Spirit of haunted Cape captured
• Phantom daredevil and ghost dog are just two tales
The Flying Dutchman has pride of place in Myths and Legends of Southern Africa by Penny Miller (Publisher Bulpin Publications Cape Town 1979), which is on offer at the James Findlay online book auction
The Flying Dutchman has pride of place in Myths and Legends of Southern Africa by Penny Miller (Publisher Bulpin Publications Cape Town 1979), which is on offer at the James Findlay online book auction (www.jellyfishtree.com).
The author offers evidence of people who claimed to have seen the phantom ship — one no less than King George V, who entered the incident in his diary. On July 11 1881, the king — then a midshipman on the HMS Bacchante, part of a special squadron under Prince Louis of Battenberg — simply wrote: “At 4pm the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows.”
The lookout on the forecastle reported that the ghost ship was close to the port bow. He claimed he saw it clearly “in a strange red light”. Two other warships in the squadron, the Cleopatra and Tourmaline, also claimed to have seen the phantom ship.
Sailors regarded the appearance of the Flying Dutchman as a bad omen. In this instance, seven hours after the sighting, the ordinary seaman who first reported seeing the Flying Dutchman fell to his death from the top mast cross-tree.
Legend has it the captain, Van den Decker, had boasted he would round the Cape in spite of the raging storm.
In 1938, a crowd of holidaymakers on a beach near Simon’s Town spotted the ghost ship. It was said to be visible for nearly half-an-hour.
Legends about old Cape homesteads feature in the book and include names such as Boschendal, Meerlust, Old Nectar and Tokai, which are said to house a number of “supernatural squatters” who make their presence known via noises or personal appearances.
Boschendal, in the valleys of the Drakenstein mountains, is said to be visited by a small curly-haired dog that wanders through the rooms.
Nearby Meerlust is said to receive visits from a “lonely wistful woman”. Apparently, when she is satisfied that the flower arrangements are suitable, she stands on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of the sea, barely visible between the hills.
The Tokai area is known for the splendid Tokai homestead, built more than 200 years ago.
It was named Tokai as the wine from the estate was of similar quality to the famous Hungarian Tokay wines. A number of stories originated here.
Frederick, the son of a previous owner, Petrus Eksteen, was a wild and reckless daredevil prepared to take any risk. At one dinner party, where the wine flowed freely, he accepted a challenge to ride his horse up the outside steps into the dining room. Here he opened another bottle of wine.
The frightened horse charged out of the room with Frederick on his back and jumped from the top step, killing rider and horse. It is said on certain nights the spirits of the horse and rider repeat the fatal jump.