make Rio, and there lay in a supply of fresh provisions for the
remainder of her voyage.

One morning, as Alexander and Mr. Fairburn were sitting together,
Alexander observed--

"You have passed many years at the Cape, Mr. Fairburn, have you not?"

"Yes; I was taken prisoner when returning from India, and remained a
year in Cape Town during the time that it was in the hands of the Dutch;
I was about to be sent home as a prisoner to Holland, and was embarked
on board one of the vessels in Saldanha Bay, when they were attacked by
the English. Afterward, when the English captured the Cape, from my long
residence in, and knowledge of, the country, I was offered a situation,
which I accepted: the colony was restored to the Dutch, and I came home.
On its second capture I was again appointed, and have been there almost
ever since."

"Then you are well acquainted with the history of the colony?"

"I am, certainly, and if you wish it, shall be happy to give you a short
account of it."

"It will give me the greatest pleasure, for I must acknowledge that I
know but little, and _that_ I have gleaned from the travels which I have
run through very hastily."

"I think it was in the year 1652 that the Dutch decided upon making a
settlement at the Cape. The aborigines, or natives, who inhabited that
part of the country about Cape Town, were the Hottentots, a mild,