of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 263 



(duykers,) and some hundred of penguins and eggs for his 

 people. 



This enterprising and industrious man, walked, with his 

 carpenters, to the back of the Table Mountain, to inspect the 

 woods growing there, about four miles and a half from the 

 fort. He found that the favorable reports which had been 

 made to him, were not without foundation ; and the size and 

 height of the trees exceeded his expectations. He remarked, 

 at the same time, that the ciphers of the years 1604, 1620, and 

 1622 were cut upon some of the trees ; shewing that these 

 forests had long before been visited by Europeans, but of what 

 nation, or under what circumstances, he could not discover. 

 He was also an eye-witness to the astonishing quantity of 

 game and wild fowl which then frequented this part of the 

 country ; but it does not appear that he was able to kill any. 



On the 24th, it was resolved in Council, to send the yacht 

 on a voyage of discovery to Saldanha and St. Helena Bays,* 

 that his information respecting those places and the coast 

 might be increased ; and that he might judge, what could be 

 done in more distant parts for the service of the Company. 



The end of this month, however, was marked by fresh 

 difficulties : four men deserted under the direction of Jan 

 Blank. This appears to have given Van Riebeck great 

 uneasiness ; and as suspicion immediately fell upon one Petrus 

 Janssen Brackenier, he was accordingly placed in confinement. 



The provisions were now nearly consumed ; and could not, 

 at the most, last more than two months. His people were 

 discontented; and he heard murmurs on all sides. To pre- 

 serve, therefore, the public piece, — so necessary to the 

 success of the undertaking, — it became a point of considera- 

 tion, to allow them, under certain conditions, a small sum in 

 addition to their daily pay. One of his volunteers, also, for 

 mutinous language, was, as an example to others, condemned 

 to be punished with 100 lashes. But the case of Brackenier 

 was left undecided till further information could be obtained. 



Nothing else remarkable happened this month, except that 

 two of his clerks, and some other Europeans, accompanied by 

 a Hottentot named Harry, who could speak a little English, 

 ascended the Table Mountain for the first time ; and reported 

 " that the top was flat, with a little verdure, and about three 

 times as broad as the dam at Amsterdam ; and that there were, 

 also, some small pools of fresh water." 



October. — Although the desertion of four men may now 

 appear a very trifling occurrence, yet, in this account of the 

 Hist year of Van Riebeck's government, it is an important event ; 

 and commanded the attention of himself and his people. And, 

 with the exception of carrying the boilers for train-oil to the 



• Records uf Cuuucil vi that date. 



