Sao Bento Monument @ Protea Ridge
During 2019, the owners of Protea Ridge decided to erect a monument in memory of the Portugese Galleon, the Sao Bento which wrecked in the mid 1500’s. The ship carrying many East African slaves and crew went down with many lives lost. Many more would survive only to perish along the route in their efforts to reach present day Mocambique by foot. Overlooking the ocean below, where the Sao Bento ran aground this monument is also built in memory of Chris Auret who sadly passed in March 2020 after spending a lifetime, researching the origins of this boat and also have been involved in the salvage and protection of this historical site.
Sao Bento Wreck Background and story
In 1968, whilst skin-diving off the front of the “island” at Msikaba on the rugged Wild Coast of the Transkei, Geoff Harris, one of my dads friends & business partners at EGIB, the East Griqualand Insurance Brokers based in Kokstad, came across the very old remains of a wreck. In fact so old it was, all that remained was a number of old Cannons lying on the ocean floor not far from the shoreline. No metal, no wood or planks and no belongings besides the later to be discovered coins, rings, carnelian beads, porcelain and suchlike! “Logs or tree-stumps”, Geoff at first thought, as they lay there on the ocean floor just below him coverd in literally 5 centuries of seaweeds and other shellfish and very well “disguised” amongst the rocks in that section of the site, but, a quick dive down revealed that they were actually cannon! Many with their huge “inches thick” bronze lifting rings still intact as they lay, others the rings completely worn off due to movements under the ocean after so many years! One can only imagine his excitement at that moment 50 years ago!!! I have discovered an ancient wreck-site Geoff must have been thinking! I have glimpse of his feelings at this incredible find right now as I write! I will try to be brief.
As kids growing up at Msikaba in tents and little shacks with no electricity or phones and long-drop toilets, bucket showers, paraffin lamps and freezers, all at the end of a very long and bumpy dusty road all the way from Kokstad long before canopies or 4×4’s, we’ve watched in awe over the decades as Our brave dads worked sometimes late into the night with the most basic of salvage equipment, in their quest at salvaging some of the cannon!
I recall my Dads years and years of research and collaboration with his friends Tim Maggs, Brian Stuckenberg from the Natal Museum & Dads correspondence with members of the Lisbon based Portugese maritime authorities in trying to establish just which ship this mysterious and very old wreck was? I have all his old journals bound together (at least two decades of writings my father called, THE LIFT, where he recorded everything from sea conditions, water temperature and clarity time of day and the adventure of it all), and his hand drawn sketches and underwater maps drawn on chalkboard and then more detailed architectural drawings of the cannons and their markings, in trying to ascertain just which wreck this particular one off the “Msikaba island” was. I remember as a youngster the news they received via letter (no emails then) of various records being destroyed in the huge fires that destroyed numerous old Lisbon port-side maritime buildings and along with that many 16th century maritime records! But, I also remember the excitement when they managed to obtain – via post – the Portugese version of the original survivors account of one sailor named “Perrestrello”! They then had them translated! Senor Perrestrello happened to be aboard a Portugese Galleon or Carrack that wrecked alongside the Terros dos Fumos, the Coast of Smoke, as the Portugese mariners called this part of the African coastline in the mid 1500’s, due to the smoke from fires that would be pushed out to sea by the winter land-breeze as still occurs to this day as winter grasses are burnt to allow for new grass for cattle.
Soon, the Harris brothers, Geoff and the late Len and others like dad, Dr John Goddlington, Mally Ambler, Barry Elliot and even others I think, had formed CHOK – Canon Hunters of Kokstad! With “outside” party interest growing in salving the wreck or at least the beautiful heavy bronze cannon purely for commercial purposes, the group worked closely with the then Mtanzima Government to protect the wrecksite off the Msikaba island! To this day several large canon remain for people to skin-dive out to on a calm day. A few small breach loading guns remain in private collection whilst the larger cannon are in Pietermaritzburg!
I also remember standing as a young boy seeing the first cannon lying in the wet sand, but far two young to understand that this was the first time the canon had seen air since 1554 – 100 years before van Riebeeck had even claimed Cape Town!!
