212 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 
It was one of their many superstitions—in this case a very rational 
one—that it was unlucky to proceed with the voyage without 
stopping for a time in this locality. 
The name Cape Cod is not used in the Colony, where the fish 
is universally known as Kabeljaauw. 
Coming back again to earlier history we find the first inention of 
the now well-known Snoek in the account of an expedition to 
Saldanha Bay towards the end of the first year of the settlement 
at the Cape. The expedition was chiefly in search of seals, but 
numerous ‘‘ Harders’’ and ‘‘Steenbraesem’’ were caught, and 
‘“some small sea Snoek.’’ The name thus given has been retained 
ever since, and is one of the few for which there are no Dutch or 
English synonyms. 
The name ‘‘Snoek’’ in Holland is applied to a fresh-water fish 
(Hsox lucius, the English “‘ Pike’’), while the African fish (Thyrsvtes 
atun) is essentially a marine form though somewhat resembling the 
former. 
The early settlers seem to have had some hesitation, therefore, in 
identifying the two fish, for it is called a ‘‘sea Snoek.”’ Later 
generations have been less scrupulous, and it is now known simply 
as Snoek. The English word Pike does not seem to have been used 
at all to designate this fish. 
It is of interest to note that Thyrsites atun occurs also in New 
Zealand and South Australia, where it is called the Barracouda, 
a name which also rightly belongs to another fish (Sphyrena). 
The anglicised form Snook is frequently used in the Colony, and 
it occurs elsewhere (e.g., in Jamaica) as the name of an entirely 
different fish. 
On this same voyage to Saldanha Bay we find the first mention 
of Soles, called in Holland Tongen. They were named Tong, and 
the name is commonly used amongst the Colonial fishermen of the 
present day, though it seems tobe in the process of being replaced 
by the English “ Sole.”’ 
A characteristic of the early Dutch settlers comes out strongly in 
the naming of the animals and things they found in the new 
country. hey were men of action with little time or inclination 
for reflection or scientific interest in things in themselves. For 
utilitarian purposes if a Dutch name could be got for a fish baving 
some resemblance, however remote, to those already known they 
promptly applied the European name. When they came across 
fish totally unlike any known forms they were content to call them 
strange fish, or they might, by way of more definite specification, add 
some statement as to their taste when cooked. Thus in an account 
