Our own party consisted of five persons provided with four horses, and we were now, for want of other lodgings, about to claim the hospitality of Mynheer Van Schultze. A pretty, youthful, rosy-cheeked lady, who appeared at the door, took--not without some embarrassment--our letter of introduction, and disappeared with it into the interior of the stately house. We were requested to enter, and were shown into a suite of very neat rooms, and were received, not merely with great politeness, but with the heartiest welcome.
At ten o'clock we drove out with our hospitable friend, Mynheer Van Schultze, to the review, which took place on the common in the neighbourhood of the village. The number of spectators was probably twenty times greater than that of the volunteers; they had surrounded the ground with a wall of carriages, on the tops of which women and children were grouped in every picturesque attitude. The rifle volunteers marched, with the Governor, Sir George Grey, at their head, and preceded by a band, to the ground. There might have been about 300 cavalry and 200 infantry, with several pieces of artillery. They all looked very well; their uniform was plain and remarkably suitable for the purpose, consisting of tunics and trousers of black cloth with metal buttons, and a common cap with a silver ornament. They went through the usual man[oe]uvres, whilst a good deal of gunpowder was expended. The evolutions of the cavalry were executed with wonderful precision, a result due chiefly to the circumstance that, at the Cape, every inhabitant is a good equestrian, and is trained from childhood to manage a horse.
[Illustration: RIFLE VOLUNTEER _FÊTE_ AT STELLENBOSCH.]
The review finished, a breakfast was served at the Drosdy, or Municipality, on long tables, in a magnificent avenue of oak trees; nearly 600 volunteers and many other guests sat down, whilst in the back-ground a large number of ladies and gentlemen were present as spectators. The presence of some members of the Novara Expedition at the festival led the Burgomaster, after the toast of the Queen was given, to propose the health of the Emperor of Austria, prefacing it with various laudatory remarks on the Expedition. The toast was most heartily received, the whole company raising their glasses, whilst the band performed the Austrian national anthem. The officer to whose lot it fell to return thanks, said:--"That he felt deeply gratified with the honour done to his country and nation by the enthusiasm with which the health of his sovereign had been received by so distinguished an assembly, and that he could not forbear expressing his admiration and delight in observing the prosperous condition of this fine country, which, like all others where the Anglo-Saxon race was predominant, was blessed with freedom, with the spirit of progress, and the blessings of Christianity;" and he concluded by proposing "Old England for ever."