14. On the Victoria Road, near Oude Kraal 92 15. Camps Bay, on the Victoria Road 95 16. Hout Bay and Hangberg 97 17. Chapman's Peak and Slang Kop Point from Hout Bay 99 18. At Lakeside, looking towards Constantia 102 19. At Lakeside, looking South-East 103 20. On Fish Hoek Beach, Nord Hoek Mountains in Distance 105 21. Simonstown Mountains, with Cape Point and Roman Rock Lighthouses 106 22. Table Mountain from Retreat Flats 110 23. Sand Dunes 112 24. On the Sandhills near Muizenberg 115 25. At the Head of False Bay 118 CHARACTERS MARINUS and THE WRITER, two slightly sentimental travellers, in modern dress, generally riding-clothes. _Immortals._ MYNHEER VAN RIEBEEK, AND ALL THE DUTCH COMMANDERS. CAPTAIN COOK. MARION LE ROUX. MR. AND LADY ANNE BARNARD. OLD MAN VAN DER POOL. THE ENGLISH GOVERNORS. SOME ENGLISH MIDSHIPMEN. MYNHEER VAN RHEENEN, a brewer. MR. BARROW, a naturalist. MONSIEUR LE VAILLANT, a French explorer with a temperament. LIEUTENANT ABRAHAM SCHUT. KOLBÉ, a great liar with a sense of humour. MYNHEER CLOETE, a wealthy farmer, And some others. _Chorus._ Hottentots, Bushmen, Saldanhas, Dutch Soldiers and Sailors, English Soldiers and Sailors, Burghers, Slaves, Market-Gardeners, Wine-Makers, Fishermen, and ordinary people from 1651 to 1910. THE CAPE PENINSULA CHAPTER I THE CASTLE Under three purple-flowered trees standing in the Castle courtyard, one blazing hot morning, we, more sentimentally than travellingly inclined, sat and rested while a khaki-clothed Tommy wandered round to find a guide to show us over the old Dutch fort. We thanked Heaven for his half-heartedness and for some shade. Marinus, fortunately for us both, smoked his pipe of peace and of Transvaal tobacco, and I opened the Brass Bottle, which, indeed, is no bottle at all, but, as everyone not vulgarly inclined knows, a fairy-tale metaphor for one's imagination. The barometer registered 97° F. in the shade, which is a perfect state of atmosphere for the fumes of the Brass Bottle, in which, all mingling with the smoke from Marinus' pipe, the building of the Castle began.