The Dutch, both in Java and
in Demerara, had yielded to this misplaced affection for a sea-level
site, and had constructed Batavia and Georgetown strictly according to
their racial ideals, with a prodigal abundance of canals. Though this
doubtless gave the settlers a home-like feeling, the canal-intersected
town of Batavia is so unhealthy under a broiling tropical sun that it
has been virtually abandoned as a place of residence.
Capetown has none of the raw, unfinished aspect so many Colonial towns
wear, but has a solid, grave dignity of its own, and its suburbs are
unquestionably charming. The settled, permanent look of the town is
perhaps due to the fact that there is not a single wooden house or
fence in Capetown, everything is of substantial brick, stone and iron.
The Dutch were admirable town-planners; since the country has been in
British hands our national haphazard carelessness has asserted itself,
and the city has been extended without any apparent design whatever. I
was certainly not prepared for the magnificent groves of oaks which
are such a feature of Capetown and its vicinity. These oaks, far
larger than any to which we are accustomed, bear witness to the
painstaking thoroughness of the Dutch. Before an oak capable of
withstanding the arid climate and burning sun of South Africa could be
produced, it had to be crossed and re-crossed many times.
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