The wreck of the Schoonenberg,
The wreck of the Schoonenberg is one of intrigue and mystery. The Schoonenberg also spelled Schonenberg and Schonenbergh. “Schönenberg/Schonenberg”, German for ‘Lovely Mountain’, was an 800-ton trading ship Spiegelretourschip or Dutch East Indiaman. It was built for the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC. The ship was a typical 40 m three master built for trade with the East and operated between 1717 and 1722. It was damaged beyond repair in an accident near Struisbaai on the 20th of November 1722. There have for many years been rumours that The Schoonenberg, was intentionally wrecked in order to set up an opportunity for the cargo to be stolen.
The story tells of the conspiracy between the ship’s captain and three farmers from Hottentots Holland to beach the vessel in order to salvage the cargo and hide it away on the Vergelegen Estate.
When the Castle of Good Hope Governor, Mauritz Pasque de Chavonnes, was told the information of the plot, he had the perpetrators arrested, tried and brutally punished. Although the grounds of Vergelegen were searched over the years, nobody ever recovered any treasure. Stories of the “treasure” however have gone unchallenged for nearly 300 years.
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