4 January 1669
Hieronimus Cruse departs on a Hessequa trade expedition
Corporal Hieronimus Cruse left the Fort of Good Hope on a VOC expedition instructed to promote livestock trade with the Obiqua and Hessequa.
On 4 January 1669, Corporal Hieronimus Cruse departed from the Fort of Good Hope with sixteen Europeans and several Khoekhoe companions. His written instructions directed the party toward the Obiqua and Hessequa to promote livestock trade using VOC merchandise.
The expedition travelled eastward through Hottentots Holland and the Riviersonderend region. Its journal records trade with communities encountered along the route, but the surviving evidence cited here does not establish that Cruse completed a major transaction with the Hessequa themselves.
Why it matters
The mission shows the VOC actively extending its livestock-supply network eastward through Khoekhoe territory.