There are five churches in Cape Town, one of which--the old Dutch Reformed Church in Aderly Street--was first built in 1713. The fort and city hospital, as well as all the other buildings and public works, are of a thoroughly substantial character; and a breakwater, the corner-stone of which was laid by Prince Alfred during his visit, and which is to extend from Green Point two miles out into the bay, was in process of construction while we were there. This great work, which will cost several millions of pounds, is built by casting large pieces of stone into the water until high enough to erect a stone-masonry upon them. At the time of our visit there had already been expended upon this enterprise the sum of one million of pounds sterling. Wharves, also, like those at Liverpool, are to be built. Every day our ears were greeted with the familiar screech of the steam-whistle,--as fifty miles of the railroad, which is to terminate at Port Elizabeth, on the eastern coast, were already completed and in running order. The whole work was to be finished during the autumn of 1862. The Custom-house is an extensive brick building, standing not far from the wooden jetty at the foot of Aderly Street. The market is held in a large square, from four to six o’clock in the morning, when the vegetables and fruits remaining unsold are disposed of at auction. The cattle and sheep are much superior to those of St. Paul de Loando,--the sheep brought on board at that port bearing a strong resemblance to goats, and the wool (if it could be called wool) was much like the hair of that animal. The face of the creature was the only thing that looked _sheepish_. The different breeds of long-tailed sheep, for which the Cape was at one time so celebrated, are said to be almost extinct, the crosses of the Merinos and Leicesters having superseded them, as being more profitable, both on account of the quality of mutton and the fineness as well as the yield of wool. This article is exported to England in large quantities every year, and some of it, also, finds its way to America; but the staple and quality of the Cape wool has of late years greatly improved. FOOTNOTE: [2] This is called, at Cape Town, the “Table-cloth.” CHAPTER III.