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CHAPTER XV - KNOWLEDGE DERIVED FROM SHIPWRECKS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

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Summary

Of the Bantu tribes along the seaboard north of the Umzimvubu a good deal of knowledge was obtained during the sixteenth century by the crews of wrecked ships, some of whom underwent almost incredible suffering before their restoration to the society of civilised men. By order of King Sebastião a flying survey of the coast between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Correntes was also made during the years 1575 and 1576, by which much information was supposed to have been gained.

Occasionally vessels disappeared after leaving Portugal or India, and were never heard of again. Some of these were probably lost on the African shore, though of this there is no certainty except in one instance, when part of a stranded ship was found at the mouth of the river now known as the Saint Lucia, but without a trace of any one that had sailed in her. Particulars, however, have been preserved of the loss successively of the São João, the São Bento, the Santiago, the São Thomé, and the Santo Alberto, from each of which some of the crew escaped, and after much intercourse with Bantu succeeded in reaching Mozambique.

The São João was a great galleon laden with a very valuable cargo, which left Cochin on the 3rd of February 1552 to return to Portugal. She had about two hundred and twenty Portuguese and nearly four hundred slaves on board, and, as was usual at that time, an officer of high rank who was going home was captain in command.

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  • KNOWLEDGE DERIVED FROM SHIPWRECKS
  • George McCall Theal
  • Book: History and Ethnography of Africa South of the Zambesi, from the Settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the Conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511782862.016
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  • KNOWLEDGE DERIVED FROM SHIPWRECKS
  • George McCall Theal
  • Book: History and Ethnography of Africa South of the Zambesi, from the Settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the Conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511782862.016
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • KNOWLEDGE DERIVED FROM SHIPWRECKS
  • George McCall Theal
  • Book: History and Ethnography of Africa South of the Zambesi, from the Settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the Conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511782862.016
Available formats
×