Part 15
After these horrible proceedings, he caused himself to be elected captain-general by a document, which he compelled all his companions to sign. He afterwards sent twenty-two men in two shallops to destroy the company of Weybehays, but they met with a repulse. Taking with him thirty-seven men he went himself against Weybehays, who received him at the water’s edge as he disembarked, and forced him to retire, although he had no other weapons but clubs, the ends of which he had armed with spikes. Finding force unavailing he had recourse to other means. He proposed a treaty of peace, the chaplain who remained with Weybehays drawing up the conditions; it was agreed to with this proviso, that Weybehays’ company should remain unmolested, who, upon their part, agreed to deliver up a little boat in which one of the sailors had escaped from the island where Cornelis was located to that of Weybehays, receiving in return some stuffs for clothing his people. During the negotiations, Cornelis wrote to certain French soldiers who belonged to the company, offering to each six thousand pounds to corrupt them, with the hope that with this assistance he might easily compass his design. His letters, which were without effect, were shown to Weybehays, and Cornelis, who was ignorant of their disclosure, having arrived the next day with three or four others to find Weybehays and bring him the apparel, the latter caused him to be attacked, killed two or three of his company, and took Cornelis himself prisoner. One of them, by name Wouterlos, who escaped from this rout, returned the following day to renew the attack, but with little success.
Pelsart arrived during these occurrences in the frigate _Sardam_; as he approached the wreck he observed smoke from a distance, rising from one of the islands, a circumstance that afforded him great consolation, since he perceived by it that his people were not all dead. He cast anchor, and threw himself immediately into a skiff with bread and wine, and proceeded to land in one of the islands. Nearly at the same time a boat came alongside armed with four men. Weybehays, who was one of the four, ran to him, informed him of the massacre, and advised him to return as speedily as possible to his vessel, for that the conspirators designed to surprise him—having already murdered twenty-five persons—and to attack him with two shallops; adding, that he himself had that morning been at close quarters with them. Pelsart perceived at the same time the two shallops coming towards him, and had scarcely got on board his own vessel before they came alongside. He was surprised to see the people covered with embroidery of gold and silver, and weapons in their hands, and demanded of them why they approached the vessel armed. They replied that they would inform him when they came on board. He commanded them to cast their arms into the sea, or otherwise he would sink them. Finding themselves compelled to submit, they threw away their weapons, and, being ordered on board, were immediately placed in irons. One of them, named Jan de Bremen, who was the first examined, confessed that he had put to death, or assisted in the assassination of twenty-seven persons. The same evening Weybehays brought his prisoner on board.
On the 18th day of September, the captain and the master-pilot, taking with them ten men of Weybehays’ company, passed over in boats to the island of Cornelis. Those who still remained thereon lost all courage as soon as they saw them alongside, and allowed themselves to be placed in irons. The captain’s first care was to make search for the jewels, which had been distributed here and there. The whole of these were discovered at the first search, with the exception of a chain of gold and a ring, the latter of which was afterwards recovered. The wreck was afterwards visited. The vessel was broken into a hundred pieces; the keel upon one side aground upon a sandbank, the forepart of the vessel resting upon a rock, and other pieces scattered here and there, holding out little hope to Pelsart of saving any part of the Company’s merchandise. The steward informed him, that about one month previous, upon the only fine day they had had during their residence there, having gone out fishing near the wreck, he had struck against one of the chests filled with silver with the end of a pike.
On the 19th, they conveyed the other accomplices to the island for the purpose of examining them.
On the 20th, they sent various necessaries to Weybehays’ company, and brought away water from them; for, after being ten days upon the island without discovering any, they thought of tasting some which was in two wells, but which they had believed to be salt, because it rose and fell with the tide, but they afterwards found it to be good to drink.
On the 21st, they found the tide very low, and the wind so strong from the east south-east, that the boat could not go out this day.
On the 22nd, they again wished to examine the wreck, but the sea broke upon it so roughly that the swimmers themselves did not venture to approach it.
On the 25th, the master and pilot approached it at a favourable moment, and those who remained on shore perceiving that there was something that they were unable to remove therefrom, sent assistance to them, the captain going in person, and they found that they had discovered a chest full of silver. A second chest was afterwards found, and the two were placed on dry land; but they were unable to obtain more that day on account of the bad weather, although the divers of Guzarat assured them they had found six other chests which they could easily remove.
On the 26th, after they had dined, the weather being fine and the tide very low, the master set out for the spot where the chests had been seen and recovered three, placing an anchor and a piece of artillery to mark the spot where a fourth remained, which, after great endeavours, they found themselves unable to move.
On the 27th, the wind blew very cold from the south.
