The Santo Alberto is wrecked

The Portuguese cargo ship Santo Alberto was wrecked on the coast of Pondoland, south-west of the mouth of the Umtata River. Through admirable leadership of the captain, only twenty-eight Portuguese and thirty-four slaves were drowned, while 125 sailors and 160 slaves reached the shore safely. Most of the survivors who headed for Delagoa Bay reached their destination safely and established considerable contact with the Bantu in the area. Another party was not so fortunate - of a group of twenty-eight who tried to cross overland to Sofala, twenty-six died on the way. These shipping disasters continued throughout the 17th century and reached such proportions that some historians regard them as the main reason for the collapse of the Portuguese empire.