Soon a new Fossil Centre
A new centre, which will exhibit the highly acclaimed fossil collection of the Rubidge family, is soon to open in Graaff-Reinet, an area widely known by fossil hunters. This remarkable collection was mostly collected by Sidney Rubidge, an enthusiastic fossil hunter and grandfather of internationally known paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, until his recent retirement head of the Bernard Price Institute for Paleontological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand. For the past nine decades, the collection has been housed in a private museum at Wellwood, the Rubidge family farm. In the collection is a faux fossil found by Bruce when he was 12. The first fossil, the skull of a Dinogorgon, part of the gorgonopsian subfamily Rubidgeinae, was discovered by Sidney Rubidge on Wellwood. This genus roamed South Africa and Tanzania in the Late Permian Period – between 160 million and 252 million years ago. This generic name of the species comes from Greek and means “terrible gorgon” – rubidgei is taken from the Rubidge surname. Bruce Rubidge has contributed to much of the therapsid research conducted in the Karoo Basin.
Focus on education.
In addition to showcasing the Rubidge Collection, the centre will pass down a clear message to preserve biodiversity. There will be a strong educational focus to encourage young people to consider science as a career. The centre will collaborate on national and international field-based research programs for scientists and students. It will serve as a palaeo- and geo-tourism centre allowing visitors to see how paleontologists discover and research fossils in the field and as an educational outreach facility. It will also offer curriculum-based scientific programmes to expose learners to past biodiversity achievements and in so doing enhance their understanding of extant fauna and flora. In September 2024, the centre will host the 22nd Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa. “This event will attract top international scientists to the Graaff-Reinet,” states Chriszanne Janse van Vuuren in The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser of May 19, 2023.
The Show goes on
The organizers of the Richmond Boek Bedonnerd went through a dreadful time after all financial support for the event was withdrawn by the Northern Cape governmental authorities. They had just announced this news to their loyal supporters, when, suddenly, a wonderful South African, who requested to remain anonymous, called Peter Baker and said that he personally could donate generously enough to keep the show on the road. “So,” says Peter, “the show will go on. We are very excited to announce everything is still in place – morning coffee, stoep sitting, great speakers, lively discussions, High Tea on Loop Street, all-day-long happy hours, The Richmond Mile, live entertainment, Saturday afternoon on the porch at the Yeomanry Hotel at Deelfontein, and MadibaLand streaming worldwide. We are delighted to announce that the camaraderie we have all come to expect in Richmond, will live on for another year. So, book your rooms because this is guaranteed to be “a full house” again this year.
NOTE: Among the speakers will be Ashwin Desai, Denis Cruywagen, Barbara Townsend, Gavin Weir, Darryl David, Dan Vaughan, Ian Sutherland, Louis Botha, Lindsay Johns, Annemarie van Niekerk, Eve Fairbanks, Llewellin Jegels, Tricia Spencer, Marizka Coetzer, Vernon Head, Eben Venter, Adekeye Adebajo, Jared Thompson, Naomi Meyer, Saikat Majumdar, Ted Botha, Egonne Roth, Siphiwo Mahala, and Bloke Modisane. And this is just a start several more speakers and items will be added as time goes on.
Fig Tree honours for a missionary
The red-leaved rock fig, the Ficus ingens miq, which grows into a shrub-like tree with copper leaves, is known as Moffat’s Tree. Probably the best-known species of this tree is the enormous Moffat’s Tree, found on the north-western boundary of the Magaliesberg on the farm Bultfontein, close to the old route to the north. According to local stories, the crown width of the tree measured 36,5m. Robert Moffat was told about this by two Scottish pedlars who had discovered it earlier that year, while they stopped over at his home, a gateway between the civilization of the south and the wilderness of the north, writes J de V Lötter, in The Fig in South Africa. Moffat went to see the tree in 1828 on his way to visit the Ndebele chief, Mzilikazi who at that stage had a kraal at Apies River, where Roseville. Pretoria was later located. He found the tree was “inhabited”. Members of the local community lived in it in 17 huts that they had constructed to keep them safe from lions. The trees typically grow in rock clefts and even though they sometimes behave like a “strangler fig” they can also develop into massive solitary trees. The wood is sometimes used in woodwork projects.
