Houtunqua

The forests of Houtunqua lie near the Knysna estuary on the southern Cape coast. Indigenous timber grew in abundance behind an inlet whose narrow passage to the sea was flanked by steep headlands. In 1770 the colonial government granted the farm Melkhoutkraal on the estuary, and George Rex bought it in 1804. The forests drew woodcutters, while the estuary offered a route by which timber could be shipped despite the hazards of navigating the Knysna Heads.