|
The bay was discovered by the Portuguese navigator António de Campo,
one of Vasco da Gama captains, in 1502. In 1544 the merchant trader
Lourenço Marques explored the upper reaches of the estuaries leading
into the bay. Subsequently King John III ordered the Bay to be named
Baia de Lourenço Marques. Lourenço Marques is reputed to have named
the bay Baía da Lagoa (Port. "Bay of the lagoon"). The origin of the
more commonly known name Delagoa Bay is unknown. One interpretation
is that Baia da Lagoa has been corrupted to Delagoa Bay. Another
interpretation is that the goa in the name refers to the Portuguese
colony Goa, and that Delagoa Bay was a port of call for Portuguese
merchant ships on the way from Goa to Portugal.
In 1720 the Dutch East India Company built a fort and factory
called Lijdzaamheid (Lydsaamheid) on the spot of Lourenço Marques
(now Maputo), since April 1721 governed by an Opperhoofd (Chief
facor), under authority of the Dutch Cape Colony, interrupted by
Taylor's pirate occupation April 1722 – 28 August 1722; in December
1730 the settlement was abandoned. |
