Capitoline hill, and in that direction, therefore, it is now ohiefly ascended. "A single flight of steps, or rather an inclined plane," says Simond, "brings you at once to the top of the mount, and to a sort of landing-place of no great extent, regularly built on three sides, and by corruption called Campidoglio. Two antique lions of basalt guard the front of the stairs, and two naked colossi the top; the latter were dug out on the banks of the Tiber, 250 years ago, and have since been stuck up here. Each holds a clumsy prancing horse, colossal too, and yet scarcely reaching the waist of his gigantic master! These figures, which are of very indifferent workmanship, have been called Castor and Pollur. On a line with them, are two mutilated trophies, then two indifferent statues of the Caesars, and finally two small columns. All these things symmetrically arranged, -all antique certainly, still are foreign to the situation they now occupy; one of the columns excepted, which appears somewhat better entitled to its place, being the miliary stone, No. 1., on the Via Appia (Appian Way), formerly placed at the end of the first mile, and now at the beginning. This practical anticipation put me in mind of the idle debates which took place in the year 1800, on the question, whether we were already in the nineteenth century, or still in the eighteenth."

The balustrade, of which our readers see a part, forms one side of the square, or piazza, into which the ascent leads, the Piazza del Campidoglio, as it is called; the thrce other sides are surrounded with the principal buildings

of the modern Capitol, which we shall describe hereafter. The two side buildings are the works of Michael Angelo; one of them is the Capitoline museum, and the other is the palace of the Conservators. "An equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius found in the Forum, was also placed here by Michael Angelo, who is said to have admired it, and therefore it is admired, the spirit of the animal, at least, notwithstanding its many defects. The shabby little house standing in the hollow on the right-hand side going up to Campidoglio was once Michael Angelo's.

Between the figures of the two horses, the reader will perceive in the distance, the line of a second ascent which commences at the same point as the great one, and leads up to the modern church of Ara Celi, upon the left of the Piazza del Campidoglio. This church occupies the site of one of the temples of Jupiter, which are supposed to have formerly stood upon the two summits of the Capitoline hill; which of them, however, is yet a disputed question, for antiquaries have not agreed as to which of the summits is that anciently called the arr, or citadel, and which that called more especially Capitolium, from its containing the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and the other principal buildings. We shall speak more at length upon this sub ject, in our next paper on Rome.

The ascent seen in page 33, is that already spoken of as rising from the Forum, near the track of the ancient Clivus Asyli: it leads to a corner of the square which the other enters, but of course in an opposite direction

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE COLONY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. No. I.

HISTORY OF THE COLONY.

THE Cape of Good Hope, the well-known southern promontory of Africa, was unknown to the ancients, unless full reliance is placed on the account given by Herodotus, of the Phoenician navigators, who, sent on a voyage of discovery by Necho, King of Egypt, are said to have sailed down the Red Sea, and returned to Egypt by way of the Mediterranean. This solitary fact excepted, the southern boundary of the great continent of Africa was utterly unknown to the civilized world, until it was discovered by the Portuguese in their daring attempts to find a passage by sea to the East Indies. The first European who came in sight of the Cape, was the Portuguese navigator Diaz, in 1493; but the bad weather he experienced was so great that he was obliged to relinquish his enterprise, and return to Europe, naming the inaccessible land the Cape of Storms; but the King of Portugal, John the Second, conceived better hopes from its reported appearance, and bestowed upon it its present name of the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1497, the celebrated Vasco de Gama doubled this celebrated Cape, and opened the way to the discoveries afterwards made in the East Indies by the Portuguese. For many years after, its harbour, Table Bay, merely served as a place of refuge to the vessels of the European nations, whose enterprise led them to that quarter of the globe.

In the year 1650, the Dutch first effectually formed a settlement in this spot. But thirty years previous to this, the captains of two ships belonging to the East India Company of England had taken formal possession of the land in the name of King James the First. A full account of this transaction is entered on the journals of the Company.

The first part of the coast which was colonized by the Dutch, was on the banks of the Great Fish River; but this was soon abandoned, on account of its bad harbourage, and De la Goa Bay, further north, was selected in its stead. Soon afterward, the representations of Van Riebeck, a surgeon of one of the Dutch ships, induced the managers to remove the colony to its present locality at Cape Town.

The limits of the colony were gradually extended by the Dutch to nearly their present dimensions, and they remained in undisturbed possession until it surrendered to the English in 1795. It was, however, restored at the peace of Amiens in 1802, but again taken in 1806, and since then has remained in the hands of the British.

