The wreck of the Zoetendal

.The Zoetendal was a 448 ton flute. It was under the command of Captain Jan Block for the Dutch East India Company when it ran aground at Struisbaai in 1673. It was on a return voyage from Batavia with a cargo of rice.

The story goes that the crew were drunk. 4 drowned another 6 were so drunk they did not even leave the ship. There were about 40 survivors who set off in a westerly direction. After making their way through some rough ground they came upon a large freshwater lake. They named it Soetendalsvlei, after their stricken vessel. The survivors rested a while and then began their ordeal hiking towards Table Bay. The first disaster occurred when one of their party was killed by an elephant. Fortunately, they were rescued by a Khoi chief of the Chainoqua clan by the name of Dorha.  He was a cattle trader known to the VOC as Captain Claas and he led the party back to Cape Town