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they have the addition of horses on account of their slaves being then at liberty. And an officers guard mounts every day at the pallace. The military have entirely the command, the meanest soldier having it in his power to control the first inhabitant.
Strangers are not allowd to go through the city without a serjeant or corporal after them, except officers in their uniform. They are remarkably strict upon foreign ships, as no trade is allowd to be carryd on but by their own. Their trade consists of sugar, rum, indigo, brazil wood, whale bone, oil & spermacetti, bullion, diamonds, & topazs. The mines are 150 miles up the river & very rich, the diamonds are of the finest sort but not large. It is almost impossible if not entirely so to procure admittance to the mines, so strict a guard being kept.
The fleet being waterd & provided with every necessary refreshment saild on tuesday morning the 4th of Sept. saluted the fort as we passd it with 13 guns which they returnd. We lost sight of the continent of S America that night & directed our course for the Cape of Good Hope, which we made on the 13 [Sept?] & that afternoon anchord with the whole fleet in Table Bay. All very healthy. We saluted the town next morning with 13 guns which they returnd & the fleet began watering immediately & [was?] soon complete. The town is calld Cape Town. It is built of stone & brick & the houses white washd on the outside the windows & doors in general painted green. The streets are very broad & stand at right angles but not pavd which renders walking very disagreeable in windy weather, the ground being light & sandy. The inside of their houses are very [neat?] their furniture much the same as ours, with the addition of two shining brass spitting boxes at each table, as smoking tobacco is the first thing they do in the morning. The landing place is a wooden wharf built on piles & carryd 150 feet into the water. It is very strong & high on account of the great sea which sets into the Bay in the winter, which they reckon from the 29th of May to the latter end of August, during which time they suffer none of their own ships to remain in the Bay.
On the end of the whar lie six cranes for loading or unloading [?] & 4 cocks for watering shipping. On the middle of the wharf is a guard, a gate & wicket, which is always shut at dark & all boats are then obligd to go on board or moor to the wharf & deliver up their oars, masts [?] rudders to the guard who returns them next morning at day light. At the inner end of the wharf is the custom house where two officers constantly attend & examine every thing that passes. They are very strict, not suffering any but trifling things to pass without leave from the Governor. In case of the arrival of a large fleet a contractor is appointed by the Governor to supply them. But single ships are supplied by [?] principal merchang. Their market is a very poor one, consisting of bread, a few vegetables, oranges & some tobacco which they sell very dear. Indeed articles of every