Robert Pinchin was born in England in 1824 and died in Port Elizabeth on the 9th May 1888 at the young age of 64 probably due to overwork. He arrived in Port Elizabeth from London in 1849, marrying Mary Ann Burton on the 13th September 185., Pinchin was a land surveyor, civil engineer and architect from the end of 1849. During the period 1863 to 1868, Pinchin was in partnership with G.W. Smith. Pinchin laid out much of the first streets and properties in Central, Port Elizabeth and became a respected consultant. Robert negotiated a supply of water from the Shark River Co. to the municipality. In 1881, G.W. Smith again joined Pinchin in partnership, at Port Elizabeth, and on Pinchin’s death in 1888, took over the practice.
Pinchin’s interests were astronomy and geology. In 1862 he released his treatise in which he advocated the construction of the Van Stadens Water Scheme which would alleviate the water supply difficulties of Port Elizabeth which did not yet possess domestic plumbing. In 1870 Robert led a party which climbed the Cockscomb Peak and hence would be the 3rd successful party to do so as far as they were aware. Pinchin lived with his daughter in his mother-in-law’s house in Baakens Street and then in 1877 built a house in Park Drive.
The Story of Pinchin’s Ascent
This narrative has been largely based upon the report that Pinchin drafted for the Herald and was published on the 20th April 1870. Excluded are irrelevant comments and minor adjustments have been made to spellings and flow of sentences. Long sentences have also been truncated to enhance readability. Apart from these changes, the narrative is true to Pinchin’s original article in the Herald.
Main picture: Cockscomb Peak from the north
After the gauntlet was thrown down by the Herald, an expedition was organized by a party of young friends to ascend the Cockscomb itself, the king of South African mountains. I was asked to make one of the party to which I readily assented; and having promised you a short description of the journey for the columns of the Herald, should the enterprise prove successful – which by the way, it eminently did – I now sit down to redeem my promise. I shall endeavour to give a plain, unvarnished tale of the journey, the ascent of the mountain, and the facts as they occurred, together with the physical geography, the geology and mineralogy of the Cockscomb range.
The Port Elizabeth party started at 12·30 on Wednesday, 13th inst., arriving in the evening at the comfortable hostelry of Cornelia Forbes. Off next morning, accompanied by two newly found friends who were travelling the same road; one of them – a gentleman of intelligence, good education and a J.P., &c., is farming somewhere in the Cockscomb direction – regretted exceedingly his inability to accompany the party up the mountain.
An hour and half’s drive, and we picnicked for breakfast. Next stage to Kromme Poort where I discovered some Palaeozoic fossils; leaving them, and postponing further research until our return, we proceeded onwards. Next stage of fifteen miles brought us to the hospitable house of Mr. Henry Rudman – our headquarters. We were a jovial party of eight. In the room was a piano, somewhat out of tune, ‘tis true, but that was of little consequence as every man, sang his own song – and those who could not sing could whistle, so the harmony of the evening was complete. However, in justice to those of our party who could not sing, I must state that Miss Rudman, the daughter of our worthy host, sat down to the piano as the accompanist, and we had some capital songs.
Next morning, (Good Friday in church phraseology, as if one Friday was not as good as another), we started for the foot of the mountain to the place De Willege of Mr. Erasmus, where the brothers Henry & Thomas Rudman joined us. Unpacked the cart, each man making up his pack or knapsack – whether a blanket, vel-kombaars, or railway rug, some with telescopes – two Hottentots carrying provisions &c – I taking charge of the aneroid, a small pocket toy, by the way and not so trustworthy as I could wish, being, like all such small trash, much too slow in its action. We started at nine am., a cavalcade of twelve, headed by Erasmus on his famous pony Klinker, tearing up the first thousand feet at a furious pace, on to the plateau of the western spur. I then felt safely in for a bilious attack, having experienced premonitory symptoms during the morning, and Erasmus kindly lent me Klinker to ride for about a mile along the plateau, during which the violent palpitation of [my] heart subsided, leaving behind that abominable bilious nausea akin to and even worse than sea sickness. At the end of the plateau I dismounted, and gave Erasmus, who is lame and walks with a crutch, his horse again. I could not ride and see a lame man walk on such ground as we were then travelling over – although I learnt afterwards that Erasmus was one of the best, if not, indeed, the best climber of the party.
Proceeding onwards and upwards, we reached nearly the summit of the peak crowning the western spur. From this point there is a neck or isthmus joining said western spur to the giant Cockscomb Peak; this neck consists of a succession of kopjes; up and down these we had to travel, upon the last of which at 12·15, we called a halt for tiffin. The aneroid readings showed an elevation of about 2,750 feet above Erasmus’, say 4,250 feet above the level of the sea.
