JUST as the legendry Kentucky rifle helped shape American history, and the famous British Brown Bess musket was heard around the world, so the big-bore gun of the trek Boers has its place in South African history. Although all three of these historical designs employed the flintlock mechanism, each had its own distinctive look. The early Boer gun with its heavy bobbejaanboud butt-stock and gaping muzzle would stand out in any collection. The Boers were a rugged breed who lived a rugged life and wanted a gun that could survive years of hard use. Most importantly their guns had to be capable of killing elephants for ivory, rhino for making rawhide sjambokke, hippo for fat and buffalo for leather and biltong. They also shot giraffe for their skins which provided long strips cut from head to tail to make the whips for driving spans of oxen pulling wagons across the rough veld.
Initially, the Dutch victualling station with its attached farming settlement at the Cape was governed