The history of this country, from its first colonization almost to the present time, consists of a series of unjust measures and cruel acts, perpetrated by the settlers against the natives. The Dutch government, in first taking possession of this coast, did so with the simple intention of occupying it as a useful possession for the purpose of refitting their vessels engaged in the East India trade, and supplying themselves with water and other necessaries. As a proof that the intentions of the Dutch government were good, we find the resolutions of the council in 1651 contain a public supplication to the Almighty for the diffusion of the principles of the reformed Christian religion amongst the natives, then only known by the name of Wilde Brutaale Menschen, (wild brute men); and for many years afterwards every effort was made to conciliate them, by fining and punishing those who ill-used them, by forbidding retaliation, and endeaTouring to prevent their being provoked by ill-lan

guage. This mode of annoyance seems to have been so prevalent, that it was ordered they should not be called Zwarte stinkende honden, (black stinking dogs): on account of the indisposition of the government to extend their territory, it was not until twenty years after their first settlement that they became possessed By that time of any considerable portion of land. they had obtained power over that part of the present colony known by the name of Cape District, the inoffensive Hottentots offering but little opposition.

They soon discovered the predominant passion of this weak and peaceable people for spirituous liquors, and that a bottle of brandy was a passport through every horde. With this, and tobacco, iron, and a few paltry trinkets, they purchased a part of the country, and of their stock in cattle, and then took the rest by force. A cask of brandy was the price of a whole district; and nine inches in length of an iron hoop the purchase of a fat ox.

The boors, or Dutch farmers, although against the wishes of the government, still continued to extend the boundaries of the colony by fresh encroachments, pushing on from one spot of good pasturage to another, dispossessing the natives, and committing the most unparalleled acts of barbarity. The consequence was, that the original inhabitants rapidly decreased, and when the English took possession of the colony, that which had been a thickly-populated country, was found to contain within its boundaries but 15,000 of the native Hottentots, and these in a state of abject slavery. During a series of years, the only alleviation of their miseries which the aborigines experienced, arose from the exertions of the Christian missionaries, who, under great disadvantages, undertook their conversion, and their instruction in some of the arts of civilized life.

The country at present occupied by the colonists is about 600 miles from east to west, with a mean breadth from north to south of 233 miles, containing nearly 140,000 square miles. Although it contains considerable tracts of excellent pasturage, the greater portion of its surface is occupied by sandy and steril plains, and ranges of naked and inaccessible moun tains; but this remark does not apply to all parts, particularly to its eastern boundary, Albany District, or to the country of the Kaffres beyond the borders, which is covered in great part with the most luxuriant vegetation.

The scenery of these more favoured parts is well described by Mr. Pringle in the following lines :But where the vale winds deep below The landscape hath a warmer glow: There the spekboom* spreads its bowers, Of light green leaves and lilac flowers; And the aloe rears her crimson crest, Like stately queen for gala drest; And the bright-blossomed bean-tree + shakes Its coral tufts above the brakes, Brilliant as the glancing plumes Of sugar-birds among its blooms, With the deep-green verdure blending, In the stream of light descending. And now along the grassy meads, Where the skipping reebok § feeds, Let me through the mazes rove, Of the light acacia grove; Now while yet the honey-bee Hums around the blossomed tree And the turtles softly chide, Wooingly, on every side; And the clucking pheasant calls To his mate at intervals; And the duiker ||, at my tread, Sudden lifts his startled head,

A succulent arboreous evergreen, a favourite food of the ele

phant.

+ Schotia speciosa; the seeds are eaten by the natives.
The Nectarine,-the humming-birds of Africa.
Antilope capriolus.
Antilope mergens.

Cape Town, the capital of the colony, stands on a gentle declivity sloping towards the sea. On every side except this, it is surrounded by lofty mountains.

It is a regular and neat-built town, and well watered by a plentiful stream which issues from the Table Mountain. Many of the streets are of considerable breadth, having canals of water running through them, which are walled in and planted on each side with oaks, but others are narrow and ill-paved. They are all straight, however, being laid out in a line, and intersect each other at right angles. The houses are in general built with stone, and whitewashed; and the greatest number are two stories high, with flat roofs. The spacious squares give the town an open and airy appearance; the public market is held in one; another is the common resort of the farmers and graziers, with their wagons; and a third is used as a parade for exercising the troops. This last lies between the town and the castle, and has two of its sides completely built up with large and handsome houses. The castle stands a little east of the town. It is a pentagonal fort, surrounded with a ditch and regular outworks, and contains within its walls the Lombard-bank, the orphan-chamber, and most of the public offices of government. It also affords accommodation for 1000 men with their officers, and has magazines for artillery, stores, and ammunition. The barracks, originally intended for an hospital, granaries, &c., which, with its two wings, occupies a part of one of the sides of the great square, is a large and regular edifice, and has sufficient convenience in the upper part of the building for 4000 The other public buildings are the Calvinist church, the Lutheran church, the court of justice, the guard-house, and the theatre.

men.