On the 28th, the wind continued from the same quarter, and as it did not suffer them to work near the wreck, the captain assembled a council to advise whether he should bring the prisoners to trial there, or carry them to Batavia, to be there tried by the officers of the Company. The great number of them, and the temptation offered by the great treasures which they had recovered from the wreck, and with which the frigate was loaded, caused the majority to vote for their immediate trial and execution, which was there and then carried into effect.
VOYAGE OF GERRIT THOMASZ POOL TO THE SOUTH LAND.
TRANSLATED FROM VALENTYN’S “BESCHRYVINGE VAN BANDA,” p. 47.
On the 26th of March, 1636, there arrived two shallops, the _Amsterdam_ and the _Weasel_, sent from Amboina, with orders to Governor Acoley at Banda, to give to the commander of these ships, Gerard Thomasz Pool, such information concerning the South Land as might be necessary for him to perform a voyage thither, under the orders of the honourable Company.
After he had received the desired instructions, and had been furnished with sufficient provisions and other necessaries, he sailed with those vessels on the 17th of April.
On the 30th of June following both these vessels returned, and informed the governor that, having reached the Flat Point in about 4½ degrees of south latitude on the 18th of April, they had determined to send some of their people on shore to take a view of the country. The Commander Pool, desirous to see everything himself, resolved to be of the party, and took with him his steward, Andries Schiller, a native of Nuremberg. They were scarcely landed, when a large body of wild Southlanders, who at first appeared friendly, but acted afterwards in a hostile manner, surrounded them, in so much that it was not in their power to escape. The Commander Pool perceiving the danger greater than he at first expected, was still in hopes to escape; but he found himself attacked one of the first, and received a blow with a hazegay, which immediately brought him to the ground. When he recovered his senses and saw that his steward was still defending himself, he called out to him that he would do better to try to make his escape, as otherwise he would not be able to do it, for the savages were coming on in yet greater numbers. He did so, but was likewise soon knocked down.
The wild Southlanders, perceiving the hanger which the Commander Pool had in his hand, forced it from him and cut these two men to pieces, and carried them into the wood; but it never could be discovered what they did with them, nor what became of the two sailors who were likewise missing.
The crew could only tell, that these Southlanders have a very black skin, much like the Caffers of Angola, but with long black hair on their head, and were much stouter and taller in stature than any Europeans, and quite naked, with the exception of their middle. They also reported that one of them, appearing to be a chief, had a rough skin of some wild beast wrapped round his neck; and that they were armed partly with hazegays, and a kind of javelins with sharp iron points; and partly with bows and arrows.
ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SHIP “DE VERGULDE DRAECK” ON THE SOUTHLAND, AND THE EXPEDITIONS UNDERTAKEN, BOTH FROM BATAVIA AND THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, IN SEARCH OF THE SURVIVORS AND MONEY AND GOODS WHICH MIGHT BE FOUND ON THE WRECK, AND OF THE SMALL SUCCESS WHICH ATTENDED THEM.
_Drawn up and Translated from Authentic MS. Copies of the Logbooks in the Royal Archives at the Hague._
The ship _De Vergulde Draeck_, equipped by the Chamber of Amsterdam, having sailed on the 4th of October, 1655, from Tessel to East India, with a rich cargo, including 78,600 guilders in cash, in eight boxes, was wrecked very suddenly on the 28th of April, at night, at the beginning of the first day-watch, on the coast of the Southland, on a reef stretching out to sea about one mile and a half, latitude 30⅔°. Of one hundred and ninety-three souls only seventy-five, among whom were the skipper Pieter Aberts and the under-steersman, reached the shore alive. Nothing was saved from the ship, which foundered and sunk at once, except a small quantity of provisions washed on shore by the waves. The news was brought to Batavia by one of the ship’s boats, with the above-mentioned steersman and six sailors, after beating about for a month, on the 7th of June, with the account that the sixty-eight persons who remained behind were exerting themselves to get their boat afloat again, which lay deeply embedded in the sand, that they might send it also with some of their number to Batavia. The General and Council resolved, for the rescue both of the above-mentioned unfortunate men, and also of the Company’s specie and merchandise, to get ready without delay a quick-sailing fly-boat, the _Witte Valck_, provisioned for five months, with some further supplies for the above-mentioned men at the Southland; as also some expert divers, with hatchets and other necessary implements. This they ordered to join company with the yacht the _Goede Hoop_, then cruizing in the Straits of Sunda, with instructions that they should both proceed together without loss of time from the Straits southwards, as far as 32° or 33° latitude, or until they met a strong westerly trade-wind, in which case they would steer towards the coast of the Southland. They were, moreover, to explore the said coast with particular attention, near the part where the ship had been wrecked, further than it had been already known, and to lay it down on a map, with its capes, inlets, bays, rocks, sands, and shoals.
