| Notes |
- Charles Marais of Plessis Marle, south of Paris, arrived in 1688 on the Voorschooten with his wife Catherine Tabouroux and four children They were members of the protestant congregation worshipping at Le Plessy-Marly near Longvilliers, a village north west of Dourdan towards the Rambouillet forest. On 14 Sep 1687 they renounced the Catholic faith in the Waalse Kerk in Den Haag.
In 1688 he obtained the 60 morgen farm Le Plessis Marle on the Simonsberg in Groot Drakenstein. (Today the farm is still a winery, renamed Plaisir de Merle http://www.plaisirdemerle.co.za/ )
On 29 March 1689, only a few momnths after the farm was granted, he was attacked by a Khoikhoi on his farm. The man whose name was Edessha (also known as Dikkop) came from a nearby kraal. He had asked for some watermelons - he was refused because none were ripe. Perhaps in a language misunderstanding, the Khoikhoi attacked him, severely injuring him, and he died four days later on 3 April 1689. He was the sublect of the first recorded autopsy in South Africa. The autopsy was carried out by the 62 year old surgeon Jean Prieur du Plessis, assisted by the neighbour of Charles Marais. Jacques de Savoye had lived in Flanders and was therefore fluent in Dutch, and could translate the results. The autopsy report stated: "«i»I have been in Drakenstein and have examined Charles Marais, who died after being struck in the left groin by two stones thrown by a Hottentot on 29th March. I opened the wound in the presence of Monsieur the Landrost Jan Mostert, Hendrik de Cochè and Jacques de Savoye as Heenr
Dikkop was captured and placed on trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. As prescribed by the court, the sentence was carried out by his own people according to their own custom, by being beaten to death with sticks, the sentence reading «i»"…op haere wijse gestraft en met stokken geslagen te werden dat er de dood navolgt«/i»".
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- 1689