ORIGIN OF CERTAIN SOITII AFRU'AN I't.ACK NAMES. 165 



on their return from Goa, cannot be maintained; it is another 

 example of Folk-Etymolog}'. On the other hand, it has to be 

 said that the name seems to have been appHed to the present 

 Plettenberg Bay and to Algoa Bay without any reference to its 

 etymological meaning, for, so far as I know or can ascertain, 

 neither of these bays has a lagoon or lake on its shores to which 

 the name could refer. 



The derivation of the name Muizenberg may not have 

 anything to do directly with the ridiciiliis iiiiis. but indirectly it 

 is to be traced back to the little animal. In the " Report of 

 the Keeper of the Archives. Cape of Good Hope, for the year 

 ending 31st December, 1906," the late Mr. H. C. V. Leibbrandt 

 has the following paragraph (9) : — 



While on this subject, I may also draw attention to another hatch- 

 ment in my custody. On one part of the shield are seen three mice, with a 

 fourth mouse as a crest. I have no doubt tliat this hatchment belonged 

 to Willem Muys. who died in 1755. and at the time of his death, and a 

 considerable time previously, held the important appointment of Com- 

 mander-in-Chief of the garrison here. During his term of office a small 

 redoubt or fort was built on the narrow passage through wliich the road 

 passes from Wynlierg to Simonstown, and over which road all traffic had 

 to pass, and where an enemy might with some advantage be checked. The 

 little fort was- named after him, and though now no longer existing, the 

 spot itself has liitherto retained the name of " Muysenburg," now. for no 

 reason whatever, called and written " Muizen1)erg." I respectfully draw 

 attention to the wrong spelling", as well as to the names " Valkenburg " and 

 " Elsenburg." which I find are generally written " Valkenberg '' and 

 " Elsenberg." 



If Air. Leibbrandt is right in his contention, then the real 

 reference of the name must have been lost, and the name wrongly 

 spelt very soon after Willem Muys' death, as the following ex- 

 tracts from Thtmberg"^ will show : • — ■ 



Near Muysenlierg (or Mouse Mountain) the wa.\ shrul)s ( Myrica 

 quercifolia and cordifolia) grow in al»undance along the shore. t 



There is a farm belonging to the company, and known liy tlie name 

 of Muyscnberg, or Mouse Mountain.^ 



Thunberg's first volume is dated 1795. but his visit to the 

 Cape of Good Hope was in 1//2-T,, only seventeen years after 

 the death of Willem Mtiys. and apparently Thunl:)erg knew 

 nothing of the connection between the place-name and the man, 

 as asserted by Mr. Leibbrandt, while the name in that short 

 period had passed from the fort to the mountain, from burg — 

 that is, as Mr. Leibbrandt would have it. to berg, as Thunberg 

 has it. This appears the more strange, as the fort must have 

 been in existence, not only when Thunberg was at the Cape, but 

 for some years after ; this seems to be indicated bv the following 

 passage from Stavorinus :§ — 



This ridge makes a liend, from Simon's i>a\' to the nortlT-eastward, 

 nearly a league and a half in length, and ends at a place whi're there is a 

 post of the Company, called Aluizenberg. 



*" Travels" 1 (179s). 



tP. 249. 



tP.267. 



§" Voyages to tlie ICast Indies" 1 ( I7y8\ 44. 



