Page 56 - Bulletin 13 2009

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Then Dutch defeats at the Battle of Muizenberg (1795), and the Battle of Blouberg
(1806) settled the future of the Cape which passed initially under de facto British

control, with de jure control being ceded by a treaty signed in London in September
1814. It was only after this that serious attention was given to the state of the roads, and

the Simon’s Town road in particular.

What was the state of the road to Simon’s Bay and the countryside of the Peninsula at

this time? We have been left many vivid and interesting descriptions by Capt. Robert
Percival, 1796, Robert Semple, 1800, James Ewart, 1811, Harriette Ashmore, 1833, and

Dr James Scott, 1839. Capt. Robert Percival’s account is one of the earliest and most
descriptive and expansive.

“The first part of the road from Simon’s Town to the Cape is over a heavy deep sand,
the sea being on the right hand; and on the left, low white sandy hills, which add much
to the heat and fatigue of the journey. It is necessary to cross several small bays, which
indent the road; and to wade through several streams of water, that run into the sea from
the hills. The inconvenience experienced from these obstacles, joined to the loose,
heavy, and hot sands, over which one has to pass, render this journey extremely
disagreeable and fatiguing to those who, as I did, undertake it on foot.

A heavy surf which runs all along this shore proves very inconvenient to people
travelling in wagons; as the heavy loose sand, which is but a little way removed from
the surf, renders it difficult for the cattle to draw; the wagon must be kept close to the
water’s edge, where the sand being wetted by the surf, is more solid, and capable of
sustaining the weight of the wagon. The surf often rises above the nave of the wheels,
and sometimes, if not dexterously avoided, it will rush into the body of the wagon itself,
seeming as if it would carry horses, passengers, and all into the sea: a circumstance
which made a particular impression on my memory as it had happened in my own
presence ……

The distance already passed is about ten miles, although to the eye it does not appear
above five, owing to the sudden course which the bay here makes. In this course are
formed two or three smaller bays, the largest of which is Fish Hoek Bay. Along this
latter the traveller is obliged to coast for more than a mile, wading all the while through
small streams of water, some of which are knee deep. A battery is erected on an
eminence at the east end, which flanks the whole beach, which is here sandy, though a
heavy surf runs along it. After leaving Fish Hoek Bay you ascend a small steep, and get
into a rugged, narrow, and rocky road close to the hills, which you now approach. At
some little distance, a bold rocky shore appears under you on the right hand, whose
violent surf even reaches to the ascent along which you now proceed. This narrow road