A Trip Five Thousand Miles Off.

many fled to the Cape for safety , some of the Malay princes being among the fugitives . Tho spot where they had sought temporary shelter self-interest converted into a permanent home , for they soon found Cape TOAVU afforded full scope for their industry , and for gaining the Avealth which they grasp Avith true Israelitish covotousness . It is this

love of gain ivhich alone induces them to stooji their haughty natures so far as to enter service , Avhere they are to be found in many capacities , for in addition to a Malay coachman—A-alued on account of the sobriet y his religion enjoins —nearly every family of pretension employs a Malay cook , and probably one or two others as housemaids . The Malays

are the principal fishermen , and sellers of fruit and cakes ; they are the laundresses , also , and both men and Avomen are to be seen in their open sheds busily employed in ironing . Many are said to have acquired considerable wealth : Ave remember an old man living in a mean hut and apparently making his living by selling cakes and tarts , iidio ivas known to be the possessor of £ 400 per annum .

Though so long resident at the Cape , the Malays have not amalgamated Avith those around them , but remain a distinct people , with dress , manners , and religion of their OAVU . They profess the Mahomedan faith , in which they are said to be bigoted , ancl possess five or six mosques . All the bullocks in Cape Town fall bthe hands of the Malay priests

y , Avho slay them ivith certain ceremonies ; the reason of this being that the Malays will use no meat except Avhat is killed by their oivn priests , Avhile the other members of the community are indifferent on the matter .

A Malay ivill not under any circumstances consent to lay aside his national costume , Avhich has neither elegance nor picturesqueness to recommend it ; ancl on the box of the governor ' s carriage I have seen a Malay sport his drab troAvsers , ancl loose drab jacket , Avhile over the red Madras handkerchief ivhich bound his smooth black hair , Avas a

conical cane hat , in shape resembling a pagoda . The Avomen ' s dress is also ungraceful , for their long full shirts arc tied , not round the waist , but close up under the arms , ancl over a bodice of another colour ; hoivever , their long hair of a brilliant black is never covered , but all drawn to the back of the head , and fastened round a silver ornament . But through

all their disfigurement of attire the eye is struck by the extreme beaut y of the Malay race . The lofty brow , the delicate nose , ancl the Avell formed mouth and teeth , are well ni gh universal , as are the large brilliant eyes of the deepest black . The hotel Avhere Ave resided belonged to Dutch proprietors , good kindly sort of peoplewith ivhom Ave made great friends

, , ancl AVC were often amused b y listening to the gentle languid tones in Avhich our landlad y lisped forth in her broken English the praises of her own colony , and all pertaining to it . Our landlord Avas equally amusing , though in a different style , for his English was correct in construction , though rough and broken in pronunciation , Avhile the great object of

his eulogy was his fatherland , ancl his inheriting an unmixed descent from which he could not sufficiently value himself . One clay Ave came home to find the usually calm household in a state of the utmost excitement . M ynheer , himself , Aims in a rage , and the vrow , his wife , in tears , Avhile their stalwart son Avas walking to and fro in violent indignation . The

cause Avas at once disclosed- —Mynheer Adrian , the son , hacl split on his father ' s favourite rock and Avished to marry a bride one of Avhose unfortunate ancestors another man had called his chattel .

"But that Avas his misfortune , not his fault , " I remarked . " Very likely , " replied the old man . someivhat illogically , "but it is a great fault in his descendant . Carolina may be rich , and young , and beautiful , and Avhat you like , but it does not alter the fact that her great grandfather Avas a slave , and her grandmother slave born . You can see our pure blood in our dazzling skins and our clear eyes , very different from an inky puddle of Africanders and Mozambique ,.. "

" But Carolina ' s hair is as fair , and her eyes as blue as ours , " interrupted the son . "Very true , " replied the mother , "but , pah ! her skin , sec IIOAV muddy that is . " But there the good lady ' s prejudices blinded her , for I had often seen the Carolina in question visiting her daughters ,

and a SAveeter or prettier girl it Avas impossible to see . In vain I tried to reason and then rally the usually good-natured old people out of their objections , they ivere resolute in believing that such a marriage would bring indelible disgrace upon their house . On mentioning the foregoing subject to some of my friends ,

residents at the Cape , I was surprised to learn that my host and hostess ' s sentiments Ai'erc precisely those of the mass of their countrymen , " ivith whom the pride of an unblemished descent transcends all others . They also assured me , and I haA'e since AA'itnessed the same myself ) that families have frequentlbeen shut out from the society in which they have

y hitherto moved , in consequence of one of their members marrying one in whose veins flowed ever so small a portion of the despised slave blood ; ancl the fact that ( thanks to the British government ) all have for many years been free alike , does not tend in the least to soften their A'iolent and cruel prejudice .

But Mynheer , my host , as long as he Avas true to himself ¦ —which he appeared likely to be—had no cause for fear ; for in that happy laud for inexorable fathers elopements are unknown , ancl so arc secret marriages . At the Cape , though a British colony , Dutch laiv piwails—and that says a man must either be married by banns , or else produce to the

officiating clergyman the certificate of the matrimonial court , ivhich inquires A ery closely into the matter of consent . On many points the Dutch laivs—which equally affect English residents—meddle much more closely in domestic affairs than our OAVU , but the interference is generally dictated ba irit of far seeing prudenceand a desire to protect the

y sp , interests of those unable to protect their OAVU , though sometimes they exhibit the keen Avorldly Avisdom of a nation of traders . Under the first category may be ranked the IIAV which forbids man or Avoman contracting a second marriage until they have settled half their property , minus one child ' s portionon the children of the first marriage ; but

, decidedly AVC must attribute to the second the enactment that the second husband of a Avidow shall discharge the debts of her first husband , and many are the peaceful households to ivhich this laiv has brought distress , ancl ruin , aud bitter hatred .

Perhaps one of the most painful instances of tho evil Avhich may result from some of the Cape laws we saw exemplified in the person of an English lady to ivhom ive were introduced . She had married an English gentleman in England , ivith AA'I IOUI she emigrated to the Cape . Henhusband ' s temper Avas A ery violent , Avhich led to many

painful scenes between them , and in the end his uukindness drove her from him . For a time she made her living as a governess , but subsequently learning she AVUS entitled to property in England , she went home to claim it . Scarcely ivere the sails of the ship in ivhich she ivent- below the horizonthan her husband summoned her to appear before

, the supreme court to answer ivhy she absented herself from his home Avithout his consent . The appointed time ivas too short for the poor lady to be even aivare of the proceedings against her ( wiie-thcr any one appeared to explain the case I knoiv not , if they did their explanation was not deemed satisfactory ) and iu her absence a divorce Avas pronounced

against her . A few months after she returned , disappointed of the property she Avent to seek , to find herself Avithout a name or a home , and her husband the husband of another ; for immediately on the divorce he had married a Dutch lady of respectable family , Avho had done no A'iolence to her own feelings , nor suffered loss of caste among her own nation , by marrying one whom their own laws hacl declared free .