ge their fire-arms, an exercise in which they are constantly
employed, even from their infancy; and it is almost incredible how
boldly they attack even the fiercest animals. Many among them disdain
to shoot a sleeping lion, because, as they say, it shows neither skill
nor courage: When, therefore, they discover a lion asleep, they throw
stones to waken him, and do not fire till he is on his feet. A little
before the arrival of our author at the Cape, two peasants went out
together to hunt. One of them, seeing a lion, fired at and missed him,
when the lion rushed upon the man, who threw away his gun, to have
more liberty to defend himself. The other peasant, on hearing the
report, hastened to the place, and found his companion and the lion
closely engaged; on which he snatched up the gun, and slew the lion
by a few blows on the head, but broke the gun in pieces. The first
peasant, whose property the gun was, complained loudly of its
demolition, blamed his companion for coming up uncalled for, and even
talked of making him pay for the gun, insisting that he could have
slain the lion himself without aid. It was formerly considered a
wonderful deed for a man to kill a lion; but now it is so common an
occurrence, that they make no more of killing a lion, than we do of
shooting a hare.

The country about Cape Town is full of vineyards and gardens. Two
of these belong to the company, which are perhaps the finest in the
world. One is at the distance of two hundred paces from the fort,
between the town and Table Mountain, being about 1400 paces in length,
by 235 paces broad, and having a fine rivulet from the mountain
running through the middle of it. It is divided into quarters, in
which they cultivate, with the utmost success, the fruits and flowers
of the four quarters of the globe. The other garden is about two
leagues distant from the town, in what is called the _New Country_,
and is likewise kept in excellent order by slaves belonging to the
company, of whom there are seldom less than five hundred. The
country hereabout is mountainous and stony; but the vallies are very
agreeable, and extremely fertile. The climate is perhaps the best
in the world, neither cold nor heat being ever felt here to any
intolerable degree. The people accordingly live to great ages, and
have hardly any diseases except such as proceed from intemperance of
some kind. The mountains, which contribute to the wholesomeness of the
country, are supposed