1655
VOC begins systematic exploration beyond the Cape Peninsula
VOC parties travelled beyond the Cape Peninsula to investigate routes, arable land, resources and Khoikhoi communities.
View in timelineIn 1655 the VOC began sending parties beyond the Cape Peninsula to investigate routes, arable land, livestock and other resources. Jan Wintervogel travelled towards the interior and reached Saldanha Bay, while Willem Muller and Autshumato explored the Hottentots Holland region in connection with livestock trade. These journeys relied on local knowledge and interpreters while extending the company’s observation and trading network.
The expeditions sought information useful to the station’s food supply, commerce and future expansion, and they entered territories used and governed by Khoikhoi communities. The surviving accounts describe company objectives and observations more fully than local perspectives.
Significance
These journeys extended the station’s knowledge and commercial reach while preparing the ground for later territorial and agricultural expansion.
Why it matters
These journeys extended the station’s knowledge and commercial reach while preparing the ground for later territorial and agricultural expansion.
Disputed interpretations
The 1655 activity was a series of journeys rather than one expedition. Records differ in how they identify routes and places, and the company’s descriptions of land and communities reflect its commercial and colonial aims.
Perspective notes
The surviving evidence is mainly VOC administrative and travel writing. It records routes, resources, livestock and company objectives more fully than the perspectives of communities whose territories the parties entered.