Thunder on the Blaauwberg ~ Lawrence G. Green

Thunder on the Blaauwberg ~ Lawrence G. Green

Reprint 1966
Medium hard cover with dust jacket
Slight shelf-wear to cover but generally very good condition

The author stores some of his possessions and notes in a friend's cottage at Blaauberg, on the opposite side of Table Bay from Cape Town. As he walks on the beach, or goes through his notes, or looks at some of the objects he has collected, he is reminded of people he has met or heard of, places he had seen, and some of the sounds, tastes and smells of Africa. There is a chapter on famous wines, some of which have vanished. Another chapter deals with bottles, including ones with messages and model ships inside. The final chapter deals with cephalopods -- octopuses and squids -- especially the large monsters said to have been maneaters.

Among the people he mentions are John William Dunne, who used to visit the Blaauwberg in his youth, and developed a novel theory of time; Solomon Rabinowitz, a lonely diamond prospector; and Edward, Duke of Kent, whom some members of a Green family in South Africa (unrelated to the author) claimed to be descended from.