ated to the purchase of standard works, to be known as the
Porter Collection. By far the most valuable, however, is the Grey
Collection, numbering about 5,000 volumes, and occupying a separate
room. These were presented by Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape
Colony from 1854 to 1859, and still an active member of the New Zealand
House of Representatives. Here are many rare manuscripts, mostly on
vellum or parchment, some of them of the tenth century, in addition to a
unique collection of works relating to South Africa generally.
Among the places of worship in Cape Town the most important are St.
George's Cathedral, which was built in 1830, and is of Grecian style of
architecture, and accommodates about 1,200 persons; and the Dutch
Reformed Church, which possesses accommodation for 3,000 persons, and is
not unappropriately named the Colonial Westminster Abbey. Beneath its
floors lie buried eight Governors of the Colony, the last one being Ryk
Tulbagh, who was buried in 1771.
No account of Cape Town would be complete without a reference to the
important Harbour Works, and Breakwater, which at once attract the
attention of the visitor, and which have been in course of erection for
several years past, from the designs of Sir John Coode. These works
have been of the greatest importance in extending, and developing the
commercial advantages of the port. The Graving Dock now named the
Robinson, after the late Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, was formally
opened during the year 1882, and it so happened that the first vessel to
enter it was the _Athenian_, in which I returned to England, at the
termination of my tour. The whole of the works connected with the
building of the Docks and Breakwater reflect credit upon all who have in
any way been engaged upon their construction. The amount expended on
them up to the end of 1887 was L1,298,103.
Before leaving Cape Town, at the invitation of the Naval
Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Wells, I paid a visit to Simon's Town, the
chief naval station of the colony. The railway runs at present as far
as Kalk Bay, which takes about an hour to get to from Cape Town. Kalk
Bay is a pleasant seaside resort for the inhabitants of the colony, the
air being regarded as particularly invigorating. The remaining distance
of six miles to Simon's Town is performed in a Cape cart, which is a
most comfortable vehicle on two wheels, drawn by two horses with a pole
between them, and covered with a hood,
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