Behind the town, on the acclivity of Table Mountain, is the government-house, and a beautiful public garden, which is an oblong piece of ground, containing about forty acres of rich land, divided into forty-four squares by oak-hedges. Part of it has been appropriated for the reception of scarce and curious native plants, and for experiments upon such Asiatic and European productions, as may seem most likely to benefit the colony. Over the same acclivity are also scattered a number of handsome villas, each of which is surrounded by plantations and gardens.

Besides the castle, the town is defended by many other forts and batteries placed on different emi

nences.

The celebrated mountain called Table Mountain, the north front of which forms so prominent an object The dog-faced baboon, (Simia cynocephalus). ̧

in the view of Cape Town, extends from east to west for the length of two miles. The bold face that rises almost at right angles to meet this line, is supported, as it were, by a number of projecting buttresses, that rise out of the plain, and fall in with the front a little higher than midway from the base: these, and

the division of the front by two great chasms into walls of some gigantic fortress. three parts, give to it the appearance of the ruined The Table-land at

the summit of the mountain is 3582 feet above the level of Table Bay. The east side, which runs off at right angles to the front, is still bolder, and has one point, higher by several feet. The west side is rent into deep chasms, and worn away into a number of pointed masses. In advancing to the southward about four miles, the mountain descends in steps or terraces, the lowest of which communicates by gorges with the chain which extends the whole length of the peninsula. The two wings of the front, one the Devil's Mountain, and the other the Lion's Head, make in fact, with the Table, but one mountain. The depredations of time, and the force of torrents, having carried away the looser and less compact parts, have disunited their summits, but they are still joined at a very considerable elevation above their common base; the height of the first is 3315, and the latter 2160 feet. The Devil's Mountain is broken into irregular points; but the upper part of the Lion's Head is a solid mass of stone, rounded and fashioned like a work of art, and resembling very much, from some points of view, the dome of St. Paul's, placed upon a high cone-shaped hill.

To those whom mere curiosity, or the more laudable desire of acquiring information, may tempt to make a visit to the summit of the Table Mountain, the best and readiest access will be found directly up the face next to the town. The ascent lies through a deep chasm to the left. The length of this ravine is about three-fourths of a mile; the perpendicular cheeks at the foot more than a thousand feet high, and the angle of ascent about forty-five degrees; the entrance into this deep chasm is grand and awful. The two sides, distant at the lower part about eighty yards from each other, converge within a few feet of the portal, which opens upon the summit, forming two lines of natural perspective. On passing this portal, a plain of very considerable extent spreads out, exhibiting a dreary waste, and an insipid tameness, after quitting the bold and romantic scenery of the chasm; and the adventurer may, perhaps, feel strongly disposed to ask himself, if such be all the gratification he is to receive for having undertaken so great a fatigue in the ascent. The mind, however, will soon be relieved, at the recollection of the great command given by the elevation; and the eye, leaving the immediate scenery, will wander with delight round the whole circumference of the horizon. On approaching the verge of the mountain, the objects on the plain below appear dwindled away into littleness and insignificance; the flat-roofed houses of Cape Town, disposed into formal clumps, appear like those paper fabrics which children are accustomed to make with cards. The shrubbery in the sandy isthmus looks like dots, and the farms and their enclosures as so many lines, or the more finished parts of a plan drawn on paper.

The year at the Cape is said to be divided into two periods, called the good and the bad moonsoon; but it may properly be separated, as with us, into four. The Spring, from the beginning of September to that of December, is the most agreeable season; the Summer, from December to March, is the hottest; the Autumn, from March to June, is variable weather, generally fine, the latter part very pleasant; and the Winter, from June to September, though in general pleasant, is frequently very stormy, rainy,

and cold.

The two most powerful winds, are the north-west and south-west. The first generally commences towards the end of May, and blows occasionally till

month of September. The south-east predominates for the rest of the year, and when the cloud * shows itself on the mountain, blows in squalls of great violence. In the midst of one of these storms, the appearance of the heavenly bodies, as observed by the Abbé de la Caille, is strange and terrible: "The stars look larger, and seem to dance; the moon has an undulating tremor, and the planets have a sort of beard, like comets."

Graham's Town is the second town in the colony, and the capital of the eastern frontier; it takes its name from Colonel John Graham, who formerly commanded on the frontier. It was colonized in 1820, by three thousand seven hundred settlers, sent out from England for that purpose. Graham's Town contains about two thousand inhabitants, and six hundred houses, of all descriptions, from a cottage to a mansion, rendered pleasing by the gardens and pleasure-grounds with which they are intermixed. The church, which is a plain Gothic building, is the most conspicuous building in the view. There are, also, several dissenting chapels, public and infant schools, a gaol, a reading room, subscription libraries, two tanneries, and a printing-office, from which a newspaper, called the Graham's Town Gazette, is issued. The export-trade of this place is already considerable, and rapidly increasing; in 1831, it

amounted to 51,2907.