The _Witte Valck_ set sail on the 8th of June, in order to join company with the yacht _Goede Hoop_, in the Sunda Straits. They sailed out together, but returned without having succeeded in their object; the former, on the 14th of September, and the yacht a month afterwards, having been forced by a severe storm to part company on the 18th of July, on their way out. According to the captain’s journals lying at Batavia, they had reached the coast just in the winter time, during which season the sea is so boisterous there, that an approach to the coast is a matter of extreme danger. Thus, as these documents inform us, they were compelled, after experiencing great danger and exhausting every effort, to put off from the coast and to return to Batavia, leaving behind them eleven men of the yacht _Hoop_, three of them having wandered too far into the woods and eight having been sent in search of them, but not one of the number returned. As the boat in which they had rowed to land was found dashed to pieces on the shore, the whole number, most probably, came to an untimely end. According to the reports which were made, some men or some signs of the wreck had been noticed, although the _Goede Hoop_, which had been at the place where the ship was supposed to have been wrecked, gave a different statement.
Subsequently the commander at the Cape of Good Hope, according to instructions sent to him, gave orders in the year 1657 to the fly-boat _Vinck_, bound thence to Batavia, to touch _en passant_ at the same place where the above-mentioned disaster had occurred, that search might be made for the unfortunate men. But his vessel also having arrived at the unfavourable season, found no means of landing either with fly-boat or boat, so as to make a proper search. According to its reports, having, on the 8th of June, 1657, during the daytime, seen signs of land in 29° 7´ south latitude, and the weather being very favourable, they anchored at night in twenty-five fathoms water, the bottom being coarse sand mixed with coral. In the morning, when day dawned, they saw the surf breaking over the reef at the foot of which they lay, and on one side of them the Southland, presenting a low sandy shore, on which their anchor lifted. They continued their course along the coast in order to observe the land, which was still kept in sight the following day. The weather, however, became so boisterous, and the breakers rolled all along the coast with such violence, that they were compelled to put out a little further to sea, yet, throughout the 10th and 11th of June, they still followed the coast line in forty or fifty fathoms water. However, the chance of landing grew gradually less as they proceeded, for the weather continued stormy, with thunder and lightning, so that it became necessary to get clear of the coast. They allowed their ship to drive before the wind under bare poles until the 12th, when they loosened sail a little, the wind shifting between S., S.S.W., and S.S.E., and stood out towards Batavia, where they arrived on the 27th.
Notwithstanding all this, and although, as the statement of the General and Council shows, the rescue of these men seemed hopeless, since it was evident that they must either have perished from hunger and misery, or been murdered by the barbarous natives; they resolved afterwards, as there might be still some hope left, however small, to despatch, for a third time, two galliots, the _Waeckende Boey_ and _Emeloort_, the former with a crew of forty, the latter of twenty-five men, provisioned for six months. They set sail from Batavia on the 1st of January, 1658, with distinct orders both as to how to reach the Southland and as to their conduct during the voyage: amongst them these; that after passing the Straits of Sunda they should steer towards the S.W., and as much further south as the wind would allow, so as to meet the S.E. trade winds, when they would proceed at once as far southwards as they could by crowding all sail until the west winds were encountered, when again they should immediately steer as much south as east, in order that, without loss of time and before encountering land, they might reach the latitude of 32° or 33°, when, directing their course eastwards, they should make the attempt to land at the Southland. It was enjoined that every possible precaution should be used, as the coast in that quarter was not much known or properly explored. It was added, that their arrival would be in summer or the most favourable season of the year; with other matters, set forth in the instructions given to them by the General and Council on the last day of December, 1657. On the 19th of April they returned to Batavia, having each of them separately, after parting company by the way, sailed backwards and forwards again and again, and landed parties at several points along the coast. They had also continually fired signal guns night and day, without, however, discovering either any Dutchmen or the wreck of the vessel. The only things seen were some few planks and blocks, with a piece of the mast, a taffrail, fragments of barrels, and other objects scattered here and there along the coast, and supposed to be remnants of the wreck. The crew of the _Emeloort_ also saw at different points five black men of extremely tall stature, without however daring to land there. Thus of this expedition again the only result was, that the crew of the _Waeckende Boey_ abandoned a boat with fourteen of their comrades, including the upper steersman, and that in a manner but too reckless, as it afterwards proved and as we shall presently show. The boat having been sent to land, and not returning within twenty-four hours, they concluded that it must have been dashed against the cliffs and all hands perished; the more so as, on returning to the same place five days afterwards, and firing several signal-guns landwards, no men or signs of men were seen. But from the report of four of their number who afterwards arrived at Japara by way of Mataram, it appeared that the unfortunate men, seeing themselves abandoned by their ship and finding no other resource left, resolved at last to steer for the coast of Java. Accordingly having repaired their boat, as best they might, with sealskins, and provided themselves with a little water and seals’ flesh, they set out on the 10th of April, and arrived on the 28th of the same month on the south side of that island. But of their number at that time eleven only remained, three having perished of thirst on the way, whilst four others in the first instance, and afterwards two, who had been made to swim ashore in search of water, had not returned, either from obstinacy or because they were killed by the natives. On the following day the boat was dashed to pieces on the beach by a heavy sea, when the above four men, without having met either with the seven above-mentioned or any other men, took their way westward along the coast and continued to march for two months in a very weak and exhausted condition, until they at last met with men who brought them to Mataram.
