The culmination of VOC cartography at the Cape was the remarkable Map no 3 of the Gordon Collection in the Prentenkabinet of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (see Fig. 14.12). Robert Jacob Gordon, a Dutchman of Scottish descent, was Commander of the Dutch garrison at the Cape from 1780 to 1795. He undertook four notable expeditions into the interior from 1777 to 1786 which he recorded in journals. 150 He also left behind a portfolio of important maps and charts,151 as well as exquisitely executed topographical drawings and sketches of the inhabitants of the country and its fauna and flora.152
Fig. 14.12 Gordon’s Map no 3 of the Cape Colony (Copyright for this image by the Rijksmuseum Prentenkabinet, Amsterdam, map RP-T-1914-17-3)
Gordon’s Map no 3, also known as Gordon’s “Great Map”, measures 180 x 196.5 cm on a scale of approximately 1:750,000. It covers Southern Africa eastwards to the Great Fish River and northwards to the Orange River and is drawn within the graticule of a modified cylindrical projection. In the west there is an extension north of the Orange River into the present Namibia which was copied from C. F. Brink’s map of Hops’ expedition referred to above. The map depicts a large amount of finely drawn and accurately positioned topographical detail and contains numerous illustrations of the indigenous peoples and animals that are commented upon in copious notes. A few small areas are incomplete and although the southern coastline is only lightly drawn, it is a faithful representation. The names of numerous farms and their owners are depicted and the barometrically ascertained elevations of over 36 points are shown. The fact that Koeman refers to this map as one which “exhibits all the characteristics of an amateurish product”,153 probably stems from the fact that he never made a study of it himself. Forbes, who did, is of the opinion that Gordon’s Map no 3 “ bears everywhere the stamp of authenticity complemented with the greatest accuracy obtainable under the circumstances in which it was compiled”.154
Gordon’s life came to a tragic end when he, weakened by illness, committed suicide shortly after the surrender of the Cape to Britain in 1795. Forbes states that Gordon was as instrumental as Van de Graaff and maybe even more so, in preventing the complete cartographic archives of the Cape from falling into British hands.155 In January 1794 Gordon listed 143 maps, plans and topographic drawings in the castle at the Cape. It is highly probable that of the 95 cartographic documents taken to England by his wife in 1797, many if not all belonged to the 143 listed 3 years earlier.39 Unfortunately for later generations, the larger part of Mrs Gordon’s consignment to England has not survived as there are now only 15 maps and one plan in the Gordon Collection in Amsterdam.
It is not entirely clear whether Gordon drew Map no 3 himself, or whether the actual drawing was done by his German batman, the artist Johannes Schumacher, who accompanied him on all four his journeys into the interior. Certainly Schumacher was responsible for the execution of many of the beautiful panoramic drawings (some up to 4 m in length) which are associated with Gordon and his travels.
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