AN INQUIRY INTO THE DERIVATION OF CERTAIN 

 SOUTH AFRICAN PLACE-NAMES. 



By Rev. Charli-zs Pettman. 



I propose in this paper to discuss a few of the place-names 

 of this country which have given rise at one time and another 

 to no little controversy as to their origin. It will be remem- 

 bered by those who were present last year, that the paper on 

 " The Place-Names of South .\frica "' which I had the honour 

 of submitting to the Association, evoked a very interesting dis- 

 cussion as to the derivation of the name Bloemfontein, which 

 the paper said was " redolent of flowers and springs." It was 

 contended, in opposition to this view^ that the name was derived 

 from a certain Jan Blom. wlu) was, at the latter part of the 

 eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth century, a fugitive 

 and outlaw from the Colon}-. In early days, with his band of 

 Bushman, Koranna, and Hottentot marauders, he was said to 

 have established himself at a certain spring, which became known 

 as Jan BIimii's Fontein ; it was asserted, further, that this name 

 subsequently became Bloemfontein, and that [an Blom's Fontein 

 and Bloemfontein were one and the same place. 



Let me say at once that there is no question as to the 

 existence and outlawry of the man Jan Blom, nor as to his 

 having established himself with his robber band at a certain 

 fountain, nor, further, as to the fountain having been known 

 as Jan Blom's Fontein ; the points to be decided are, whether 

 Jan Blom's Fontein and Bloemfontein are identical, and whether 

 the name Bloemfontein originated in the name Jan Blom's 

 Fontein. 



It was not possible for me at the time to advance all the 

 reasons which decided me in favour of the derivation I sug- 

 gested, but to show that it was based upon something more than 

 merely aesthetic leanings T would like to submit the following 

 l^oints for consideration. 1 confess that I should be somewhat 

 diffident, in view of the high authority quoted against the flower 

 derivation in the discussion referred to, but I cannot convince 

 myself that it is wrong; in fact, further enquiry has strengthened 

 the conviction that the flower and spring derivation is the correct 

 one. 



It will help to solve the difficulty perhaps if we can secure 

 two or three fixed points on the map concerning which there is 

 no uncertainty ; let us try. There is no question as to the 

 locality of Griquatown (formerly known as Klaarwater ) ; 

 further, the map shows that Kuruman (named by early travellers 

 Lattakoo) lies almost due north of Griquatown: and further, 

 it shows a mountain on the road from Griquatown to Kuruman 

 lying sliffhtlv west of the line l)etween the two places, known 

 as the Blinkklip. With these three points fixed, and remember- 



