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| the inhuman conduct of the principal conspirators; the heroic and successful resistance of the few faithful men fighting for life and honour almost without the smallest hope of success; the long boat voyage of the Commodore’s party hurrying to Batavia for rescue for the men they knew were in peril, and, perhaps, at the point of death on the barren islands behind them; the return just in time, and the triumphant vindication of justice; all form a series of pictures among the most picturesque and thrilling in the early history of Australia.
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October, 1628
JOURNAL
AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DISASTROUS VOYAGE MADE TO BY THE WORTHY FRANCOYS PELSERT. OF ANTWERP. Captain on the Ship Batavia, which Sailed from Texel on the 28th of October, 1628.The fact that in June, 1628, General Pieter Carpentier came home safely from the East Indies with five richly-laden merchant-men, and that the Government succeeded in releasing three of their ships from the embargo under which they had been placed by the English the year before, when returning from Suratta under the command of Jan Karsbensz, of Emden, tended not a little to encourage enterprise and to occasion fresh equipments. In consequence of this the said Government resolved to send another fleet of 11 ships hither, with which General Jacob Specks was to sail. On these ships embarked also a man of wide experience, the mathematician Johan Walbeck, who was anxious to study closely the nature and condition of eastern countries. The Senate of Amsterdam, having in good time two ships and a yacht ready to sail, sent those to Texel in order to lose no time. The names of these vessels were Batavia, under the command of the worthy Francoys Pelsert, of Antwerp; Dordrecht, having for her merchant-captain the collector of revenue, Isaac van Swaenswyck, of Leyden; and the yacht Assendelft, under the command of the second merchant-captain, Cornelis Vlack, of Amsterdam. These being ready to sail, and the wind having become favourable, left Texel for the open on the 28th of October. How they continued their journey, how they separated by storm or other incidents, how nothing but the ordinary events of daily nautical routine took place, which is unnecessary to mention and publish in print, since so many similar printed accounts of voyages have repeated this ad nauseam for every reader — all this we pass, in order to emphasize only that which is memorable.
When the Commodore asked what depth of water they were in, the reply was that
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they did not know. So he sent for the lead line, which was in the steerman’s charge, and found that there were but 17ft. or 18ft. of water astern, and far less forward. Therefore, they had to accept the Skipper’s surmise that they had got on an unknown shallow in the sea, and they consequently resolved to lighten the vessel by throwing the heavy guns overboard, and to put out to sea with the boats, in hopes that the ship might float again. Meanwhile they had sounded round the ship and found seven fathoms of water astern for a distance of about a bow shot; but forward it was all shallow, so that they prepared a small anchor to be thrown out astern. Meanwhile rain set in, with a strong wind, so that the boat was washed overboard with a heavy sea. She drifted away, and they were obliged to send the sloop after her to be able to row her back. Before they were on board again it was day. They then found themselves surrounded by cliffs and shallows. The rapid fall of the water caused the ship to bump violently and to lurch, so that they could no longer retain | cask and a half, which lay ready on the deck, with buckets and jugs. The whole day passed in this manner, and they had only made three trips with the people, in which 180 souls, 20 casks containing bread, and a few barrels of water had been saved.
When the Skipper had taken ashore some people and a casket of jewels, and had returned on board with the sloop after sunset, he declared to the Commodore that it was no use their taking water and bread on shore, since it was all devoured in the most lawless and ravenous manner, and everyone drank as much as he liked, his own orders had no force or effect, unless more stringent measures were taken. Thereupon the Commodore himself jumped into the sloop and went ashore, intending to return as soon as possible, having decided to bring the money ashore in the next journey. The great number of people and the scarcity of the water made it necessary to fix rations, for there was no appearance of the possibility of getting more water soon, and they would be |
Commodore, would certainly take the first opportunity of reaching the ship with the sloop and the boat, in order to get the money and bring it safely ashore. With these messages, the said carpenter, Jan Egbertsz, swam to the ship again; When he had arrived there safely they immediately threw out six planks, which were secured by those in the sloop. The latter were then obliged, to their sorrow and regret, to return to the island. When they reached the land, they found the carpenter busy making a sweep out of a piece of a boom that had floated ashore. In the afternoon it began to blow and storm, very hard from the north-west, so that the ship was so entirely buried by waves that they could often not see her and that it seemed more than a miracle that she kept together. Those on the shore calculated in the evening how much more there was of the fresh water that they had saved in small casks, and found that on the smallest island, where with the boat and the sloop they counted 40 people, there were 80 cans of water, and on the | from doing this, because they feared that they might keep the Commodore there, and he might have occasion to regret it, and also because none of the men were very much inclined to start out with him. But he persisted in his intention stating that if they would not consent to his going to the other island, he would tell the people of their intentions not to go out and find fresh water for the whole number. He was ready to die with the people honourably, and not to leave the company’s ship and goods. Then they consented. He obtained a boatswain’s mate and six men at his service, who were ready to take him in the sloop to the island, though on condition that if he should be retained there they should be allowed to leave with the sloop and go on. This being agreed they started, the Commodore taking with him a cask of water for those on the other island; but when they came near the shore the boatswain and his men refused to land, saying, “They will keep you and us there; we don’t wish to go nearer; if you have anything to say to them you can call out; we are not going to run any risk for your sake”. The Commodore was very indignant at this slight, and wanted to jump overboard in order to swim ashore. But the boatswain pulled him back and held him, telling his crew to row back. Those on the island saw all this with great regret The Commodore thus being hindered in carrying out his kind intentions recommended his unfortunate brethren to God’s care, and much against his wish, returned in the evening.
