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26-472: The kloof was given its name by Isaq Schrijver in 1689, and more thoroughly explored by a later expedition under ensign August Frederik Beutler in 1752. The valley has been farmed since 1760 and developed into an important fruit-growing region during the 1900s, specifically prized for its apples and pears. Joubertina is the largest but also the youngest town in the Langkloof, and was founded in 1907 as

52-668: A Dutch-Reformed community, named in honour of the Rev. W.A. Joubert of Uniondale. The reverend prohibited the sale of alcohol in the town, a ban which was never lifted but is nonetheless no longer enforced. The Langkloof is also home to early Bushman paintings and the Kouga mummy – the only mummy ever found in Southern Africa from a cave in the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area. The remarkably well-preserved mummy

78-400: A few years and finally died on the farm, survived by Marie Elizabeth, who later married Jacob Groenewald. The farm remained in the family ownership for some 100 years. Schoongezicht passed through numerous hands in the three centuries of its existence. Coenraad Fick built the gabled Cape Dutch home about 1830. In the 1920s a Mrs. English bought the estate, restored the buildings, and improved

104-623: A story about a Hottentot raised by the Dutch who chooses to "return to his equals" rather than remain in civilised society. According to Rousseau, Van der Stel himself raised the "Hottentot" from birth "in the principles of the Christian religion and in the practices of European customs". The frontispiece of the Discourse features Van der Stel and the "Hottentot" above the phrase, Il retourne chez ses Egaux . Widely known for his development of

130-471: A very good relationship and her sister Cornelia accompanied her husband to the Cape. Van der Stel never saw his wife again, though he remained devoted to her and frequently sent her money. Johanna Jacoba sent the furnishings and works of art required to fit out the governor's residence at Groot Constantia. These included several art works including The Fisherman , an unfinished painting by Simon de Vlieger , which

156-639: Is known of what happened to Simon during this time, other than he returned to the Dutch Republic in 1659. Simon then went to the United Provinces , where he associated with Willem Six , a wealthy cloth dealer. In 1663 he married Willem's daughter, Johanna Jacoba Six (1645–1700) and they had six children. She was the niece of Thymen and Jacob J. Hinlopen , founders of the VOC and Noordsche Compagnie , besides known as art collectors. In 1679, he

182-813: Is relatively young - estimated to be buried approximately 1930 years ago. These buried human remains were found wrapped in Boophone disticha bulb tunics, appeared to be of the Khoi people, and was subsequently transferred to the Albany Museum in Grahamstown . On its north side the Langkloof is bounded by the Kammanassie and Kouga Mountains, and on its south by the Langkloof , Tsitsikamma and Kareedouw Mountains. A low range of hills running parallel to

208-777: The Cape; Frans "de jonker" became a farmer at the Cape; Adrian became governor of Amboyna (1706–1720); Cornelis was one of the 352 shipwrecked in the Ridderschap van Holland in 1694. An expedition under Willem de Vlamingh was sent out to look for survivors on islands in the Indian Ocean or on the coast of Western Australia . Van der Stel retired in 1699, and was succeeded by his son Willem Adriaan van der Stel . In retirement, Simon devoted himself to his wine estates (known as Constantia ), where he died in 1712. François Valentijn visited his son Frans in March 1714. The estate

234-589: The Government followed by the post of superintendent of roads, bridges and buildings. The mission lasted more than three months and reached as far east as the present-day town of Aberdeen , returning on 10 April 1689 with about a thousand head of cattle from trading with a Xhosa - Khoi tribe and quite amazingly having suffered no loss of life. Early travelers were obliged to cross the Outeniqua Mountains near present-day Mossel Bay so as to avoid

260-687: The Inqua Hottentots of the Eastern Cape . He set off with a party of about 20 well-armed soldiers and 2 wagons on a trip which would cover about 1600 km. Also in the party was Heinrich Bernhard Oldenland (1663–99), an able botanist and expert on herbs, who had studied medicine for 3 years at Leiden University , and who would in 1693 be appointed as master gardener in the Company's garden in Cape Town, and oddly as land surveyor for

286-689: The Langkloof and lying inside it, divides the kloof into northern and southern sections. The southern section is called the Klein Langkloof and is a prominent apple-growing area. The valley is crossed by numerous streams that arise in the Tsitsikamma Mountains before flowing inland to join the Kammanassie and Kouga Rivers. The road down the Kloof passes through the hamlets and towns of Herold, Avontuur, Haarlem, Misgund, Louterwater, Krakeel, Joubertina and Twee Riviere. The R62 road runs

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312-520: The VOC replaced the office of "Commander" with "Governor", and Van der Stel was promoted to the new position. His house, Groot Constantia , was well furnished with fine paintings, including The Fisherman . The painting came up for sale at the auction of Van der Stel's estate in 1716. Every one of his four sons was at one time or another with him in South Africa. Willem Adriaan, after being magistrate of Amsterdam, succeeded his father as Governor of

338-416: The crew. Two were found in a desperate state a month after the wreck, the third having succumbed. Simon van der Stel sent a party consisting of lieutenant Olof Bergh , Isaq Schrijver and others to salvage what they could. Very little of any value was returned to the governor, but rumours of theft of the treasure soon started circulating, substantiated by the attempted sale of items to Cape Town residents and

