PAARL  , a

town of the Cape Province, South Africa, 36 m. by rail E.N.E. of Cape Town . Pop . (1904), 11,293 . The town is situated on the west bank of the Berg river, some 400 ft. above the sea . It stands on the coast plain near the foot of the Drakenstein mountains . West of the town the Paarl Berg rises from the plain . The berg is crowned by three great granite boulders, known as the Paarl, Britannia and Gordon Rock . The town is beautifully situated amid gardens, orange groves and vineyards . The chief public buildings are the two Dutch Reformed churches, the old church being a good specimen of colonial Dutch architecture, with gables, curves and thatched roof . Paarl is a thriving agricultural and viticultural centre, among its industries being the manufacture of wine and brandy, wagon and carriage building and harness making . South-east of the town are granite quarries . The wines produced in the district are among the best in South Africa, ranking second only to those of Constantia .

The Paarl is one of the

oldest European towns in South Africa . It dates from 1687, the site for the new settlement being chosen by the governor, Simon van der Stell . It was named Paarl by the first settlers from the fancied resemblance of one of the boulders on the top of the hill, when glistening in the sun, to a gigantic pearl . Shortly afterwards several of the Huguenots who had sought refuge at the Cape after the revocation of the edict of Nantes were placed in the new settlement . The present inhabitants are largely descended from these Huguenots .