The Portuguese, who were the first Europeans to visit the shores of South Africa, did not attempt either to form a settlement or to carry on commerce below Delagoa Bay, and a century and a half after their occupation of Sofala had never penetrated beyond the coast belt of any part of the present Cape Colony west of the Umzimvubu river. They were mere traders, and the Hottentots not only had nothing which they wanted to purchase, but were regarded by them as the most ferocious of savages, with whom communication should be avoided. The Dutch, who wrested from them the traffic of the East, for a long time had no thought of colonisation either, but from the entrance of these people in the Indian seas the south-western part of the African continent acquired an importance it never had before. The Portuguese ocean road was almost invariably west of Madagascar, consequently they did not need a refreshment station between St. Helena and Mozambique, but the Dutch, who passed south of the great island, required one at the turning point of the long sea journey between Holland and Batavia. Owing to this, their fleets were in the habit of putting into Table Bay for the purpose of obtaining news, taking in fresh water, catching fish, and trying to barter cattle from the Hottentots, which they were not always fortunate enough to procure.