Nairobi, Aug. 7 -- When Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut in 1498, a new gateway to Asia and the Far East from Western Europe around the Cape of Good Hope was opened, necessitating the establishment, and safeguarding of trading stations en route.
The Portuguese landed in Mossel Bay in 1500, explored Table Bay two years later, and by 1510, had started raiding inland. Shortly afterwards the Dutch sent merchant vessels to India via the Cape route, and in 1602 founded the Dutch East India Company (VOC).
Due to the value of the spice trade between Europe and their outposts in the East Indies, Dutch ships began to call sporadically at the Cape in search of provisions after 1598.
In 1648, two Dutch sailors Leendert Jansz and ...