Van Riebeek's Hedge

This is a segment of a wild almond hedge that was planted in 1660 by Jan van Riebeek. Van Riebeek, the first leader of the Dutch East India Company's settlment on the site of present-day Cape Town, hoped that the hedge would prevent the local San and Khoikhoi people from coming in and attacking the European settlers. I doubt it worked. It didn't prevent the settlers from moving further inland to attack the Africans, either.


This post is dedicated to Sommer Browning, who asked me to post more history of the Dutch East India Company.

Melissa