_Diurnal anotations on my [PELSAERT'S] second voyage to the South-land,
by order of the Hon. Lord Governor-general Jan Pietersen Coen, with the
Yacht Sardam, for the purpose of rescuing and bringing hither the men
belonging to our lost ship Batavia, together with the ready money and the
goods that it shall be found possible to salve._
This day the 15th Of July We set sail in the morning with the
land-wind...
This day the 1st of September at noon we were in 29° 16' Southern
Latitude [*], with a variable wind, so that we found it impossible to get
to eastward.
[* The ship had already sailed farther south than Houtman's Abrolhos.]
On the 2nd do. the wind went round to the north with a top-gallant gale;
at noon we were in 30° 16' S.L. and found we had drifted a long way to
southward; in the evening the wind turned to the north-west; course held
N.E. by north.
On the 3rd do. in the morning the wind was blowing from the west; we saw
a good deal of rock-weed floating about and also a number of
cuttle-bones. We therefore turned our course to eastward, and at noon we
saw the mainland of the South-land, extending N.N.W. and S.S.E.; we were
at about 3 miles' distance from it and saw the land extending southward
for 4 miles by estimation, where it was bounded by the horizon. We
sounded here in 25 fathom, fine sandy bottom. It is a treeless, barren
coast with a few sandy dunes, the same as to northward; we were in 29°
16' Southern Latitude, turned our course to north-west, the wind being
W.S.W., but the hollow seas threw us close to the land, so that in the
evening we had to drop anchor at one mile's distance from it; at two
glasses in the first watch our anchor was broken in two, so that we had
to bring out another in great haste.
On the 4th do. in the morning the wind was S.W. by S., still with a very
hollow swell. During the day the wind went round to S.S.W., upon which we
weighed anchor and got under sail before noon. We stood out to sea on a
W.N.W. course in order to get off the lee-shore. At noon we were in 28°
50' S.L., where the land began to fall off one point, to wit North by
west and South by east. In the afternoon the wind went round to the
south, and we shaped our course westward. Towards evening we became aware
of a shoal straight ahead or west of us, at only a musket-shot's
distance, we being in 25 fathom fine sandy bottom. We turned the rudder
and ran off it half a mile to E.S.E., where we came to anchor in 27
fathom fine bottom; from noon till the evening we had been sailing on a
W.N.W. course, and we were now at 5 miles' distance from the mainland. In
the night it fell a dead calm with fine weather and a south-by-east wind.
{Page 59}
On the 5th do. in the morning the wind being S.S.E. with lovely weather,
we weighed anchor and sailed S.S.W. for an hour, at the end of which we
observed more breakers, shallows and islets ahead of us and alongside our
course; the wind then turned more to eastward, so that we could run to
the south and S.S.E. This reef or shoal extended S.S.W. and N.N.E.; along
it we sounded in 27, 28 and 29 fathom sandy bottom; at 11 o'clock in the
forenoon we had lost sight of the mainland; at noon we were in 28° 59' S.
Lat., the extremity of the reef lying W.S.W. of us, and we being in 50 or
60 fathom, foul steep bottom. In the afternoon the wind began to abate,
but the current carried us to the west, while the rocks here fell off far
to westward, we being at about 87 miles' distance from the mainland by
estimation. We had a dead calm the whole night and drifted along the
rock, on which we heard the waves break the whole time.
On the 6th do. in the morning we had lost sight of the rocks; about 10
o'clock the wind began to blow from the W.N.W., so that we ran nearly in
the direction of the rocks. At noon we were in 28° 44' S. Lat.; it began
to blow hard from the N.W., so that in the afternoon we kept tacking off
and on, and found ourselves carried northward by the current. In the
evening we stood out to sea away from the rocks again, and sounded in 40
fathom foul rocky bottom; this shallow here extends seaward S.E. and N.W.
In the evening it began to blow very hard, so that we had to run on with
shortened mainsails, the wind being variable.
On the 7th do. in the morning the wind abated, so that we made sail
again; at noon we found our latitude to be 29° 30'; we went over to
northward to get sight of the mainland again, but the wind suddenly
turned sharply to W.N.W., so that we had to stand out to sea again.
On the 8th do. at noon we were in 29° 7' S. Lat., course held N.E. In the
evening we saw the breakers again. We therefore stood out to sea on a
west-south-west course the whole night with a north-west-wind; and it
began to blow so hard that we had again to take in the topsails.
