Somewhere near the center of the present Cape Town they built huts in the vicinity of a stream of fresh water, and threw up an embankment of earth around them.
As the rainy season was now close at hand, they planted some seeds they had saved, and soon had a garden which furnished an abundance of fresh vegetables. Intercourse with the natives was most friendly, and meat was often obtained in barter from them. Taken all in all, the experience of this shipwrecked crew gave the impression that South Africa was a productive and fruitful land. Six months later, a returning fleet rescued the sailors and took them back to England.
CAPE TOWN AND TABLE BAY.
Two of the officers of the rescued crew, upon their arrival in their home at the Netherlands, set forth the advantages to be derived from the establishment of a station in Table Valley.
A year later three vessels set sail from Texel, not for the purpose of carrying passengers to South Africa to found a colony, but to establish a refreshment station for the fleets on their way to and from eastern seas.
In 1652, the little fleet from the Netherlands reached the coast, and proceeded to form such a station at Table Valley, under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company.
The only permanent inhabitants at the Cape were a few Hottentots. These subsisted chiefly on shellfish. The little band of settlers found much discomfort from the winter rains. The tents and wooden structures leaked badly, and many of the members became ill and died.
When these rains ceased, however, a change for the better came. Grass began to grow and every sort of edible plant. Ground was dug up, seeds planted, and soon luxuriant vegetable gardens gladdened the eye and the palate. Reeds, to thatch the houses, were obtained, and thus their roofs were made secure from the rainy season.
The pleasantest weather in South Africa is immediately after what are termed the winter rains. Just at the close of this season a clan of Hottentots came to the Cape peninsula. They drove before them great herds of horned cattle and flocks of sheep in search of fresh pasturage. Though always suspicious of each other, this clan and the Europeans maintained the pleasantest relations during the three months of their stay at the peninsula.