August Friedrich Beutler was employed by the Dutch East Indian Company to lead an exploration expedition into the Eastern Cape. Apart from valuable information gained from the interior during the eight months' long journey, the expedition found on this date survivors of the French ship Le Necessaire at the Gourits River, which had been on a mission to explore possibilities of a French settlement at the eastern shore of Southern Africa.
References
Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: Feite en Fratse oor 1000 Jaar| Cape Town: Human & Rousseau.Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970).| Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 2, p. 300.