The public market at Graham's Town, (says Mr. Steedman, a recent traveller,) which is held every day except Sundays, exhibits a very lively and amusing scene; here is to be met the farmer from the most distant extremities of the colony, with his wagon laden with curiosities, such as skins of wild animals, ostrich feathers, ivory, and the rude, but deadly weapon of the Bushmen and Bechuanas; here, also, is to be seen the enterprising settler, just returned from a six-months' trading journey to the interior, with a cargo of hides or ivory, together with the rich fur dress or cloaks of the natives of distant regions, visited by him in his peregrinations. By the market register it appears, that between October 1831, and September 1832, 1906 wagons entered the market aden with produce.

Although many of the mountainous parts of the Cape colony are composed of granite, no mineral substances of any value have as yet been discovered; the chief productions consisting of wool, cattle, horses, and hides, corn, and wine. In some parts, particularly in the western extremity, many of the tropical fruits arrive at maturity, as guavas, pomegranates, oranges; and all the fruits cultivated in Europe come to perfection in every part of the colony.

The numerous rivers, or rather mountain-streams, with which the country is intersected, are in few instances available for the purposes of navigation. The principal of these are, the Oliphant's (Elephant's) River on the west, the Great Fish River in the eastern part of the country, and the Sunday River; many of the other streams are merely periodical torrents, which continue to flow during the rainy season, but which during the Summer leave their deep-sunk beds almost completely dry; and the rivulets which are supplied by the mountain-springs, have scarcely escaped from their lofty sources, before they are either absorbed or evaporated.

A white mist, commonly called the table-cloth.

NEVER let the most wary commander fancy himself secure from discovery; for rocks have eyes, and trees have ears, and the birds of the air have tongues, to betray the most secret enterprise.-WASHINGTON IRVING.

DESPISE the vanities of that pride which seeks its gratification in a contempt of moral decorum.

III.

NURSERY TALES OF ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT.

IN ascribing a common origin to the popular fictions of our island and the Continent, we cannot be far from the truth; but since the people of England and the Scottish Lowlands are undoubtedly offsets that our popular fables, also, are chiefly of Teutonic and grafts from the Teutonic stock, it is probable, origin. These idle stories boast a higher antiquity than romances and poems of much greater pretensions. Our proud baronial families can trace their line only up to Battle-Abbey-roll, whilst the yeomen and franklins of Essex, and Sussex, and Kent, the Spongs, and the Pungs, and the Wapshotts, and the Eppses, bear in their names the evidence of their descent from the Saxon and Danish conquerors of Britain; and even the Knights of the romances of the Round-table in their present form, are mere striplings when compared to the acquaintance of our early childhood, who troop along by the side of the go-cart, and who help to rock the cradle. Jack, commonly called the Giant-killer, and Thomas Thumb, landed in England from the very same keels and warships which conveyed Hengist and Horsa, and Ebba

the Saxon, to our shores.

To begin with the rudest pieces of these inventions, the nursery tale heard by Dr. Leyden, may be noticed; and which is reported by him to be " very similar, in many respects, to the Grim White Woman'" of Mr. Lewis, in which the spirit of a child, in the form of a bird, is supposed to whistle the following verse to its father:

Pew-wew-pew-wew,

My minnie me slew.

Our Scottish readers will not be displeased at our offering them a proof of the antiquity of their popular fictions. Dr. Leyden "recollected to have heard a story, wherein a spirit gives the following injunction to a terrified ghost-seer:

Mader Watt! Mader Watt!
Tell your gib cat

Auld Gerniegie O'Cragend's dead.

The same story is told in Denmark, as having occurred at a town called Lyng, near Soroe. Not far distant from this village was a hill, called "Brondhoë," said to be inhabited by the Trold-folk-a set of imaginary beings somewhat between men and fiends, though most akin to the latter. Amongst these trolds, was an old sickly fiend, peevish and ill-tempered, who had married a young wife: this unhappy trold often set the rest by the ears, whence they nick-named him Knurre-Murre, or RumbleGrumble. Now this old Knurre-Murre, on some occasion, picked a quarrel with a youngster, one of the Trold-folk, who, to avoid Knurre-Murre's vengeance, was forced to fly for his life from the cairn, and take refuge, in the shape of a tortoiseshell cat, in the house of Goodman Platt, who harboured him with much hospitality, let him lie on the great wicker chair, and fed him twice a day with bread and milk out of a red earthenware pipkin. One evening the goodman came home, at a late hour, full of wonderment :-" Goody," exclaimed he to his wife, "as I who said to me,was passing by Brondhoë, there came out a trold,

Hör du Platt,

Süg tel din kat,

At Knurre-Murre ist död.