Discover Middelburg
Visitors attending the Karoo Winter Wool Festival, in Middelburg can enjoy a special Historical Tour around the town. A special bus will depart from 38 Murray Street at 09h00 on June 22 and June 23. Tickets cost R180 pp. Booking is essential because space on the bus is limited. The price includes a bus ticket, the services of a professional guide, an information pamphlet, and coffee at Picadilly’s. For more www.middelburgkaroo.co.za
Mohair comes to the central Karoo
In early 1960, Wendy Jackson (nee van der Berg) persuaded her husband, Ronald, to allow her to run a few Angora goats on Baakensrug. Very soon he realized that these goats had adapted extremely well to the Nelspoort area, and were, in fact, producing a better return than his pure-bred Merinos. He then purchased a flock of Angora ewes and some top rams, many from A B Hobson of Martysford, an established and highly successful breeder. This became an exciting step forward in Ronald’s life and he built up an excellent Angora Stud, says Tiny Middleton whose husband Gerald was also a big breeder in the Nelspoort/Krom River area. Viki Molteno of Rocklands, in the Sneeuberg Mountains near Loxton, followed closely on Ronald Jackson’s heels. In 1962, he and farmer friend Christo Scholtz of Elandsfontein, bought 92 ewes and 4 rams from Pierre de Vos of Welgevonden. Viki said there were many when he rushed home from Beaufort West because the weather had turned icy, expecting to his flock to have perished only to find they had crept under bushes and survived. He then realized that these creatures were much tougher than he had been told. He farmed with these goats for over 20 years, eventually increasing his breeding stock to 200 ewes, writes Tiny.
A jeep for some goats
A swap brought Gerald Middleton of Content into the market. He had an old open army jeep which Ronald Jackson badly wanted so he agreed to take 56 Angora ewes in exchange for it. The animals flourished. During their first winter kidding season, they have accommodated a cozy fire in the farmhouse lounge. It snowed that year, but 76 kids survived because of these warm and comfortable conditions. The following year, in August, the ewes were kidded in a “home camp”. They went out into the fields each evening but were collected at sunset and each ewe and her offspring were then installed in a private “suite” – stall – in the shearing shed. The following year they progressed to newly fenced 80 ha “kidding camps”, so it was a true “goatel”. In the first 4 years of the 1980s, Beaufort West Area produced about 180 000 kg’s of mohair – creating a record and boom in the industry.
“In-house” surgery
A teenage member of Commandant Hans Pypers’ Commando, Roelof Liebenberg, was wounded at Tontelboschkolk on the evening of December 1, 1901. He had joined the commando in October 1900. In Die Kaapse Rebelle van die Hantam-Karoo Eben Nel states that on that fateful evening, the British sent three men to the dam to fetch water. They were unaware that there were Boers in the area and all of them were shot. On hearing the shots Hans Pypers, Stoffel Snyman and Roelf Liebenberg went outside. As they were standing next to the house, in the light of the setting sun, Pypers noticed a movement and fired. This brought a volley of return fire. A shot ricocheted from the wall and hit Liebenberg in the shoulder. He was immediately taken indoors where one of the Burgers, using a razor, made a cross-shaped incision over the wound and, using his hands, “popped out the bullet.” Liebenberg recovered and applied for his war medal in 1931.
