SOMl-: F'l.AiK-NAMKS OF TSOLU. Oo^ 



1. Mission Stations. 



2. Farms. 



3. Ti\'iclinj4' Stations. 



4. Dutch Names. 



\ II. General Names. 

 VIII. Names derived fioni .\'oii-native Sottrces. 



IX. Names whose Derivation is remote and not yet 

 traced. 



I. — Naiucs Hax'iiiii H islorii-a! . Isscclalioiis. 



Having given some indication of a suggested classitication of 

 j)lace-names, we now turn to a more detailed study of each section. 



A large number of the names have historical associati(jns, 

 some being related to events of great importance in the national 

 life, and others taking note of the most trivial circumstance. 

 ( )ften some comparatively trivial incident was emphasized bv a 

 place-name called forth by that incident. A woman fleeing from 

 the enemy during some raid is overcome by her condition and 

 gives birth to a child and so the s])ot in which she took refuge in 

 her travail is given a name that will for all time indicate the 

 event; or, again, some (piarrel is i)atched up, and the place of 

 reconciliation is named. These are l)ut instances to be found 

 everywhere in the Territories revealing a principle on which 

 names were given, and it is just because place-names in Kahirland 

 crystallize specific events that it is so important for us to under- 

 take a careful study while the information is still obtainable. It 

 is for the same reason that this attempt begins with only one 

 district, and not with a very wide area. If our information is to 

 be exact, the study must be nu"croscopic. for every stream and 

 rock has a name, and the harvest awaiting the i)atient investigator 

 is by no means to be underestimated. 



The first name which we need to consider is obviously the 

 one which distinguishes the district itself. The earliest magistracy 

 was established at the foot of a conical-shaped hill, called by the 

 natives Tsolo. Later, when the Podomisi rebellion took ])lace in 

 1879. the Magistrate, together with his staft', and a number of 

 refugees, were besieged in the jail, until they were relieved by the 

 Rev. J. S. Morris, now of Buntingville, at the head of an army 

 of 400 loyal Pondos. At the conclusion of the rebellion it was felt 

 that the Residency should be nearer to the protection of L'mtata. 

 and accordingly, by agreement with Bishop Ke}-. it was mo\ed 

 15 miles nearer to that town, to a site on the Xokonxa Stream, 

 then occupied as an outstation by the Anglican Church. The 

 vacant Residency site was handed over to the LInited Free Lhurcli 

 of Scotland, and Somerville Mission was estal)lished there. In 

 this way the name of that conical hill was transferred to a sjjot 

 some 10 miles distant, where Tsolo \'illage has now arisen ; but 

 the natives still call the hill Tsolo, and the village Xokonxa. As 

 a matter of fact, tlie natives seldom know i)laces by the l^uroi^ean 



