TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

NZ Truth, Issue 122, 19 October 1907, Page 8

TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

W«ECK OF THE BATAVIA FRIGATE.

--Cornells, the Supercargo, Turns Pirate,

AND MASSACRES MANY SURVIVORS.

Timely Arrival of tlie Saardam— Vengeance upon the Cutthroats.

fffie spirit of your fathers Shall start from every wave !' 'For the deck it was their field 1 of fame* (And ocean was their grave : . iWhere Blake and mighty Nelson fell,; [Your manly hearts shall glows 'As ye sweep through the deep fiVhEte the stormy tempests blow.' —Thomas Campbells

.The fascteation that throws such a pleasing cloud round schemes fox ,-fehe recovery of treasure from the deep seems as strong as everr, andtohe recent attempts at cargo-raisins have again set people reckoning up the galleons and silver ships that • have laid their stores among "the coral islands of the Pacific. A bootless quest these hunts have generally proved, notwithstanding the certainty that exists as to the wealth being somewhere near. The sea does not | GIVE UP ITS SECRETS READILY. A f company was recently floated m. '■■Johannesburg to dredge the sand for !the hulk of the wrecked ship Grosvenor, which has been located under 10ft. of sand and 25ft. of water, off the coast of Pondbland: The "Cape Argus" reported the despatch of a steam dredger, the Duiker, with •a. crew, including > salvage . men, ; of thirty-two. j

. The sailing ship • G-rosnevor was wrecked while on her way to Europe, after some thjee years' wandering fin the East, 125 year's' ago. ' She sailed from Trincomalee on June 13, 1782, with a 'large crew and a number of passengers, amongst whom, iwere many home-coming Anglo-In-dians, both military and civilian. She was wrecked on August 4th of •the same year. In 1790 the Dutch Governor at the Cape sent an ex•pedition, under Jacob van Reeman,iwith instructions to proceed to St. | John's River, and endeavor io find j JP ANY SURVIVORS REMAINED . : (Van Reeman's Journal is still preserved, and, judging from Van Reeman's remarks, and from other contemporary evidence, the treasure-

seekers are not likely to get much for their pains. What- gold and silver there was on board was almost •certainly taken by the natives, who overhauled the wreck pretty thoroughly. Van Reeman himself states that there was "nothing" to be seen but five cannons and a great quantity of iron . ballast. He further tells that "the greater part of the goods on board the wreck had been conveyed to Rio de la Goa. (Delagoa Bay) to be sold there." The guns were still on the shore fifty or sixty years ,ago.

'An attempt was made about twenty years ago to secure the CHESTS OF SILVER dropped overboard from the Batavia. The attempt came to nothing, but the story of the wreck is so dramatic that we may be pardoned telling it once again. . In 1628 the Dutch' East India Company, encouraged by the return of Carpenter's richly-laden ships, fitted out a fleet of eleven vessels to take possession of New Holland, the original name of Western Australia, which was -discovered m that year. One of these vessels was the Batavia, frigate, commanded by Captain j Francis Pelsart— or, as lie spelt his name, Francoys Pelsaert. ... j • Pelsart sailed from the Texel, \ Holland, on the 2Sth of October, and ; after a tedious voyage, reached the Cape of Good Hope. On the way down the coast of Africa an extraordinary conspiracy w_as formed 1 among the seamen of the Batavia. Oil board, as supercargo, was a certain Jerome Cornells, who had previous to the voyage, kept an apothecary's shop m Haarlem.- This Cor~ nelis was *

