34? HOTTENTOT PLACE-NAMES. 



of all upon the third lorni." There is a Hottentot word whicli 

 is descriptive of the locality, the initial click of which ivS that 

 which K.ing'on declares to he the most probable form, which 

 word approximates very closely, if not exactly, to the sound 

 of the present place-name: it is the word IIKhuxci (Hot. 

 lIKhnh, a thorn, mimosa), abounding- in thorns or thorn- 

 trees. (The // click of the Hottentots is the same as the X 

 click of the Kaffirs.) I sugg-est this as a possible origin of the 

 place-name Coega, as the word appears to meet the need in 

 every respect. 



Gaika s Kop is one of the names referred to by Kingon as 

 having- " historic associations," but the Kaffir name of the 

 mountain does not appear originally to have had any reference 

 to the famous Xosa chief Gaika, so well known in connection 

 with the wars between the Kaffirs and the colonists. The 

 " historical associations " appear to be a recent accretion due 

 to a corruption or misunderstanding on the part of the colonists 

 of the Kaffir name of the mountain — u Xtah'egqira (K. in 

 Taba, a mountain; i (rqira, a doctor, one who professes to 

 discover witches), who have confused it with that of the chief, 

 the proper Kaffir form of which is Ngqika. The somewhat 

 similar soujid of the chief's name S gqika to that of the name 

 of the mountain, Gqira, appears to have misled the colonists 

 into connecting the mouniain with the chief, hen(-e its present 

 name. It is, however, referred to here because the -ra of the 

 Kaffir name of the mountain is nothing- other than the 

 Hottentot adjectival -a-a. The Hottentot word ! geih is the name 

 given to the witch-doctor's paraphernalia to-day in Namaqua- 

 land; ! gei-aoh (lit. witch-man) is the wizard, or the witch- 

 doctor; .'.^e/.frt is the adjective formed from Igelh. The initial 

 (lick is nearly the same as that of the Kaffir word ; indeed the 

 Hottentot word .'gei.ra is practically identical in form and 

 meaning with the Kaffir / gqira, of which there can be little 

 doubt that it is the origin. '(Dr. Bleek (CM. Mag., I., p. 202, 

 1857) speaks of " the readiness with which the Kafirs adopt 

 Hottentot manners and words," and remarks further: " it is 

 certai)ily remarkable that not one instan(-e has yet been shown 

 where the Hottentots have in the like manner imitated tlieir 

 eastern neighbours.") 



The name Qora is applied to a river in Gealekaland, 

 Transkei, but it was also an earlier name of the Bushman 

 River, Albany district, C.P. In earlier days the natives are 

 said to have made their pipes from the clay found on the banks 

 of this river. May not the name be derived from the Hottentot 

 word Xgoah, clay, mud (the click is the same), the adjective 

 formed from the word being Xgoaxa ? That this affix -.ra was so 

 used by the Hottentots in the naming of localities appears from 

 the Little Namaqualand i)lace-nanie Kamalas, which Alex- 

 ander (" Expedition," I., p. 89, 1838) renders " red-clay." 

 The former part of the name is the Hottentot word Xgama, 

 brown, to be brown ; the final s is locative ; the remainder of the 

 word is the adjectival -xa, signifying abundance; the real 

 Hottentot name of the place is XGainaxas, the place of red clay. 



