The first Europeans to discover the Cape were the Portuguese, with Bartholomeu Dias arriving in 1488 after journeying south along the west coast of Africa. The next recorded European sighting of the Cape was by Vasco da Gama in 1497 while he was searching for a route that would lead directly from Europe to Asia.
Table Mountain was given its name in 1503 by Antonio da Saldanha, a Portuguese admiral and explorer. He called it Taboa da caba ("table of the cape"). The original name given to the mountain by the first Khoi inhabitants was Hoeri 'kwaggo ("sea mountain").
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