1669_SKCPN

Keiskamma

Keiskamma

K 3327 AD

Toponymica Hottentotica: A2 (H-Z)

27.375

-33.375

12.5 km radius

by mond

afr Beutler 1752 GM RZA 3 288 '...en ten laatsten dat sijn land van het Damasonquas land tot aan de riviere Chijs Chamma strekte'. Ibid. 291 '...voor de Chijs Chamma rivier dewelke soowel door de Caffers als de Hottentotten met den eygensten naam word genoemt...' Sparrman 1775 VCGH 2 151-2 '...there was a river, called Kaisi-kamma, which derived its source from a mountain known to the colonists by the name of the Bambusberg, or Bamboo-mountain, from the circumstance of a sort of reeds or bamboos growing upon it, which were very much prized by them for the purpose of making handles for their long whips'. Paterson 1779 NFJ 91-2 '...a river a little to the eastward of us, called by the natives, the Kys Comma'. Van Reenen J 1790 VRV #151 '...at the Keis kamma, where several Kaffers came to us from...Captain Sambee'. Barrow 1797 ATIS / 191 '...we came to a river of very considerable magnitude called the Keiskamma'. Lichtenstein 1803-6 RISA I 412 'An der Miindung des Flusses Keissi (Keiskamma der Hottentotten) liegt ein Anker von einem gestrandeten Schiff' Ibid. 468 in voetnoot '...fur Keissi hat er (Alberti] den hottentot- tischen Namen 'tKeiskamma (t'Kamma bedeutet nemlich Wasser oder Fluss)...' Van der Kemp 1803 soos by Maingard 1934 hieronder aangehaal. Burchell 1811 1 269 'The Hottentots, when speaking Dutch, call these pit- falls by the mixed name of ’Kysi-gat, or Tkysi-gat...' ǀen voetnoot hierby:] 'This word, as I learn from the Hottentots, is the true etymon of the name of a large river, now forming the eastern boundary of the new English colony beyond Algoa Bay, and which should therefore be written Kysikam- ma, or Keisikamma'. Hewitt JA 1877 CMM 15 381 'Keis-kamma, Kaffraria (? gkeis, xkama - puff- adder river)’’. Kingon 1918 SAJS 15 721 'We now know that...certain Hottentot tribes...were assimilated into the Kaffir tribes...Moreover, the very derivation of the name Keiskama (originally i-Xesi) indicates an agreement arrived at, as between the Kaffirs and Hottentots, by which the fourth river from the Kei was to be the dividing line between the races. Perhaps it was this fact which gave rise to the generally received idea that the Kei marked the eastern limit of Hottentot-Bushman advance'. Pettman 1931 SAPN 28-9 'Keiskamma ( ^keisa, glittering, shining), a river of the Eastern Province; as applied to this river the name is generally supposed to mean ‘sweet’ or ‘shining’ [en dan haal hy Burchell by en verbind sy 'kysi- van ’kysigat as ‘vanggat’ met Kroenlein se '.geisib.] The river was also known as the Kysee, but that might be the European reproduction of either the Hottentot ^keisa or the Bergdamra Igeisib. The derivation from the former of these two words appears to be the more probable one...' Maingard 1934 SAJS 31 142 'Etymology of Keiskamma. A hint as to the right derivation is given by Van der Kemp; ‘it is composed of t’kei, sand, and t’kamma, water’ (Transactions of the Missionary Society, 1903, p. 400, note). His knowledge of local conditions and of the Gonaqua language makes his statement decisive. It is also confirmed by the name of the historic Sand River in the Free State, ǀǀkeise-ǃab, as given by my Korana informants, lab here meaning ‘spruit’...Anders (Blythswood Review (1934) 44) derives it from ǀǀgaisa, ‘strong’.' Anders 1934 Blythswood Review 44 [soos aangehaal by Du Plessis 1970 hieronder:] 'that Xesi means: great strong river'. Du Plessis 1970 TVV 26/3-4 38 'As die naam op ’n ooreenkoms dui, soos Kingon beweer, is die sleutelwoord vir my die woord vierde [kyk Kingon hierboj. Die vier riviere van die Kei af is die Gqunube, Nahoon, Buffels- rivier en Keiskamma. Tussen die Hottentotwoord vir vier, nl. haka en Xm(kamma) sien ek geen verband nie. Maar tussen die Hottentotwoord vir vyf, nl. gisi en A'm(kamma) is daar wel groot ooreenkoms t.o.v. klank. Sluit mens nou die Keirivier ook in, kan jy die kloutjie by die oor bring, want dan is daar nie meer vier riviere nie, maar wel vyf...Keiskamma, die vyfde rivier'.

afr Skead CJ 1973 Gazetteer 97 gee die koordinate aan soos hierbo. Die plek le aan die Vaalrivier, so ongeveer in die buurt van Waldeck’s Plant bokant Bakenkop, distrik Barkly-Wes. Die naam kom nie meer op die Topo- kadastrale kaarte voor nie. Stevens se opgawe moet so gelees word dat die X die laterale suigklap ǀǀ voorstel, en die -1- is klaarblyklik gehoor vir die huidige ooreenstemmende k- (ǀǀkhaisa = agt, Rust 1960 DNW 2) en die g- (ǀǀgana- = kameeldoringboom, Rust 34, telkens Rynse spelling). CM Stevens se broer George is blykbaar die segsman - hy het nog twee van die agt borne gesien. As ons nie so gelukkig was om hierdie eerstehandse inligting te ontvang nie, sou mens die afleiding ernstig kon betwyfel het op grond daarvan, byvoorbeeld, dat die tweede lid sonder uitsondering by almal behalwe die Stevense as kam(m)a gedokumenteer is, nie as -kan(n)a nie, wat ons tot 'water' of 'rivier' sou gelei het. Nou word vir ons sigbaar gemaak hoe onverwags daar ’n verspringing kan voorkom. In ieder gevai het ons geen twyfel oor die ge- gewe afleiding nie, en bowendien bewaar die naam in sy betekenis ’n stuk topografie wat vandag heeltemal verlore geraak het, nl. van die agt kameel- doringbome daar.

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