30 DEEP-SEA SOUNDING. 



May left for Simons Bay, where we arrived the follow- 

 ing day, anchoring off the Naval Station. Here we 

 remained until the nth, long enough to win a boat-race, 

 then sailed for Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and 

 anchored in Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) on the 14th. 



An agreeable surprise awaited us. We came with 

 vague ideas of this pait of South Africa, but we found a 

 fine city, whose inhabitants are as enterprising and hos- 

 pitable as any in the world. They had converted a 

 rocky wilderness into a garden, had tapped the distant 

 mountains and brought fresh water to their doors, had 

 built railroads to points in the interior hundreds of miles 

 distant ; in short, had overcome all obstacles except the 

 treacherous sea, and a portion of that will doubtless 

 soon be captive if a breakwater and docks are built on 

 plans already approved by competent engineers. Large 

 ocean steamers arrive and depart with regularity, and 

 the trade of the place is already great. 



It was stated that an American man-of-war had not 

 touched there for years. The Vanderbilt looked in dur- 

 ing the Civil War, in 1863, when in search of the Ala- 

 bama, but did not anchor. 



It was odd to find peoples representing distinct and 

 opposite types of civilization so closely associated. The 

 whites live chiefly in town, while the blacks (Kaffirs) 

 live in native villages within a short distance of the city, 

 and retain to a large degree their native customs both 

 in dress and mode of hfe. Photographs taken of some 

 of the chiefs while standing before their huts surrounded 



