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By way of each wave, by way of the corridors between the waves, through hard wind and hot rain, down the map, beyond the equator, drawing closer to the pole… The next stop was Capstad, a small new settlement with a harbour which had already made a name for itself among those who sailed these waters. Today’s exuberant conglomerate of voices, noises and smells known as Capetown was in its infancy, but even back then any and all ships heading East to the Indian Ocean for spices would stop there. Here, letters to and from home could be left, or collected from passing ships.
Sometimes ships stayed a while in Capstad harbour, waiting out bad weather; no-one would ever risk rounding the Cape of Good Hope in a storm – not after several ships had gone down here. And so the Crystal Key had alre
