30 CAFFRE WAR. 



there was little specie left in Cape Town. All the 

 troops had heen sent to the frontier; a party of 

 hlue jackets from the flag-ship at one time per- 

 formed garrison duty at Cape Town ; the emergency 

 was so great that even some detachments of troops 

 on their way hack to England after long service in 

 India, having put in at the Cape for refreshments, 

 were detained and sent to Algoa Bay. We were 

 all heartily tired of Simon's Bay long before leaving 

 it ; not the less so from having this all engrossing 

 " Caffre war " dinned into our ears from morning 

 to night as an excuse for high prices, and some- 

 times for various extortions, which I had before sup- 

 posed to be pecuhar to new colonies. 



On April 10th we left Simon's Bay for Mauritius. 

 Our passage of twenty-four days presented little 

 remarkable. We experienced every gradation 

 between a calm and a heavy N.E. gale; during 

 the continuance of one of the latter, we passed 

 near the " Slot Van Capel " bank of the old charts, 

 the existence of which it was of importance to 

 verify;* but the heavy conftised sea, such as one 

 would expect to find on a bank during a gale, 

 rendered it dangerous to heave-to to try for 

 soundings. 



During this passage some important observations 

 were made by Capt. Stanley and Lieut. Dayman to 



* I have since learned that H.M.S. Moeander, Capt. the 

 Hon. H. Keppel, struck soundings on this bank, but have not 

 been able to procure the particulars. 



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