Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/127

 Nassau, the channel was completely closed by a tongue of sand, and even during the floods the dangerous entrance offers a very precarious refuge to vessels frequenting this coast. Nevertheless such as it is this haven would have been a

valuable acquisition for the Dutch republics, which have hitherto been cut off from all communication with the sea. Hence the eagerness is easily explained with which the Boers of the Transvaal have so far unsuccessfully endeavoured to secure against the opposition of England an outlet at this point of the seaboard.