Why did Europeans want to sail south?

They were looking for a sea road to the rich trade of the East.

Long ago, spices like pepper and cinnamon, along with silk and gold, came to Europe all the way from India and the East. They travelled slowly over land, so they were very expensive.

• European kings wanted a faster, cheaper way to reach the East by sea.
• The people of Portugal decided to sail south along the coast of Africa to find that route.
• Nobody in Europe yet knew if ships could sail around the bottom of Africa.

The people already living here

Southern Africa was home to the Khoikhoi and the San long before any European ship arrived.

The San were hunter-gatherers who hunted animals and gathered plants. The Khoikhoi kept herds of cattle and sheep and moved to find fresh grass and water. Together they are often called the Khoisan.

• They had lived in southern Africa for thousands of years.
• The Khoikhoi near the coast met the first European sailors face to face.
• This land was their home - it was not empty or waiting to be 'found'.

Portugal leads the way

Step by step, Portuguese sailors mapped the west coast of Africa.

Sailors from Portugal did not sail all the way at once. On each voyage they went a little further south down the African coast and came home to share what they had learned.

• They sailed in strong wooden ships called caravels that could sail against the wind.
• Each captain added new coastline to Portugal's maps.
• Their goal was still to find the far end of Africa and sail on to the East.

Finding the way at sea

With no maps of the open ocean, sailors used the sun, the stars and simple tools.

Far out at sea there are no roads or road signs. Explorers used a compass to find north, and they watched the sun and stars to work out where they were.

• A tool called an astrolabe helped measure how high the sun or a star sat in the sky.
• The Portuguese planted large stone crosses, called padrao, on the coast to mark how far they had reached.
• Voyages were dangerous - storms, hunger and sickness could strike far from home.

Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape

In 1488 a Portuguese captain became the first European known to sail around the tip of Africa.

Bartolomeu Dias sailed so far south that a storm blew his ships around the bottom of Africa without him even seeing land. He had rounded the Cape, proving that ships could reach the East by sea.

• He landed at Mossel Bay and planted a stone cross on the coast.
• He first called the point the 'Cape of Storms' because of the wild weather.
• The King of Portugal renamed it the Cape of Good Hope, because now there was hope of reaching India.

Vasco da Gama reaches India

About ten years later, another Portuguese captain sailed all the way to India and back.

Vasco da Gama set out in 1497. His ships stopped along the southern African coast for fresh water and rest, then sailed up the east coast and across to India, which he reached in 1498.

• He named the east coast Natal, because he sailed past it near Christmas.
• He opened the full sea route from Europe to the East.
• Now Portuguese ships passed the Cape often on their way to trade.

Meeting at the Cape

When sailors and the Khoikhoi met, there was both trade and, at times, conflict.

Passing ships needed fresh water, meat and rest. Sailors sometimes traded metal and beads with the Khoikhoi for cattle and sheep. But the two sides did not share a language, and misunderstandings could turn dangerous.

• Trade helped tired sailors get fresh food for the long journey.
• In 1510 a fight broke out at Table Bay and a Portuguese leader and many of his men were killed.
• For many years after that, most Portuguese ships chose not to stop at the Cape.

The Dutch and the VOC

More than a hundred years later, traders from the Netherlands needed a stop halfway to the East.

The Dutch East India Company, known by its Dutch letters VOC, sent many ships between Europe and the East. The Cape sat right in the middle of that long journey.

• Sailors on long voyages often became sick without fresh food and water.
• The VOC wanted a refreshment station at the Cape to grow vegetables and get fresh meat.
• So the Company decided to send people to build a base at Table Bay.

Jan van Riebeeck at the Cape

In 1652 the VOC sent Jan van Riebeeck to set up the refreshment station.

Jan van Riebeeck arrived at Table Bay in April 1652 with a small group of people. They built a fort for safety and planted a large vegetable garden to feed the passing ships.

• They grew vegetables and fruit and kept animals for fresh meat.
• They traded with the Khoikhoi for cattle and sheep.
• This small station slowly grew - it became the start of a permanent European settlement.

Change for the people of the Cape

The new settlement slowly took land and grazing that the Khoikhoi depended on.

At first the Dutch and the Khoikhoi traded with each other. But as the settlement grew, the Dutch wanted more land for farms - the same land the Khoikhoi used to graze their cattle.

• The Khoikhoi lost grazing land and, over time, many of their cattle.
• Disagreements over land and cattle led to fighting between the two sides.
• Life for the Khoikhoi and San was changed forever by the settlement at the Cape.

Key dates: 1488 to 1652

1. 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape
2. 1497-98 Vasco da Gama sails on to India
3. 1510 Clash with the Khoikhoi at Table Bay
4. 1600s Dutch VOC ships pass the Cape often
5. 1652 Van Riebeeck starts the refreshment station

Two sides of the same story

The same voyages look very different depending on who you are.

What we learned

Portuguese sailors found the sea route around southern Africa, and the Dutch later settled at the Cape - changing life for the Khoisan.

Remember the story: Europeans wanted a sea road to the East; Dias rounded the Cape in 1488 and da Gama reached India by 1498; and in 1652 van Riebeeck built the refreshment station that grew into a lasting settlement.