Gourits River

The Gourits River flows from the confluence of the Gamka River and Olifants Rivers  It is joined by the Groot River, before flowing through the Langeberg Mountain range and the coastal plain. It reaches  Gourits Estuary near Gouritsmond before draining into the sea. The name’s exact origin is unclear, but G. M. Theal mentions Hieronimus Cruse, who first crossed it from East to West in 1667 and found the name the Gouriquas used meant ‘dirty’. The Portuguese indicated a river on the Martellus map of 1489. It appears as Rio della Vache, which in Portuguese is ‘Rio das Vaccas’ (the river of the cows).