The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

CIIArTER IV.CAPE COLONY AND ITS DEPENDENCIES.The G.vrK,Gkiqualand West, Beciiuaxaland, Basutoland, Kafiulaxd.APE COLONY extends officially o\or au area more than double aslarge as that which it comprised iu 1870. But within its narrowerlimits, as defined before that period, it constitutes a well-markedplij'sical region, with ijerfectly distinct geographical and historicaloutlines. Occupying the entire southern extremity of the continent,the territory has for its natural limits the ocean and the course of theOrange River on three sides, while towards the east it is separated from theKafir domain by the little river Tees, an affluent of the Orange, and by the valley'sof the Indwe and Great Kei, which flow to the Indian Ocean. Its superficial areais about exactly the same as that of France, but notwithstanding the somewhatrapid annual increase of the population, it is still forty times less than that of thesame region.Over one hundred and fifty years ensued after the discovery of the Cape ofGood Hope before any Europeans succeeded in obtaining a permanent footing inthe country. A few marines lauded from time to time, but soon left again. In1G20 the English even took formal j^ossession in the name of King James I., butnever followed up this act by any practical steps. Eobben Island, in Table Bay,which has since been nearly always a place of banishment or a convict station, wasalso occasionally occupied by British or Portuguese immigrants, cither free settlersor exiles.But the pioneers of colonisation at the southern extremity of the continent didnot present themselves till 1652. Van Eiebeck, the first governor sent by the"Dutch East India Company," landed in that year with his family and about ahundred soldiers at the foot of Table Mountain, where he immediately began tobuild a fort. The first humble dwellings were grouped on the site where now risethe buildings of Cape Town, and their occupants began forthwith to cultivate a fewfields and garden plots. Despite the great difficidties attending this first attemptthe Company succeeded in its main object, which was to facilitate the re-victuallingof Dutch vessels plying between Ilolland aud the East Indies.The military station