In October of 1628, a trade ship
set sail from the Netherlands with gold and gems, to be traded
for spices in Indonesia. Unbeknownst to the captain,
the danger of the voyage was not from the storms and
rough waters they'd encounter, but instead, something sinister
brewing within the ship itself. In the end, this would result in the loss
of the majority of the over 300 passengers. But even worse than that, the prolonged
suffering of many of the survivors. This is their horrifying story, and as al
ways,
viewer discretion is advised. [intro music] In the Indian Ocean, somewhere off the coast
of Western Australia in September of 1629, Captain Francisco Pelsaert was getting frustrated. For a month, he and his ship, the Saardam, had been looking for one specific island
among a chain of 122 of them. And unfortunately, almost all of those islands
looked exactly the same. This chain of islands is known as the
Houtman Abrolhos, and most of them are little more than
specks of sand on the horizon.
Francisco was looking for one known as Beacon Island, but because of the limits of ship navigation at the time, he couldn't accurately identify the lines
of longitude and latitude. Instead, crews used a method called dead reckoning
to guide ships in the correct direction. This is when a ship will estimate its position, then sometime later, make a calculation of where
they're going based on the initial estimate. The problem with this method is that small errors
can have a drastic impact over long
distances. Just a few degrees off-course
can result in miles of distance away from where a ship intends to go. In fact, a similar scenario is exactly what got
Francisco in trouble in the first place. After weeks of this searching, the Saardam crew
was basically just making haphazard passes around an area where they thought
Beacon Island was located. And for the most part, all they managed to find
was more ocean, until one day, Francisco finally spotted
something in the distance. It looked like
plumes of smoke were rising
from an island straight ahead. The Saardam then continued on its course
and got as close to the island as possible, before dropping the anchor
and dropping a small rowboat. When they reached the shore, Francisco was surprised
to find no one in the immediate vicinity. He couldn't see the source of the smoke either. Then as he turned around to get back in his rowboat,
he saw another small boat approaching the shore. In it were four men frantically paddling toward him. W
hen the boat was close enough,
one of them hopped out and ran through knee-deep water and onto dry land. The man then started shouting at Francisco, but he couldn't make out what he was saying
until the man got closer. What Francisco was about to learn would have him
frantically paddling back to his ship. Almost a full year earlier, on October 28th, 1628, Francisco led a fleet of ships off the Dutch island
of Texel on its way south around Africa. These eight ships were owned by the
Dutch East In
dia Company, also known as the VOC, which is an acronym
for its Dutch translation. Their destination was the capital city of the
East Indies spice trade, a city called Batavia, which today is
Jakarta, Indonesia. Fittingly, the fleet's flagship also went by
the name Batavia. When the ship left the Netherlands,
it was commanded by Francisco and carried more than 300 crew, soldiers,
and wealthy passengers - many of whom were wives traveling to reunite
with their husbands in Batavia. The ship itself
was completed that same year
and was 150 feet long and affixed with 24 cannons,
although it wasn't a warship. It was constructed specifically for the spice trade, and within its haul on a trip were 12 chests
filled with gold, silver, and gems to be traded for a literal boatload of spices. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch
essentially owned the spice trade, so the route around Africa and into the Indian Ocean
was a familiar one but still dangerous. The trade route could be treacherous at
times, with the warm waters of the Indian Ocean
brewing up typhoons and cyclones. And sailing east in particular was also a challenge
because ships would have to sail right into the wind. So between the dangers of weather and the risk
of miscalculating dead reckoning, to help ensure successful trips, the VOC chose
to sail in fleets rather than send a single ship. This also meant more room for cargo anyway. Right from the beginning, this particular trip
didn't get off to the best start. Before t
he ships even left the North Sea,
they were hit by storms and rough seas that splintered the fleet,
leaving only three to continue on. On the Batavia, Francisco did his best to alter plans