364-574: The length of the valley, connecting the N2 road near Humansdorp with the N9 road near Uniondale . The Avontuur narrow-gauge railway follows the same route Port Elizabeth to Avontuur. 33°49′30″S 23°51′28″E  /  33.82500°S 23.85778°E  / -33.82500; 23.85778 This South Africa location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Isaq Schrijver Isaq Schrijver ( fl. 1689 – 1705/06)

390-602: The near-impenetrable ravines and forests to the east. At that time the only way across the mountains was through Attaquas Kloof , named after a chief of the Hessequa Khoikhoi . This route was pioneered by Schrijver who, following an elephant track, traversed the kloof to the Olifants River in January 1689. The Duivenhoks River at Heidelberg was named by Schrijver, and "Schrijvershoek" near Langebaan lagoon

416-507: The unearthing in Olof Bergh's garden of a box holding objects from the wreck. Bergh later confessed to the theft and alleged that van der Stel himself was involved. Bergh was sentenced to three and a half years on Robben Island while Schrijver was cleared of any wrongdoing. On 4 January 1689, two years after being promoted to the rank of ensign , Schrijver embarked on his most enterprising expedition. His orders were to barter cattle with

442-588: The vineyards, renaming it Lanzerac after a wine-growing region in France. In 1958 the entrepreneur David Rawdon converted the estate into a successful hotel. In 1990 business tycoon Christo Wiese purchased the property, converting it into a winery and hotel. Contemporary copies of Schrijver's journals of the expeditions have survived and are now kept in the Cape Archives. Simon van der Stel Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712)

468-646: Was a Dutch ensign and South African explorer. Although born and raised in Leiden , both his parents were born near Aachen , Germany. Little else is known of his origins, but by 1667 he was a marine. In February 1684, Schrijver, then a sergeant in the Dutch East India Company and stationed at the Cape , headed a reconnaissance expedition into Namaqualand . They went as far north as Garies and brought back samples of copper ore to Cape Town . Schrijver

494-482: Was appointed "Commander" of the VOC's colony at the Cape of Good Hope, through the growing influence of his relative, Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen , a mayor and an amateur botanist. Simon was involved in making wine in Muiderberg ; when he left the country, he handed the vineyards over to Hendrik van Rheede , the former governor of Malabar region and a famous botanist. Van der Stel and his wife did not enjoy

520-564: Was born at sea while his father was en route to take up his new posting on the island; Simon spent his youth there. Adriaan's governorship ended in 1645 when he left Mauritius and transferred to Dutch Ceylon . He was murdered in 1646 by the troops of Rajasinha II of Kandy . Simon, his mother and his sisters returned to Batavia , capital of the Dutch East Indies and his mother remarried in 1648, to Captain Hendrik of Ghent. Little

546-559: Was involved in salvage operations of the Nossa Senhora dos Milagros which had run aground on the night of 16 April 1686 at Struisbaai near Cape Agulhas . This was a Portuguese vessel with 150 crew, commanded by Don Emmanual Da Silva, en route from Goa to Portugal and bearing diplomatic gifts from Narai , King of Siam to Pedro , King of Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England . Also aboard were three Siamese ambassadors who were left to fend for themselves by

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572-578: Was named after him. He retired in 1699 to his farm Schoongezicht near Stellenbosch - the farm was substantially enlarged by the addition of surrounding property that had formed part of the deceased estates of freed slaves. Schoongezicht' s history goes back to 1692 when Simon van der Stel , Governor of the Cape, granted 17 hectares of land to freed slaves Manuel and Antonia of Angola , Louis of Bengal and Isaac Schryver. Schrijver married Marie Elizabeth van Coningshoven. Soon after, Schryver travelled north once again to search for copper. He returned after

598-545: Was of mixed-race descent and the daughter of Dutchman Hendrick Lievens and a Malay or Indian freed slave. In the same year Adriaan was appointed the first Dutch governor of Mauritius . Adriaan replaced 'Onderkoopman' Pieter de Goijer who was sent by the Dutch East India Company in 1638 with 25 men and cattle, sheep, geese, chickens and rabbits to start the new refreshment station for the Company. Simon

624-523: Was one of 13 of his works purchased by Jan van de Cappelle . In 1685, he was visited by Hendrik van Rheede (with whom he shared in great interest in tropical medicine and botany ), and was given Constantia as a reward for 'good and faithful services to the VOC'. In 1685–86, he left for an expedition to the Copper Mountains at Springbok ( Namaqualand ), where he made topographic and geographic, botanical and zoological observations. In 1691,

650-589: Was sold in parts (also Bergvliet ) in 1716; the auction took four days and was very well attended. The town of Stellenbosch (founded in 1679) was named after him and Simon's Town is also named after him, as well as the Simonsberg mountain. An early ship of the South African Navy , SAS  Simon van der Stel was also named for him, in 1952. Jean-Jacques Rousseau , in his Discourse on Inequality , refers to Governor Van der Stel by name in

676-651: Was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope . He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot and Klein Constantia , and producing a famous dessert wine . He is considered one of the founders of South African viticulture . Simon was the son of Ariaen or Adriaan van der Stel an official of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and Maria Lievens, who married in March 1639 in Batavia. His mother,

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