NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS 79 
eleven cherry trees on the neighbouring land of Boschendal. Possibly one of 
these trees may have yielded descendants which throve for a while in the rich 
land near the mountain — but this is pure hypothesis. 
It is not until 1811 that we come to any very concrete facts regarding 
Kirstenbosch. In that year the following grant was made by the Governor 
Lord Caledon — to Colonel Christopher Bird. 
A piece of land in the Cape district, beyond the Government place, 
Kirstenbosch and the properties of H. D. Maynier [Boscheuval] and W. Versveld 
[Klassenbosch], at the foot of the Table Mountain, in extent 107 morgen, 
1 square rood and 72 square feet, with the right of the fountain springing on 
the said piece of land, stretching east and southward to the places of Maynier 
and Versveld, to the north to the limits of the Government ground.” 
Later on, in the same year, the adjacent ground was granted to Henry 
Alexander, then Colonial Secretary, an eccentric Irishman who built himself 
a house on the site of the ranger’s dwelling — the ruins of the homestead 
nearest to the entrance mark the spot. There were no windows to his 
bedrooms, for, as he explained, people went to bed to sleep — not to look at 
the view. 
The grant was made — 
“ On a letter of recommendation from H.M. Secretary of State, by letter 
dated 22nd of February 1811, and consisted of a piece of land 197 morgen, 
450 square roods, extending north-east to the Government land and towards 
the place of Mr Alexander van Breda [Boshof], eastwards to the Government 
land, south towards the Liesbeek River, and south-east to the place of 
Mr Bird.” 
A diagonal line drawn from below the old fountain and above the ruins of 
the large homestead would give an idea of the division of the land. It is 
interesting to note that in the survey of the property made at this time by 
Louis Thibault a dwelling-house and out-buildings are shewn on the site of 
the present ruins, proving that Mr Alexander’s house was not the first Kirsten- 
bosch. The beautiful little sunk bath is marked on Colonel Bird’s portion as 
the “ fontein,” but in the grant there is no sign of a house on his property. 
Probably he built the small house, now in ruins, a little distance behind the 
lai'ge homestead. There are old Spanish chestnuts near it, and it is known 
that he planted chestnuts on the slopes of the mountain. 
Henry Alexander died at the Cape, Colonel Bird left the country, and the 
whole estate of Kirstenbosch appears to have reverted to the Government in 
1817. Shortly afterwards it was bought by Mr Dirk Eksteen, a member of 
one of the oldest Cape families, who rebuilt the main house, which had by 
this time become a ruin. He found it necessary to cut down trees which had 
grown up in the rooms — a testimony, if testimony were needed, to the fertility 
of the Kirstenbosch soil. Mr Eksteen’s was the third house built on the site of 