Surprise Attack
A few days later, on December 9, 1901, at Leeuwendrift, about 30 horses were grazing in a field guarded only by a few unarmed youngsters. In Die Kaapse Rebelle van die Hantam-Karoo Eben Nel says they were unaware of a nearby British column. At about 10h00 when Commandant Louw’s men were about to ride out on patrol, the British struck. The Boers managed to charge through the British line but had to abandon their horses and horse guards. The intelligence agent at Calvinia reported that 14-year-old local rebel, Johannes Loubser of Wilgenbosch, was dangerously wounded in this attack by Colonel Doran’s column. “He will probably not recover. Seven prisoners were also taken.” Loubser did not survive. He died on December 17. Before he died on December 16, Loubser said that he and seven other guards had leaped onto some horses and, riding bareback, tried unsuccessfully to escape. He was forced off his horse by an “Engilsman”, he said, and, while he stood unarmed with raised hands, he robbed him of his knife and some other items and then shot. As he lay on the ground, he heard the man re-loading, but he was not shot again. The next afternoon he set off on foot in search of help. He reached De Puts on December 12 and on December 14 managed to send a message to Van der Merwe, the member of the Legislative Assembly for Calvinia, who lived at Brandwacht. Van der Merwe sent a cart to fetch Loubser, but it was too late. Loubser’s declaration is on display in the Calvinia Museum
A dreadful slip-up
Jacob Willem Stephanus Nel, a Cape Rebel of the farm Klipbankshoek, in Calvinia, was one of the horse guards in Commandant A Louw’s Commando who was taken prisoner that day. The group was taken to Sutherland and from there to Matjesfontein where they stood trial in a Military Court on January 24, 1902. Nel was sentenced to penal servitude for seven years for high treason under arms, but the Royal Commission reduced the sentence to two years. He was granted partial amnesty in March 1903. When his medal was minted the number 6 was used instead of a “G” in horse guards. This was pointed out when the medal came up for sale.
Finding a way
Patrick Fletcher who was one of South Africa’s first formal engineering geologists, arrived in South Africa, in 1850. He was a qualified civil engineer and in 1854 surveyed the first 193km of the Orange River. Patrick found opportunities for engineers were limited, so he studied for and passed the examinations for land surveying. There was a great need for such men in the rapidly South Africa. He set off for Namaqualand where there was a copper mining boom, but it was threatened by the difficulty of transporting the ore to the coast. So, he decided to bring the first 13 bags of copper ore down to the coast by boat on behalf of the Kodas Mine. This almost ended in disaster when a hippopotamus tried to capsize the vessel, so, the company abandoned the idea of river transport. Patrick then visited the Cape Copper Company at O’kiep to discuss transport and discovered that ore from these mines was transported along extremely primitive, rugged tracks, to Hondeklip Bay, by a motley fleet of ox wagons and mule trains. They traveled along unmade roads across mountains and crossed where there was little chance of wagons toppling over. These steep climbs took a terrible toll on animals, men, and wagons.
A rough, tough job
Within short Patrick was appointed government surveyor for this area. He teamed up with Thomas Hall to try to find an answer to the transport problem. The preferred solution was a narrow-gauge railway to Port Nolloth, but because of costs, it was out of the question. Then a properly engineered road down the escarpment was suggested, but the government rejected that as well, however, sustained pressure from the mines and community forced the approval of the scheme. Funds were approved and Patrick, who was Inspector of Roads, was put in charge of the survey, design, and construction. It was a tough job, carried out by convicts supervised by “totally inexperienced” overseers. The major feature of the route was the Messelpad Pass, now a National Monument. Built between 1867 and 1871, it is still mostly in its original form. Despite the labour problems, droughts, and cattle sickness, the workmanship was excellent. Dry-stone retaining walls solved the problem of wagons tumbling down the escarpment. Patrick left Namaqualand in about 1875 and settled in Cape Town where he became involved in water supply schemes to the city area. He was the first person to propose a dam on the top of Table Mountain and the creation of a tunnel through the Twelve Apostles. Both projects were built a decade later. Patrick also worked on a water supply for Queenstown, some major bridges across the Orange, the road to Port St Johns at Indwe, and Millwood Gold Fields near Knysna. He died in 1897.