In the late 1980’s after well more than a decade of research and copious hours of writings and communications with Portugal, comparisons made to landscape and topography and the other wreck close by in Port Edward of the Sao Joao, SA Museums released a “paper” revealing the wreck to be that of the Portugese Galleon, the Sao Bento wrecked on the Terros dos Fumos on 21 April 1554! That paper was released by Professor Maggs of SA museums and my father, Chris Auret! The Msikaba wreck-site was now officially known as the final Resting place of the Portugese Galleon the Saint Benedict or more fondly, the Sao Bento and the place where so many perished, slaves and sailors alike as the wood craft was pounded to smithereens on the Wild Coast of South Africa! 🙏
It’s been a very interesting time and there are extensive stories and sub-stories regarding this fascinating site but I love standing on that beach thinking back to survivor Perrestrello’s account that standing after a night of misery , pain and death and the destruction of their ship. The ship that they’d spent so many months traveling all the way from Portugal and ALMOST back to India with untold wealth and riches had, when the morning dawned, begun to break up and the beaches were covered with a “Kings Ransom” of fine silks and cloths and spices – the main contents of the ships holds – after loading and leaving Goa in India for the trip back to Portugal – and now they here, on the Msikaba shore with nothing and were in the most terrible predicament of facing the long march back towards Mocambique and the Port of Sofala as neither current day Durban or even Maputo even existed! The beaches themselves strewn with drowned crew and slaves, others maimed from their injuries. Little did they know only 23 would survive the treacherous march northwards! It’s one hell of a story and whilst I may have certain facts wrong I’ve tried to be as honest and accurate as possible!
Part of what my close friend Boris and I have been doing these past months, has included building our own monument to the slaves and crew that perished during the wrecking of the Sao Bento & whilst its not yet complete, here are some pictures of our SAO BENTO monument & of the men from Kokstad including my Dad skippering his old boat Malgas 1 with Geoff Harris in the dive suit to his right, as they prepare for an afternoon of salvage some time in the 1970’s! The 35mm pics are from my mums old friend Mike Reed and the Sao Bento monument pics are mine shot with an iPhone! There’s also a few still pics of pages of the Maggs/Auret paper released by SA Museums I have an electronic copy of if anyone interested. Very interesting document and over 40 pages long. Feel free to share. Feel free to email [email protected]
Important Note
PLEASE BE AWARE
Municipal services do not reach far down into the rural areas. With this in mind please remember:
All water at Protea Ridge is either harvested during rainy days for drinking, or pumped from the borehole to the concrete reservoir for kitchens, bathrooms and showers. Please use water sparingly and considerately.
Littering is not tolerated at Protea Ridge. Use the bins provided.
Stow it, don’t throw it.
Protea Ridge is serviced by Eskom but only has limited generator power for emergencies and for keeping deep freezers cold. Always bring a torch as management has no control over the Eskom power supply. Candles and/or small solar lights are provided.
Sao Bento Monument @ Protea Ridge
During 2019, the owners of Protea Ridge decided to erect a monument in memory of the Portugese Galleon, the Sao Bento which wrecked in the mid 1500’s. The ship carrying many East African slaves and crew went down with many lives lost. Many more would survive only to perish along the route in their efforts to reach present day Mozambique by foot. Overlooking the ocean below, where the Sao Bento ran aground, this monument is also built in memory of Chris Auret who sadly passed in March 2020 after spending a lifetime, researching the origins of this boat and also have been involved in the salvage and protection of this historical site.
Sao Bento Wreck – Mark’s Story
In 1968, whilst skin-diving off the front of the “island” at Msikaba on the rugged Wild Coast of the Transkei, Geoff Harris, one of my dad’s friends & business partners at EGIB, the East Griqualand Insurance Brokers based in Kokstad, came across the very old remains of a wreck. In fact it was so old, all that remained was a number of old Cannons lying on the ocean floor not far from the shoreline. No metal, no wood or planks and no belongings besides the later to be discovered coins, rings, carnelian beads, porcelain and suchlike! “Logs or tree-stumps”, Geoff at first thought, as they lay there on the ocean floor just below him covered in literally 5 centuries of seaweeds and other shellfish and very well disguised amongst the rocks in that section of the site, but, a quick dive down revealed that they were actually cannon! Many with their huge inches thick bronze lifting rings still intact as they lay, others the rings completely worn off due to movements under the ocean after so many years! One can only imagine his excitement at that moment 50 years ago!!! I have discovered an ancient wreck-site Geoff must have been thinking! I have glimpse of his feelings at this incredible find right now as I write! I will try to be brief.
As kids growing up at Msikaba in tents and little shacks with no electricity or phones and long-drop toilets, bucket showers, paraffin lamps and freezers, all at the end of a very long and bumpy dusty road all the way from Kokstad long before canopies or 4×4’s, we’ve watched in awe over the decades as Our brave dads worked sometimes late into the night with the most basic of salvage equipment, in their quest at salvaging some of the cannon!
