Pieter van Meerhof: the surgeon on the 1661 expedition

The expedition that reached the Riebeek Valley in February 1661 was led by Pieter Cruythoff. Travelling with him was Pieter van Meerhof, a Danish-born surgeon in the service of the Dutch East India Company.

The men were searching for the legendary gold kingdom of Monomotapa. They never found it, but they did find a fertile valley under a lonely mountain, which they named after their commander, Jan van Riebeeck.

Van Meerhof's later life is closely tied to Cape history. On 26 April 1664 he married Krotoa, a Khoikhoi woman who worked as an interpreter at the fort and had been baptised as Eva. In 1665 he became superintendent on Robben Island. He was killed in Madagascar in 1668 during a company voyage.

Today a local wine carries his name, alongside one named for Cruythoff, a small reminder of the two men who first wrote about this valley.