Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/24

16 I have found no residence so agreeable as the Cape. The neatness, and conveniency of the houses, the salubrity of the climate, and the grandeur of the adjacent mountains, make Cape Town, except during the prevalence of the south-east winds, a most desirable place of abode; and the many beautiful rides and well sheltered country residences in the neighbourhood, render the adjoining country always delightful. To a person possessing a taste for the sublime, the scenery here could not fail to interest; if fond of plants, the infinite variety of species found close even to the town, would afford him endless amusement; and if inclined to the charms of social intercourse, he might at this time have been gratified, by mixing in a society, perhaps equal to any in England; excepting that which is to be met with in the highly polished circles of our metropolis.

The Dutch seem desirous, generally, to associate with the English, and when they find a person willing to do justice to their character, and to conform to their manners, they seldom fail to cherish his acquaintance, and to treat him with distinguished attention. The best informed are perfectly sensible of the great improvements made in the colony by the English, since they have had possession of it; and appear anxious, by placing their sons in our navy, and army, and by marrying their daughters to our countrymen, to cement the bond of union that subsists between the two nations. In their domestic character, there is blended so much urbanity, and such an earnest desire to render life happy, that it makes them in general pleasant companions; and their habits of life, to a person with unprejudiced feelings, for any particular system, are neither disgreeable, nor to a certain degree difficult of adoption.

The women of the Cape are most of them pretty, and very pleasing in their manners; and there is a freedom of intercourse allowed them in society, which renders their company peculiarly attractive. In no part of the world are country excursions better conducted than in this colony. The climate, during a great part of the year, from the mildness of its temperature, is particularly adapted to parties of this description: and the lively spirit which characterizes the younger females, is on no