kinds made in the country. Those, however, who wish to be acquainted with its real virtue and properties, must drink it at the Cape, where it is perfectly pure and unadulterated. It is much heavier than the European wines; and this, in all probability, is owing to the oily balsamic and saccharine particles it contains. The red muscadine is produced from the large vineyard at Constantia, and the white wine from the smaller. I had often before tasted both kinds on the coast of Malabar, at the table of Governor Van Angelbeck, whom I have several times mentioned already. The Cape town is exceedingly well built, and contains a considerable number of low houses and very broad streets. Every thing here is established in the Dutch taste. Provisions are of the best kind. During my stay, board and lodging cost a dollar a-day; and boarders were at liberty to bring a friend with them occasionally to dinner. We had excellent meat, particularly mutton and veal; as well as vegetables, and abundance of European, African, and Indian fruits: and our meals were always seasoned with a few glasses of Constantia wine. The gardens of the Dutch East India Company are exceedingly well laid out, and contain a great number of foreign animals; but the king’s garden in the Isle of France is much more beautiful and useful. In the latter there are a great many trees, which produce fruits and different kinds of spices; whereas the former is filled with such as are either entirely barren, or not very useful, and which serve merely for ornament. On the 19th of July we left the Cape, and proceeded on our voyage. On the 22d we encountered a most violent storm, accompanied with a heavy rain, which shattered our topmast and bow-sprit. By the violent straining of our frigate, which was sheathed with copper, some of the nails gave way, so that the vessel became leaky, and the water forced itself in through the planks. This accident threw the sailors into great confusion; for the wind raged with such fury that the ship became unmanageable. Had it continued ten minutes longer we should have infallibly found a grave at the bottom of the ocean. But the providence of that Eternal Being, who assists the distressed, and preserves the lives of sinners as well as of the righteous, saved us from the impending danger. The wind moderated, and we found means to secure the loose copper with ropes, to stop the leak, and so continue our course, though with some danger, and not without apprehension. On the 7th of August we descried St. Helena, and on the 11th came to anchor in a bay of the Island of Ascension, where we lay eight days in order to repair our vessel.