352 IIOTTEXTOT PLACE-NAMES. 



this name, and when the name was first given, appear to be 

 quite uncertain. The name of the river on the west coast, 

 emptying- itself into the Atlantic, Olifants Rivier, was g'iven 

 as early as 1660, when it was discovered by a party of explorers 

 under Jan Danckaert, and was so named because of the large 

 number of elephants, from two to three hundred, which they 

 saw on its banks. But this name supplanted an earlier Hot- 

 tentot name, which is given by Valentyn (" Beschrijvinge van 

 de Kaap der Goede lioope," p. 96, 1726') in the form 

 " Tliarakhima (dat is ruige rivier) " ; this name being from the 

 two Hottentot words IKora, rough; and I Igaini, water. The 

 Hottentot name of the river now known as the Palmiet, which 

 is marked on the map of a journey " na de Caap das Aguilhas 

 in den jare 1682 " as " l)e wilde Rivier de Palmyt Rivier 

 genaamt," is given in Willem van E-eenen's " Journaal," 

 1791-2, as " Honievia of Slangenrivier " ; both the Hottentot 

 name and the name that would seem to be its Dutch equivalent 

 have been entirely superseded by the name by which the river 

 is known to-day. 



One place-name that is generally regarded as of Hottentot 

 origin is the name Gamfons, a river which runs into St. Francis 

 Bay, near Port Elizabeth, C.P. The name appears in the 

 " Kaaps Dagregister " very early in the eighteenth century 

 in the form " Ganitoiiws," as the name of a Hottentot tribe. 

 Later, as the name of a river, Sparrman, 1785; J. van Reenen, 

 1792; Paterson, 1794, all spell the name " Camfovrs." Le 

 Yaillant, 1796, makes it " Gamtoos," and Burchell, 1824, has 

 it " Camtoos." Was this name originally the name of the 

 tribe, or of the river, or of neither? Where did it originate? 

 These queries are prompted bv a statement which is made bv 

 Le Yaillant (" Travels," I., p. 238, 1796), who says: " We 

 encamped upon the borders of that of (the river) Gamtoos. It 

 derives its name from an unfortunate captain who in a storm 

 was shipwrecked near its mouth." Is there any early record 

 to support this statement ? 



Some unavoidable overlapping and repetition occurs in 

 this paper. Where it is critical in character it is solely with 

 the purpose of ascertaining- the actual facts. 



In conclusion, it is gratifying- that the subject of South 

 African nomenclature is attracting the increasing attention 

 of scholars and students. Further, it is hoped that some of 

 our younger students, who have opportunities for equipping 

 themselves for South African philological studies, may be 

 induced to take up this important and interesting work. 



