UMV0T1 MISSION STATION, NATAL. 
PL'&YE SWIIfllL 
DURBAN, PORT NATAL, FROM TUB BEREA. 
The new settlement of Natal is yet in its infancy: ere long it will probably become a thriving and flourishing colony, 
when its capabilities arc better known, and the tide of emigration sets in again, with the blessings of peace, towards the 
shores of South-eastern Africa. 
A few \ears ago Natal was in the hands of the Dutch emigrant farmers, who, after many desperate struggles with 
the Zulus, succeeded in settling themselves with their flocks and waggons amongst the fertile valleys between the 
Drakensberg and the Indian Ocean. When, however, the British Government took possession of Natal, the Dutch farmers 
resisted its authority, and the battle of Congella was the result. 
At length, the dissatisfied farmers, yoking their oxen once more to their waggons, steered a course farther north, and 
spreading themselves amongst the nations beyond Delagoa Bay, left Natal in the undisputed possession of tlie British Crown. 
There are two principal settlements within the colony of Natal: Pietermaritzburg, which was founded by the Dutch Boers 
in 18,38, and is situated about sixty miles inland, where the seat of government is at present established; and DT'rban, or 
Port Natal, the subject of the accompanying illustration, which is situated on the banks of a beautiful and capacious 
harbour, having a bar at its mouth, with sufficient water for vessels of two hundred tons to pass and repass at high tides. 
The village or tow nship of IVUrban is but of some four or five years’ grow th. The situation is charming and picturesque, 
on the shores of the harbour, about a mile and a half from the point where vessels lie to discharge and take iu their 
cargoes. At the point is a custom-house, with several dwellings and stores; and a romantic path is cut through the woods 
leading to the settlement. In this path, girt with wild vines and brilliant flowers, it is no unusual occurrence to meet the 
recent traces of elephants, or to catch a glimpse of the leopard's spotted hide, as it steals with a stifled “ gurr” beneath 
the thick underwood. 
To look down from the Berea hill, which rises about a couple of miles from the settlement of D’Urban, upon the 
scattered cottages of the settlers, and the broad expanse of the lake-like harbour, with its islands and mangrove-skirted 
hanks, and the steep wooded bluff marking the entrance to the port, with the blue ocean beyond, is to gaze on a scene 
of beauty and richness that is scarcely to be surpassed. 
The present view is taken from the first rise of the Berea, looking immediately over the plain on which the township 
is laid out. The surf marks the bar, extending nearly across the entrance of the port; the passage is on the opposite 
side, where there is deep water close alongside the bluff. About the centre of the harbour arc some small islands 
covered with mangrove-trees. At low water a great portion of the harbour becomes dry, and numerous flocks of 
cranes, egrets, spoonbills, and other aquatic birds, arc to be seen feeding on the mud-banks. 
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