I recently headed off to Mpumalanga to try to retrace the footsteps of Percy Fitzpatrick and his famous dog Jock. Jock of the Bushveld was one of my favourite books as a child. It’s the true story of a young man and his bullterrier during the early days of the Transvaal gold rush. Percy Fitzpatrick became a transport rider on ox wagons ferrying goods between the gold fields and the port of Lourenço Marques in the 1880s. In those days, before the advent of the railway, provisions of all kinds were in high demand and stood at famine prices in mining towns such as Lydenburg and Barberton. His adventures with his famous dog have become legendary.
Read the March issue of Getaway to find out just how closely you can still follow the ‘Jock Route’. We commissioned Cape Town artist and dog portrait specialist Sarah Pratt to draw a number of images of Jock, reproduced above.
If you’d like to get in touch with Sarah, cell 082-294-6896 or email
[email protected].