I recall my Dad’s years and years of research and collaboration with his friends Tim Maggs, Brian Stuckenberg from the Natal Museum & Dads correspondence with members of the Lisbon based Portugese maritime authorities in trying to establish just which ship this mysterious and very old wreck was? I have all his old journals bound together (at least two decades of writings my father called, THE LIFT, where he recorded everything from sea conditions, water temperature and clarity time of day and the adventure of it all), and his hand drawn sketches and underwater maps drawn on chalkboard and then more detailed architectural drawings of the cannons and their markings, in trying to ascertain just which wreck this particular one off the “Msikaba island” was. I remember as a youngster the news they received via letter (no emails then) of various records being destroyed in the huge fires that destroyed numerous old Lisbon port-side maritime buildings and along with that many 16th century maritime records! But, I also remember the excitement when they managed to obtain – via post – the Portugese version of the original survivors account of one sailor named Perrestrello! They then had them translated! Senor Perrestrello happened to be aboard a Portuguese Galleon or Carrack that wrecked alongside the Terros dos Fumos, the Coast of Smoke, as the Portugese mariners called this part of the African coastline in the mid 1500s, due to the smoke from fires that would be pushed out to sea by the winter land-breeze as still occurs to this day as winter grasses are burnt to allow for new grass for cattle.
Soon, the Harris brothers, Geoff and the late Len and others like dad, Dr John Goddlington, Mally Ambler, Barry Elliot and even others I think, had formed CHOK – Canon Hunters of Kokstad! With outside party interest growing in salving the wreck or at least the beautiful heavy bronze cannon purely for commercial purposes, the group worked closely with the then Mtanzima Government to protect the wreck site off the Msikaba island! To this day several large canon remain for people to skin-dive out to on a calm day. A few small breach loading guns remain in private collection whilst the larger cannon are in Pietermaritzburg!
I also remember standing as a young boy seeing the first cannon lying in the wet sand, but far too young to understand that this was the first time the canon had seen air since 1554 – 100 years before van Riebeeck had even claimed Cape Town!!
In the late 1980s after over a decade of research and copious hours of writings and communications with Portugal, comparisons made to landscape and topography and the other wreck close by in Port Edward of the Sao Joao, SA Museums released a “paper” revealing the wreck to be that of the Portuguese Galleon, the Sao Bento wrecked on the Terros dos Fumos on 21 April 1554! That paper was released by Professor Maggs of SA museums and my father, Chris Auret! The Msikaba wreck-site was now officially known as the final Resting place of the Portuguese Galleon the Saint Benedict or more fondly, the Sao Bento and the place where so many perished, slaves and sailors alike as the wood craft was pounded to smithereens on the Wild Coast of South Africa! 🙏
It’s been a very interesting time and there are extensive stories and sub-stories regarding this fascinating site but I love standing on that beach thinking back to survivor Perrestrello’s account that standing after a night of misery, pain and death and the destruction of their ship. The ship that they’d spent so many months traveling all the way from Portugal and ALMOST back to India with untold wealth and riches had, when the morning dawned, begun to break up and the beaches were covered with a “King’s Ransom” of fine silks and cloths and spices – the main contents of the ship’s hold – after loading and leaving Goa in India for the trip back to Portugal – and now they here, on the Msikaba shore with nothing and were in the most terrible predicament of facing the long march back towards Mozambique and the Port of Sofala as neither current day Durban or even Maputo even existed! The beaches themselves strewn with drowned crew and slaves, others maimed from their injuries. Little did they know only 23 would survive the treacherous march northwards! It’s one hell of a story and whilst I may have certain facts wrong I’ve tried to be as honest and accurate as possible!
Part of what my close friend Boris and I have been doing these past months, has included building our own monument to the slaves and crew that perished during the wrecking of the Sao Bento & whilst it’s not yet complete, here are some pictures of our SAO BENTO monument & of the men from Kokstad including my Dad skippering his old boat Malgas 1 with Geoff Harris in the dive suit to his right, as they prepare for an afternoon of salvage some time in the 1970’s! The 35mm pics are from my mum’s old friend Mike Reed and the Sao Bento monument pics are mine shot with an iPhone! There are also a few still pics of pages of the Maggs/Auret paper released by SA Museums I have an electronic copy of if anyone interested. Very interesting document and over 40 pages long. Feel free to share. Feel free to email [email protected]
Important Note
PLEASE BE AWARE
Municipal services do not reach far down into the rural areas. With this in mind please remember:
All water at Protea Ridge is either harvested during rainy days for drinking, or pumped from the borehole to the concrete reservoir for kitchens, bathrooms and showers. Please use water sparingly and considerately.
Littering is not tolerated at Protea Ridge. Use the bins provided.
Stow it, don’t throw it.
Protea Ridge is serviced by Eskom but only has limited generator power for emergencies and for keeping deep freezers cold. Always bring a torch as management has no control over the Eskom power supply. Candles and/or small solar lights are provided.