On the 9th do. in the morning we shaped our course to the land again; at
noon we were in Lat. 29° and for the rest of the day we kept tacking off
and on; towards the evening there blew a storm from the N.W., so that we
could hardly keep our main-sails set.
On the 10th do. we made sail again in the morning; at noon we were in 29°
30' S. Lat., with a westerly wind and a top-gallant gale.
On the 11th do. it was calm in the morning, but with a very hollow sea,
while the wind blew from the W.N.W., so that we could not get to the
north, if we did not wish to come upon or near the rocks. At noon we were
in 28° 48' S. Lat. The wind continued variable, so that in the night we
had to drift with our foresail set until daybreak.
On the 12th do. we made sail again at daybreak, shaping our course to the
east. We ran on till noon, when we found ourselves to be in in 28° 13' S.
Lat. We therefore ran somewhat more to the south again, in order to reach
the latitude Of 28° 20' exactly; the wind was south-west with a heavy
swell of the sea. In the afternoon, two hours before sunset we again
sighted the rocks, which we estimated to be still two miles from us. We
cast the lead in 100 fathom fine sandy bottom, but when we had come to
half a mile's distance, we sounded 30 fathom foul rocky bottom. In the
night we shaped our course two points more to seaward, and in the
daywatch made for the land again.
{Page 60}
On the 13th do., three hours after sunrise we again sighted breakers
ahead, and having made up our reckoning, we found we had lost a mile
north, since the wind had been S.S.E. This proved to be the northernmost
extremity of the Abrolhos. Therefore, since I found we always came too
high or too low, and it was very dangerous to touch at them from the
outside owing to the high swells and foul bottom, I resolved to keep
tacking off the outermost shoal. After this we went over again nearly to
weatherward with a S.S.E. wind, keeping an eastern course. When we had
got inside a small distance, we directly had a fine sandy bottom in from
30 to 35 fathom; at noon we were in 28° S. Lat., shortly after we again
saw the mainland of the Southland. In the evening, as it began to blow
hard, we came to anchor at about 2 miles' distance from the land in 30
fathom, fine bottom.
On the 14th do. there was a stiff gale from the S.S.E., so that we could
not get in our anchor, and remained here all day.
On the 15th do. the wind was still equally strong, but towards noon it
got somewhat calmer, so that we could get in our anchor. At noon we were
in 27° 54' S. Lat. We kept tacking the whole day with a S.S.E. wind, in
order to gain the south, and at night found we had gained two miles. When
it got dark, we again came to anchor in 30 fathom fine bottom.
On the 16th do. at daybreak we again weighed anchor; the wind being
W.S.W., we went over nearly to southward. At noon we were in
Latitude...degrees...minutes [*]. The wind then turned first to the west
and afterwards to the north, so that we could sail on a south-west
course; towards the evening we saw the rocks on which our good ship
Batavia had miscarried, and I was sure I saw the high Island, but our
steersmen contended that it was other land. Two hours after sunset we
again came to anchor in 26 fathom fine sandy bottom.
[* Left blank.]
On the 17th do. at daybreak we again weighed anchor with a northerly
wind; we were now still about 2 miles from the high island and made for
it. When at noon we had got near the island we saw smoke rising up from a
long island, two miles to westward of the wreck, and also from another
islet [*], close to the wreck, at which we were all of us greatly
rejoiced, hoping to find the greater part [**] or almost all the people
alive. Therefore, when we had come to anchor, I went in a boat to the
highest island, which was quite close to us, taking with me a cask of
water, a cask of bread, and a small keg of wine; when I had got there I
did not see any one, at which we were greatly astonished. I sprang
ashore...
[* This islet was named Batavia's Kerkhof [Churchyard] by the survivors;
another of the rocks got the name of Robben-eiland [Seals' island].]
[* This proved actually to be the case. I have thought it needless to
print those parts of the journal which tell the adventures of the
castaways, since they have repeatedly been narrated in other works.]
On the 15th [of November, 1629] the wind was S.S.W., with seemingly fine
weather. Therefore, in the name of God, we weighed anchor and set sail
from these luckless Abrolhos for the mainland on an East-north-east
course, for the purpose of seeking there the skipper and four other men,
who on the 14th last were with their boat cut off from ship by a storm,
after which we had resolved to continue our return-voyage to Batavia with
the utmost expedition. The spot where the ship or wreck lies, is in 28°
36' or 40', and the place near the high Island where we have been at
anchor with the Yacht, in 30 or 32 minutes, north-north-west of the
wreck. But after the shipwreck the steersmen had in one of the islands
taken the latitude Of 28 degrees 8 minutes, and 28 degrees 20 minutes,
which mistake has caused no little loss of time and misunderstanding on
our part in seeking out these places...
