ORICIN Ol' CI'.R'rAIN SOiril \1--R1C.\X IT-ACI". NAMl'.S. 1 6,-^ 



Lc iiom Angra Pequena figure deja sur la carte de Gaspar V'iegas de 

 1534 bicii que tlarros I'appelle Angra dos llheos qui lui convient heaucoup 

 mieux. 



Ihat there woiild be some confusion and difficulty in the 

 identification of features on the coast in the early days can be 

 understood when it is known that beside the duplication of the 

 name (iolfo dt Balena mentioned above, there are also marked 

 on the west coast on Ihe map of Martellus (1489) no less than 

 three Serra Pardas (Grey Mountain) — the first sJightl}' to the 

 south of Ani^ra das \^iltas. the second to the north of that bay, 

 and the third a short distance to the north as^ain. 



rVnother name of interest is Algoa Bay. Theal, in a foot- 

 note,* says : — 



In the Esmeraldo de situ Orhis of Duarte Pachaco, written before the 

 death of Iving Manuel, a bay named Alagoa is mentioned, which is said 

 to have been so called on account of a lake which was there in a marsh. 

 It is described as having a small island in it covered with seals and sea- 

 birds, but its position is given as fifteen leagues east of the Watering Place 

 of S. Braz. that is, the locality of the Knysna inlet. This designation for 

 that particular sheet of water was probably lost soon afterwards, as no 

 other trace of it is to be found, and it does not appear to have had any 

 connection with the naming of the present Algoa Bay. 



The name was next given to the opening in the coast now 

 known as Plettenberg Bay — this would appear from the maps 

 published in 1 502 by Nicholas de Caneiro and by Cantino, on 

 which Alagoa Bay is marked to the west of Cabo de San Franc- 

 cisco. .\ccording to Theal. the original name given by the 

 Porfiiguese to the present Algoa Bay was Bahia de Roca (Rocky 

 Bay), which it bore till I54<S, when it became Bahia das Lobes 

 (Seal Bay). But in 1575, after Perestrello had made a new 

 survey of the coast, the name .Vlagoa was transferred from 

 Plettenberg Bay to the present Algoa Bay. 



Purchasf distinguishes between the two bays thus : — 

 IJeyond the Cape or Point of the XecdJcs there are many competent 

 llarboroughs and Hauens. the principall whereof is Seno Formoso, the 

 Faire Bay (i.e., the present Plettenberg Bay), and Seno del Lago, the 

 Bay of the Lake : For there the sea maketh a certaine Gulfe. wherein are 

 sundry Hands and Ports; and somewhat l)e\'ond there runneth into the Sea 

 the River of Saint Christopher (St. John's River) and at the mouth 

 thereof there lye three prettie Ilets. 



From Perestrello's survey (for a period of nearly 200 years) 

 Algoa Bay continued to bear the name Alagoa Bay, but at the 

 end of this i)eriod some confusion again appears to have arisen, 

 for on the maps in Sparrman.l Paterson,§ and Le \^aillant,|| 

 the Kenrbcom River is made to flow into an Algoa Bay con- 

 siderably to the west of the present Algoa Bay. According to 

 the.se maps, after being known as Alagoa Bay for a period of 

 200 } ears, tlie bay suddenly becomes nameless, and Plettenberg 



* "The Portuguese in South Africa."' (1896), 131. 

 t " His Pilgrimes," book vii, chap, iv, sect. 6, 1625-6. 

 t"A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope" (1785). 

 § " Narrative of Four Journeys into the Countrv of the Hottentots and 

 Caffraria" (1789). 



II '■ New Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa" (1.796).. 



