Chapter Thirteen.
Great Namaqualand.
This country occupies the western shore of the South Atlantic, from the Orange river, which is the northern boundary of the Cape Colony, to Walfish Bay, a distance of 420 miles. The southern boundary follows up the Orange river for ninety miles, where the Great Fish river falls into it from the north. The native name of this river is the Garip. The breadth at its mouth is nearly four miles; the sand in its bed and the many shoals and sand-banks prevent its being navigable. Higher up there are long stretches of smooth water for miles, intersected by rapids and rocks,—some of them very beautiful, passing down between broad belts of rich vegetation, with splendid timber of many varieties: the willow, with its drooping branches kissing the water, adds greatly to the beauty of the scene.
It was on this river, some miles above, that I spent many delightful months, with my canoe, sailing on its placid waters,—some of the most pleasant of my life. Many beautiful stones, not in small quantities, but in cart-loads, can be shovelled up wherever the water has left them on the shore. The upper portion of the river I have already described.
Following the coast-line north from this river are several anchorages. The principal are Angra Juntas, Whale Bay, Possession Island, which is nearly three miles in length, and over one in breadth—once famous for guano; and if time be permitted will be again a valuable island for that manure. Seals frequent this coast at certain seasons of the year, and penguins are also abundant. Cape Voltas lies on the mainland. North of Possession Island is Angra Pequena (now German) Island and Bay, where the mouth of the little Orange river enters it, which rises in the highlands at the back. At Pedestal Point, Bartholomew Diaz in 1486 erected a marble pedestal, which has long since disappeared. It is a trading-station for supplying the natives of the interior, who trade in feathers, skins, karosses, cattle, and other products, and receive goods from the Cape in exchange. A road from the bay is over a dismal, barren, and heavy road for fifty miles, when it becomes better, with some herbage. In the bay there are several islands, viz. Penguin, Seal, Shark, and others, which give good shelter for ships visiting it. Copper has been found on the neighbouring coast. North of this bay is the Island of Ichaboe, which, although very small, is famous for once being noted for its superior guano, supplying England with thousands of tons annually. North of this island is Hottentot Bay, and beyond Spencer’s Bay, the cliffs rising 500 feet nearly perpendicular; and in the bay is Mercury Island, nearly a mile in circumference, rising to a height of 250 feet, in which is an immense cavern, divided into several lesser ones, through which the waves rush with fearful force and noise. This rock is bare of vegetation, many sea-birds find shelter upon it—gannet, penguin, gulls, and others. Seals and whales frequent it at certain seasons.
In latitude 24 degrees 30 minutes South is Hollam Bird Island, about half a mile in circumference. Seals and birds frequent it in large numbers; many turtles have been caught on the shore. In 24 degrees South latitude is Conception Bay, and to the northward is Sandwich Harbour, which is situated thirty miles south of Walfish Bay. Sandwich Harbour has a coast-line of sand-hills beyond; inland is pasturage for cattle, and on the beach is a spring of fresh water. A fishery was once established here by a Cape merchant. The River Kusip used to fall into this bay, but now flows into Walfish Bay. It rises in the uplands, near the Tans Mountains, but has no water in it, except when it happens to rain, which is very seldom. Great Namaqualand terminates about this point, and Damaraland begins.
From the sea-coast for many miles inland the country is barren and poor; as the highlands are reached vegetation improves. The Desert of Tans extends a long distance inland, nearly to Mitchell’s Mount, which is a lofty hill of 6000 feet, commanding most extensive views in every direction. On the tributaries of the Great Fish river, and the river itself, most of the natives live in small wherfs, at the mission stations belonging to the Rhenish Mission Society, Bethany, Bethesda, Reheboth, and others. The Isabella mines and Nabos copper-mines are on the Orange river. Some of the principal wherfs are Reheboth, Ames, Haochannas, Nababis, Kachasa, Amhup, Reems, Hudenass, Brokhout, Robaclip, and others, on the various branches.
As I have previously stated, the natives are greatly mixed; many of the women daub their faces and bodies with black stripes, and also dye their teeth black; they use a red berry that grows in the bush veldt. Jonga Africander, the head of the Hottentot tribe, living in the northern part of this region, has been constantly thieving from the Damaras, causing many petty wars between them. They are a lawless set. They drove out and threatened to kill the magistrate there lately.
Wood is plentiful in the kloofs and on the river-banks, where the water is procured. The larger game is found in the north-east corner, but has become very wild from constant hunting by the various tribes. The lofty hills are of granite formation and sand. The Bastards cultivate the land in favourable localities, plough, and have large herds of cattle, and carry on a good trade with the colony. They are hospitable and peaceable; each wherf has its head-man, with several cattle and vieh-posts attached. Copper, lead, and iron are found in several parts, not yet worked; at some future time it will become a valuable district. The summers are hot, and in winter it is sometimes very cold; rain seldom falls, but the dense fogs from the Atlantic, over all the western portion and on the highlands, cause such a moisture to fall that it has the effect of rain. The rainy season is from the end of November to May. In the northern part rain is more frequent. The Namaqua language is similar to the Hottentot and Koranna, with innumerable clicks, which make it sound very uncouth and strange to those who have heard it for the first time. In travelling through the country I met with great hospitality amongst the Bastards. At Nisbet Barth there is a Wesleyan Society. The missionary was away in the colony when I passed through. (Here is Germany’s first attempt at colonisation.) Being anxious to go on to the copper-mines on the river, where I could obtain a few things I needed, I did not delay.
The country is not a pleasant region to travel through, for several reasons—the scarcity of water, and that brackish; the want of grass; the native cattle, where it would be good, keep it short; and the wandering tribes are constantly annoying and worrying for something. On the banks of the Great Fish river, near the Brinus Mountains, I shot a black wolf, the first I had seen, and my people told me they were very rare. I had great difficulty in getting through the country—bad roads and dreadful drifts crossing the rivers.
I have little to relate of my explorations of this part of Africa, my time being taken up in surveying the country, and collecting specimens. The entire coast is a barren waste, not suitable for emigrants or anything else for fifty miles at least inland.