An Old Cape Legend

Table Mountain seen from Table Bay. 

Whenever the southeaster howls over Cape Town, rushing down from the mountain and roaring through the streets of the city, a dense cloud forms over the mountain and pours over the edge. There is a legend attached to this phenomenon, and that is the legend of old Capt. Van Hunks. So, for those who do not already know the story, here is the tale of Van Hunks.

Capt. Van Hunks was a retired pirate, the legend has it, who had settled down in retirement and made his home just below Devil's Peak, the high peak flanking Table Mountain on the north. The old fellow had the habit of climbing the mountain to his favourite spot where he would settle down against a large rock, light his pipe and have a contemplative smoke while surveying the beauty of Table Bay below. In those days the Castle of Good Hope was much closer to the beach and there were not many houses around, as it was still just a refreshment station for the United Dutch East-India Company.

One day Van Hunks approached his rock and found to his annoyance that there was another fellow seated in his customary spot. The man was dressed all in black and had his hat pulled down over his eyes.

"Aaah, good day, Capt. Van Hunks!" the stranger greeted him. The old pirate was taken aback, but was even more irritated by the loss of his favourite seat, so he told the interloper to get lost, as that was his, Van Hunks's, place where he smoked every day. The stranger said he also smoked, and produced a pipe of prodigious size, but that did not daunt Van Hunks, who claimed that his tobacco was the strongest around and that no-one could smoke as much of it as he did. The other fellow begged to differ, so the two agreed on a smoking competition.

They puffed away all day long. The smoke from their pipes spread over the flat top of the mountain and started pouring down to the sea, much to the amazement of the good burghers of the Cape. Eventually old Van Hunks was beginning to feel a bit green and hot and bothered, but he refused to be the first to stop. Not long afterwards, though, the other fellow threw down his pipe with an almighty curse, declared himself beaten and doffed his hat to the old pirate.

Van Hunks's eyes popped and he nearly choked on his smoke when he realised he had just beaten the Devil himself! Of course Old Nick was rather cheesed off at being beaten, so he swore some more and then both of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a clap of thunder.

Ever since then, when the cloud pours down the mountain, Capetownians say, "Ah, Old Van Hunks and the Devil are at it again!".

Van Hunks and the Devil.