SOUTHERN AFRICA. 263 
a force from the Cape might be in possession of tlie straits of 
Babehnandel, and, by thus anticipating, complete!}' frustrate 
their designs, which, with the Cape in their possession, or in 
that of the Dutch, they would with great facilitj^ accomplish. 
But if the geographical position of the Cape gives it the pre- 
eminence, as a great naval and military station, as the bar- 
rier and master-key of our Indian possessions, it still derives 
other advantages from this very circumstance, whicli, though 
of a subordinate nature, are highly deserving of notice ; these 
are the turn it is capable of giving to the commerce of India 
and China ; and the encouragement and protection it affords 
to the Southern Whale Fishery ; but as these considerations 
are too important to be slightly passed over, it may be proper 
to reserve the observations that occur on them for a subse- 
quent chapter ; and, in the mean time, proceed to point out 
the disadvantages that may result to Britain, and particularly 
to the East India Company, from the Cape being placed in 
the possession of the Dutch, or, Avhich must be considered as 
the same thing., in that of the French, the former being so 
much reduced and degraded by the latter, that they no longer 
are, and in all probability never can revive as, a separate and 
an independent nation. 
We have already seen the vast advantages that Great Bri- 
tain derived to her trade and possessions in India, during the 
late war, by holding this barrier in her own hands ; let us now 
consider what our situation is, in these respects, in the present 
state of things. Tiie Cape of Good Hope is in the possession 
of an enemy ; Eio dc la Plata belongs to Spain, who has 
