M ANGAUNG — PLACE OF THE
GREAT CATS
It may interest the c u rio u s reader to k n o w th a t Lion and Tiger* (sic.) abounded in the e v iro n s of " B lo o m T o n te in " d u r in g the 18 4 0 's and 18 5 0 's . For example, W illia m F le m m ing in a letter dated 19th October 1 8 4 8 w rote: " L io n s and tig e rs * (sic.) are to be got w i t h i n 3 m iles of B loem fontein. There are tw o young tig ers * (sic.) r u n n in g in the to w n n o w quite tam e w h o s e m o the r w a s killed quite clo s e b y " (Butterfield 1984). W .W . C o llins (1 9 0 7 ) rem inisces th a t w h e n his fa th e r had charge of the local Post Office, (c. 1851), he w a s p a r tic u la rly requested by the Resident m agistrate not to despatch the m a ils to Colesberg later th a n about 4 p.m., as Lions w ere the n ro a m in g at large in t h e i m m e d i a t e n e i g h b o u r h o o d o f B loem fontein in the v ic in ity of Q u a g ga fo nte in and the adjacent h ills — "a n d these were dan g erou s c u s to m e rs fo r postriders and o thers to meet w it h alone and unprotected at n ig h t " . C o llins also refers to personnel attached to the B lo em fo n te in M ilita r y G a rris o n w h o f o r e x a m p l e d u rin g 185 3 bagged 3 and on a n o th e r occasion 7 Lion.
Lengau, Ja g lu ip e rd , Cheetah, Ac i n o n y x j u b a t u s.
Photo: W alker's M a m m a ls o f the W orld
It is of course not strange th a t large predators in c lu d in g Hyaena and W ild Dog abounded in the v ic in ity of B lo em fo n te in and s o m e tim e s even strayed in to the t o w n because game (prey) w a s e xtrem ely a b u n d a n t in the "O r a n g e Free S ta te " at the tim e. G.A. Fichardt re m in is c in g on the early days of the O range River Sovereignty and the later Orange Free State says th a t one of the d ra w b a c k s fa r m e rs had to contend a g a in s t were the e n o rm o u s herds of game. He k n e w of fa r m s of 10 0 0 0 morgen th a t could not produce more
C .D . Lynch
th a n six bales of w o o l because the game cleared o ff the pasturage not o nly by feeding but by tr a m p lin g the g ro un d to such a n e x t e n t t h a t not a blade of grass could be seen, ju s t " d u s t and dry g r o u n d " (Van der Bank 1984).
Probably because of the abundance of prey and predators " w a s hierdie plek [B lo e m fo n te in ] 'n b ym ekaarkom plek vir ja g te rs ,e n die S w a rtmense het daaraan ook die n aam M a n g a u n g gegee" w h ic h a ccording to S choem an (1 9 80 ) denotes "d ie plek van die g oot katte of lu ip erds ". V andag nog is M a n g a u n g die S o th o -n a a m vir die stad. However, I am not convinced th a t m a n g a u refers to Leopard as alleged, since in S ho rtridg e (1934) and M a b ille & Dieterlen (1937) a Leopard in
Nkwe. Luiperd, Leopard, Pa n t h e r a p a r d u s.
Photo: W alker's M a m m a ls o f the World.
P a in tin g o f "B lo e m fo n ty n " by T. B aines d e picting w hat
Ma n g a u n g looked like in 1851
Sotho is n kw e and a cheetah is le n g a u (plural:
m angau). Zoologically this is s ig n ific a n t since
these tw o species differ quite d is tin c tly fro m each other; a n a to m ic a lly as w ell as in habits and the habitat they generally occupy. These differences the S otho recognized, hence a specific name for each. W h y then the am biguity? Perhaps this arose th r o u g h placing too much e m p ha sis on the w o rd "leopard" in the other colloquial names of the Cheetah, nam ely H un ting leopard and
J a g lu ip e rd , so t h a t e v e n tu a lly in some d ictionaries Leopard instead of H un ting Leopard is lengau.
