Browsing by Subject "Cape of Good Hope"
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- ItemOpen AccessA collection of discrete essays with the common theme of gender and slavery at the Cape of Good Hope with a focus on the 1820s(1993) Van der Spuy, Patricia; Worden, NigelThis is a collection of discrete essays, each embodying original research and bearing on the theme of gender and slavery at the Cape of Good Hope. Amelioration at the Cape profoundly altered gendered perceptions of slaves, both on the part of slaveholders, and of the slaves themselves. The amelioration regulations entailed a redefinition of the gender of female slaves, which was resisted by slaveholders and transformed by slave women, while slave men began to redefine their own gendered identities in this light. Slaveholders' traditional patriarchal self-concepts were severely threatened in this context, as they progressively lost power and authority, both to the new paternalist colonial state and to those who had formerly been subsumed within the patriarchal family. There are five papers, the first an introduction to the theoretical framework of the collection and an outline of the general argument as outlined above. The second paper provides a critique of existing Cape slave historiography from a gendered perspective. It examines the problems of this literature methodologically and theoretically, focusing on the implications of the slave sex ratio for the history of slave women. The final three papers are based on empirical research. The third paper examines the structural constraints on slave family formation in Cape Town from the perspective of slave women. The fourth and fifth papers explore issues related to infanticide and slave reproduction, and slave resistance in relation to the Bokkeveld rebellion of 1825, respectively.
- ItemOpen AccessAspects of plant dispersal in the southwestern Cape with particular reference to the roles of birds as dispersal agents(1988) Knight, Richard Spencer; Knight, Richard Spencer; Siegfried, Roy; Moll, Eugene JThe dispersal of plants with particular attention to the roles birds play as dispersal agents was studied in the southwestern Cape, South Africa from 1983 to 1985. The research was organized as ten inter-related studies, each with an independent data base. Each chapter focused on a different scale of plant dispersal processes ranging from regional assemblages of plant species to individual species. At the largest scale, the seven vegetation types commonly occurring in the southwestern Cape were examined for incidence of vertebrate-dispersed plants. Coastal Thicket and Afromontane Forest were found to be the richest in these species. The colonization of vertebrate-dispersed plants was examined in an artificially cleared area of Mountain Fynbos vegetation. Enhanced densities of vertebrate-dispersed species were found in areas where perches had been provided. The seasonal availability of vertebrate-dispersed species was found to be most continuous in Coastal Thicket vegetation. Fruit displays of vertebrate-dispersed indigenous plants were found to vary from those that were sporadic and inconspicuous, to those that were conspicuous and predictable, whereas those of alien plants were usually large and conspicuous. Avian use of these fleshy fruits in Coastal Thicket was examined and found to be proportional to their availability. A study of fruit presentation in relation to leaf number and stem thickness suggested that sessile, stem attached fruits have fewer local leaves at time of ripening than fruits which are presented in panicles. This may enhance accessibility and conspicuousness of stem attached fruits for dispersal by birds. Four autecological studies tested certain predictions arising from models developed to describe fruit/frugivore interactions. The dispersal of the alien Acacia cyclops seeds by the indigenous Black Korhaan Eupodotis afra suggested that successful fruit/frugivore relationships are not necessarily the product of reciprocal evolution. The study on Chrysanthemoides monilifera found that efficient dispersal systems are not limited to plants producing small quantities of lipid-rich fruits and to dispersal by obligate frugivores. The abiotic dispersal of Quercus robur was found to be efficient in relation to vertebrate-dispersal. The study on Protasparagus aethiopicus found that the morphology of fleshy fruits may also reflect attempts to overcome the effects of non-dispersing seed predators. 1It is concluded that a gradient from a predictable to unpredictable fruit availability provides a better basis for studying fruit/frugivore interactions than the coevolutionary models. previously presented.
- ItemOpen AccessCharles Darwin and John Herschel(2009) Warner, BThe influence of John Herschel on the philosophical thoughts of Charles Darwin, both through the former's book, Natural Philosophy, and through their meeting in 1836 at the Cape of Good Hope, is discussed. With Herschel having himself speculated on evolution just a few months before he met Darwin, it is probable that he stimulated at least the beginnings of the latter's lifelong work on the subject.
