Capetown, the capital of Cape Colony, is situated between the north base of Table Mountain and Table Bay, in 33° 55' S. lat., 18° 28' E. long. The view of the town, alike from the bay and from the mountain, is most imposing. For years the early history of Capetown and of the Cape Colony were one and the same. The town was laid out by its Dutch founders (1652) with mathematical preciseness - the main thoroughfares crossing one another at right angles. The houses of old Capetown are mostly flat-roofed and whitewashed. A few church towers rise here and there, and break the monotony, with an occasional mill chimney. The beautiful government gardens in the heart of Capetown serve the purposes of a public park. There is a fine oak avenue, extending § mile through the gardens. Government House, on the left side of the gardens, is a heavy 17th-century building, altered and added to from time to time. The gardens are 14 acres in extent, and contain upwards of 8000 varieties of trees and plants. Other edifices are the handsome Houses of Parliament (1885), the public library and museum, the Fine Arts Gallery, the law courts, the government offices, the old castle, the town-house, the Standard Bank, the railway station, and the Commercial Exchange. The old ' stoeps,' or railed-off verandas, which blocked the side pavements, disappeared with the 19th century. The town is well drained and paved, has a good water-supply, electric tramways, and a suburban railway. The earliest conception of the Europeans in settling at the Cape was to make it a place of call for passing vessels belonging to their own nation. In a highei sense, the Capetown Harbour Board, in erecting the breakwater and constructing the docks, have made Table Bay a place of call for passing vessels of all nations. The docks were opened in 1870 - the graving-dock in 1882; the total cost of the works exceeding £2,000,000. Pop. (1875) 33,239, or with suburbs, 45,240; (1902) estimated at 167,000.