

DISCOVKKV OF THE CAI'E. 363 





Miuti 10 



Luuiixu-L 



To reUiru to the Algca Bay theory, de Barros says that 

 Penedo das Pontes is an islet, half a league from the coast, and 

 that it received its name from the fact that there were two 

 fountains there. It would appear that there is some confusion 

 here between the two principal islands of the S. Croix group. 

 S. Croix itself, with which he identifies it, is more than 

 half a league from the shore ; but Jahleel is about that distance, 

 and lies directly oft" the mouth of the Coega River. At this 

 spot, on the farm now known as Houghton Park, there are very 

 remarkable s])rings of fresh water, which gush up from the 

 sand right on the sea-shore. It would seem that Pecheco- 

 and de Barros had before them descriptions of the two islands, 

 da Crtiz and Penedo das Pontes ( S. Croix and "Jahleel), btit 

 did not know that they were distinct, and so combined the two 

 in their accounts. 



It is mere difificult to explain the maps and Perestrello. Ship 

 Rock and Fountain Rock are mere boulders, ([uite devoid of 

 springs, and without any on the adjacent mainland, and the 

 former, which fits Perestrello's description better, is a small and 

 not very striking mass of sandstone, only a few yards out to 

 sea. 



Perhaps the true solution is that the spot was wrongly 

 placed on some chart, and that Perestrello. thinking it necessary 

 to identify Penedo das Pontes somewhere between the Bushman 

 and the Kowie, selected Ship Rock as being the only isolated 

 rock in those parts. 



There are various other points of interest 

 connected with the epoch-making voyage, which I should like 

 to deal with, but I feel that this paper has reached its just 

 limits, and they must be left for a future occasion. In con- 

 clusion, may I be permitted to say that, though some of my 

 deductions may, and probably will be, combated, the preparation 