to account for the five missing ships, but the amount of spices they were able
to bring back had shrunk significantly. In addition to this loss of cargo capacity, the command structure of the VOC was unique
and created tension for the captains. Each of the other ships had its own captain,
but aboard the Batavi
a, there were two - Francisco and another man named Ariaen Jacobsz. Francisco was the fleet commander so it was
natural that he would be on the flagship, but it was the VOC's policy that every boat
have a dedicated captain, including the flagship. It was also policy that the captain of the flagship
couldn't be captain of the fleet and vice versa, so this meant there was already a natural
power struggle on the flagship by default. And this was even more true on this voyage
because Francisco and A
riaen had a bit of a history. While performing these same duties two years earlier,
Ariaen got extremely drunk one night, and started taking verbal shots at Francisco
in front of the other men. Francisco took this as a challenge to his authority, and compromising his reputation among the men
wasn't something he took lightly. So when the fleet returned to the Netherlands,
Francisco publicly reprimanded Ariaen. Afterward, neither man trusted the other,
but they were now forced to rely on each othe
r to get a fleet that had been reduced
by more than half to Indonesian back. And on Francisco's side, his mistrust
of Ariaen was well-founded. What he didn't know at the time was that
Ariaen had been plotting a mutiny with a junior merchant named Jeronimus Cornelisz. Jeronimus wasn't a sailor, but he was a
high-ranking official within the VOC, and that was good enough to make him
Ariaen's second-in-command. Now, given how long ago this all took place, Jeronimus' original purpose for being
on the
ship at all is contested, but there was a rumor that he joined the voyage
to evade arrest for some heretical religious beliefs. Apparently, Jeronimus was known to have
an obsession with the art of a painter who claimed that his paintings were a collaboration
between himself and the spirit world. This artist was eventually imprisoned for heresy,
and Jeronimus viewed him as a role model of sorts. He apparently did little to hide these beliefs
aboard the ship too, allowing him to identify potentia
l allies
who shared the same views. But these beliefs extended to something
more sinister, even. Being on the ship and organizing a mutiny would make it
possible to navigate the ship to someone remote and start a new colony
with him as the ruler. And so Jeronimus spent much of the time recruiting
mutineers to take part in this scheme. As a warning, here is where things
begin to get incredibly dark. This plan called for several crewmen to assault
one of the affluent married women on board. The go
al was for the crewman to get caught
in the act or afterward, at which point Ariaen and Jeronimus
would work to convince the men that Francisco's punishment was harsh and unfair,
leading to a mutiny. The Batavia then stopped at the Cape of Good Hope near
Cape Town, South Africa to pick up supplies, and the mutiny plan would get underway
as soon as the ship left. Once it did, the crewman who volunteered for this part
of the plan went below deck to assault the 27-year-old woman they picked out. Ho
wever, inside the dark hall, it was impossible
for her to see who her attackers were. This meant that when she was unable
to identify them later, horrifyingly, the issue was completely dropped. And even worse, although Ariaen
and Jeronimus' plan had failed, Francisco still had no idea about their plan. In fact, he was distracted by the accomplishment of getting to the Cape of Good Hope
a month ahead of schedule. Despite the rough start, things had been
smooth for months as the Batavia worked its
way around Africa. Their good fortune wouldn't last
much longer, however, and shortly after entering the Indian Ocean, a storm
came up and separated the last three ships. When the weather cleared, the Batavia was alone, and Francisco realized that's how
they have to cross the Indian Ocean. With time running out before their final destination,
Ariaen and Jeronimus needed a plan B. So when Ariaen ordered the ship
to depart the Cape of Good Hope, he intentionally began guiding the ship
off its int
ended course. And with no objective instruments to measure this, Francisco was once again in the dark
about what was being done around him. Then, in the early morning hours of June 4th, 1629,
the captain was sleeping in his bunk, when the Batavia suddenly and violently came
to a dead stop with a tremendous noise. Now, wrecking the ship was not part of the plan
