Xhosa-speaking peoples (the amaXhosa, amaMpondo, abaThembu and amaMpondomise) inhabited South Africa and were well-established in the region prior to Dutch colonization. Their traditional large population areas included large portions of eastern South Africa from the Gamtoos River to the region south of the modern-day city of Durban. The Xhosa first encountered European settlers in the East London region in 1686 when survivors of the wrecked merchantman "Stavenisse" were taken in as guests by the chieftain of the Xhosa, Togu. In the late 18th century, Afrikaner "trekboers" migrating outwards from Cape Town came into conflict with Xhosa pastoralists around the Gamtoos River region of the Eastern Cape; the "trekboers" pushed the Xhosas back to the Great Fish River ("Nxuba" in Xhosa). Following more than twenty years of intermittent conflict, from 1811 to 1812, the Xhosas were forced east of the Fish River in the Third Xhosa War.