Damaqua

The western shore of Algoa Bay lies in the country of the eastern Cape, where Khoekhoe herders and other communities lived before colonial settlement. In the later eighteenth century Dutch graziers established farms in the surrounding district. During the first British occupation of the Cape, officials sought to protect the bay's landing and watering place amid unrest on the eastern frontier. In 1799 they built Fort Frederick on the high ground above the Baakens River, overlooking the anchorage.

The later city of Gqeberha lies here.