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www.thevillagenews.co.za
FROM THE EDITOR
24 March 2021
Our wild, wonderful environment
Have a conversation with anybody in this region, a local or a visitor, and sooner or later someone is likely to say, “We’re/You’re so lucky to live in such a beautiful environment”.
around for longer than the blink of an eye, but the damage we do can last much longer.
Yes, we are indeed fortunate, and regular readers will know that The Village NEWS frequently draws attention to the efforts of so many of our residents to keep it that way.
We greatly admire the many volunteers who gladly offer up their time and energy to clear away alien vegetation so that the fynbos can re-emerge from its stranglehold, or to organise beach clean-ups; not to mention those who rush out at night, braving snakes and thorny bushes to save chameleons from falling victim to bulldozers.
At the same time, we believe it is necessary to point out instances of exploitation or desecration of our natural world. After all, we are not
As they say, extinction is forever.
NEWS The Village NEWS Team
De Waal Steyn
E: dewaal@thevillagenews.co.za
Hedda Mittner
CONTENT EDITOR T: 083 645 3928
E: hedda@thevillagenews.co.za
Raphael da Silva ONLINE EDITOR T: 074 125 5854
E: raphael@thevillagenews.co.za
Elaine Davie
JOURNALIST T: 084 343 7500
E: elaine@thevillagenews.co.za Taylum Meyer PRODUCTION MANAGER, PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN T: 084 564 0779
It’s all very well to become emotional about the destruction of wild places and their inhabitants, but if we do not take active measures to secure the fundamental rights of our fellow humans, we are sunk before we’ve
Already, many beautiful species of plants and animals, which have taken millennia to develop, are disappearing from the earth at an unprecedented rate.
begun. If people are hungry, have nowhere safe to stay and no access to clean water or sanitation, why would they grant that privilege to animals? We will go a long way if we understand that the welfare of our environment is inextricably tied to the welfare of our most vulnerable citizens. Survival of the planet demands it. This is the good NEWS
Phantom of another Opera
THE VILLAGE
PUBLISHING EDITOR
However, while many of us may throw ourselves wholeheartedly into saving the planet, let us not forget that human beings are an integral element of its life and as our numbers grow, seemingly out of control, competition for resources brings us into direct conflict with many of our fellow creatures.
But until we stop discarding plastic bottles and bags, fishing tackle and other pollutants in the ocean to tangle up and kill our rich diversity of marine life, and until we decide not to build roads or luxury estates in ecologically sensitive environments, we cannot be sure that the unique biodiversity of the area, or indeed humankind, will survive.
By Murray Stewart murray.stewart49@gmail.com
T
he For Fact’s Sake columns are – according to Google research and the Duck ’n Fiddle’s archives – sort of based in truth.
We’ve all heard tales about the Flying Dutchman, described as a fully rigged, three-masted Eastindiaman, which would suddenly materialise through the mist, then simply vanish a few minutes later. Marco Polo claimed he saw it while rounding the Cape of Storms on his way to the East, but not unlike a certain unnamed ex-President, he was renowned for telling the most appalling porkies. So let’s dig deeper. There seems to be a thread of truth in the yarns that were spun around this mystical ghost ship. Hundreds of people claimed to have seen it, and although he’d never even been to Africa, let alone Cape Point, Wagner managed to write an opera about it – Der Vliegende Holländer. But more about him later. On a steaming hot day in March 1939, Glencairn beach in False Bay was buzzing with sun worshippers catching the last summer rays, when out of the haze sailed a fully-rigged Eastindiaman – a ship last seen centuries ago around the Cape. Everyone on the beach saw it – no question. Hundreds of people who didn’t know each other, all recounted exactly the same image.
A newspaper article the next day reported that “...a ship with all her sails drawing well, although there was not a breath of wind at the time, appeared to be headed towards Muizenberg”.
a ravenous south-easter. It shredded the sails and buggered the rudder, and according to legend, Henny became increasingly frustrated and furious as all his navigational tricks failed against the raging gale.
Further round the bay, another sighting was recorded in the British South Africa Journal of 1939: “...dozens were watching the vessel which seemed hell-bent on self-destruction somewhere along the sands of Strandfontein beach. Just as the excitement reached a climax, however, the mystery ship simply vanished into thin air”.
Taking advantage of his vulnerable state of mind, the Devil persuaded him in a dream to defy God’s attempts to prevent him rounding the Cape, and the challenge was too enticing for an ego like Henny’s. Well, it would appear he took the wrong advice because retribution came swiftly as an Angel of the Lord commanded that “he should roam the sea forever... till God shall rend the sky”.
The descriptions everyone gave pointed unmistakably to a 17th century merchantman, long since out of production.
The ship would soon founder and slowly sink, but Captain Henny was bound by God to keep his vigil over his vessel until Doomsday, so he pops up now and again to let us know he’s still around.
Old records show that in 1680 a three-masted Dutch Eastindiaman, captained by Hendrik van der Decken set sail from Amsterdam for the Dutch East Indies settlement in Batavia.
The last sighting was off Mouille Point in Table Bay in 1942. Dozens of people watched it sail towards Robben Island, then suddenly vanish. Not one of them, according to police reports, was stoned at the time so it must be true.
Now, Captain Henny was widely described as “a brash man of adventurous, fearless and reckless disposition, with few scruples and an unsavoury demeanour and reputation”. Not what you’d really want in your CV.
Anyway, back to Wagner and operas. Mark Twain claimed that “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds”, whatever that means. Veteran comedian Victor Borge said “when an opera star sings her head off, she usually improves her appearance”, which is a bit rude. But the composer Rossini lamented “how wonderful opera would be without the hysterical singers”, and that “Wagner has beautiful moments and awful quarter-hours”, which is even ruder.
But he was a skilled seaman, and the ship’s owners put their trust in him and his brash boasts in the Amsterdam pubs that he’d return with a fortune – come hell or high water. As it turned out he got both. While approaching the Cape of Storms he came face-to-face with the razor-sharp teeth of
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