English East India Company. Nothing worthy of notice occurred after leaving St.[247] Helena, until we reached the Cape of Good Hope. We stopped at Cape Town, the capital of Cape Colony, and it may not be out of place here to give a brief description of the country and its inhabitants, or so much as came under my observation. The district called Cape Colony, occupies the southern extremity of Africa. The leading feature in the aspect of the territory, consists in three successive ranges of mountains, running parallel east and west; and forming as it were a succession of terraces, rising above each other; the range farthest from the coast called the Snowy Mountains being the highest, and the first range, or that nearest the coast called the Lange Kloof, or Long Pass, the lowest. The Snowy Mountains are the highest in southern Africa, and the summits are generally covered with snow. Their greatest height will not fall short of 10,000 feet. The plain next the sea is covered with a deep and fertile soil, watered by numerous streams, and clothed with a beautiful variety of trees and shrubs. There are frequent rains, and from its nearness to the sea, enjoys a mild and equable temperature. The Karroos, a name given to the plains between the second and third mountain ranges, presents a dreary uniformity of level surface 300 miles in length, and 100 in breadth; the soil of which is hard and impenetrable, and destitute of all kind of vegetation. Table Mountain overlooks Cape Town, and rises abruptly like the ruins of a gigantic fortress. The highest point is about 3,588 feet above Table Bay. The west side of this stupendous mass of rock is rent into hollows and worn away into pyramidal masses.[248] The mountain is very difficult of ascent on account of numerous loose stones which make an unsafe foothold for the traveler. The summit is level, and very barren and bare of soil. Baboons, antelopes, vultures, and toads are sometimes to be met with on the mountain. The view from the summit is very extensive and picturesque. The bay seems a small pond or basin, and the ships in it are dwindled to little boats; the town, and the regular compartments of its gardens, look like the work of children, all is so dwindled into mere specks or lines.