230 TRAVELS IN 
mon's Bay. There appears to be no instance on record of 
any ship going into Chapman's Bay, it being completel}'^ ex- 
posed to all the prevailing winds that blow at the Cape, and, 
in consequence, seldom free from a heavy swell of the sea. 
Were it, indeed, ever so secure and convenient for landing- 
troops, all the advantages it holds out would be obtained by 
a landing at Simon's Bay. This is not the case, were an 
enemy to effect a landing at Hout Bay to the northward of 
it ; as, from this place, they would be enabled to make their 
approach to the lines, after passing a defile of the mountains 
which is totally unoccupied. 
Hout Bay affords safe and convenient anchorage for eight 
or ten ships ; and has a rivulet of fresh water falling into it 
from the back part of Table Mountain ; but the getting out 
of the bay is supposed to be very difficult and precarious, on 
account of the eddy winds from the surrounding mountains 
when they are moderate in the Offing, or from the south- 
easterly winds setting into the entrance ; as well as from the 
constant westerly swell and wind prevailing from that quarter 
in the winter season. Captain Blanket, however, in the 
year 1784, when he commanded the Nymph sloop of war, 
ran, out of curiosity, into Hout Bay, at which the Dutch 
■were exceedingly jealous and angry, none of them having 
ever seen a ship there before. It is now defended with a 
battery and a block-house, situated on an eminence which is 
too high to be successfully attacked by ships of war. 
As to Simon's Bay, which lies on the eastern side of the 
peninsula, in the great bay of False, and is the usual resort 
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