act of hostility against the Dutch; but it being believed that the governor intended to set fire to Simon’s Town, Major-General Craig landed on the 14th of July, 1795, with part of the Seventy-eighth regiment and the Marines of the fleet, and took possession of the place, to preserve it from destruction. Soon afterwards the burgher militia and Hottentot soldiers, who occupied the hills, fired on the British patroles, and hostilities were thus commenced. The Dutch occupied a fortified position on the rocks of Muisenberg, from whence they were driven, on the 7th of August, by the fire of the English ships and the advance of the troops, and two battalions of seamen; on this occasion the advance-guard of the Seventy-eighth regiment drove the enemy from a rocky ridge with great gallantry. The Dutch fell back to Wynberg, a tongue of land projecting from the east side of Table mountain, and about eight miles from Cape Town. On the 4th of September General Alured Clarke arrived with reinforcements, and on the 14th of that month the British advanced and drove the Dutch from their elevated post. Two days afterwards the Dutch governor surrendered the colony to the British arms. [Sidenote: 1796] [Sidenote: 1797] During the following seven years, the Cape of Good Hope remained under the protection of the British Government; and from this period the origin of the CAPE MOUNTED RIFLEMEN may be traced. The Hottentot soldiers were not immediately taken into the British service; but in the years 1796 and 1797, a number of Hottentots presented themselves at the quarters of the light infantry brigade under Major King, of the Eighty-fourth regiment, at the village of Stellenbosch. They were, in the first instance, employed to cook, and perform other menial offices for the soldiers; but their numbers increasing, they were embodied into a corps under Lieutenant John Campbell, of the Ninety-eighth Foot, with a serjeant from the same regiment. Numerous volunteers arriving, additional officers and non-commissioned officers were attached to them, and they were stationed in Hout’s Bay, behind Table Mountain. [Sidenote: 1798] A rebellion breaking out on the frontiers of the colony, a squadron of the Eighth Light Dragoons, the flank companies of the regiment in garrison, and the Cape Corps, were detached, under Brigadier-General Vandeleur, to suppress the insurrection, and were employed in very arduous duties for some time. At this period, a portion of the Cape Corps was mounted, and employed as orderlies at head-quarters, as guides, and for the carrying of despatches; in performing these duties, they were found very useful. [Sidenote: 1799] [Sidenote: 1800]