Mossel Bay - History
HISTORY OF MOSSEL BAY
MOSSEL BAY is where Europeans first set foot on Southern African soil when Bartholomeu Dias landed here in 1488, 165 years before the first settlement in Cape Town. The first Christian Chapel in Southern Africa was built here by the Portuguese. This is also the site of the first "Post Office", the Post Tree, which is still growing today!
Bartholomeu Dias, the Portuguese Navigator, was the first European to discover the Southern tip of Africa, while searching for a spice route to the East. Having missed the Cape during a storm, his first landfall was Vleesbaai where he was prevented from going ashore, either by hostile Khoi cattle herders or by the rough surf, so he continued around the Point and landed in what is now Munro's Bay on 3 February 1488. The Portuguese used this Bay for about 150 years until the Dutch Fleet forced them off the Indian Spice Route. Dias found a fresh-water spring close to the shore and this led to the first clash between Europeans and inhabitants of Southern Africa when Khoi cattle herders tried to defend their water supply and one of them was killed by an arrow from the landing party. Dias named the bay AGUADA DE SAO BRAS, the Watering Place of St Blaize, as they landed here on the festival day of this Saint. The Spring is still here today but now no longer flows on the surface to the sea nearby although it was still flowing during the 70s.
Dias sailed eastwards along the coast as far as the Great Fish River where his crew refused to go any further. As was the custom, he erected a padrao at his turning point before sailing Home. After years of research, pieces of this padrao or Portuguese Cross were found at Kwaaihoek near the mouth of the Bushman's River and are now in safe-keeping at Wits University. On his way back Dias discovered the Cape and named it Cabo de Boa Esperanza, Cape of Good Hope, and not Cape of Storms as is believed. Nine years later, in 1497, Vasco da Gama landed in the Bay. He traded a red cap and some bangles for an ox with the little brown men on the beach, possibly the first barter commercial transaction on the Sub-continent. It is recorded that the Khoi-Khoi (Men of men) were now friendly, produced reed flutes to make music and danced, and that the seamen joined in the fun- the first non-racial party in this country!
A Portuguese Captain, Joao Da Nova, was presumably responsible for the famous Mossel Bay Stone, which has the inscription 1500 or 1501. The Stone itself is housed in the SA Museum in Cape Town, but a cast can be seen in the Cultural History Museum in Mossel Bay. The early seafarers found 3 tribes here, the Gouriqwas, the Outeniqua or Attaqwa, and San. The Khoi and San are both believed to be descendants of early man in Africa. The San were hunter gatherers, while the Khoi, also called Strandlopers, were herdsmen and fishermen. They kept cattle for pack animals and for riding on. The Khoi possessed a good knowledge of healing herbs and were often called upon to help sick sailors left in their care.
In 1500 the Portuguese Navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral captained the first fleet sent to trade in India. Their fleet was nearly destroyed in a severe storm and Dias, who was a Commander on one of the ships, perished in a watery grave. In l500 or 1501 on the homeward journey, one of the fleet's Commanders, Pedro d'Ataide, left a letter for any passing ship in a seaman's boot tied to a branch of a milkwood tree (or under a stone) next to the spring in Mossel Bay. In 1501 when Joao Da Nova called in at the Bay he found the letter. This tree became a regular place for ships on the Eastern route to leave letters, in fact the first "Post Office" in Southern Africa. It is almost certain that the huge milkwood tree in the Museum Complex is the actual Post Tree used by the early sailors. These milkwood trees are known to reach a very great age. The seafarers mentioned a very big tree 500 years ago and this tree is estimated to be about 800 years old. Almost 100 years later, the Dutch Navigator Cornelis de Houtman sailed the Spice Route to India and called at Mossel Bay in August 1595. He made a map of the Bay and the Island. A copy of this map is now in the Museum. When the Dutch navigator, van Caerden, could only find mussels to replenish his ship's stores he named this bay MOSSELBAAI. He found enough meat in the next bay and named it VLEESCHBAAI, previously named "Bay of the Cattle Herders".
After the Cape was settled by the Dutch in 1652 migration gradually took place in different directions and by 1700 reached the Southern Cape. The first farmers or Boers from the Cape arrived to settle here in 1729. The first loanfarms granted were Hagelkraal (1729), Elands Dans (1730) Vogel Vlei (1733) Ruiterskraal (1742) and Ruiter Bosch (1754). Typical homesteads of the time had 3 feet thick walls, built with stones and mortar of mud. Several of these homes are now more than 200 years old and still occupied. The early farmers farmed with sheep, wool and grain. In 1787 the Dutch East India Company erected the first grain barn in the Bay for farm produce awaiting shipment to the Cape and Batavia. These crops are still cultivated in this area.
In 1733 or 1734 the homeward bound "Huijs te Marquette" called at the Bay with a broken mast. A local farmer, Esaias Meyer, came to the assistance of the crew and rode on horseback for 7 days to Cape Town to seek help. It must have been an important ship as the Governor of the Cape and his Secretary, Ryk Tulbagh, traveled to Mossel Bay in haste. Meyer was rewarded with the "leeningsplaats" (loan farm) Harten Bosch, and both these officials signed the Deed of Award. Many of Meyer's descendants are still living in Mossel Bay and Hartenbos.
The farmers congregated in the Bay to attend their Church, and eventually a School and a shop were started. By 1827 seven plots were privately owned. There was a whaling station near Dias Beach and it was reported that up to 30 whales a year were processed there. Whales are now protected and use the Bay as a calving sanctuary. In 183l a Scot, Alexander Munro, was granted a seal hunting permit. He made his home, and later built a tavern, near the fountain where Dias landed and called it Munro's Hoek. His restored home and tavern are still here - two small Cape cottages. In 1852 Sir Harry Smith officially named the town Aliwal South. This name led to much confusion with Aliwal North and was not popular and so the name reverted to MOSSELBAAI after the Bay. For more than 200 years this Bay and town was a peaceful little fishing village, home and holiday resort for generations. Today, Mossel Bay is central to the beautiful South African Garden Route and has become a very popular holiday destination for both South African and international tourists .
(From: "Tourists Guide to Greater Mossel Bay")
Researched & compiled by Marie Sweetnam, registered SATOUR tourists guide for Western Cape, Greater Mossel Bay Area, Oudsthoorn and Garden Route. © Copyright to this document. For further information please contact Marie Sweetnam, P.O. Box 82, Mossel Bay, 6500, RSA.