Valuable feathers lost
When the Titanic sank on April 12, 1912, it was said that the most valuable cargo on board was a shipment of ostrich feathers insured for $2.3 million. At that time only diamonds were worth more by weight than feathers. The reason for this was a hat craze. Everyone woman who was anyone needed hats with feathers – the bigger the better. The feather trade was extremely profitable, and South Africa was the ostrich farming capital of the world. Feathers were its fourth largest export behind gold and diamonds, and ostrich feathers were the most profitable because they were light and fluffy. Oudtshoorn was the epicenter of the feather trade and magnificent feather palaces are still tourist attractions. The feather industry was hit by war and the Model T. Huge feather-bedecked hats were totally unsuited to motoring.
Convoy Attacked
On December 19, 1901, during the Anglo-Boer War, a convoy of 50 wagons left Clanwilliam to take food and other supplies to Calvinia. It was escorted by the columns of Lieutenant-Colonel Wyndham and Lieutenant-Colonel Crabbe, each with 2 guns of the 88th Battery Royal Field Auxiliary. On 20 December, as the convoy started the descent to the Doorn River on the farm Elizabethfontein, they were shot at by men from Commandant Theron and Commandant Smith’s commandos. The convoy hurried to the river, unaware that an ambush had been set up there by more rebel Commandos. As the first wagons crossed the river the Boers began to fire. This caused some consternation until the British guns were brought into action. The Boers retreated in a north-westerly direction. On the Boer side four men were slightly wounded. Three British soldiers were killed, four subsequently died of wounds and five were wounded. Private Lyons, one of the men killed in the attack, is buried at St Johns Church, Clanwilliam.
A series of serious skirmishes
The Sixth Frontier War, which lasted for nine months, was a series of skirmishes, that started with an attack in the Albany area. Fierce fighting broke out in the bush. Captain Alexander of the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment reported: ‘It is certainly no child’s play tracking through the dense bush on a narrow path in Indian file with volleys of musketry suddenly pouring out from above, and naked, stalwart men yelling and stabbing assegais from the elephant grass.” Widespread panic and confusion amongst the settlers ensued. Ludwig Krebs, a respected apothecary and natural history collector who spent his entire career in South Africa, and who was discussed in Round-up No 320, August 2020, wrote an interesting and personal account of the war. It provided concise details of the defense and combat strategies of some frontier farmers. He did not join a local commando but did experience the conflict and had several guards attached to his property. In a letter to Lichtenstein he said: I sent a messenger on horseback to Colonel Henry Somerset and asked Mr Ziervogel (the magistrate in Somerset East) … to send me a guard as I would not like to leave my farm.” At that time this was not possible. He also mentioned that he had put up small barricades near the entrance to his house and made loopholes in the stone walls and outbuildings.
War approaches
“Towards evening, one day, I saw smoke rising from burning houses to the east and feared my farm would be next,” he wrote. “I examined all my guns and positioned them handily. I then went into my room and being tired, lay down on the settee.” As it turned out, Krebs and his servants did not have to defend his farm alone. That night a commando of men with “shining guns” rode onto the farm and positioned more guards around the kraals. The next day there were 60 men stationed at Krebs’s farm. Thirteen families followed seeking protection and a “great number” of Tambookies arrived with their wives and children. “They must have numbered over one hundred and the farm looked very warlike,” wrote Krebs. The full story of this tense and torrid time can be read in an article entitled Ludwig Krebs – A Naturalist’s Observations of the Sixth Frontier War written by Marian Baker and published in the Military History Journal of- December 2007. He describes the stresses and strains of trying to provide for the masses on his farm and his fear for his animals, but, in the end, ever the naturalist he mourns the loss of plants in the veld. Krebs was much esteemed for his high intelligence and for his readiness to provide, as far as was within his power, for the welfare of all within the sphere of his influence. Those who knew him said: “He was a man of cultivated mind, of scientific attainment, of strict sobriety.” His death was viewed as a severe loss to the Colony.
