230 
TRAVELS IN 
quarrelled with the natives, and was driven away by them, as 
fome hiftorians have pretended, feems to be doubtful. Vafco- 
de-Gama, ten years afterwards, touched at the Cape, but made 
no attempt to form a fettlement there. Next to Vafco-de-Gama, 
was the Portugueze Admiral Rio d'Infante', who ftrongly re- 
commended to his Government the eftablifhment of a colony on 
the fouthern coaft of Africa ; and fixed upon the mouth of a 
river for that purpofe, to which was given his own name, and 
which is now called the Great Fifh River. Some other attempts, 
by different Portugueze navigators, were made to colonize the 
Cape, but they all failed. 
After this the Englifh and the Dutch were frequent vifitors 
to the bays of the Cape. 
The Englifli, in their outward bound voyage, had a cuftom of 
burying their difpatches for the dired:ors, and to point out where 
they were to be found by cutting a fentence, to that effeft, on 
fome large blue ftone laid on a particular fpot. The intelligence, 
engraven on the ftone, was ufually limited to the name of the 
fliip and captain, the date of her arrival and departure, and it 
ended with " Look for letters (in fuch or fuch diredion) from 
" this ftone." Two or three ftones of this kind are built into 
the caftle wall, and are ftill legible. The Dutch ufed to bury, 
on a certain Ipot on Robben Ifland, a regifter of the ftate of 
their veflels and Cargoes, outward bound, which the next fhip, 
in coming home, took up and carried to Holland for the infor- 
snation of the Directors. 
In 
