a62 
TRAVELS IN 
fancl pounds. Even fhould this not be found fufEcient for the 
purpoles of the fleet and the neceffary eftablifhment confe- 
quential to its becoming the naval ftation, a meafure might be 
adopted which could not fail of fecuring a conftant fupply of 
frefh water to any amount. This would be effected by bring- 
ing it in pipes from the Berg River, which never fails in the 
dryeft weather, and the furface of which, contrary to almoft all 
the other rivers of the colony, is very little funk below the ge- 
neral furface of the country. I fhould think that ten thoufand 
pounds would go a great way towards accomplifhing this ob- 
je6t, fo important to every nation whofe fhipping trade to the 
eaftward of the Cape of Good Hope. Were this once effedled, 
the intereft of the capital expended in the undertaking would be 
more than defrayed by an additional port duty of ten dollars or 
two pounds fterling for each fhip ; a mere trifle, when compared 
to the eafe and fecurity in which fliips would here ride at an- 
chor, and thus avoid the wear and tear of Table Bay, befides 
the conveniency of careening and repairing ; and, above all, the 
perfe<3: fafety in which they w^ould remain in all winds and at 
all feafons of the year. 
There can be little doubt, if a naval efl:ablifliment was once 
formed at Saldanha Bay, that many coafting vefliels and fifhing 
ihips w^otild be conftruded here, as it affords every convenience 
that could be required for building fhips, which would be the 
means of increafing the coafling trade, and efpecially in the ar- 
ticle of timber, the produce of the colony. Whether any of 
the forefl; trees of South Africa are fuitable for building fhips 
feems 
