30 SCENERY HARBOR DESCRIBED. 



VIEW OF WALFISCH BAY. 



about to penetrate into the interior. A desert of sand, 

 bounded only by the horizon, meets the eye in every quarter, 

 assuming, in one direction, the shape of dreary flats ; in an- 

 other, of shifting hillocks ; while in some parts it rises al- 

 jnost to the height of mountains. 



Walfisch Bay has been long known to Europeans, and was 

 once hastily surveyed by Commodore Owen, of the Eoyal 

 Navy. It is a very spacious, commodious, and comparatively 

 safe harbor, being on three sides protected by a sandy shore. 

 The only winds to which it is exposed are N. and N.W. ; 

 but these, fortunately, are not of frequent occurrence. Its 

 situation is about N. and S. The anchorage is good. Large 

 ships take shelter under the lee of a sandy peninsula, the 

 extremity of which is known to navigators by the name of 

 "Pelican Point." Smaller craft, however, ride safely with- 

 in less than half a mile of the shore. 



The great disadvantage of Walfisch Bay is that no fresh 

 water can be found near the beach ; but at a distance of 

 three miles inland abundance may be obtained, as also good 

 pasturage for cattle. I mention this circumstance as being 

 essential to the establishment of any cattle-trade in future. 



During the time the guano trade flourished on the west 

 coast of Africa, Walfisch Bay was largely resorted to by 

 vessels of every size, chiefly with a view of obtaining fresh 

 provisions. At that period, certain parties from the Cape 

 had an establishment here for the salting and curing of beef 

 They, moreover, furnished the guano-traders, as also Cape- 



