EARLY HISTORY OF THE CAPE PROVINCE. 4d7 



liundred elephants, hence they named the river OUpJcants Rivicr. 

 The Liesbeek in the Cape Peninsuhi is a river name given in the 

 days of Jan van Eiebeeck. 



In looking through the journals of the early explorers in South 

 Africa we can gather the origin of many place names. The town 

 of Paarl takes its name from the huge rock on the top of the 

 mountain close by. In the days of van Eiebeeck the first 

 explorers saw in the distance in the early morning this large 

 boulder shining in the morning sun. They called it Diamandt en 

 Pcerlbcrgli, Diamond and Paarl Mountain. In the diary of 

 Simon van der Stel's trip to the Copper Mountains in Namaqua- 

 land in 1685 there are many place names mentioned which exist 

 to-day. Honigshcrg, Honey Mountain, in the Malmesbury 

 district, was so called by these travellers because they found an 

 abundance of honey. They crossed Misverstand Drift, and when 

 near the Piquetberg Mountains an incident occurred which gave a 

 place name. A rhinoceros sprang out and charged the carriage in 

 which van der Stel was seated. He just had time to spring out, 

 but was followed by the animal, which received a bullet from 

 one of the party. It turned its attention to a party of horsemen, 

 who leaped from their saddles. The beast rushed away, followed 

 by a volley of shots. This place was consequently called 

 Rhenoster Rug. Shortly after an eland weighing one thousand 

 pounds (Dutch) was shot, and the locality was given the name of 

 Eland' sr Kraal. Uilenberg and Dassenberg were named on account 

 of the many owls and conies or rock rabbits found there. The 

 party passed Baviaansberg (Baboon Mountain) (Clanwilliam 

 district), which received its name on account of the number of 

 baboons living in the caves. Following the windings of the 

 Oliphants River, the train arrived at Bakkeley Plaats, where a 

 fight took place between the Europeans and natives, and a little 

 further on the locality where peace was made between them was 

 called Vrcdendal or Vale of Peace. An expedition of 1667 named 

 the Lange Kloof or Longkloof (Oudtshoorn district) on account of 

 its great length. 



The fauna of the country has given a large number of names 

 in the country. This adds an interesting aspect to the study of 

 place names, for we see that with the advance of civilisation the 

 wild animals were made to retreat further and further from their 

 usual habitat. In many places the animals have ceased to exist, 

 yet the place names referring to them remain. Names referring 

 to the lion, elephant and rhinoceros are found within a radius of 

 one hundred miles of Capetown, but these animals had dis- 

 appeared froin this locality many generations ago. In glancing 

 at the farm names of the old Cape Colony we are at once struck 

 with the great frequency of names referring to the eland and the 

 buffel. In fact, I may almost say that they occur in greater 

 numbers than any other. The lion, elephant, hartebeest and 

 hippopotamus appear to come next on the list. Few places seem 

 to relate to the gemsbok. And so one could take both the name 

 and locality, and deduce the fact as to where certain animals 



