Quathlamba
“A mass of Spears. Named
thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came. Today called the
Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon. Evocative names, both equally applicable
to South Africa’s mightiest mountain range with its spear-like peaks –
reminiscent of the saw-toothed spine of a gigantic dragon.”
“Listen to the streams as they gurgle from their cradles and you will hear
the story of the mountains. You will hear fascinating tales if only you listen!
Lie next to a stream and listen to the song of the mountains. The smiling faces
of the flowers, dancing in the wind. Venture into the remote valleys or stand
on a peak at sunrise or sunset, after snow has fallen, and you will hear a song
that you will never forget - the Song of the High Mountain".
DRAKENSBERG WILDERNESS
PHOTOS © WILLEM PELSER
“WE ARE THE
PILGRIMS, MASTER, WE SHALL GO.
ALWAYS A
LITTLE FURTHER, IT MAY BE.
BEYOND THE
LAST BLUE MOUNTAIN BARRED WITH SNOW.
ACROSS THAT
VALLEY OR THAT GLIMMERING WATERFALL.”
UNKNOWN
The Dragon Mountain
The Drakensberg range is part of
the Great Escarpment which is the edge of the interior plateau of Southern
Africa and which extends from the North-Eastern Transvaal, near the Tropic of
Capricorn, for a distance of about 960 kilometres to end in the Stormberg in
the Eastern Cape
The Wolkberg, in the extreme North, is
spectacular and well deserves its name – “the Cloud Mountain”. It rises at the
point where the range separates the Highveld from the Lowveld. It was on the
slopes of the Wolkberg, where the clouds cling to the lichen-covered cliffs,
that John Buchan, the novelist who was eventually to become Governor General of
Canada, dreamt his dreams and from the highest point, the Iron Crown of Prester
John, one can see the great chain running southwards towards the KZN border.
At this point the range turns in a
south-westerly direction, separating KZN from the Orange Free State, until it
climbs majestically to Mont-aux-Sources. Here it swings in a south-easterly
direction, now separating KZN from Lesotho and seems to tower over the rest of
South Africa. At Giant’s Castle the mountain wall swings once again in a
south-westerly direction and continuous as part of the “Roof of Southern
Africa” to the Cape border. Continuing on its journey, but not quite as high,
it now separates Lesotho from the Cape Province finally to end in the Stormberg
of the Eastern Province.
From Mont-aux-Sources
to the Cape border the escarpment is known as the KZN Drakensberg or the “High
Berg”, where the range averages a height of about 3 000 metres and is one of
the most important geographical features in Southern Africa, containing some of
the most rugged and wild mountain scenery on the African continent.
The origin of the name Drakensberg is
obscure and probably we shall never know who actually decided to call the range
the “Dragon Mountain”. But one thing is certain that long before the
Voortrekkers reached the area in 1837, this was its name.
Did the name perhaps originate from
the serpents of Bushman mythology? Bushman certainly believed in supernatural
serpents, which can be seen in paintings in the various shelters of the KZN
Drakensberg. It is possible, however, that the tribesman, after seeing these paintings,
or having heard stories about mythological serpents related by the Bushman,
believed that these creatures actually lived in the remoter regions and on
meeting Europeans they told them about these monsters. The Bloemfontein Advertiser on 26th April 1877 published a
letter to the editor which described how a Boer and his son had seen a huge
dragon, the thickness of a wagonwheel, with wings and a forked tail. The Boer
called it a flying Dragon. Old Boers on being asked why it’s called the Dragon
Mountains would reply “because there is a dragon there”. Local tribes’ people
would confirm the story. The range is also referred to as Quathlamba. This name
was also used in early maps. It means “a barrier of up-pointed spears”.
The KZN Drakensberg is the highest
mountain range in South Africa giving rise to many of the major rivers so
important to the economy of the country. The High Berg is really an escarpment
and many a visitor has climbed to the top expecting to find a great drop on the
other side similar to the one looking back into KZN. Instead he finds,
confronting him, the desolate mountainous plateau of Lesotho.
The watershed, which is often the edge
of the escarpment, is the national border between Lesotho and the Republic of
South Africa.
The End.
Safe Hiking.
References
and Acknowledgements
From
the book – A Cradle of Rivers – The Natal Drakensberg – DA Dodds
Photos: ©Willem
Pelser
Compiled by: Willem
Pelser
