A different view on current affairs & history
Colloquially Port Elizabethans know the Carpobrotus Edulis as the Gocum. The Hottentot Fig or its more politically correct name, the sour fig, was one of the trio of measures that Joseph Storr Lister adopted in his battle to tame the Driftsands. This small fleshy leaved plant was ideal in binding the swirling sea sand.
Main picture: A field of Hottentot Figs
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Port Elizabeth is renowned for its shipwrecks. The most calamitous ones were as a consequence of south-easterly gales in Algoa Bay. They are a poignant reminder that in the face of on-shore winds, sailing vessels in the roadstead and at the mercy of the elements, frequently lost their anchors and were driven ashore. An additional problem was that some ships were in poor condition with rusted cables and other defects.
The most disastrous gale in South African maritime history was the gale of 1902 resulting in the destruction of 21 ships, numerous lighters and other small craft and the loss of 38 lives. The curve of the Bay towards North End is often referred to as the “bight”, an old English word. The North End bight was a notorious graveyard for wrecked ships. And 1902 was no different.
Main picture: On the morning of 2nd September 1902, North End beach was strewn with ships
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Like many of the rivers in the Eastern Cape, the Baakens River also originally possessed an impressive lagoon. Old photographs and paintings show it being used for leisure activities such as boating.
What eventually happened to this splendid lagoon?
Main picture: Baaken’s River looking up from the mouth in 1860 with Fort Frederick atop of the ridge. This expanse of water to the north of Union Bridge does not form part of the lagoon as it is a shallow expanse of water subject to the vagaries of tides and the strength of the river flow.
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Whereas the Aussies refer to the Chapman as the Convict vessel, South Africans refer to her as the Settler ship, one for confinement and the other for release.
This is the fascinating history of the 70 years service to colonialism of this renowned ship and some of its crew. Apart from trading and conveyance operations, it was also fitted out with guns for two periods of its life and was engaged in naval warfare.
Main picture: A model of the Chapman
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Main picture: Piet Retief Monument in Summerstrand
Main picture: The North Jetty
Main picture: The Queensmoor in the process of breaking up Continue reading
The Countess of Carnarvon possessed neither pretensions of royalty nor naval majesty. Instead, it was a small screw steamer of 100 tons, which operated in Algoa Bay. In his inimitable way of paying scant regard to treaties and morality, Cecil John Rhodes conjured up a masterstroke to acquire land illegally on the Pungwe River in Gazaland, Portuguese East Africa using this nondescript vessel as a gunrunner.
If this scheme was illegal and immoral, Cecil John Rhodes did not understand the basis of what was unlawful. Would this outrageous scheme finally blot his copybook?
Main picture: The Countess of Carnarvon, probably painted in Genoa after her completion
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Main picture: The Fortress Observation Post at Seahill, Cape Recife
It is fair to say that the establishment of Fort Frederick was more a response to political tensions in Europe than to local enmity between Dutch frontiersmen and Xhosa tribesmen. While the later upheavals arose as the vanguard of the Dutch boeren [Afrikaans boere] approached the advancing Xhosa tribesmen, the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 had plunged Europe into a protracted period of war.
This blog traces the fascinating history of Fort Frederick from its inception until the present time.
Main picture: Fort Frederick dated 12 March 1905
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