Great Fish River

thumb|Landscape near the middle course of the Great Fish River

The Great Fish River (called great to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) () is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish River mouth is known as the Sunshine Coast. The Great Fish River was originally named Rio do Infante, after João Infante, the captain of one of the caravels of Bartolomeu Dias. Infante visited the river in the late 1480s.

The name Great Fish is a misnomer, since it is a translation of the Dutch Groot Visch Rivier, which was the name of a tributary in the vicinity of Cradock, which at its confluence with the Little Fish (Klein Visch Rivier) forms what is properly called the (Eastern Cape) Fish River.

Course

The Great Fish River originates east of Graaff-Reinet and runs through Cradock. Further south the Tarka River joins its left bank. Thence it makes a zig-zag turn to Cookhouse, from where it meanders down the escarpment east of Grahamstown before its final near-straight run to its estuary 8 km northeast of Seafield, into the Indian Ocean.

The river is generally permanent, having water all year round, although its headwaters rise in an arid region, and the natural flow can be sluggish in the dry season beyond the ebb and flow of the tidal reaches; now, water from the Orange River system can be used to keep up its flow in dry periods. The river is tidal for roughly 20 km.

Dams on the basin

Egerton Dam
Elandsdrift Dam

Climate

At the river mouth, the climate is temperate with around of rainfall that falls mainly during spring and autumn. Mean temperatures range from with extremes as low as or as high as .

Ecology

In the 1970s, a major water project brought Orange River water, via the Fish River, for agricultural and industrial use. The tunnel for this was a major engineering undertaking, with the intake at Oviston (an acronym, in Afrikaans, for Orange-Fish Tunnel). Oviston is on the shores of the Gariep Dam. A hydro-electric generating plant is placed at the Fish River egress, but is uneconomic and is not in use.

Mixing of waters from two watersheds has been environmentally disastrous—much of the Fish River ecosystem is now taken over by Orange River flora and fauna.

Flora

At the river mouth, there is Valley thicket, dune thicket, riparian vegetation and fynbos. The eastern Cape giant cycad, the red and the white milkwood are protected trees. Other significant species include the acacia, white pear, Karoo boer-bean, wild banana, dune poison bush, wild plum, coral tree and small knobwood.

Fauna

There is a small population of the endangered Eastern Province rocky (Sandelia bainsii) in the Kat River, part of the Great Fish river basin.

The Fish River mouth area supports several species of large and small mammals including five antelope species, bushpigs, various rodent species including mongoose, hyrax, hares, rats and mice, bats, and the shy Southern African wildcat, the small spotted genet, striped polecat and the Cape porcupine. The most commonly viewed wild mammal is the vervet monkey, which has been known to grab food under the nose of unsuspecting guests at the Fish River Sun Resort.

There are over 135 species of marine and terrestrial birds found along the river including the colourful Knysna lourie, giant kingfisher and the fish eagle.

There are 26 species of snakes, of which only five are venomous.

History

thumb|Explorer [[Emil Holub fording the flooded Great Fish River near Cradock (1879)]]

During the 19th century, the river formed the border of the Cape Colony and was hotly contested during the Xhosa Wars of 1779 to 1878 between the Xhosa nation on the one side and the Afrikaner colonists and the British Empire on the other, and in 1835, the Fingo people were permitted to settle on the river's banks. During apartheid, the lower reaches formed the western boundary of the nominally independent Ciskei homeland.

Between 1846 and 1847, the Fish River mouth area became a hive of activity during the War of the Axe, one of several frontier wars at the time between the Xhosa nation and Britain. A ferry was constructed at the Fish River to link the Cape Colony (western side of the river) with Waterloo Bay (the small bay near the mouth of Old Woman's River which now flows through the Fish River Sun resort). Waterloo Bay, named after the first ship which unloaded cargo in the bay, served as a landing place for soldiers and supplies in the war. Several ships wrecked along the Fish River coast during these years.

The following are notable historical sites at the Fish River mouth, mostly encompassed within the Fish River Sun Resort premises which the establishment has endeavoured to protect:

Maitland Military Camp

The main military camp was on the eastern bank of the Old Woman's River, called Cape Maitland, in honour of Sir Peregrine Maitland, Governor of the Cape Colony. The name was later changed to Fort Albert in honour of Queen Victoria's husband. The camp consisted of huts and tents surrounded by an earthwork and was abandoned at the end of the war. The camp site was ‘rediscovered’ when large quantities of artifacts were unearthed during the construction of the Fish River Sun golf course. Old Woman's River runs through the course. The course has hosted some large events including the Africa Open in 2008.

Great Fish Point

Great Fish Point is a lighthouse situated near the mouth of the Great Fish River, about 25 km from the coastal holiday resort of Port Alfred.

Before the lighthouse was built in 1898, two ship's lamps exhibiting fixed green lights were erected on a flagstaff at Port Alfred, but these lights later proved to be inadequate. The clockwork system which used to drive the lens is still intact and on display.

Although the lighthouse itself is only high, it is situated above sea level.

References

External links

Fish to Sundays: Internal Strategic Perspective
James MacKinlay diary at Dartmouth College Library