Sept.] 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



279 



without doubling the cape he had discovered. The king his master, 

 however, gave it the name of " Good Hope" as he had now good rea- 

 son to hope that around this newly-discovered point of Africa lay the 

 long-wished-for passage to India. This hope was realized by the more 

 successful Vasco de Gama, who ten years afterward doubled the cape, 

 and passed to the coast of Malabar. 



After several unsuccessful attempts by the Portuguese to plant a 

 colony here, the Dutch finally succeeded, in 1650, under the direction 

 of Van Riebeck, who, having concluded a treaty with the natives, took 

 possession of the cape peninsula, and laid the foundation of the present 

 town, by erecting a fort of wood and earth, and some other necessary 

 buildings, which he called Kier de Kou, — a defence against all. It 

 was in the genuine Dutch style, like the fortress which they erected 

 for the defence of their American colony Fort Amsterdam, now the city 

 of New- York. 



Van Riebeck soon discovered the passion which the poor, weak, but 

 peaceful and inoffensive Hottentots had conceived for spirituous liquors, 

 first introduced among them by Christian navigators ; and being a gen- 

 tleman of some sagacity, he thought it good policy to turn their frailty 

 to his own advantage. Thus, by giving these simple people a few 

 casks of brandy, a little tobacco, iron, and some paltry trinkets, he 

 obtained from them a part of their country, and many of their flocks 

 and herds. The price of an ox was then a piece of an iron hoop, and 

 the purchase of a whole district only cost a cask of brandy. 



A hundred male members constituted the first colony of the cape : 

 these were afterward joined by an equal number of females from the 

 houses of industry in Holland, and also by a number of French refu- 

 gees, who were compelled to leave their native country in 1685, on 

 account of religious persecution. The population, from that period, 

 rapidly increased ; the wild beasts were extirpated, or driven to the 

 interior, and the Dutch continued to extend their encroachments over 

 the richest districts of the country for more than a century. 



In 1795, during the French revolution, the English took possession 

 of this colony, and retained it seven years ; but delivered it up to the 

 Batavian republic by the treaty of Amiens in 1802. In 1806 it was 

 again taken by the British, under whose dominion it still remains. 



This extensive colony is bounded on the west and south by the ocean, 

 on the north by the River Koussie and the country of the Bosjesman 

 Hottentots, and on the east by the Great Fish River and the country 

 of a savage race called the Caffres, who have given the colonists more 

 trouble than all other obstacles combined. The settlement comDrises 



A 



an area of more than one hundred and twenty-eight thousand square 

 miles, the greater part of which is covered with naked mountains, be- 

 tween the sloping declivities of which are extensive plains, destitute of 

 running water, called Karroos. These plains, however, are not wholly 

 deserts, as has been represented by inaccurate travellers ; but are at 

 certain seasons of the year clothed with verdure, and covered with 

 flowers of beautiful tints and delightful fragrance. 



The north end of the promontory forms Table Bay, on the south 

 shore of which stands Cape Town, at the foot of Table Mountain, the 