Ariaen and Jeronimus came up with. The intention of going off-course was either to
paint Francisco as an inept commander, or buy themselv
es more time to come up
with a better plan. What actually happened was the result of Ariaen
badly miscalculating Dead Reckoning for his new route, and the ship crashed into Morning Reef
just off the coast of Western Australia, in the Houtman Abrolhos islands. During the crash, a handful of crew,
soldiers, and passengers ended up in the ocean through the cracked hull,
and were never seen again. These would be just the first of many to come. The Batavia meanwhile was damaged beyond repair,
and its
maiden voyage would be its last. In the immediate aftermath of the crash,
these ships' longboats were deployed, and crewman started faring people to
an island just their northwest. By sunrise, around 180 people, include 30 women
and children, were relatively safe on Beacon Island. That morning, Francisco ordered a search
of the area for water and food while he instructed others to salvage
what they could from the ship. Unfortunately, all that could be collected were a
few barrels of biscuits an
d some water. Estimates vary on the number of people
who died in the wreck, but it's thought to be somewhere between 30 and 50, meaning that some biscuits and water
weren't going to support the survival of nearly 300 people for very long. And unfortunately, Beacon Island
wasn't going to either; it was more of an outcropping than an island. It has an area of roughly 13 acres, and all of that area
is basically just sand and small shrubs. And although it's part of a chain of 122 islands about
50 mi
les west of the Australian mainland, most of the chain look more or less
similar to Beacon Island. This meant that Francisco had to figure something out
quickly, or they would all begin to starve. So with his senior officers, he came up with
a plan to sail one of the longboats to mainland Australia, to see if survival there
would be any easier. The next night, Francisco led 48 people,
including Ariaen, back into the Indian Ocean on a course for Australia. The trip there was unremarkable, and Fra
ncisco organized
the men for a search of the vicinity right away. Unfortunately, after hours of looking,
the mainland wasn't much better, so Francisco had to make another decision. He could either return to Beacon Island and regroup,
or turn the longboat north toward Batavia, more than 1,800 miles away
and hoped for the best. The problem was the type of longboat they had was not built for long journeys,
let alone through rough water. This style of ship was more like a lengthier rowboat - low to
the water and with nothing to protect
those onboard from the elements. It was basically only designed
to get people from a sinking ship to some kind of safety, and nothing more. At the same time, going back to
Beacon Island without supplies was likely going to be the end for everyone anyway,
either by dehydration or starvation. If they tried for Indonesia and didn't make it, at least they'd die while trying to save
themselves and the others. So, with that, Francisco made up his mind;
they were g
oing to reach Indonesia, or die trying. Back on Beacon Island, several days
after crashing into the reef, the Batavia finally broke apart and sank,
increasing the wreck's death toll by another 40 people. Unfortunately, Jeronimus managed to make it ashore
and evade being dragged down with the others. By then as well, those who survived the ship's sinking were beginning to feel as though
Francisco had abandoned them. When he left Beacon Island, he'd never mentioned
the possibility of heading north
to Batavia. So even though he was trying to save them, the
remaining passengers were afraid and resentful. And in this shift of morale,
Jeronimus saw an opportunity. He put forth the idea to elect a new leader
on the island now that Francisco and Ariaen were gone. And as it so happened, when the votes were in,
Jeronimus was appointed the new leader. It wouldn't take long to realize just how bad
a decision this was. With the other mutineers Jeronimus had recruited, the first thing he did with hi
s newfound power
was order that all weapons, food, boats, and rafts be confiscated. Next, he knew he had to essentially divide and conquer
since he and his men were outnumbered. His plan was to reduce their numbers from
around 250 people down to 120, and he started by sending 45 men, women,
and cabin boys to Seal Island, about one mile away and visible from Beacon Island. And since he knew people wouldn't go if
they knew he was sending them to die, he instead asked them to search for resources.
