rances confirmed Captain Gore in the resolution he
had taken of maintaining, on his part, a neutral conduct; and accordingly,
when on the arrival of the Sybil, to convoy the India ships home, it was
proposed to him to accompany them on their passage, he thought proper to
decline an offer, the acceptance of which might, in case we had fallen in
with any of the enemy's ships, have brought him into a very difficult and
embarrassing situation.

During our stay at the Cape, we met with every proof of the most friendly
disposition toward us, both in the governor and principal persons of the
place, as well Africans as Europeans. At our first arrival, Colonel Gordon,
the commander of the Dutch forces, with whom I had the happiness of being
on a footing of intimacy and friendship, was absent on a journey into the
interior parts of Africa, but returned before our departure. He had, on
this occasion, penetrated farther up the country than any other traveller
had done before him, and made great additions to the valuable collection of
natural curiosities with which he has enriched the museum of the Prince of
Orange. Indeed, a long residence at the Cape, and the powerful assistance
he has derived from his rank and situation there, joined to an active and
indefatigable spirit, and an eager thirst after knowledge, have enabled him
to acquire a more intimate and perfect knowledge of this part of Africa,
than could have fallen to the lot of any other person; and it is with great
pleasure I can congratulate the public on the information I have received
of his intentions to give the world, from his own-hand, a history of his
travels.[114]

False Bay, situated to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, is frequented
by shipping during the prevalence of the N.W. winds, which begin to blow in
May, and make it dangerous to lie in Table Bay. It is terminated on the
west by the Cape of Good Hope, and on the eastward by False Cape.

The entrance of the bay is six leagues wide, the two capes bearing from
each other due east and west. About eleven miles from the Cape of Good
Hope, on the west side, is situated Simon's Bay, the only convenient
station for ships to lie in; for although the road without it affords good
anchorage, it is too open, and but ill circumstanced for procuring
necessaries, the town being small, and supplied with provisions from Cape
Town, which is about twenty-four miles distant. To the N.N.E. of Simon's
Bay, there are several