17 



British power. This being accomplished to the satisfaction 

 of our commanding officer, the regiment was again put in 

 motion, and we returned by our old route to Stellenbosch. 

 This village is the largest in the colony, and pleasantly situated 

 on the Eerste River. It is sheltered on the east side by the 

 lofty mountains of Drakenstein, the summits of which are, in 

 winter, covered with snow. Stellenbosch is the Montpellier 

 of the Cape, to which invalids of all descriptions, resident in 

 Capetown, retire during summer, from the wind, the dust, 

 and the heat of that boisterous, broiling capital. The sur- 

 rounding country is rich and well watered. Its chief pro- 

 duce is the grape, from which a large quantity of wine is 

 annually prepared for the market. 



" Just as we had got clear of Stellenbosch, on our march 

 to Capetown, brimful of the wonders we had seen, we were 

 met by an orderly dragoon, with a dispatch, directing us to 

 take the route to Simonstown. This we thought a very serious 

 hardship, and a sorry return for our recent services: but 

 there was no alternative. 



" Half way between Wynberg and Simonstown, lies 

 Muysenberg ; where we found barracks for the accommoda- 

 tion of three companies, which we left there. The road from 

 the latter place was along a cold rocky shore, on which a 

 heavy surge perpetually rolls. On the other side, a steep 

 rugged mountain rises abruptly from the shore, leaving 

 hardly room for the narrow path which winds along its base. 

 From the nature of the ground, a succession of obstacles can 

 be thrown in the way of an army landed at Simonstown, and 

 advancing towards Capetown along this pass. On this 

 account, Muysenberg, the outlet of the defile, has been styled 

 the Thermopylae of Southern Africa ; and so far it no doubt 

 merits the appellation, that a small body of troops could 

 check the progress of a large army advancing along the shore : 

 but, like its celebrated prototype, it fails in a most essential 

 point; for it can be easily turned ; and not only turned, but 

 commanded by several paths through the mountain behind it. 

 It is equally untenable in another point of view ; a single ship 

 of war, bearing her broadside on it, could knock the whole 



VOL. II. c 



