Historical Rock Signatures

For many years we knew about the human signatures on the northern “dassie klippe” of Florence. We never knew what they meant and why people would write their names and dates on those rocks. Some of them are so high that it could not have been done without standing on  horseback.

And then one day somebody told us the story. Many years ago, farming  was different on the highveld of Chrissiesmeer and Ermelo, farmers did not plant maize and other green pastures for their sheep to feed on in winter, they all had “wintersveld”. That was a farm in the warmer parts of New-Scotland close to Swaziland (Steinsdorp) and even in Swaziland.

Farmers would move all their livestock by foot from the end of April, to the warmer farms where the grazing was sufficient for the winter. In October when the highveld had had enough rain and the grazing was restored they would move everything back again for the summer months.  My father Tom Steenkamp were one of those farmers, he moved with 30 000 sheep to Swaziland every year while working for Eksteen Jacobs. Along the road were “uitspannings” twhich were places with water and shelter for them to rest every night. The northern Florence “dassie klippe”  was such a place.

The farmers had the habit of  writing their names and  the date on those rocks when they went down to the “wintersveld” The earliest inscription was  made in 1904 by G.J.E.