post office stone, noun phrase

In historical contexts. Any of several large inscribed stones under which early mariners calling at the Cape placed letters for collection by the crews of other passing ships. Also attributive.
[1893 H.B. Sidwell Story of S. Afr. 12The captains hit upon the idea of leaving their letters stowed safely away beneath heavy stones, engraved with the vessel’s name..till the next ship that anchored in the bay took the mails away from this queer post-office to Europe or to India.]
c1911 S. Playne Cape Col. 65Those interesting ‘post-office stones’, set up to indicate the spot on which were left letters by passing ships when calling at the Bay.
1926 P.W. Laidler Tavern of Ocean 4Stones that acted as covers to the holes in which they hid their letters encased in cloth, oiled silk, or tarpaulin. The earliest of these ‘post office stones’, as they are called, bears a French inscription,..probably recording the call of certain ships that left Dieppe in 1526.
1926 P.W. Laidler Tavern of Ocean 137After the ‘post office stone’ period, postage was restricted to dispatches sent by the Company and conveyed on their ships to Holland or Batavia.
c1936 S. & E. Afr. Yr Bk & Guide 146Interesting post-office stones used at the beginning of the 17th century to call the attention of mariners to letters deposited beneath them.
1946 L.G. Green So Few Are Free 37The navigators of the sixteenth century placed their letters, wrapped in tarpaulins, under the famous post office stones, in the hope that a ship homeward bound would find them.
1965 A. Gordon-Brown S. Afr. Heritage I. 3 (caption)Early voyagers calling at the Cape before any settlement was established left letters under stones on which they inscribed particulars of their ship and voyage. The ‘post office stones’ above are dated 1614 and 1622.
1973 S. Afr. Panorama Aug. 48A post office stone, built into the walls of the Castle, Cape Town, records the visits in 1607 and 1609 of the British ship, Dragon.
Any of several large inscribed stones under which early mariners calling at the Cape placed letters for collection by the crews of other passing ships. Also attributive.
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18931973
post-matriculant, nounn.post-Soweto, adjectiveadj.
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