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.
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 loan farms
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, travelled 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, Then Mossgas arrived to change that forever!
