Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/494

436 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