Table Bay, with its roadstead, is a bight facing the north, and protected on the west by the promontory of the Lion’s Rump, running due north about one mile and a half. On the south-east it is a flat shore. Cape Town lies in the south-west or most sheltered part of the bay; and if an imaginary line be drawn from Mouille Point due east, until it cuts the opposite shore, it will give to this anchorage an extent of three miles. Nature has already provided for it an admirable shelter, by the promontory on the west, from which point of the compass to north it is exposed to the most violent local winds, which prevail chiefly in the months of June, July, and August, occasionally occurring with fatal violence in other months of the year. These winds are accompanied by a very heavy swell, which, driven into a narrow bay, with no outlet, forms a sea dangerous to shipping, during the continuance of which vessels are unable to discharge or receive cargoes. Owing to there being no sheltered quays, the loading and discharging of ships is performed by means of lighters. The aggregate expense arising from loss of vessels, detention of shipping, conveyance of goods and passengers by lighters and boats, may be fairly stated at 30,000l. sterling per annum, nearly equivalent to 900,000l. of capital; which, with the value of the land which will be reclaimed by the proposed works, and the rental of the sea frontage of quays and wharves, will more than cover the expense of outlay.
The funds for the necessary outlay have already been provided by the Colonial Parliament, by “An Act for Constructing a Breakwater, to form a Harbour of Refuge in Table Bay, and otherwise improving the said harbour.”
A comprehensive plan for the construction of the harbour was some time since prepared by Captain James Vetch, R.E., F.R.S., Engineer to the Admiralty in England.
Mr. Coode, Engineer to the Portland breakwater, has been appointed Engineer-in-chief, resident in England.
Mr. Arthur Thomas Andrews, Civil Engineer, of considerable practice, and possessing the confidence of Mr. Coode, has been appointed Resident Engineer, and left England, accompanied by an agent of the contractor for the works, for Cape Town, in March of this year (1859).
The facilities for the construction of the Breakwaters are great; stone of admirable quality may be conveyed from the quarries on a tramway to the works, and there are about 600 local convicts who may be profitably employed on this great undertaking.
From the Engineer-in-chief being engaged in the construction of Portland breakwater, it may be fairly anticipated that the practical experience obtained there will be beneficially applied to an undertaking redounding to the energy of the Cape Colony, beneficial to the commerce of all nations, and a lasting monument of the protective power of Imperial Britain.
Similar works are contemplated at Port Elizabeth, in Algoa Bay; and a railway has been commenced in Cape Town, which will eventually form a grand trunk line in South Eastern Africa. Numerous minor works, such as bridges, convict-stations, and other public buildings, are in the course of execution, while mountain passes are being explored for the purpose of carrying roads through them, which will give access to districts which, for the want of means of transit, have hitherto been shut up. These undertakings will not only provide employment for great numbers of the working-classes for many years to come, but will effectually develop the agricultural and commercial resources of the colony.
The dangers which formerly existed to the colonists, from the frequent Kaffir eruptions, may be fairly stated as now ended; for the enlightened policy adopted by the Imperial Government, suggested and firmly carried out by the present governor, Sir George Grey, has entirely broken up the former formidable power of the Kaffir chiefs, and has made them, in the hands of the governor, willing instruments for the gradual civilization of their people. The independence of the tribes no longer exists; one-third of them, forced by famine, brought on by their own imprudence, have migrated to the Cape Colony, where they seek for work, and imperfectly supply the wants of the colonists.
The present time, in view of the great and varied public works undertaken in the colony, appears a most favourable period for emigration to the Cape of Good Hope; and as the Cape Colony has appropriated 50,000l. a year for the introduction of well-selected emigrants into the colony, and the governor has sent to England a gentleman of high official standing, and well acquainted with the requirements of the colony, as Emigration Commissioner, measures will be adopted for carrying out this object with a view to the true interests of the colony, by supplying it with an amount of labour commensurate with its wants.