Among the number of those who returned was the upper steersman, Abraham Leeman van Santwigh. Of the remaining seven nothing more was heard.
It afterwards appeared from the diaries of the before-mentioned galliots that, notwithstanding the strong injunctions to that effect laid down in their instructions, proper care had not been taken by them to keep together, so as to render assistance to each other in case of accident, and to combine in using the most effectual means for landing and exploring the coast.
The Fiscal of India was ordered to consult further with the Council of Justice on the subject, but the General and Council were of opinion that the unfortunate men from the ship _De Draeck_ must one and all have perished long ago, since no traces of them had been discovered throughout the whole length of the coast. Consequently all thoughts of any further special expeditions were given up, the more so as the two former ones had proved so disastrous. Orders, however, were given that any galliot or light fly-boat should seize any opportunity of touching there in favourable weather once more on their way from this country, to see if any clue to the missing men might perchance be found.
The log-books of the galliots were sent over, together with an extract from that of the fly-boat _Elburgh_, as far as related to the Southland, together with the small charts of the coast.
We shall now enter into a few further particulars with a view to the fuller elucidation of the subject. According to the journal of Aucke Pietersz Jonck, skipper of the galliot _Emeloort_, they sighted land while at a distance of four miles from the shore, on the 8th of March, at 30° 25´ south latitude, the south point lying E.S.E., and the north point N.E. by N. They also saw smoke rising towards the E.S.E. and E., whereupon they fired three guns and hoisted a large flag on the mainmast. At night a fire was again seen at N.E. by E.
On the 9th, a fire on shore was again seen and answered with a signal of three guns, and the boat was launched with a crew of nine hardy men and the steersman, provisioned for eight days; on their approach the smoke or fire disappeared, whereupon they returned on board. This fire was at a distance of two miles from the former one. Nine signal-guns were then fired from the ship, and afterwards three at night. A light was also hung aloft during the night, but no signs were observed on land.
On the 10th, the boat was again sent ashore, and a large fire again seen on the beach, at the same place as on the previous day, upon which a gun was fired every hour from the ship and a flag hoisted. About two hours elapsed before the boat could reach the shore. Fires at four different points were again seen from the ship during the night, one of which continued burning throughout the night, and several musket-shots were fired.
The boat’s crew related that they had come across three huts, and had encountered five persons of tall stature and imposing appearance, who made signs to them to approach; this, however, from distrust of their intentions, they did not venture to do. On their returning again to the boat these people followed them down to the beach, but were afraid to enter the boat. Much brushwood was seen on shore by this party, and in some places crops of growing grain which they set fire to, also portions of land under cultivation; no fruits, however, were noticed, but merely a few herbs of an agreeable smell. Further inland they saw neither fresh water nor trees, but numerous sandy downs; at night also many fires. After having gone three miles along the shore as well as inland without meeting any misadventure, they again proceeded with the ship under sail, but saw no signs of anything remarkable along the coast from latitude 33° 30´ to 30° 25´. There they went again on shore with the same result. This prolonged investigation proved altogether fruitless with regard both to the lost ship and the crew. The natives they encountered were men of stalwart frame, naked, and very dark-skinned; they wore a headdress forming a kind of crown, but with no covering on any part of their bodies except their middle. They then returned, the crew beginning to suffer very much, chiefly from sore eyes. They left the cliff Tortelduyf on the starboard side. On the 15th of March they saw many gulls, entirely black but of small size, and on the 17th, several wag-tails. On the 26th, the point Wynkoopsbergen lay to the W.N.W. of them, distant three miles. They continued to coast along at a distance of four, five, six, or seven miles, and would have again touched land had the weather permitted.