- ItemOpen AccessStructural analysis of some pre-Cape formations in the Western Province(1969) Hartnady, Christopher John HubertThe principal objective of the present study was the testing of previous stratigraphic interpretations, particularly in respect of the Klipheuwel and Franschhoek formations, by means of attention to hitherto generally neglected structural or tectonic aspects of the pre-Cape rocks. In the Worcester area, it was found that the structural sequence across the so-called Malmesbury-Klipheuwel unconformity (de Villiers, Jansen and Mulder, 1964) is the reverse of that previously postulated, and the controversial correlation of the lower (previously upper) formation with the Klipheuwel Group cannot be maintained. The deformation of the pre-Cape formations is considered to have taken place in four stages or phases, labelled 0, M, X and K in sequence. The Early phases, 0 and M, are responsible for the broad stratigraphic pattern, while the Late phases, X and K, locally modify the earlier structures and have little or no effect on the distribution of rock types. An important tectonic discontinuity, or slide, apparently separates the upper formation from the two lower units, and close to the much younger Worcester Fault, a pre-Cape thrust has brought sheared and mylonitised granitic rocks to rest against the former. Structural relationships at Franschhoek are confusing, but in Kaaimansgat structures of Early and Late generations can be distinguished. In these southern areas the deformation of the rocks is again such that they clearly cannot be correlated with the Klipheuwel Group. However, their close association with older, sheared granitoid rocks and caraclasites - one of the main points upon which the Franschhoek-Klipheuwel correlation was based - is not in dispute. Although granite studies were not included in the scope of this work, one of the incidental results has been to widen the field of the older granite problem to include Kaaimansgat and Worcester as well as Franschhoek. The relationships of the pre-Cape formations treated in this work - called the Boland Group (after Rabie, 1948) - to the "Malmesbury" formations farther west is still problematical. The deformation of most of the pre-Cape formations in the Western Cape Province, Boland and "Malmesbury" alike, was apparently effected during a major orogenic event in upper Proterozoic - lower Paleozoic times. The term "Saldanian" is proposed as generally descriptive of this event and the structures which it has produced.
- ItemOpen AccessStructure, distribution and phenology of perennial plant species in the Worcester Veld Reserve, in the arid winter rainfall region of the Southwestern Cape(1989) Boshoff, C RHigh structural diversity amongst plant species in the arid winter rainfall region of southern Africa is common to other arid regions of the world. Details of the range and combinations of structural attributes in species, and within plant communities, are not widely known for southern African arid ecosystems. Hence little is known of how plant-form distributions vary within and between arid ecosystems. and of the environmental factors that may be responsible for any variations found. Nor is much information available on how phenological behaviour relates to the structural attributes of plant species. This study examined structural attributes of perennial plant species on the Worcester Veld Reserve, southwestern Cape. in relation to their distribution and phenology. Species were grouped on the basis of above ground structural and anatomical criteria. The distribution of species and plant-forms was assessed through a phytosociological survey along an environmental gradient in the area, and their phenology determined through qualitative and quantitative monitoring of species phenophases over a two year period. The results show that species of the predefined structural groups i) Co-occur throughout the area. but relative abundances vary from site to site and in relation to topography. aspect and the presence of Mirna-like mounds; ii) Phenological patterns for the flora overall are strongly seasonal, but the timing and periods of phenophases differ between, but are relatively uniform within, the defined structural plant groups. Since phenological patterns are indicative of resource-use patterns. these results indicate that the different plant-forms have different functional responses to the conditions of limited water availability and summer drought. This conceivably facilitates the co-existence of species in this water-limited environment. Habitat variability. which can be related to land-form patterns. is also implicated as a factor facilitating the co-existence of a diversity of species and plant-forms. Structural functional relationships known for arid region plants help to explain the relative uniformity of behaviour within plantform groups. and aid in understanding the ecological significance of distribution patterns of plant-forms in the arid landscape. The conclusion is reached that because of the close coupling between photosynthesis and water-use. the water storage potential and photosynthetic organ type are plant attributes which can serve as useful criteria by which arid region species can be grouped into ecologically meaningful categories or functional guilds. The formulation of a practical and meaningful functional classification is necessary to facilitate the understanding of complex vegetation patterns and processes within arid ecosystems. and allow for meaningful inter-ecosystem comparisons.
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- ItemOpen Access