Port St Johns is dominated by two features - the mountains and the river. The cliffs on either side of the river form the "gates" guarding the river gorge. Hundreds of millions of years ago, they were massive beds of sand that eventually hardened to become the impressive cliffs we see today.
"The lofty table-topped mountains on each side of the river appears to have been cleft to its base, making the sheer sides of the wedge-shaped gap through which the Umzimvubu River flows. These two cliffs take their names from General Thesiger and Commodore Sullivan, who arrived in Port St Johns in the 'Active' in 1878 to hoist the British flag. Mt Thesiger is on the west bank, the same side as the village, and Mt Sullivan on the east bank. That is the bank on the side of Lusikisiki. From whatever angle, these forest-clad cliffs are an imposing sight as the rise on either side of the river." (Jean Coulter, author - Remembering ... The Life, The People And The Places: 2001)
Mt Thesiger, despite its sheer cliff face which rises more than 300 meters, is the more accessible mountain of the two 'Gates'. Its top is so flat that there is an airstrip running along its summit. For generations, the children of the town have spent their school holidays trekking up the mountain and entertaining themselves on the summit near the sheer drop-off.
The following stories all have Mt Thesiger (local name 'Mpembeni') as their setting. The first story involves the airstrip at the top of the mountain being used as a training ground for an 11 year old first-time pilot. The second story illustrates the fact that young boys should not use a 300 meter high cliff as a playground, and the third story is about a hare, a hat and a hunting trip to the top of the mountain in the dark:
Learning to fly off Mt Thesiger:
"One memory that I will never forget: My dad, who worked for Eli Spilkin from 1976, owned a Cassna 4 seater. I think he bought it from Eli. I was about 11. We arrive and land in Port St Johns. He had some business to do. After he finished doing what he needed to do he turns around and says 'Son, today is the day you will learn to fly.' After a quick 30 minute crash course, and a couple of Bells whiskeys later, we were off. Him riding shotgun, and two sheets to the wind, I learned to fly. We landed in Umtata without incident. He was one crazy guy."
(Andrew Baillie - his dad, John, managed the Savoy and Grosvenor Hotels in Umtata)
Naughty boys on the top of the mountain, a near-tragic fall and Wilson the Hero:
"As very small boys, my brother Arthur and I would spend a lot of time with one of our greatest friends, young John Handley, who lived just up the road (in Undercliff) and was the same age as Arthur. We would get up to a lot of mischief and eventually Aunt Molly Handley employed a local man to accompany us at all times and make sure that we behaved reasonably well. His name was Wilson, and he was a star. He had the patience of Job and we gave him an incredibly hard time. We had him at his wits end trying to keep us safe and out of trouble. We would climb trees and then be too afraid to climb down. Wilson would have to come to the rescue. Wilson would have to watch us like a hawk when we went down to the river, keeping us from drowning. (This was before we learned to swim). Wilson would get into trouble for allowing us to get our clothes full of mud. If one of us did get hurt, Wilson would get into trouble. If we were late for meals, Wilson would get into trouble. Poor old Wilson, we ran him ragged.
One of Wilson's greatest feats took place when were were a little older. We had climbed up to the top of Mt Thesiger and were rolling boulders over the edge of the cliff and watching them fall down to the distant forest, about 700ft below. There was a ledge about 30ft down and the boulders would strike the ledge and bounce out before falling the rest of the way. John Sobey was with us that day. He had been tenaciously trying to loosen a huge boulder, a little way back from the edge of the cliff, when it suddenly came free. He lost control of it and it rolled down the slope straight at John Handley who was standing on the edge of the cliff watching a recently launched boulder. John Sobey shouted a warning and John Handley instinctively jumped out of the way but, unfortunately, he also jumped over the edge of the cliff!
By some incredible stroke of luck, when he hit the ledge, about 30ft down, he stuck on it and did not bounce over. We could see him lying on the ledge, unconscious, and thought the worst. Wilson, in tears, as we all were, had an extremely difficult climb down to retrieve John. He found a roundabout route on the one side of the cliff where it was not too sheer and was able to climb down to the ledge. He crawled along the ledge until he got to John, took his shirt off, got John onto his back, and tied him on with the shirt. He then slowly climbed back up again, with us all bawling and praying that he would make it. He did make it and we set off for home with John still on Wilson's back. John had not died and regained consciousness on the way home. He suffered a concussion and plenty of bruises and scrapes. Amazingly - no broken or fractured bones!
I think Wilson resigned soon after that and went back to his kraal to de-stress." (Dudley Daniel)
The Hare in the Hat:
An amusing snippet about a hat and the hare in the hat:
"We used to go up Mt Thesiger to shoot hares at night. Once we went up with a bloke by the name of Cyril Rogers, a Coloured guy who was a blockman at the Tiger Flats butchery. We used to go up from behind Garth Lloyd's place in Tiger Flats. Cyril always wore a hat. That night, we had a large hare in the bright torch light. It was sitting up looking at us and Cyril crept towards it and decided that he would throw his hat over the hare. Well, as he threw the hat over it, the hare took off - still wearing the hat, into the darkness and down over the cliff!
I'm sure the hare survived somehow, but Cyril's hat was never seen again. It probably got caught in a downdraft and went floating off into the abyss." (Howard Daniel)
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