A CONSUMMATE SCOUNDREL of tlie most picturesque type. He had shipped with evil intent, and with a. few confederates had devoted himself to tampering with the crew. He had induced them to join him m taking possession of ; the Batavia, so as -to sail her henceforth under the skull and crossbones. All was ripe for the mutiny, and each man knew

the part he had to play. The design was to be put into execution soon after the Cape was left, but for some reason or other it was delayed; and it was abandoned, or rather, modified, by the wreck of the frigate, which occurred on the 4th of June, on Houtman's Abrolhos, 200 miles north of the Swan River, Wesl> em Australia, m latitude 28tteg. S. She had separated from her consorts; , her master had lost his reckoning, and m the middle of the night she r&uddenly ran aground. Pelsart was sick at the time, but found his way on deck almost immediately. The moon was shining brightly, and the weather was fair. The Batavia's sails were all set, her course was north-east by north, and there she lay ROLLING HELPLESSLY . m the moonlight, with a white froth on the sea as far as the eye could reach. Pelsart accused the master of deliberately losing the ship, but he explained that he had mistaken the whiteness of the breakers for the light of the moon, and that "God only knew where they were, for they were on an unknown reef." They sounded and found eighteen feet of water under the stern, but forward there was hardly any, and they agreed to throw the cannon overboard to lighten her. They dropped an anchor, but soon a storm arose, and every minute the ship kept striking on the rocks and shoals amid which she was hemmed. . They then cut away the mainmast Close by the board, but this

MADE MATTERS WORSE, for they could not get it clear. They could see no coast except that of an island which seemed three leagues away, while nearer them were two rocks, which the master was sent to examine. He returned about nine m the morning with the news that the sea at high water did not cover them, but that their beaches were so rocky that landing on them would be difficult. It was, however, resolved to run the risk, and to send most of the company on shore to pacify the women, children, and sick folks, and "such as were out of' their wits with fear, whose cries and noise served only to' disturb them." About ten o'clock m the morning the Batavia began to break up. Every effort was made to get the provisions on deck, but the water was omitted, it not being supposed that there would be any need of it on shore. The crew, too, began to grow mutinous and help themselves to the wine, so that they were only able to make three trips that day, during which they landed 180 persons. The master returned on board towards evening, and told the captain that it was useless sending more provisions on shore, as the crew were only wasting those that were there. Pelsart then went m the shallop and put things into some order, and discovered that there

WAS NO WATER to be found on the island. He endeavored to return to the ship m order to bring off a supply, together with the most valuable part of the cargo, but the storm suddenly m; creased, and he had to stay where he was.

The next day was spent m removing the water and goads, and m the afternoon Pelsart ami the master found the sea runninc; so high that they could not. Ret back. In this extremity the carpenter threw himself out of the Batavia and swam to them, m order to inform them of the hardships to which those left on the • vessel were reduced. He was sent hack with orders for the sailors to make rafts by lashing planks together, and try to reach the shallop and skiff ; but the weather became so rough that the boats could not live m the sea, and Pelsart had to return to the island •leaving his lieutenant and SEVENTY MEN TO PERISH. On the little island there were left forty people, with about ten gallons of water ■; on the larger island were 180 people with less water. The party on the smaller island soon began to complain of their officers because they did not go m search of drink, and after a time Pelsart resolved to set ofi. The conduct of the people on the larger island, had, however, grown so threatening that. it was with difficulty that the master and his men would allow the captain to inform them of his decision. Leaving a leaf of a tablet on which he had written that he was going to look for water m the nearest country or islands that he could find, Pelsart departed for— as it proved— Java. He first tried the rocks m the neighborhood to no purpose, and then his men made a deck for their boat, and boldly pushed it out to | sea. Coasting northwards, they put mto shore again and again' m vain. No water could they find. One day "they found the coast steep, full of rocks, and the sea very high, which caused them to lose all hope of effecting a landing. /At length six of the men. trusting .to their SKILL' IN SWIMMING threw themselves into the sea. and at last, with much trouble and danger, reached the shore, the boat remaining at anchor m 25 fathoms. These men passed the entire day m seeking for water, and while thus employed they perceived four men, who approached them upon all fours. But one of our people advancing towards them on the rising ground, they immediately raised themselves and took to flight, so that they were distinctly seen by those who were m the skiff. These -neople were savages, black, and quite naked, not having so much even as the covering worn by nearly all other savage people." The sailors, having no longer any hope of finding water there, swam on board again wounded and bruised by the blows which they received from the waves and rocks. The anchor being weighed, they continued their course along the shore m the hope of finding some spot more adapted for landine;. They found none -for a time, and when they did land they found but little water. An<l, to be brief, they at last reached the capital of Java, from which their ship was named, and Pelsart was put m command of the frigate Saoxdam to proceed to the rescue of his old crew.

