gallant seamen. Far more would I urge them to
make it their highest aim to become true Christians, not only in name,
but in word and in deed.

Once more the sound of "Land ahead!" greeted our ears. It was a clear,
bright morning; and as the sun rose we had before us a fine mountainous
line of coast, running down from Table Bay to the extremity of that
lofty headland known as the Cape of Good Hope. Everywhere the coast
appeared bold and high. The mountains seemed to rise abruptly from the
sea in a succession of ledges, steep, rugged, and bare, with rough and
craggy crests. As we stood in close to the shore, the sun shining on
the crags and projections made them stand out in bold relief, throwing
the deep furrows of their steep sides into dark shades, while the long
line of white surf dancing wildly at their bases formed a fitting
framework to the picture. Table Mountain appeared to be the highest
point of the whole range, though it was not till we got closer in that
it assumed its well-known form of a table. As we opened Table Bay we
caught sight of the picturesque mountains of Stellenbosch and Hottentots
Holland in the background, with a line of sand hills in front. It was
not till the evening that we at length dropped our anchor.

Cape Town stands on nearly flat ground. Immediately behind it rises
abruptly the Table Mountain, most appropriately, from its shape and
appearance, so called. On our left, joining the Table Mountain, was the
bold and rugged peak called the Devil's Mountain, and on the right the
rocky height known as the Lion's Head, while a long, round-backed hill,
running north from the Lion's Head, is known as his Rump, the two hills
together having somewhat the appearance of a lion couchant. Cape Town
has not lost the character given to it by its Dutch founders. Down the
principal street runs a canal, and several are shaded by rows of trees.
The houses are flat-roofed, with glass windows composed of a number of
small panes. They are either white-washed or gaily painted, and in
front of each of them are brick terraces called _stoeps_, where, in the
summer, the inhabitants sit and talk to their acquaintances who may be
passing. The houses are rather low, there are no regular
foot-pavements, the roads are very dusty, and the streets cross each
other at right angles. Though the place has a decidedly foreign look,
and people of all nations are to be seen there--especially Dutch,
Hottentots, Mal