topic six

Bartholomew Dias was a Portuguese explorer. He was in charge of a fleet of ships and crews who were looking for a sea route to the East by sailing around Africa.

Dias and his crew encounter the Khoikhoi in Mossel Bay 1488

At the southern most tip of Africa, the winds and currents are very strong. Dias’ ships got blown so far southwards, that they missed the tip of Africa. His ships eventually landed at Mossel Bay in 1488.

Dias and his crew went ashore to collect fresh water. They were the first white men to set foot in South Africa. The people living in Mossel Bay were the Khoi herders. When the Khoi herders saw Dias and his crew, they threw stones at them. Dias fired his crossbow at the Khoi herders and killed one of them before the Portuguese sailors got on their ships again.

This is a description of the encounter between the Portuguese and the Khoi:

The men who landed from the boats were unlike anything the Khoikhoi had seen before… the strangers made towards a nearby stream, obviously in need of fresh water. At this the Khoikhoi reacted, and one of them picked up a stone and hurled it at the invaders. Others joined in as the strangers shouted at them in a language that they did not understand. There was a sudden hissing sound, and one of the herders lay dying with a crossbow bolt protruding from his body.

Source: Page 32, Reader’s Digest Illustrated History of South Africa, D. Oakes (ed) Cape Town, 1992.

Dias’ voyage did not go much further beyond Mossel Bay. His ships turned back as the crews were sick and exhausted. On their way back to Portugal, Dias named the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope.

The journey of Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama was another Portuguese explorer. Da Gama’s fleet left Portugal in 1497. They passed Mossel Bay where Dias had turned back – and sailed into waters unknown to Europeans. It was Christmas time when they next landed and da Gama and his crew gave the place where they landed, the name Natal (which we now know as KwaZulu Natal), which means ‘birth of Christ’ in Portuguese.

Da Gama arrives on east African coast

Da Gama’s caravels left Natal and sailed further up the east coast of Africa. In April 1498 they landed at Mombasa on the coast of east Africa. They saw Arab dhows (ships) anchored in the harbour. The Portuguese were surprised to see wealthy Arab and African traders dressed in linen and cotton clothes that had silk borders embroidered in gold. They were excited to see that gold was being traded, among other things.

Swahili traders were not welcoming

The Portuguese didn’t have much to offer in exchange for safe harbour and fresh water and food. The people on the east African coast were used to trading with India and China, and had no need to trade with the Portuguese. The Swahili traders also saw them as a threat to their trade route with the African kingdoms in the interior.

An Arab pilot shows Da Gama the way

Da Gama managed to arrange for a pilot to be taken on board his ship to show him the way to India. The pilot of da Gama’s ship to India was Ahmad Ibn Madjid, the most famous Arab pilot of his day. He knew the Indian Ocean better than any other person. He guided the Portuguese all the way to Calicut in India.

Ahmad Ibn Madjid wrote an encyclopedia of the sea in Arabic. In English it is called the ‘Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules of Navigation’.

Da Gama returns as a hero

When da Gama returned to Portugal he was welcomed as a hero. He had found a sea route for Europeans to travel to India and he had proven that there was gold in south-east Africa.

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