A terrible state of things was found. Cornells, the supercargo, had been one of those left on the ship. He had remained on board for ten days after she struck, and had even Dassed two days on the mainmast,

from which he had reached a yard, and] at length gained the land. In Pelsart's absence he was recognised ,as commander, and at once resolved to put' his original design into execution, with the one modification that Instead of the Batavia, he would

SEIZE THE FIRST SHIP that came along. He began by inducing his accomplices to sign a compact by which they promised fidelity to each other. The Batavia's crew was divided, as we have seen, into two batches, on separate islands. On the largest island were the largest number of those faithful to Pelsart, all of whom Cornells doomed to death. One of the men on the large island, a certain Weybehays, had gone oft m search of water to a third island some distance away. After a search of 20 days he found a spring, and made the preconcerted signal by lighting three fires. The signal was not seen by Cornells, who was then busily occupied m massacring all those who would not sign the bond — some thirty or forty m all. A few, however, saved themselves on pieces of the wreck, and found their way to Weybehays, so that the survivors of the wreck were separated on three islands. j As soon as Cornells had made himself master of the large island, he led an attack against island. No. 2, and killed everyone on it except seven ] children and some women, whom he reserved for A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH, j He then broke . up the chests saved ' .therefrom the ship, and out of the; rich stuffs they found the pirates i made themselves uniforms of scarlet j embroidered with gold and silver ; j and then, proclaiming himself Cap- j tain-General, Cornells despatched 22 of his scarlet-coated bodyguard to i attack Weybehays. ! Weybebays had forty-five men with j him, and although his only weapons] were clubs studded with nails, he ! drove back the pirates to their boats. '■ Cornells then came against Weybe- : hays m person, at the head of thir-ty-seven of his followers, but again ■ the loyalists proved too strong. Cornells then tried treachery- He ofj fered to make a treaty with Weybehays, and endeavored to corrupt some of his men, who however, proved loyal to their commander, and when the attack was made m the hope of their assistance, Cornells was taken prisoner. THE PIRATES, under their second command, returned -the next day to the rescue. There was a long and terrible struggle, ending again m the defeat of the Pirates and just at the moment of victory the Saardam appeared m sight. She was soon off the island and anchored, and Pelsart came ashore. Fortunately he was met by Weybehays, who told him of the Pirates' plan to surprise and capture the new ship. Instantly he went back to prepare for them. Scarcely had lie returned on board than he saw two shallops crowded with scarlet-coated men rowing out to him. Hailing them, he asked why they approached the vessel armed. They replied that they would explain when they came on board ; and thereupon the men m scarlet and gold were informed that if they did not immediately throw .their arms into the sea he would open fire on them with the frigate's guns ; and the guns, masked until then, were run out. The pirates were speedily taken prisoners and put m irons. One of them, Jan do Bremen, confessed that he himself HAD KILLED, or assisted m killing twenty-seven of the shipwrecked crew. The same evening Weybehays brought Cornells on board, and Pelsart advancing to the large island secured the rest of the mutineers. On the 28th of September, ten days afterwards, the prisoners were all executed on the scene of«fcheir crime, and the Saardam sailed for Batavia, her crew leaving behind them "an anchor and a piece of artillery to mark the spot where a fourth chest of silver remained, which after great endeavors they found themselves unable to move." This fourth chest of silver was the bait that attracted the treasure-hunters, whose quest has been m vain.