{Page 61}
The sea abounds in fish in these parts; they are mainly of three kinds,
but very different in shape and taste from those caught on other coasts.
All the islands about here are low-lying atolls or coral-islets and
rocks, except two or three large islands, in one of which, a long time
before we came here, they had found two pits filled with water, but
during the time we were here, the water in these pits became very
brackish or salt, so as to be unfit for human consumption. In the other
island, near which the Yacht lay at anchor, after burning away the
brushwood or thicket, we also came upon two pits filled with water, which
were discovered quite by accident...since they had only a small hole at
top, that would admit a man's arm, but below we found a large cistern or
water-tank under the earth; after which with mattocks and sledge-hammers
we widened the hole so as to be able to take out the water conveniently.
Besides, we found in these islands large numbers of a species of cats,
which are very strange creatures; they are about the size of a hare,
their head resembling the head of a civet-cat; the forepaws are very
short, about the length of a finger, on which the animal has five small
nails or fingers, resembling those of a monkey's forepaw. Its two
hind-legs, on the contrary, are upwards of half an ell in length, and it
walks on these only, on the flat of the heavy part of the leg, so that it
does not run fast. Its tail is very long, like that of a long-tailed
monkey; if it eats, it sits on its hind-legs, and clutches its food with
its forepaws, just like a squirrel or monkey. Their manner of generation
or procreation is exceedingly strange and highly worth observing. Below
the belly the female carries a pouch, into which you may put your hand;
inside this pouch are her nipples, and we have found that the young ones
grow up in this pouch with the nipples in their mouths. We have seen some
young ones lying there, which were only the size of a bean, though at the
same time perfectly proportioned, so that it seems certain that they grow
there out of the nipples of the mammae, from which they draw their food,
until they are grown up and are able to walk. Still, they keep creeping
into the pouch even when they have become very large, and the dam runs
off with them, when they are hunted.
In these two islands we also found a number of grey turtle-doves, but no
other animals. Nor is there any vegetation beyond brushwood, and little
or no grass. This and what has hereinbefore been related is all that we
have experienced and met with about these Abrolhos.
We shall therefore now shape our course for the mainland of the
Southland, to which we are navigating. About noon we were close inshore,
running along the coast with small sail at about half a mile's distance
from it, in order to see if we could not descry any men or signs of men,
until the afternoon, when we saw a small column of smoke rise up from the
higher land, but it soon vanished. Nevertheless we anchored there in 21
fathom fine sandy bottom, in order to look for the skipper with his men,
but the smoke did not appear again, and no one showed on the beach, from
which we concluded that the smoke had been made by the natives, who now
did not venture to show themselves. As it blew very hard, we remained at
anchor here for the night.
On the 16th do. in the morning we weighed anchor again with a S.S.E. wind
and a top-gallant gale. We again ran close along the land with small sail
at about a howitzer's shot's distance from the surf. Towards noon we
sighted the inlet which we had meant to run into on the 8th of June last,
when we were seeking water with the pinnace, and {Page 62} where we were
befallen by a storm from the north-west, which would certainly have sent
us to destruction, if God had not miraculously saved us. Here we saw
divers smoke-clouds rising up, which gladdened us all with the hope that
our men might be there. I therefore sent the pinnace ashore directly for
the purpose of getting certain information regarding the place and the
clouds of smoke we had seen; the men in her, after rounding a steep
point, where we had suspected the presence of water, discovered a running
streamlet, of which the water was brackish near the sea, but quite fresh
higher up; they also found a great many human footprints and continuous
footpaths leading to the mountains, and saw numerous clouds of smoke, but
the blacks kept themselves in concealment, and no human being was seen.
Formerly, when we were sailing about here with the pinnace, we had also
been close inshore, but did not then see any men or smoke-clouds at this
place. Thinking this a fitting opportunity, I have here sent on shore the
two condemned delinquents [*] Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom de By, of
Bemmel, in a sampan provided with all necessaries. God grant that this
punishment may ultimately redound to the service of the Company, and that
the two delinquents may come off with their lives, so as to be able to
give trustworthy information about these parts. This inlet is in 27° 51'.
In the afternoon, seeing there was no hope or chance of finding the
skipper, we made sail and shaped our course to north-west, two points off
the land, because it began to blow hard, and in the evening we turned to
west-north-west...[**].
[* They had been sentenced to being marooned.]
[* The ship returned to Batavia on the 5th of December.]
* * * * *