N.B. Captain Whyms of the army died on board six weeks after leaving Ceylon.
“On the morning of the 3rd December, anxious to visit the spot become so deeply interesting, from the preceding melancholy history, our party proceeded to the place, and arrived there at half-past nine, a.m. It was indeed an awful scene, although much of the horror had been removed by the burial of the dead. Every object was calculated to throw a deep and solemn gloom over the mind. The wreck of the ship lay scattered in great fragments in every direction on the beach, and the remains of the unhappy sufferers were indicated by pieces of plank and timber, which had been placed in an upright position over them; 350 bodies had been washed on shore.
“It may be easier to conceive than to describe the feelings excited in our minds at the awful scene which here presented itself. The coast and surrounding country was desolate in the extreme. The day being cloudy, not a sunbeam gleamed over it; there was little wind, and the surf rolled sullenly along the shore, with a hollow and lugubrious roar, whilst every object told the tale of woe. A monument had been raised by the direction of Colonel Giels over the grave where his children were deposited, by an artificer sent from Cape Town; its bright white appearance contrasted with the dark clouds, and the still darker tablet on which the fatal event was recorded, produced an indescribable effect upon the eye, unprepared for such an object.
“Having remained some time meditating upon this mournful scene, our party pursued their journey over a wide sandy plain towards the Hope, an Estate belonging to Mr. Lawrence Cloete, and appropriated to the breeding of sheep. In crossing these plains, and far distant from the coast, even many miles, we observed pieces of the wreck of the Arniston, which had been evidently dropped from wagons employed in carrying away timber from the beach, and it did at the moment occur to me, that the notions respecting the receding of the ocean which has occupied so many pens, and so many pages, and concerning which so much has been written in reference to this part of the world in particular, might have been accounted for by the object before us. Had a strong S.E. wind taken place subsequent to these remarkable pieces being dropped from the wagons, (they were shot-racks), they would have been forthwith covered deep in sand; and had they been found a century afterwards they would have excited the same suggestion, that the sea had formerly covered this place also.
“From an attentive observation of every part of the coast of this colony, I am much more inclined to adopt Sir John Barrow’s theory of the sea gaining, rather than of its receding; and the observations he makes upon the subject, (vol. i. p. 6,) appear very satisfactory; but I felt at the same time convinced, that the Cape flat, now an immense sandy plain, covered with shrubs and heath was, perhaps ever since the commencement of the Christian era, a channel between the Table mountain, then an Island, and the main land. Sir John Barrow grounds his opinion upon the effects produced by the accumulation of sand, during the period of nearly seven years that he was in the country, of which some very striking instances will be given in the course of this narrative. But lest the assertion may appear a startling one, it may be as well even in this place to shew on what grounds he founded the supposition.
“It is well known that the S.E. winds blow during a great part of the year, and sometimes with great violence for many days together. A heavy sea consequently rolls in upon every part of the southern coast, bringing with it an immense quantity of sand, which may have been forming a ridge of considerable elevation above high water mark. As the tide recedes, the sand dries, and is taken up by the wind, and carried in a continued and dense stream into the interior, where it is deposited among the shrubs, and soon covers them. A reference to those who have land near the coast, and even at some miles distant from it, will give a melancholy confirmation of this fact, and shew that much of their land has been entirely ruined by the accumulation of sand. During the winter months when the N.W. winds prevail they are in general accompanied by rain, and the sand when wet is not liable to be taken up by the wind and carried back again: and this shews how the sand hills accumulate, and how soon not only shrubs, but trees may be overwhelmed with sand.
“Our party arrived at the Hope in the afternoon of the 3rd. The house is small but very commodious, and fitted up with every attention to comfort and even luxury. It is situated on the eastern bank of an extensive salt lake, into which the little salt river carries its waters; there is no visible outlet, but they doubtless pass through the surrounding sands.
“Great quantities of game abound in this neighbourhood, and several ostriches were seen in the day’s journey, rising from the heath on the approach of the wagons, and striding towards the interior with most extraordinary velocity.
“Immense quantities of corn were once grown in this neighbourhood, but a decided and very reasonable preference was given by our host to sheep and horses. Of the former he has a very large flock, with a valuable collection of merinos. It is considered that the wool of the fourth cross is nearly equal to the Spanish original. It is surprising, considering the number of hyenas and wolves, with which this part of the colony abounds, that so little injury is experienced in the sheep-folds, but the hyena and the wolf seldom attack cattle or sheep in an enclosure, however simple and defenceless it may be.
“There are no trees near the house, but several beautifully wooded glens or ravines running down to the lake.