The horrible nausea still continuing, I had to content myself a couple of glasses of sherry – ‘twas plain, however, my friends had not lost their appetite in the mountain air. Here I may state that Mr. Armstrong volunteered to go back with me; my reply, “I would much rather go on with you,” elicited cheers from all present. Mr. Armstrong afterwards attached himself to me, and I climbing the giant peak, while his young companions were sometimes perhaps three or four hundred feet above us, remained by my side, ready to lend a helping hand – a kindly and a graceful action, which I have much pleasure in thus publicly acknowledging. The brothers Rudman, too, were ever ready to afford assistance when required, as the abominable nausea still continued. Near our tiffin place, Klinker was left, tethered to a bush, to await his master’s return on the morrow. Here a few words about Klinker, by way of digression. Mr. Erasmus, as I stated before, is lame, and has trained this horse specially to carry him over steep and rough ground, and whatever a man can walk using
his feet only, not making use of the prehensile power of his hands, Klinker will follow with his rider on his back, but in climbing the grand peak, where hands as well as feet must be brought into play, poor Klinker, not possessing the prehensile powers of man of monkey, had to be left behind.
To return. After tiffin we again proceeding and running down the kopje were at the foot of the Cockscomb peak, now towering up some fifteen hundred feet in all its grandeur in front of us. Hitherto our work had been nothing more than a rough and tumble scramble over rocks and boulders – here the work of climbing began in earnest; for the first two or three hundred feet the ascent, though steep, is tolerably smooth, and one can hold on by the grass and rushes. Ascending this slope we arrived at the foot of the precipitous rocks, towering up for many hundred feet, making an angle of inclination to the horizon of eighty degrees, and indeed, in many places apparently perpendicular. We ascend some ten or twelve feet through an opening or crevice in the wall of rock, onto a ledge, winding about on this ledge until another crevice or fissure is found up which to ascend. Some of these ledges are wide and safe while others are but a few inches wide, with the perpendicular rock on one side, and a yawning gulf on the other. You have to hold on by the hands as well as by the feet. Look upwards. Don’t look down and forty minutes steady work, with confidence in one’s own powers will surmount all dangers. We then arrive upon the last slope, making an angle of inclination with the horizon of 60 degrees only, instead of 80 degrees and the danger is past. Upon arriving at this point I felt completely exhausted, and had to rest often, but remembering the motto attached to my own family crest and arms, “Confido en Deo Misericordia” to which I would also add “and keep your pecker up”. I was determined to do or die. Presently we saw Mr. W. Wormald standing upon a rock above us singing out. “Come along – here’s the top – glorious view – plenty of water – hurrah!” A few minutes more brought us laggards up. (I must apply the epithet to myself alone, my companions having stayed behind solely on my account.) It was now 3:45 p.m. with bright sunshine in the north and west, and haze and cloud in the south and east, obscuring everything in that direction We were now all on the summit and opening a bottle of champagne, drank to the “Queen”, and then began to look about us. Underneath our feet the Gamtoos River is seen winding its way towards Hankey and the sea, while to the north of the Cockscomb range, when it takes the name of Groot or Great River, its serpentine course can be traced for fifty or sixty miles, the sun glinting upon its waters, making it appear as a band of light. Far away to the north the mountains of Graaff-Reinet are plainly seen, the Tandjes Berg and Sneeuw Berg. North East we look over the Zuurberg and see the Bosch Berg or Somerset Mountains while unfortunately the whole extent of coast line is one impenetrable gloom.
We now began to prepare sleeping places. Henry Rudman very kindly gathered a lot of grass and rushes for me to lie upon. Just before dark a heavy cloud was seen coming up from the east and we concluded it to be that “dragonish” cloud seen by your correspondent “Venator” and left by him on the lower slopes of the Winterhoek, now silently gliding up to look at us and our doings, standing as we were upon the top of the crown of the king of South African mountains nearly six thousand feet above the level of the sea.
