THE Gats River runs from the Sneeuberg mountains southwards to the town of Graaff Reinet where it merges with the Sundays River at the Nqweba Dam, and so effectively links the town with the village of Nieu Bethesda. It is reputed to be one of the fastest-flowing rivers in the country due to the large variation in altitude from top to bottom, which probably explains its ancient deeply eroded canyon.
Two (satellite) farms, Schoonberg and Magnum, straddle the Gats. (Yes, really, the farm’s name is Magnum and has been since the 1850s.) These farms provide the herd of Nguni cattle and free-roaming game with a harsh, but healthy, environment of plateaus In and deep kloofs between the rugged mountains. Hunting seasons and game quotas are issued through the Amandelhoogte Conservancy, a group of like-minded farmers who have been working in collaboration for over
