely cold during our stay, we had no fires in any of the houses where we visited, the price of coals is very high, & wood is scarce; in most Families a slave is kept for the express purpose of collecting fire-wood. He goes out in the morning ascends the steep mountains where waggons cannot approach, and returns at night with two small bundles of faggots, the produce of six or eight hours of hard labour, swinging at the two ends of a bamboo, carried across the shoulders. [W]e met numbers of these men returning to Town on our way from Constantia, most of the poor fellows had ornamented the Tops of their faggots & their heads with flowers, some of them appear'd cheerful, but all very much fatigued; this appear'd to me the hardest service I saw perform'd at the Cape. -----

24 September 1809 | 13 October 1809

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