HISTORY
have been Koolspruit (a brook
being a small stream or
“indigenous” breed of pigs
spruit). However, it became
named the Colebrook. (A
Kolbroek, which translates
more prosaic origin of the
back into English as
Colebrook breed is that they
“spotpants”.
were introduced by
Portuguese traders in the 15th But back to the False Bay
Century, having been brought seaside of yesteryear:
Collecting whatever flotsam
to the Cape from China).
they could from the wreck,
If one follows the shipwreck
the survivors set off up the
version, here a quirk of
coast towards Gordon's Bay,
translation creeps in: “Cole”
and then directly across the
in middle English, means
Cape Flats, on foot, towards
cabbage (as in coleslaw =
Cape Town, at the time under
cabbage salad). So when the
Dutch control.
name was translated into
Learning that the ship had
Afrikaans it should, directly,
been carrying, in part, military
cargo, the Dutch authorities
launched a salvage party,
naming (in a fit of spectacular
linguistic misunderstanding)
the spot where the
Colebrooke had foundered
“Kogel Baai”. In time, the
area of the HottentotsHolland Mountains immediately behind the beach
became known as the
Kogelberg and, being a region
From