Page 66 - Bulletin 13 2009

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“Dusty, smelly roads, and winds that drove not only clouds of dust but also small
pebbles before them, did not make Cape Town a pleasant place to live in, yet thither
came the malarial and liverish officers of the Indian Army to recuperate. The fame of
the Cape as a matrimonial centre endured; ladies en route to India to look for husbands
often completed their business at the Cape without the worry of travelling further; … “

Toll monies for road maintenance were still being collected but the amounts may not
have been sufficient for the task. In 1852 the sum from the three tolls amounted to

£5770-8-8 of which Muizenberg contributed £297-13-8 (5,1%) and Simon’s Town

£223-9-7 (3,8%). (Cape of Good Hope Almanac, 1855). And Michell may have been
too busy with his work elsewhere in the Colony to give close attention to the military

road.

Given the poor state of the Simon’s Town – Muizenberg road it must have been an open

question as to whether there was not an alternative route to Cape Town – an “Ou
Kaapse Weg”. Harriette Ashmore’s journey in July 1833 suggests that there was a

known mountain track and that it was sometimes used. Her account (source unknown)
is this:

“For the first six miles …. our road lay along the beach and beneath overhanging rocks
and ……. in some parts the sand was so yielding …… we really began to fear that we
should be lost in a quicksand…… We ascended a hill which led us more into the
interior of the country. ….. We were strongly reminded of many parts of Scotland; and
when we reached the summit of the first height, a distant and perfectly flat plain lay
extended before us, it appeared to have been left by the sea. ….. A world of alpine
scenery was before us. …… On one hand we could still discern the bay we had left.”

However, when Prince Alfred visited the Cape in July 1860 he was driven from

Simon’s Bay to Cape Town along the much-maligned coastal route through Kalk Bay
and Muizenberg.