Imagine the tremendous surface this almost vertical mountain-side presents to the ocean, four miles long and three-quarters of a mile high. How the heart of an American manufacturer would sigh if he saw it, to think of such a "stand" being unutilised for advertising purposes! The mountain is flanked on the north by a peculiarly formed hill, shaped like a crouching lion, the lion's head, 2,100 feet high, which is nearest the sea, being used for a signal station. On the southwest extremity is the Devil's Peak, an ugly-looking spiky-topped mountain, with an elevation of 3,300 feet. The sides of the lion's head and the base of the mountain are covered thickly with the "silver-tree," only found here and in Natal. The leaves of this tree are three inches long and one inch wide, and are like an exquisite piece of silver-coloured satin, with a white, hairy surface. Only a few short weeks had elapsed since we left the cold, wintry shores of England, and here in December the flowers were growing in abundance around us; for a very small outlay we converted our room into a conservatory. The number and diversity of the flowers, both wild and cultivated, that thrive in the colony is unlimited, but alas! the perfume is so faint as to be almost imperceptible. We had huge bunches of roses of all shades, vying in beauty with the very finest of their species to be found anywhere, but almost entirely scentless. The plants of South Africa are of great beauty and fill the conservatories of Europe. This southwestern region is the home of the Cape flora. Orchids innumerable abound on the streams of Table Mountain and the Hottentot Holland Mountain, thirty miles inland. Some of the enthusiastic collectors we had met in England would surely have been made happy by the privilege of classifying them. There are said to be 350 species of beautiful heather in this region, at times making the whole mountain-side look like a warm-hued carpet. There are geraniums, asters of all sorts, heliotropes, lobelias, and so many sorts and varieties of lovely twining vines and beautiful ferns that I give up all hope of ever recording one-half of them. During the winter months of May, June, July, and August rain falls, and from January to April it is very dry. The climate is warm and moist to an almost sub-tropical extent, owing to the currents of the Indian Ocean, so that flowers are to be found the year round. The lovely "Lily of the Nile" is so common as to be designated by the less euphonious name of "Pig Lily."