Cape was frequented by the ships of the
Dutch East India Company, for water, when
outward bound, and to bury letters in the
sand, at stated spots, for the return fleet to
find and carry home.

In 1620, Humphrey Fitzherbert and
Andreas Shilling, in vessels belonging to the
English East India Company, took possession
of the land, in the name of James the First,
which was a piece of impertinence on their
part.

In 1648, a ship, belonging to the Dutch
East India Company, the "Haarlem," was
wrecked in Table Bay, and the crew remained
several months ashore before they were
relieved. During this time they were enabled
to obtain a knowledge of the country; and
one of their number, Leendart Jantz, on his
return to Amsterdam, pointed out to the
Dutch East India Company, in a
"Remonstrance," the advantage that would be derived
from the establishment, on the shore of Table
Bay, of a fort and garden. Fruit and
vegetables could be raised for vessels touching
there; commerce could be promoted with the
natives; and the Spaniards and Portuguese
could be prevented from stealing a march
upon the Dutch.

Ian Van Riebeck, a surgeon, serving in the
ships of the Dutch East Indian Company,
had visited the Cape in 1648, with a return
fleet, and had assisted in removing the goods
of the " Haarlem;" so that he also passed
some weeks ashore. Agreeing with the views
of Leendart Jantz, and finding that they did
not get attention, he addressed to the Directors,
in 1651, "Further Considerations and
Reflections upon some Points of the
'Remonstrance.' " Ian Van Riebeck had seen most
parts of the known world; was a naturalist
and a philosopher. To him the Directors
listened; and in the same year, with consent
of Government, they gave him command
of three vessels —  the " Dromedaris," the
"Reijger," and the " Hoep," with instructions
to proceed to the Cape, and carry out his
views.

Arrived there, by aid of presents and a
friendly bearing, he at once concluded a treaty
with the natives, whereby, for trinkets to the
value of fifty thousand guilders, the Dutch
obtained, from the possessors of the soil, full
liberty to settle.

These primitive owners of the soil were
called, by the Dutch, " Hottentots,"—not
because they call themselves by any such name,
but, perhaps, on account of the peculiar sounds
they make in their uncouth way of speaking.
They had abundant herds of cattle, which
they used as food, and beasts of burden. They
were very filthy, very unwarlike, and exceedingly
uncivilised. They have, since that time,
been elbowed out of their possessions
altogether; and having no strength to fight their
way among the fiercer tribes of the interior,
have been in an unfortunate position. The
greater part of the race, however, has been
swept away by the introduction of small-pox
and measles.

Van Riebeck found the Hottentots to be
not one tribe under a single ruler, but to be
separated into various communities, which
differed much in wealth and power, and were,
for the most part, at enmity with one another.
A miserable race, upon the shore of Table
Bay, lived upon roots and shell-fish. Other
tribes—wandering, in due season, with their
herds, towards the fresh grass—showed to the
Dutchmen bolder, but still friendly faces.
Van Riebeck took great pains in the preservation
of a mutual good understanding.

The difficulties and trials incidental to the
planting of a colony, far from all civilised
help, caused a desertion of four men, towards
Mozambique. They started with "four
biscuits and fish," under Ian Blank, repented
in a week, and came back to the fort.

In March, 1653, the homeward-bound fleet,
from Batavia, touched at the settlement to
land supplies; and Van Riebeck, tired of his
government, sent home a prayer for "some
better and higher employment, for among
these dull, stupid, lazy, stinking people, there
is little subtlety required." Van Riebeck
was left, however, for ten years in charge of
his undertaking, and continued, to the best
of his ability, in the performance of his duties.

Several expeditions were made into the
interior, in Ian Van Riebeck's time, for the
discovery of a fabulous kingdom, a city of
Monomotapa, "which many maintain to be
the true Ophir whence Solomon imported his
gold."

In 1662, Ian Antony Van Riebeck resigned
his government to his successor, leaving him
these trusts in charge: to penetrate into the
interior, and maintain peace with all the
tribes; to have refreshments always ready for
the shipping; to increase the live stock, and
to cultivate the corn and olive.

From that time the Cape prospered in
a quiet way, and has no external history
worth special note, until its capture by the
English. Previously, French Protestants,
escaping from Louis the Fourteenth, had
emigrated thither, and founded families. In
1795, Holland being subject to the French
Republic, a hostile power, it was considered
by the English Government that masters of
India ought also to be masters of the Cape.
Accordingly an expedition under Admiral
Elphinstone and Generals Clarke and Craig,
landed in Simon's Bay to take possession.
The Dutch resisted; but were constrained,
after some fighting, to capitulate. Next year
the Dutch sent eight vessels with two
thousand men, to re-capture the Cape; but having
reached Saldanha Bay, sixty miles north of
Cape Town, these were shut in by Admiral
Elphinstone with a superior force; and the
whole Dutch fleet was surrendered by its
admiral, Engelbertin Lucas.

By the treaty of Amiens, the Cape of Good
Hope was restored to Holland; but in 1806,