Before Landfall. In 1647 ship Nieuwe Haerlem is wrecked in Table Bay. A survivor, Leendert Janszen, is instructed to remain behind with some crew to look after the cargo. The shipwreck victims built a small fort that they named the "Sand Fort of the Cape of Good Hope." They stayed for nearly one year. Jan Van Riebeeck was part of the fleet that salvaged the cargo form the Haarlem. When they got to Holland they laid their heads together and wrote a memorial(Remonstrance) to their High Mightinesses the Dutch East India Company. They showed that by making a fort and a garden in Table Valley, and protecting it with a garrison of 60 or 70 soldiers, the Company would save the lives of hundreds of their men. In early December 1651 Van Riebeeck left Holland with a mandate to sart a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope. On April the 4th Table Mountain was sighted.  ¶ 11/03/2006 02:25:00 PM