THE EXPLORERS 

The oldest links between South Africa and Europe are through Portugal and its voyages of discovery. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot on Southern African soil.

BARTOLOMEU DIAS
Bartolomeu DIAS (aka Bartholomeu DIAZ), Portuguese navigator, went ashore at present-day Munro’s Bay (Mossel Bay) on 03 February 1488. He named the area Aguada de São Bras (watering place of Saint Blaize), having arrived on the holy day of Saint Blaize and collecting fresh water from a spring. The spring is still there today but no longer flows, although it was still flowing in the 1970s. The first recorded Western religious service in South Africa was during Dias’ visit. A Catholic Mass was held when the sailors erected the padráo (Dias Cross) near the Great Fish River. It was the Portuguese custom that a padráo be erected at the turning point before sailing home. Pieces of the padráo were found many years later at Kwaaihoek near the mouth of the Bushman’s River and are now in safe-keeping at Wits University.

DIAS was born circa 1450 in the Algarve. Several Portuguese historians believe that he was a relative or descendant of João DIAS who sailed around Cape Bojador in 1434, and of Diniz DIAS who is said to have discovered the Cape Verde Islands. Bartolomeu was a cavalier of the Royal Court, superintendent of the Royal warehouses and a sailing-master. On 10 October 1486, King João II of Portugal appointed him head of an expedition which was to sail around the southern tip of Africa to find a trade route leading to Asia. DIAS left Lisbon in August 1487 with a fleet consisting of three ships, two armed caravels and one supply-ship. DIAS was in the caravel São Christovao, and was accompanied by João Infante in the São Pantaleao. Among his companions were Pero DE ALENQUER, Alvaro MARTINS and João GREGO. The supply-ship was commanded by Bartolomeu’s brother, Pero DIAS. There were also two African men and four women on board who served as translators.

DIAS sailed first towards the mouth of the Congo River, discovered the year before by Diogo CÂO and Martin BEHAIM. Following the African coast, he entered Walvis Bay. From the present-day Port Nolloth area, a storm lasting thirteen days drove the fleet south, taking them past the Cape without them knowing it. When calm weather returned, they sailed in an easterly direction and, when no land appeared, turned northward, landing in Bahia dos Vaqueiros (Mossel Bay). This was later renamed Mossel Bay by the Dutch. On his return voyage, DIAS saw the Cape and called it Cabo Tormentoso or Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms). It was later renamed Cabo da Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope) by King João II when DIAS returned to Lisbon in December 1488. In 1500 DIAS commanded a ship in the expedition of Pedro Alvarez CABRAL. His vessel was one of those wrecked not far from the Cape of Good Hope on 29 May 1500. His grandson, Paulo Dias DE NOVAIS, landed in Luanda ( Angola ) in early 1575, in command of a fleet of seven ships carrying a hundred families of colonists and 400 soldiers.

VASCO DA GAMA
On 26 November 1497 Vasco DA GAMA visited Aguada de São Bras and bartered for cattle from the Khoikhoi, making this most likely the first commercial transaction between Europeans and indigenous people in South Africa. In December, having sailed further on, DA GAMA went ashore on the east coast and as it was Christmas Day, named the area Terra do Natal (meaning Land of Christmas in Portuguese). DA GAMA met the first black people near the mouth of the Limpopo. They were friendly and he named the area Terra de Boa Gente (Land of Good People). DA GAMA and his crew reached India in May, becoming the first Europeans to journey by sea to India.

Read the following site for more details: http://southafricanresearcher.blogspot.com/2010/04/brief-history-of-portuguese-in-south.html

The Dogs

The explorers and immigrants brought various dogs with them to Southern Africa, which upon arrival, mixed with local dogs and produced the Old Frontier Dog .

This dog which journeyed around Southern Africa with the new arrivals was the basis for all Southern African working dogs and from it, developed all the working farm dogs of Southern Africa, chief amongst which became breeds such as the Boerboel, Ysterbergers and the Ridgeback.

Now

Using a breeding scheme that produced the same traits of the original frontier and working farm dogs, and taking into account the environmental challenges of yesteryear, most of which still exist today, the Olde Cape Mastiff Society founders (Luis Embalo, Ian Rinquest and James Brennan) created a dog, which they called the Old Cape Mastiff to reflect its basic canine type and original period of development in frontier times.

The result is an athletic but powerful Breed, that not only looks similar to the frontier and farm dogs of the 18th and 19th centuries but also, as required by a working family, farm dog, has a biddable, stable and friendly temperament, towards family and livestock, while maintaining the courage, threat perception and instincts of an effective guardian breed.

South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and the frontier dog is still needed, now as it was in the 1500’s, in the African Homesteads and Smallholdings.

A healthy, strong, versatile farm dog. A Frontier Dog. The Olde Cape Mastiff.