The Hottentots had gathered a quantity of dry wood of the protea grandiflora and we were soon sitting round blazing fires – the evening being very chilly indeed with a driving mist from the south east. Soon after supper each one sought what shelter he could find. I dozed until about midnight, when, awakening from the cold, found [that] the farmers had rekindled a cheerful fire. I soon joined them and what with an alternate doze and a roast by the fire, at last saw the morning dawn. The moon, although quite full and brazen-faced, behaved very badly that night. Like a coy maiden, she would sometimes peep out from under her veil to have a look at us but only for a minute or so. When the sun had risen above the eastern peaks of the range one of the most glorious sights in Nature was spread out below and before us. Above the sky was of “blue intense”, clear and free from the slightest mist or haze , while some thousand feet below , extending all around as far as the eye could reach , appeared a vast, illimitable extent of cloud land. Neither pen nor pencil can do justice to such a glorious scene to imagine a vast extent of country covered with snow gives but a tame idea of it. The enormous extent of the northern ice field described and attempted to be depicted by Artic voyagers gives the idea of hardness and angularity when compared with its fluffiness, silkiness, and beautiful rounded outlines. Perhaps some of your readers may form a slight conception of its matchless beauty by comparing it to a vast field of super excellent “scoured snow white” laid out in the sun to dry. The sun had to dry these clouds and dissipate them into the upper regions of the atmosphere , which it did not do by ten o’clock, so packing up our traps , we prepared for the descent – first building a small cairn in which we placed a bottle containing the date and the names of the several persons composing our party viz Robert Pinchin, F.S. Fairbridge, George Chase, W. Armstrong, W. Wormald, L.D. Erasmus, Lodewyk Kleinhans, M.H. Rudman, Thomas Rudman, John Rudman, and two Hottentots. In another bottle was placed a copy of the Port Elizabeth Advertiser of the 17th inst. which I built and securely wedged into the south face of the Trig. Survey Beacon. Our party then gave three cheers. Then we commenced the descent, entering the stratum of cloud about 1,000 feet below the summit, and again finding a clear atmosphere with the clouds above us upon arriving at the foot of the peak – from which I infer that stratum of cloud to be about 500 feet in thickness. In coming down the precipitous part. I had occasion to use the rope twice and Mr. Armstrong once. The others, I believe, did not use it. To state that there is no danger whatever in descending would be incorrect. There is just sufficient danger both in ascending and descending to give a rest to the exploit, but with ordinary care no accident need occur, of course, in descending there is a greater sense of danger.
At the foot of the giant peak we found some tent pegs left about nine years ago by the Royal Engineers of Captain Bailey’s Trig. Survey Party, who were the first to scale the Cockscomb – our party being second. Dr. Atherstone and party had previously tried it, but only succeeded in reaching one of the lower peaks.
Poor Klinker was found where [he was] left the day before and he and his master were the first to get home. The party now became somewhat straggling, the last of us arriving at the foot of the mountain about three o’clock. Packed our luggage and returned to Henry Rudman’s for the night.
Started in the morning for Kromme Poort, stopped for a few minutes to examine the echo reflected by the rocks near Adolph’s Kraal. The echo is very clear and [can be] distinctly heard. At Kromme Poort I collected a few of the Palaeozoic fossils before alluded to viz. spirifer [good specimens) orthis stropfomena, litorina Bellerophon, a leda (probably) encrinital stems and heads, vegetable impressions &c. together with fragments of trilobites. Arrived at Cornelius Forbes’ in the evening. At Uitenhage on Monday morning. Port Elizabeth two o’clock same day having been away exactly five days. We had a good cart, a capital pair of horses driven by the owner, Mr. Rishworth and the whole journey was performed without the slightest hitch or accident whatever.
The physical geography of the Winterhoek range.
This range of which the Cockscomb forms the highest peak consist of serrated ridge striking nearly east and west (the eastern foot being at Bouwer’s Kraal six miles from Uitenhage). From this serrated and central ridge, lateral spurs extend on both sides. These spurs often begin from a peak on the ridge They are divided by deep ravines, having usually a stream of water at the bottom. The numerous streams on the south forming the Zwartkops River, the head of which is very near the Cockscomb. Some of the northern streams form the Coega River, the head of which is about 15 miles from Bouwer’s Kraal. Further on the streams fall into the Sundays River while still more to the westward and beyond the watershed at Henry Rudman’s, the streams flow to the Great River.
The Cockscomb peak is not a peak of a lateral ridge but stands boldly out and alone between two of the spurs, the westernmost having a tolerably high peak while the eastern spur has two very high peaks being, in fact, the two lower pinnacles of the Cockscomb as seen from Port Elizabeth. The great peak itself is connected with the east and west lateral spurs by a narrow isthmus or neck of land. On the south side of the Cockscomb, however, there are no lateral spurs. There the mountain stands up grandly and nearly perpendicularly at least 4,000 feet above the ravine below and as determined by trigonometrical measurements, 5,750 feet about the sea.
The extreme summit is an irregular platform about fifty yards long by an average of say, fifteen years wide, strewn with enormous boulders. The highest though perhaps not the largest, is the one on which the trigonometrical survey pile stands. I took rough measurements of this stone and find its weight [to be] 97½ tons.
Geology and minerology
The geology of the range, taken by itself, is very uninteresting. There is nothing to attract the attention of the observer while ascending the Cockscomb except a beautiful example of flexure of the strata, as shown by a section in the eastern kloof. The whole range consists of a mass of quartzite rock, similar in composition to the rock at Port Elizabeth, but the Winterhoek range, when taken in conjunction with the strata on either side, possesses considerable interest – it being nearly in the line of strike of an anticlinal axis. Indeed I believe the Cockscomb itself to be exactly upon the axial line – the strata being horizontal, while at the farmhouse below (Erasmus’s) it has considerable inclination.
