A TRIBUTE TO THE PIONEERS OF BUSHMANS KLOOF     NOVEMBER 1998

Bill McAdam and his son Mark have restored Bushmans Kloof into a thriving wilderness area which today nurtures priceless wildlife, protects the history, heritage and culture of the San, and secures the future of the unique botanical diversity of the region.

The harsh terrain and the mountainous region has been a challenge to the McAdam’s  pioneering spirit, just as it did for their Scottish ancestors who traversed this very terrain hundreds of years ago. When the McAdams took ownership of 7500 hectares of overgrazed farm land in 1992, their vision was to turn it into the wildlife sanctuary it once was. The local community was sceptical, and fascinated by these “crazy Scotsmen”, and over the years many bets were lost as the community witnessed the McAdam father-son team turn their dream into a reality.

Today at Bushmans Kloof, the efforts of the early Scottish pioneers are deeply respected, the Scottish heritage proudly honoured. In a tribute to those tough explorers who travelled through the area which has become Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve, the four Executive suites in the Manor House have been named: Gordon, Masson, Paterson and Niven. The famous Bain pass-builders father and son team is remembered in the naming of the Manor House’s Bain’s Bar.

Robert Jacob Gordon was one of the most important of the eighteenth century travellers in South Africa. He was particularly famous for his travels into the interior, his exploration, his collection of maps of this country and drawings of the scenery, inhabitants, flora and fauna. Between 1777 and 1786 he made five journeys into the interior, naming the Orange River, and penetrating the Southern African subcontinent further than any known predecessor or contemporary.

William Paterson came to South Africa as a seed collector for the Countess of Strathmore, and between 1777 and 1779 undertook four journeys into the interior of which two went north through the Cederberg area. He covered some 9000 kilometres in a spate of two years and extensively documented botanical and zoological material which is still of great value today.

Francis Masson was a gardener to King George III, whose journeys between 1772 and 1774, and 1786 and 1795 included a route via Piketberg and Heerenlogement, on to Calvinia. He thus passed through the area where Bushmans Kloof is today. He recorded his journeys and his was the first publication in English of a personal account of extensive travels in South Africa, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1776). Masson’s works contain valuable typographic, geological and hydrographic accounts.

James Niven worked in the Botanic Garden at Penicuick in Scotland and travelled to the Cape of Good Hope in 1798 to collect seeds, where he stayed until 1803. During his second visit between 1805 – 1812, he collected seeds for Empress Josephine, and embarked on a journey through the districts of Malmesbury, Piquetberg and Kamiesberg where he collected rare species of Protea. He returned home with a considerable herbarium, including a set of Erica specimens which found its home in the Botancial Garden in Edinburgh.

Andrew Bain, and his second son Thomas have been responsible for constructing many roads, mountain passes and bridges throughout South Africa, and their lives have become strongly associated with the Olifants River Valley and the Cederberg. Thomas was born with the skill and eagerness of a botanist, and was responsible for the discovery of four different plants. He came across a number of fossils of which one housed in the British Museum is named after him: Bradysaurus bainii. While constructing the Pakhuis Pass (located en route from Clanwilliam to Bushmans Kloof) he came upon important painting sites, and his sketches of Eland painted by the San, are housed in the South African Library. He settled with his family at the foot of the Piekeniers Kloof, between Piquetberg and Citrusdal.