THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
57 
that of ostrich farming. An excursion was made by our party to one of these farms, kept 
by an enterprising Scotchman, and situated only a few miles from the Cape, at the foot 
of the Vasco de Gama Hill. We landed in Buffalo Bay, and, following the rough track which 
SIMONS BAY. 
leads uphill from the beach, soon came in sight of the farm-house. The first object which 
met our eye was one of the gaunt, long and strong-legged fowls leisurely striding about 
the farm-yard. Familiar as one is with the shape and size of an ostrich, its appearance at 
first sight is nevertheless a little 
startling, and it is necessary, as it 
were, to adjust one’s mental focus 
to the fact that the huge creature 
before us is a bird. In a fenced-in 
meadow we saw half-a-dozen more 
of these animals. It appears they 
are by no means a kind of “ cattle” 
easily managed ; for they are far 
from timid, and, when enraged, 
may break the leg or arm of a man with one stroke of their powerful claws. The head of 
an ostrich, with its broad bill and large eyes, has a most remarkable appearance when seen 
in front. One of the birds, named Jacob, who seemed to be somewhat of a favourite, was 
honoured by having his portrait taken; but during the “sitting” he made a 
snatch at the sketch-book as if objecting to the process. We understand that 
several of these ostrich farms exist in the colony, and the much-prized feathers 
form an important item in the export trade of Capetown. 
Upon the beach, a short distance to the southward of Simonstown, are 
some extensive shell-mounds, probably marking the site of a former native camp. 
No doubt this bay, with its abundant supplies of food, has been frequented at all times by 
the aborigines of the southern extremity of Africa. Large numbers of stone implements have 
been found in the locality, amongst them flint flakes and spherical perforated stones of 
various sizes, the use of which has not yet been ascertained; also stones with a smooth 
