Village at the site of the present Port Nolloth. The Khoikhoi name Aukwatowa; for 'where water took away the old man'. Its location was marked by Bartolomeu Dias on his epic voyage around the Cape, in 1487. It was the last landfall sighted before a wild storm blew his ship off course and out to sea for 13 days. The land surrounding the bay remained virtually unihabited until James Alexander's discovery in 1852 of copper, 160km inland from the bay at Okiep.
References
New Dictionary of South African Place Names by Peter E. Raper.
Further Reading
http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/early-history-port-nolloth
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-showing-mining-areas-in-South-Africa-Adapted-from-source-5_fig1_284785457