It is not unlikely that Leopard occurred in Blo em fontein as suitable cover w a s probably available at the time in the koppies and m ountains. Leopard are of course very secretive and p rim a rily n octu rn al and in general more a forest species and not so w ell adapted to an open savanna environ m e n t. Cheetah, by contrast, are d iu rna l and generally a species w h ic h frequent
B IB L IO G R A P H Y
BUTTERFIELD. P H (E d ) 1 9 8 4 The O ra ng e R ive r so v e re ig n ty 1 8 4 8 to 1 8 4 9 The le tte rs o f E n s ig n W illia m F le m in g N a v o rs n a s M u s . B lo e m lo n ie m
4 (1 2 ) 2 7 7 -3 0 4
CO LLIN S W W 1 9 0 7 Free S ta n a o r R e m in isce n ce s o f a life tim e in the O ra n g e Free S ta te S o u th A fric a , fro m 1 8 5 2 to e n d of 1 8 7 5 2 3 ye ars B lo e m fo n te in F rien d P rin t & P ub Co Ltd
M A B IL L E & DIETERLEN 1 9 3 7 (6 th ed ) S e su to . E n g lis h M o r.ja Pub
S C H O E M A N K 1 9 8 0 B lo e m lo n ie m D ie o n ts ta a n van n s ia d / 8 4 6 - 1 9 4 6 K aa p sta d H u m a n & Rousseau
open p lains — such as are fou n d in the Orange Free State.
But w h a t's in a name one m ight ask. Does it m a t t e r w h e t h e r t h e S o t h o n a m e f o r Bloem fontein, M a n g a u n g , denotes Leopard or Cheetah? Zoologically it does, as in m any of the old w r itin g s a m b ig u o u s names such as tiger or panther were often used thereby restricting our knowledge of w h a t w a s exactly referred to.
S ym b olically it also matters, consider for
example w h a t the im p lic atio n s m ig h t have been had the em blem of B loem fontein City featured a Leopard instead of a Cheetah.
* Tigers, unlike any other south ern A fric a n felines, have stripes and not " s p o ts " and do not occur in Africa, n o tw ith s ta n d in g Tiger is used to refer to a n um ber of A fric a n felids w h ic h have " s p o t s " e.g. Serval (Tierboskat), Black-footed cat (M iershooptier), Leopard (Afrikaanse tier) and no d ou b t also the Cheetah (H u n ting leopard).
S HORTRIDGE. G C 1 9 3 4 The m a m m a ls o l S o u th W est A lr /c a L o n d o n . W illia m
H e m e m a n n Ltd.
S M ITH E R S , R.H .N 1 9 8 3 . The m a m m a ls o l th e s o u th e rn A fr ic a n s u b re g io n . P re to ria U n iv . P ta., S. A fric a
V A N DER B A N K , D .A (Ed.) 1 9 8 4 A vo ice fro m B lo e m fo n te in , the re m in is c e n c e s o fG u s ta v A d o lp h F ic h a rd t M e m . n a s M u s .. B lo e m lo n ie m 1 9 : 1 114.
CORNELIS WESSELS
(
1 8 5 1
-
1 9 2 4
)
D ie d o k to ra le p ro e fs k rif van J . H aasbroek, DIE R O L V A N C O R N E L IS H E R M A N U S W E S S E LS IN D IE O R A N J E V R Y S T A A T 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 2 4 , w o rd eersdaags d e u r die N a sio n a le M u s e u m g e p u b lise e r.
C.H. W essels het die O ra n je -V rysta a t in verskeie belangrike openbare posisies gedien, w a a ro n d e r leier van die A frika n e rb o n d in die B o s h o f-d is trik (1 883-1 885), V o lksra a d slid (1 885-1 899), lid van die U itvoerende Raad (1 8 9 2 -1 8 9 5 ), vise -voo rsitte r van die V olksraad (1896), v o o rs itte r van die Volksraad (1 8 9 7 -1 8 9 9 ), D eputasielid (1 9 0 0 -1 9 0 2 ) na Europa, R usland en die Verenigde State van Am erika gedurende die A nglo -B o e re o o rlo g, Sentrale Kom iteelid van das eerder sy forse persoonlikheid, politieke takt. n u g te re denke, h a rd w e rk e n d h e id , sin v ir g e re g tig h e id en o nb etw isba re liefde v ir die V rysta a t w a t m eegebring het dat hy in hierdie leiersposisies gedien het. Hy w a s ingetoe van aard, m aar sy aangebore w a a rd ig h e id , tesame met n aangenam e aardse hum or, het horn laat u its ta a n . Hy w as g root van gestalte met g ro w w e gelaatstrekke en 'n kenm erkende snor
