Blood River, also known as Ncome, (Afrikaans: Bloedrivier) is situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This river has its sources in the hills SE of Utrecht; leaving the highlands it is joined by two important tributaries that originate in the Schurveberg, after which it flows meandering through a sandy plain. The Blood River is a tributary of the Buffalo River, itself a tributary of the Tugela River which it joins from the north-east.
This river is so named after the Battle of Blood River in which Zulu king Dingaan was defeated by Andries Pretorius' troops in 1838.
The Blood River Vlei, located about 20 km to the south-west of Vryheid, is one of the biggest inland wetlands in South Africa, and the wintering place of migratory birds such as ducks and geese.
Famous quotes containing the words blood and/or river:
“This nation is founded on blood like a city on swamps
yet its dream has been beautiful and sometimes just
that now grows brutal and heavy as a burned out star.”
—Marge Piercy (b. 1936)
“It is impossible to step into the same river twice.”
—Heraclitus (c. 535–475 B.C.)