The Gamtoos Valley is a very fertile region. All that it required to convert it into a lush farm was water. Even prior to the 1820 Settlers arriving in Algoa Bay, various people were aware of its significance, but none could not actualise its potential as both the Khoi and the Trekboers were nomadic by nature and lived off the land. Hence fertile arable land was not a priority.

It was a countrywide tour by Frederick Korsten that would plant the seed of combining cattle and the salt from the saltpans near Bethelsdorp to produce salted beef for export. Once ensconced at Papenkuilsfontein, having purchased it from Thomas Ferreira in1812, Korsten spotted the nearby Hankey on which to create a farm. 

This blog covers the disastrous attempt by Korsten to create an irrigated farm on the Gamtoos as well as briefly dealing with two subsequent successful schemes.

Main picture: Philip’s Tunnel

Wagendrift on the Gamtoos River
In 1818 Frederick Korsten purchased Wagendrift, located where the town of Hankey now stands, which comprised 2,100 acres of land in order to convert it into an arable and livestock farm to serve the Cape Town market. Korsten’s plan was to build a irrigation canal from the Gamtoos River to the fields and then use his ship to transport his produce to Cape Town from the Gamtoos River.

To manage his project, in 1818 he employed Samuel Eusebius Hudson as the project manager. To be charitable about Hudson, this was unlikely to be a wise choice as the 54-year-old lacked farming experience and had a paucity of project management skills but Korsten was motivated to employ him as they were more than acquaintances and he considered Hudson to be trustworthy.

It was only after slightly less than six months that Hudson broached the topic of lack of workers on the site with Frederick Korsten. Apart from the fact that Korsten had hired too few labourers, he had hired ten of the Scottish labourers whom Benjamin Moodie (1789-1856) had recently brought to the Cape under indenture. After discontentedly enduring a month of hard labour in the heat of summer, camping under canvas at the mercy of wild animals, more than half of them had absconded. In a fit of rage, Korsten dismissed the rest of the workers including any returnees.

By late 1818, the irrigation system was still not operational. Apparently the supposed “tardiness” in construction of the irrigation channel arose due to the fact that Korsten had seriously underestimated the length of the channel. Hence the manning level had always been inadequate for the task at hand.

Despite of all the cost overruns, Korsten persevered even when, at the end of 1818, Hudson gave up his option to purchase a half-share in the farm and returned to Cradock Place. By now the cumulative cost had soared to nearly R$10,000 despite only a cottage and a hut having been built and little more than a garden cultivated. In December 1818, Korsten gave a half share in the farm to his son-in-law, John Damant as an inducement to persevere and obtain support from the Damant clan.

The final nail in the coffin of this project arose when Korsten’s plan to ship the output of the farm to Cape Town by means of his personal ship from the Gamtoos River mouth. It was only when Korsten at this late stage inspected the mouth of the river did he realise that a mobile sandbar blocked the mouth of the Gamtoos. Through inattention to detail and probably mounting financial difficulties besetting Cradock Place, Korsten acknowledged the blunder that he had made. He could visualise the efforts and exertion required to carry wagon loads of produce through Van Stadens Pass to Algoa Bay, the alternative “harbour”. Realising the extent of his error, he relented and placed the farm on the market. Ultimately it was sold off in 3 lots at a loss of RxD 25,000.

First irrigation canal
In 1830, the very first irrigation canal was built by the contractor James Wait and a group of Khoi workers, whose farm lands would benefit from the water supply. The origin of the canal was 5.7km upstream of Hankey, with water fed from the Klein River.

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Wagners of the Farm Zwartebosch

Philip’s Tunnel
The greater part of the Korsten’s land went to Dr John Philip, acting on behalf of the London Missionary Society. With a workforce from Bethelsdorp and no commercial ambition to fulfil in his remit, the Society developed it successfully as a mission station. With Society funds far greater than those available in Korsten’s time, the irrigation problem was comprehensively solved in 1844 when a tunnel was dug through a spur of land. This is recognised as South Africa’s first irrigation tunnel, the Philip Tunnel, measuring an impressive 228m in length, was completed in 1844.

Sources
Bulletin of the National Library of South Africa vol. 73, no 2 (December 2019): 179-190
Wikipedia