The Coast of Treasure by Lawrence G Green 1933 263pg

  2/1/2020 Adventures describing South West Africa and area today called Namibia and other places.

The Kaokoveld includes Etosha Pan and it is the desolate region south of the Kunene River which borders on Angola. In 1486 on Cape Negro the Portuguese, Diago Coa placed a marble pillar. The SA hunter Donald Bain a heap of skeletons of elephants called Ivory Valley. This area is the last refuge of the Bushman who once roamed the whole of Southern African till displaced by the Bantu tribes and later the whites.

Even though the German colonized the whole territory the never moved into this area but the Bushman kept away from them and remained hidden to avoid slaughter. The Bushman eat all food they get and use their stomachs to store it they often swollow it without chewing it properly. They also occupy parts the Kalahari from Okovago to the Orange River When they light fires scorpions arrive that they eat. The only animal they have domesticated is the dog and it never makes a noise. Few of their children survive. In season hundred of centipedes or moths come out and they eat them. There is no water and they depend on melons to drink. There were once camel patrols through Ovamboland.

Walvis Bay outlawed American whalers and hunters Ivory and slave traders came here. 1878 HMS Industry declared the area British. Bahai de Baleas Walvisch or Whale, called by the English Walwich or Woolwich became Walvis in Afrikaans. Someone killed an ostrich and found a diamond it its gizzard after that 12000 ostriches were killed and their skins were exported via Walvis bay. Swakopmund has green trees and so many live there and commute to Walvis. Barracouta or snoek is only found in the Cape and you have to catch it on a hook using shark as bait and hit it on the head in the struggle. Between Walvis Bay and Lüderitz is 250 miles of coast littered with ship wrecks. Sandwich harbour has fresh water and food and plenty of firewood from wrecks. Conception Bay Hottentot children found playing with blue white stones. In 1910 James Kolman a coloured who had worked in Kimberley worked on the railway and shovelling dirt Stauch picked up a stone Kolman told him it was a diamond. So Kalmandorp was named.

1486. Bartholomew Diaz set up a Pillar in Lüderitz.

The German architecture can also be seen in Cameroon, Togoland and Tanganyika. From 1904 the Germans fought the Herero uprising for 7 years and slaughtered or put hundred of captives on waterless Shark Island in Lüderitz bay. The territory between Lüderitz and the Orange River is known as "Coast of death and diamonds."

On Hollams Island Bird Islets hunters go and club thousand of seals for their pelts. This was regulated by the authorities but on foggy days was done illegibly. Possession Island is the largest of the guano islands. On Ichaboe Island guano to the depth of 25 feet.This island was taken as British territory in 1861 under the guano are preserved bodies of seals that died from plague. The Orange is SAs greatest river but not for shipping and times even a rowing boat can't enter. Named in 1777 after the Prince of Orange. In Alexander bay Dr.Hans Merensky found a hoard of diamond and became a millionaire. Then the state stepped in and closed off the area called the Richtersveld.

IDB Illicit Diamond Buying - in SA to own uncut diamonds you have to have a licence otherwise they are considered stolen. Augrabies is 60 miles below Upington and is considered one of the great waterfalls. Dassen Island in January scores of people are employed to collect penguin eggs, they take an egg from each nest and the mother lays more.

Robbin Island off Cape Town was a leper colony, Makanna the Rebel chief from the Cape frontier wars of 1819 was imprisoned there..The biggest residents there are rabbits. It has a light house. All lighthouses came about after many ships are wrecked. All homes at Blauwberg have absorbed flotsam from the sea and if not useful was used as firewood. Saldana bay has Jutten, Marcus, Malagas islands at its entrance, Langebaan had 2 whaling stations. The Berg River starts in St Helena bay and is the only navigable river for 45 miles and reaches Tulbagh. Hippos lived in it. It is believed that Basque whalers reached Newfoundland before Columbus. Table bay contains the bones of Portuguese caravels both Dutch and British East Indiamen, pirate brigandines and schooners. Historical article brought up by bucket dredger, in Table Bay harbour.

In 1860 an army of convicts build the Table Bay breakwater. Before this was ready a gale in 1865 caused the loss of 18 ocean going vessels and 30 other ships. He describes work on the 750 ton fishing trawler that has a crew of 14 and earn according to the catch sale. Even then they had an express train carrying fresh fish on ice to the to Johannesburg every week. Ascension island had the telephone cable that linked SA to South American and Australia with a large staff there. The island has a 3000 feet Green Mountain above the settlement Georgetown. St Helena had a British garrison when Napoleon was there. Turtles after they lay eggs are taken for eating. the East India company brought African slaves as well as Chinese and Indian or English who emigrated after the great fire of London 1666 to St. Helena but once the Suez canal opened trade there ended. During the Boer War thousand of prisoners were brought there, as well as General Cronje and Chief Dinizulu. Tristan de Cunha is one of the remotest island occupied by British soldiers and shipwrecked sailors and women brought from St. Helena. They have a socialist society and were not interested in catching more fish than they could eat. They did export sheep to Cape Town. Gough island took years to plot it correctly on the map as the sun never shines there and was considered a mystery island and it kept moving position on the map. . Many remote island the admiralty set up food stores in a hut for shipwrecked castaways.