In this sad state of affairs, the Commodore at last resolved to go and look for fresh water on the islands. Therefore, on the 6th of June, in the morning, he wrote on a leaf of a book of tablets: “That he and the others thereby named were going out with the boat to find fresh water on the neighbouring islands or the mainland in the south, promising to make haste and return to their friends as soon as possible”.
On the 7th they stopped with the boat at the largest island in order to get her into better repair. For it was plain that they would not find any fresh water on the islands; they had already dug a good many holes in vain, so that they would be obliged to seek the mainland to the south, which they durst not try in a boat that was not well founded, fearing that they would not be able to withstand the sea. Against the evening they saw the sloop rowing towards them, which they had left about the ship. Gillis Fransz, second mate, was in her with ten men, gone out to find fresh water also. Seeing that their efforts in this direction were vain, and that those in the boat were inclined to sail for the mainland, south, they asked to be allowed to go thither also in the sloop. This was accorded, partly because their number would increase the chance of finding water, and also because if the weather was rough, they would thus get the water more easily across the breakers, but they were inclined to let the sloop return to the people on the islands and on the wreck. The 8th, when the boat was in good trim and everything ready in order to sail in the morning from the islands to the mainland, the Commodore read out to the crew the following resolution, drawn up beforehand, to which all consented with a solemn oath.
knowledge of the truth we have signed this with our own hand, and have | |||||
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| foothold on the deck. It was evident that they had run on these shallows during the tide. They resolved to bring down the mainmast, trusting that the other mast would not cause so much danger every time the ship struck on the rocks. When they had done this, they found that they had made a great mistake, for they could not get rid of it overboard, and it caused them a great deal of trouble when they tried to bring the boat on board, on account of the violent breakers. Nowhere could they see any land that did not look as if the high tide was sure to cover it, except one island about three miles away from the ship. The Skipper was, therefore, sent off to two little islets not far from the ship to see whether it would be possible to deposit there safely the people and some of the goods. Coming back about 9 o’clock, he reported that apparently those would not be flooded, but that the rocks and cliffs made them difficult and dangerous of approach, since on one side the sloop could not land on account of the shallows, while on the other | obliged to make it stretch as long as possible if they wished to save their lives. No sooner, however, had he left the ship than a strong wind began to blow, so that it was out of the question to get to the ship again; in fact they found it hard enough to get ashore, being in great danger of being swamped by the sea or carried away by the current. So that against their will they were compelled to stay on the land that night.
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larger island for 180 people there were still less. Therefore it was an anxious prospect, and those of the crew began to mutter, asking why they should not go and look for fresh water on the islands or thereabouts, since they could not remain without very long or they would die of thirst together. The Skipper mentioned this to the Commodore, also that unless an order of this kind was given, there was a danger of mutiny and of the mutineers leaving with the boat. The Commodore, however, did not yet see his way clear to consent to this, and he proposed that they should await the event of the weather and what would become of the ship, for they would have to answer before God, the authorities, and the Government in Batavia for leaving all these people and the rich possessions of the company thus lightly without any further attempt to save them. Many protested against this decision, and those who were willing to search for water on the islands or on the southern mainland, promised that as soon as they should find | |||||||
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| side there were several fathoms of water.
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and they were compelled to return to the island.
Though the Commodore was close to the ship yet the breakers prevented their boarding her, in spite of all their trouble and the dangers they faced, for the seas ran even over the poop, so for a long time they beat about, hoping that a favourable opportunity would at last offer. But everything was in vain. At last a carpenter of Amsterdam, named Jan Egbersz, was bold enough to swim through the surf from the ship to the sloop. He begged that they should come to the rescue of the supercargo captain, Jeronymus Cornelisz (who was in the ship with seventy men) in order to save them, since their lives were no longer safe in the ship. It may be easily inferred from this of what mind they were in, both parties, on one side, with the wish to help, on the other with the anxious desire to be rescued. As it seemed impossible to effect this, the Commodore asked for five or six planks from the ship, if it was possible to throw them overboard, so that they might fish them up and make sweeps for the boat out of them. Further he advised them to make a couple of rafts to take refuge on in case of need. Finally he sent word to the effect that he, the |
fresh water anywhere, they would return, in order to provide the others with as much water as should be found necessary. Finally, after having weighed and discussed everything, the Commodore was persuaded after much begging and praying to resolve (as will be seen from the resolution hereafter) that they should steer with the boat for the islands or the mainland to look for water, so that they might not perish of thirst; that if they found none, they should continue their voyage by the grace of God, till they reached Batavia, in order to inform the General of their sad and unheard-of calamities, and at the same time to ask for help to rescue the remaining people. One consideration was that there was no hope of getting more water out of the ship unless she should burst open and the casks should float ashore and be secured. It was true it might rain for many days, and much water might thus be collected for their use, but all this was very uncertain, and not to be depended upon.
Before carrying out the resolution just made, the Commodore asked the Skipper to order some of the crew to go with him in the sloop to the other islet, in order to acquaint the people there with the preceding resolution. He was dissuaded | |||||||
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