Random Bluff history notes – Part 1

‘IT is strange, considering how close we live to it, that the people of Durban really know very little of that bold and picturesque headland known as ‘the Bluff’.

Day by day its steep, darkly-wooded extremity, and its park-like, spreading foot-slopes rest in sunshine and in shadow under our eyes, but very few of the burgesses of Durban have set foot upon any portion of the promontory other than the extreme end, where the ‘cave’ and the ‘lighthouse’ offer special attractions to excursionists and picknickers.

About half a dozen settlers, we believe, reside on the more open portion of this isolated little district, but the difficulty or the fancied difficulty of getting to it, has kept visitors and settlers away. The only landward point of access is round the head of the bay along rough, tangled and tortuous roads, or by boat at high water.

This is to be regretted as no part of the neighbourhood of Durban possesses greater natural charm. The views from any point are enchanting; the vegetation is rich and picturesque; the soil is fertile and the climate is healthful. We know of no more enchanting seaward view than that which spreads below the heights of Wentworth. There is no reason why the many attractions and uses of the Bluff should not be turned to greater account than they are.

We should like to see government publicly offering for disposal building lots on the Bluff itself, so that the townspeople might enjoy the advantage, more fully than they can now, of the glorious view and climate to be got up there. Doctors say a fortnight passed at or near the lighthouse is as good as a sea voyage of equal duration, and they are not far wrong. All around you and right below you spreads the blue and broad infinity of the Indian sea, while from whatever quarter the wind blows it comes laden with the salt flavour of the ocean.

The white surf that has been begotten by storms – who knows where? – breaks in ceaseless roll upon the rocks beneath. As the tide ebbs these rocks are left in black and jagged nakedness, until, through unseen clefts the waves spurt up in sudden and treacherous activity. Once or twice a day troops of porpoises pass to and fro among the breakers through which they sweep and rush, the sportive squadrons of the sea. Down on the beach itself are all the treasures of the shore; while to the prosaic mind, the movements of the shipping offer a mild species of excitement.

But why say more? If the reader thinks we have over-rated the facts, let him live a week on the Bluff and see.’

Researched by Duncan Du Bois

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