Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's Note:

Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

THE CAPE PENINSULA

THE CAPE
PENINSULA

PEN AND COLOUR SKETCHES

DESCRIBED BY
RÉNÉ JUTA

PAINTED BY
W. WESTHOFEN

LONDON: ADAM & CHARLES BLACK
CAPE TOWN: J. C. JUTA & CO.
1910

DEDICATION

'Only those who see take off their shoes. The rest sit round and pluck blackberries and stain their faces with the natural hue of them.'

* * * * *

'I am told there are people who do not care for maps, and find it hard to believe. The names, the shapes of the woodlands, the courses of the roads and rivers, the prehistoric footsteps of man still distinctly traceable up hill and down dale, the mills and the ruins, the ponds and the ferries, perhaps the Standing Stone or the Druidic Circle on the heath; here is an inexhaustible fund of interest for any man with eyes to see or twopence worth of imagination to understand with.'

R. L. STEVENSON.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE CASTLE 1

II. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SOCIETY AND SLAVERY 15

III. IN THE BLUE SHADOW OF TABLE MOUNTAIN 30

IV. 'PARADISE' AND THE BARNARDS 46

V. THE LIESBEEK RIVER 53

VI. THE BOSHEUVEL, OR HEN AND CHICKENS HILL 62

VII. THE CONSTANTIA VALLEY 73

VIII. THE MOUNTAIN 78

IX. ROUND THE LION'S HEAD AND THE VICTORIA ROAD 92

X. FALSE BAY 100

XI. THE BLUE SHADOW ACROSS THE FLATS 110

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Cape Town from Table Bay (_Frontispiece_)
FACING PAGE
2. On the Ramparts of the old Castle (moonlight) 5

3. Table Bay from the Kloof Nek 17

4. Blaauwberg and Head of Table Bay 32

5. Tigerberg and Diep River 34

6. Blue Hydrangeas at Groote Schuur 41

7. The Blue Shadow--View from Rhodes's Monument 45

8. The Southern Part of False Bay, with Cape Hangclip 47

9. Oak Avenue, Newlands 59

10. Silver Trees and Wild Geraniums 62

11. Fir Avenue--'Alphen' 72

12. Constantia Valley and False Bay, with Cape Point 78

13. A Sunset on the Lions Head: Effect of South-east Wind 88

14. On the Victoria Road, near Oude Kraal 92

15. Camps Bay, on the Victoria Road 95

16. Hout Bay and Hangberg 97

17. Chapman's Peak and Slang Kop Point from Hout Bay 99

18. At Lakeside, looking towards Constantia 102

19. At Lakeside, looking South-East 103

20. On Fish Hoek Beach, Nord Hoek Mountains in
Distance 105

21. Simonstown Mountains, with Cape Point and Roman
Rock Lighthouses 106

22. Table Mountain from Retreat Flats 110

23. Sand Dunes 112

24. On the Sandhills near Muizenberg 115

25. At the Head of False Bay 118

CHARACTERS

MARINUS and THE WRITER, two slightly sentimental travellers, in modern dress, generally riding-clothes.

_Immortals._

MYNHEER VAN RIEBEEK, AND ALL THE DUTCH COMMANDERS.
CAPTAIN COOK.
MARION LE ROUX.
MR. AND LADY ANNE BARNARD.
OLD MAN VAN DER POOL.
THE ENGLISH GOVERNORS.
SOME ENGLISH MIDSHIPMEN.
MYNHEER VAN RHEENEN, a brewer.
MR. BARROW, a naturalist.
MONSIEUR LE VAILLANT, a French explorer with a temperament.
LIEUTENANT ABRAHAM SCHUT.
KOLBÉ, a great liar with a sense of humour.
MYNHEER CLOETE, a wealthy farmer,

And some others.

_Chorus._

Hottentots, Bushmen, Saldanhas, Dutch Soldiers and Sailors, English Soldiers and Sailors, Burghers, Slaves, Market-Gardeners, Wine-Makers, Fishermen, and ordinary people from 1651 to 1910.

THE CAPE PENINSULA