Strangers on the Shore and Soil and Settlers

Bartolomeu Dias sailed south in 1487, arriving at the "Bay of Cowherds" (Mossel Bay) a year later. Dias' party continued but never reached the east.

In 1498 Vasco da Gama rounded the entire South African coastline, making Portugal the first European nation to reach the east by sea. The Portuguese monopolised eastern trade and Europeans became familiar to the Khoikhoi. The Dutch eventually broke the Portuguese monopoly and changed the way of life at the Cape forever. By the mid 17th century Jan van Riebeek established a refreshment station at the Cape to service Dutch ships on trading voyages.

From 1652 Company employees were given land grants to farm on land used by the Khoisan. The French Huguenots arrived between 1688 and 1700 settling mainly in Franschhoek and founding the Cape wine industry.

In 1795 Britain occupied the Cape. After officially handing the Cape back to the Netherlands in 1803, they returned and stayed three years later. The Cape was to remain its colony until the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Timeline

1488	Bartolomeu Dias makes contact with the Khoikhoi at Mossel Bay
1488	Dias rounds the Cape, calling it "Cape of Storms"; renamed "Cape of Good Hope"
1510	Portuguese clash with the Khoikoi on shores of Table Bay
1652	Jan van Riebeek establishes a permanent settlement at the Cape
1654	Citrus trees brought to the Cape from St Helena
1655	Wheat planted by the Dutch in south-western Cape
1655	Dutch plant first vineyards at the Cape
1657	First Dutch farmers (free burgers) settle on Khoikhoi land
1658	First slaves, from Angola & West Africa, arrive at the Cape
1663	White settlement spreads to the interior; outposts established & small market centres develop
1667	First slaves from the East arrive at the Cape
1771	Cape boundary crosses Gamtoos River; trekker and Xhosa clashes begin
1688	French Huguenots arrive; settle at Franschhoek
1690s	Trekboers (frontier farmers) leave south-western Cape for the interior
1700s	White settlers organise punitive expeditions against the San and Xhosa
1739	Last armed resistance by the Khoikhoi in south-western Cape
1793	Growth of mission stations at the Cape begins