<P> The first non-Dutch immigrants to the Cape, the Huguenots, arrived in 1688 . The Huguenots had fled from anti-Protestant persecution in Catholic France to the Netherlands, where the VOC offered them free passage to the Cape as well as farmland . The Huguenots brought important experience in wine production to the Cape, greatly bolstering the industry, as well as providing strong cultural roots . </P> <P> By 1754, the population of the settlement on the Cape had reached 5,510 Europeans and 6,729 slaves . But by 1780, France and Great Britain went to war against each other . The Netherlands entered the war on the French side, and thus a small garrison of French troops were sent to the Cape to protect it against the British . These troops, however, left by 1784 . By 1795, however, the Netherlands was invaded by France and the VOC was in complete financial ruin . The Prince of Orange fled to England for protection, which allowed for the establishment of the Dutch Batavian Republic . Due to the long time it took to send and receive news from Europe, the Cape Commissioner of the time knew only that the French had been taking territory in the Netherlands and that the Dutch could change sides in the war at any moment . British forces arrived at the Cape bearing a letter from the Prince of Orange asking the Commissioner to allow the British troops to protect the Cape from France until the war . The British informed the Commissioner that the Prince had fled to England . The reaction in the Cape Council was mixed, and eventually the British successfully invaded the Cape in the Battle of Muizenberg . The British immediately announced the beginning of free trade . </P> <P> As elsewhere in Africa and other parts of the world, trading in slaves was a significant activity . A notable event was the mutiny, in 1766, of the slaves on the slaver ship Meermin . </P> <P> Under the terms of a peace agreement between Britain and France, the Cape was returned to the Dutch in 1802 . Three years later, however, the war resumed and the British returned their garrison to the Cape after defeating Dutch forces at the Battle of Blaauwberg (1806). This period saw major developments for the city, and can be said to be the start of Cape Town as a city in its own right . Taps and iron pipes were installed along major streets in the city . The native inhabitants were forced to declare a fixed residence and were not permitted to move between regions without written permission . The war between France and England ended in 1814 with a British victory . The British drew up a complex treaty whereby pieces of real estate were exchanged for money by various countries . The Cape was permanently taken from the Dutch by the British in return for a large sum of money . In this period, the British saw the control of the Cape as key to their ability to maintain their command in India . The Dutch government was too impoverished and depleted to argue, and agreed with the condition that they be allowed to continue to use the Cape for repairs and refreshment . </P>

Who was living at the cape at the time