A fine series of Devonian fossils were collected a few years ago by my lamented friend, the late Dr. Rubidge, and myself, in the clay slate near Erasmus’s house. The only minerals seen by our party were fragments of iron ore of no value and bits of quartz. In the crevices of the rock upon the very summit were packed myriads of the little insects known as ladybirds. It is probably their winter quarters. They were not quite torpid. The common snail was also found on the summit. A spring of water deliciously cool, is found on the south side, about fifty feet below the summit.
Yours &c
Robert Pinchin
Herald’s correspondent
A party of Easter holiday excursionists, consisting of Messrs. Pinchin, W. Wormald, J.F. Fairbridge, G. Chase and G. Armstrong, succeeded in scaling Cockscomb Mountain on Friday last. They spent the night on the summit with some others who joined them in the ascent and descended about noon on the following day. The view from the mountain top is described as being most magnificent. There was abundance of water but no game. Indeed the top is a mass of broken rock with little vegetation. We have been kindly promised an account of the exploring tour which we have no doubt will be highly interesting.
Description of a tiffin
Tiffin is a form of cake-like confection composed of crushed biscuits, sugar, syrup, raisins, cherries and cocoa powder, often covered with a layer of melted chocolate. Unlike regular cakes, Tiffin does not require baking. Instead, following preparation of the mixture, the confection is chilled until set.
The physical geography of the Winterhoek range.
This range of which the Cockscomb forms the highest peak consist of serrated ridge striking nearly east and west (the eastern foot being at Bouwer’s Kraal six miles from Uitenhage). From this serrated and central ridge, lateral spurs extend on both sides. These spurs often begin from a peak on the ridge They are divided by deep ravines, having usually a stream of water at the bottom. The numerous streams on the south forming the Zwartkops River, the head of which is very near the Cockscomb. Some of the northern streams form the Coega River, the head of which is about 15 miles from Bouwer’s Kraal. Further on the streams fall into the Sundays River while still more to the westward and beyond the watershed at Henry Rudman’s, the streams flow to the Great River.
The Cockscomb peak is not a peak of a lateral ridge but stands boldly out and alone between two of the spurs, the westernmost having a tolerably high peak while the eastern spur has two very high peaks being, in fact, the two lower pinnacles of the Cockscomb as seen from Port Elizabeth. The great peak itself is connected with the east and west lateral spurs by a narrow isthmus or neck of land. On the south side of the Cockscomb, however, there are no lateral spurs. There the mountain stands up grandly and nearly perpendicularly at least 4,000 feet above the ravine below and as determined by trigonometrical measurements, 5,750 feet about the sea.
The extreme summit is an irregular platform about fifty yards long by an average of say, fifteen years wide, strewn with enormous boulders. The highest though perhaps not the largest, is the one on which the trigonometrical survey pile stands. I took rough measurements of this stone and find its weight [to be] 97½ tons.
Geology and minerology
The geology of the range, taken by itself, is very uninteresting. There is nothing to attract the attention of the observer while ascending the Cockscomb except a beautiful example of flexure of the strata, as shown by a section in the eastern kloof. The whole range consists of a mass of quartzite rock, similar in composition to the rock at Port Elizabeth, but the Winterhoek range, when taken in conjunction with the strata on either side, possesses considerable interest – it being nearly in the line of strike of an anticlinal axis. Indeed I believe the Cockscomb itself to be exactly upon the axial line – the strata being horizontal, while at the farmhouse below (Erasmus’s) it has considerable inclination.
A fine series of Devonian fossils were collected a few years ago by my lamented friend, the late Dr. Rubidge, and myself, in the clay slate near Erasmus’s house. The only minerals seen by our party were fragments of iron ore of no value and bits of quartz. In the crevices of the rock upon the very summit were packed myriads of the little insects known as ladybirds. It is probably their winter quarters. They were not quite torpid. The common snail was also found on the summit. A spring of water deliciously cool, is found on the south side, about fifty feet below the summit.
Yours &c
Robert Pinchin
Herald’s correspondent
A party of Easter holiday excursionists, consisting of Messrs. Pinchin, W. Wormald, J.F. Fairbridge, G. Chase and G. Armstrong, succeeded in scaling Cockscomb Mountain on Friday last. They spent the night on the summit with some others who joined them in the ascent and descended about noon on the following day. The view from the mountain top is described as being most magnificent. There was abundance of water but no game. Indeed the top is a mass of broken rock with little vegetation. We have been kindly promised an account of the exploring tour which we have no doubt will be highly interesting.
Description of a tiffin
Tiffin is a form of cake-like confection composed of crushed biscuits, sugar, syrup, raisins, cherries and cocoa powder, often covered with a layer of melted chocolate. Unlike regular cakes, Tiffin does not require baking. Instead, following preparation of the mixture, the confection is chilled until set.