6 August 1595
Claimed agreement between Dutch sailors and local Khoikhoi near Mossel Bay
A later account links de Houtman’s 1595 visit to a reported agreement involving livestock, access and protection near Mossel Bay.
View in timelineThe Akoordskop account records an agreement associated with the Mauritius voyage shortly after de Houtman’s fleet reached São Brás, present-day Mossel Bay. Dutch sailors wanted fresh provisions, while local Khoikhoi leaders sought protection from other passing ships. The arrangement involved livestock, access to grazing and a hill later called Akoordskop or “Agreement Hill.”
The agreement brought the immediate needs of a visiting fleet into negotiation with the authority of local Khoikhoi communities over herds, grazing and access to the coast. It therefore belongs to the early history of Dutch–Khoikhoi relations, before permanent European settlement at the Cape.
Significance
The agreement marks an early recorded instance of Dutch–Khoikhoi diplomacy at the Cape and shows that maritime provisioning depended on negotiation with established local authorities.
Why it matters
The agreement records an early Dutch–Khoikhoi negotiation at the Cape, linking the Dutch need for provisions with local control of livestock, grazing access and coastal security.
Disputed interpretations
The agreement is known through a later place-based account associated with the Mauritius journal, not through a surviving agreement text. Its wording, parties, legal meaning, location and even the relationship to the 6 August date require comparison with the journal and further scholarship.