More about “Hopewell”

Pineapple lands near Bathurst

           “Hopewell was situated on an area between two deep valleys and there were nine more farms further on.   Ours was one of the first and our eastern border was the Bushmans River.   A few miles down the road was “Harmony” the Bradfield’s farm.   Harvey and Lizzie had both been married before and each had children from those two marriages and together they had Desmond and Stanley, boys of about my age.   Lizzie had a daughter who was already married and a nice looking son Reggie Reynolds who was in the army.   Harvey had a daughter, Trixie, and two sons, Junior and Hunter, about the same age as my sisters.   Junior was also still in the army and he sent Bertha some very nice postcards from Egypt.   Mrs Bradfield was a pretentious woman and was not the least bit interested in my mother.   As a matter of fact, as far as I can remember she had very few friends.   She may have called after our arrival but never again.   I don’t think that it was a happy family.   She would never have approved of any of her sons visiting my sisters.

Bertha Whittal

         

Our next door neighbours were Captain and Mrs Suttie and their only son. Todd.    A very short while after we had moved down there, Captain George Suttie passed away and was buried in Salem.   Mrs Suttie became my mother’s closest friend and Todd and my sister Bertha became like brother and sister.   Bertha soon became a very sought after young lady with the young men of that area all competing for her attention.   There were even some who came down through the Bushmans River and up the bridle path on horseback to call on her.   Thelma in the mean time was sewing and filling her bottom drawer with pretty linen for the day that Gordon Bradford would come for her.

           

Thelma Whittal

 On the farm were big fields of pineapples and it was the first time in my life that I was allowed to eat a whole pineapple by myself.   The method was to break the top of the fruit off, cut the fruit in half, and then to eat it out with a spoon.   This was so different to the withered pineapples that my mom used to buy at Christmas time to make a fruit salad which we called “angels food”.   At first we used to eat a couple of pineapples each a day.   It was fun!   But we got used to it and after that we slowed down to a few slices a day.

            The other crop planted on our farm was Chicory, a member of the sunflower family which produces a large tapered root which has been used for many years for its beneficial effect on the human digestive system.   Chicory is also widely used in beverages as a blend with coffee and as an ingredient in pet food and breakfast cereals.   It was first introduced into South Africa for commercial use in 1895 in the Alexandria area.

          

  The third crop was mealies (maize), mostly grown for human consumption and poultry food.   It was never grown in the same quantities as in the Free State as the Eastern Cape’s rainfall was too little for such quantities.   Among the mealies other crops would also be planted.   This was especially a very popular method with the black labourers where they were given lands to grow their own food.   They grew a lot of sorghum which was then known as ‘Kaffir Corn’.

The goats were always feeding in the lands

            The black staff all kept goats and it was a continual battle with them to keep their animals out of the crop fields.   It was usually the duty of their young boys to herd the goats but they were most unreliable in performing their duties.   They would rather be out hunting with their “Kaffir” dogs.  

Killing hares, Bushbuck lambs and other small animals.   There were also a lot of “Dassies”or Hyrax on the farm which they were encouraged to kill.   These little animals also known as rock rabbits were very clever in hiding in their dens under huge boulders where the dogs could never get them, so they had to be stalked in the open and cut off from their dens by the dogs.

            There could never be enough hours in a day for an eleven year old boy to do everything that he wanted to do.   My mom would be upset with me when it came to mealtimes and I was missing again!    I soon learnt to carry a sturdy stick wherever I went and this could be used for many purposes.   I was also learning to speak IsiXhosa which was very important in communicating with the locals.

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Africanis - the dog of Africa

         

  (The word “Kaffir” is not allowed to be used in South Africa any longer so I suppose the dogs I wrote about above would be called “Native” dogs.)   The Internet writes about them as- “You'll see them in the villages and dirt roads of rural South Africa, and on the streets of the country's townships: seemingly undistinguished medium-sized dogs, sometimes scrawny, with long snouts and short brownish coats.   Some dismiss them as mongrels, strays or even, because of their long association with black South Africans, with the racist epithet of "kaffir dogs".   But these dogs are a distinct breed, endemic to southern Africa and with a proven lineage going back some 7000 years. They are the Africanis - the dog of Africa.”   It is said that they are wonderful animals and very faithful to their masters.

            The Zulus call their mongrel dog a “Mgodoyi” and they are also used for hunting and when a Zulu wanted to insult a man, he would call him a ”Mgodoyi”.

Dassie.

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