However, he had no intention of
ever returning to save them. He then convinced the soldiers, led by Wiebbe Hayes,
to sail to West Wallabi Island, about five and a half miles away, to see
what they could find there. If they found anything, like a freshwater source, they were instructed to send up smoke signals
so they could be picked back up. What Jeronimus actually planned to do though was
send his men back to West Wallabi Island if they saw smoke signals, and kill
the unarmed mercenaries. That'
s only if they made it to the island in the first place. Jeronimus believed that Francisco and the others
must have encountered rough seas and capsized after leaving the island. So he sent the soldiers in the same direction,
hoping they might suffer the same fate. Then for weeks afterward, the situation
just continued to escalate. He continued to send survivors on missions
to other islands, but eventually, this transformed into his men
simply taking people out into the ocean and just pushing the
m overboard. Then, once he felt like his biggest threats
were off of Beacon Island, he dropped the facade and showed
his true colors for the first time. One by one, Jeronimus chose who lived
and who died. Many of the wives in the voyage to join their husbands,
also became his property to do with as he pleased. He also quickly eliminated the sick and disabled, and for the stronger of the remaining castaways,
Jeronimus ordered sneak attacks at night. His men would creep into the camp
and finish th
em off while they slept. During this reign of terror, at least
two mass burials took place, one of which contained an entire family,
including six children. For all his power and cruelty though, Jeronimus was
too weak-willed to do any of it himself. He apparently tried once when he poisoned
an infant, but the child survived. Then since he couldn't do it, he ordered
one of his men to do it instead. During this time as well, he kept a close eye
on the groups he dropped off on nearby islands. Like,
for example, when he noticed
that the group he sent to Seal Island wasn't dying fast enough for his liking,
he sent a group of his men to the island, and watched through a telescope
as they sped up the process. The soldiers, meanwhile, several miles away,
were thriving on West Wallabi Island. They found a plentiful freshwater source,
and there were plenty of small marsupials and birds there that were enough to survive on. For days, the soldiers sent up
smoke signals, as ordered, completely unaw
are of what was happening
on Beacon Island. Then, one day, some of the survivors
who were originally sent to Seal Island showed up on a makeshift raft. That's when Wiebbe and the other mercenaries
were told everything. And after Jeronimus had gotten rid of many of
those who remained on Beacon Island, he could turn his attention back to the inhabitants
of West Wallabi Island. The smoke signals were concerning because he didn't
expect the soldiers to find anything at all, so this meant that they h
ad found critical resources
they needed to survive. And if they were thriving on West Wallabi Island, it was also possible that a ship could be attracted
to the island by the rising smoke. If a ship reached the soldiers first
and picked them up before coming to Beacon Island for the others, there was little chance of overthrowing those on board. It would also mean that Jeronimus would be
executed for everything he'd done. At the same time, knowing what he'd been
doing on Beacon Island, Wiebbe fi
gured it was only a matter of time
before Jeronimus came for them. So as best they could with what
they had available to them, the mercenaries made crude weapons
to defend themselves. Then, using limestone, coral, and debris from the
Batavia that washed up on the island, they even managed to build a small fortress
and set up round-the-clock watches. When the time came,
the mercenaries would be prepared. As all of this was going on, after 33 days at sea,
the longboat carrying Francisco, Ariaen, a
nd nearly 50 crewmen,
miraculously arrived in Batavia. Even today, this is considered an
incredible feat of sailing, even if it was aided by the islands they found
along the way to stop for food, water, and places to rest. Shortly after arriving in Batavia, Francisco met
with the governor general to discuss the shipwreck and some details
he'd been informed of on their journey. Some of the crewmen told Francisco
that they had been approached by Ariaen and Jeronimus to join them in a mutiny. Franc
isco then shared these details
with Indonesian authorities, and Ariaen was immediately arrested. But even despite knowing about the
planned mutiny by that point, no one had any idea of the full scope of what was
happening on Beacon Island in their absence. A week after landing, Francisco then left
Batavia once again to rescue the others in a ship known as the Saardam,
which the governor general let him use. It would then take a month just to get to the
Houtman Abrolhos, but then another month af
ter that
was spent scanning the water, looking for the little sandy outcropping
that is Beacon Island. Almost two months earlier, in early August, just as
Francisco and the others were arriving in Batavia, several mercenaries on watch
spotted a longboat heading toward them. Aboard this boat were a handful of Jeronimus' men. Since he was under the assumption
that these soldiers were unarmed, Jeronimus figured he didn't need his whole crew to dispatch the 22 mercenaries of
West Wallabi Island. Tha
nkfully, he couldn't have been more wrong. When the ship reached West Wallabi Island,
his henchmen were immediately attacked and caught completely off-guard, forcing them
to retreat back to Beacon Island. Jeronimus was not pleased to hear about this
when his men returned to Beacon Island, so he ordered a second attack
and went with them this time, believing he could strong-arm the
mercenaries into joining him. This time, he sent more men, but they
were still no match for the soldiers. And so bef
ore he could leave the island, Jeronimus, along with three of his lieutenants,
were captured by Wiebbe. Some of his men did manage to escape
the attack and return to Beacon Island, but with many of his henchmen lying dead
on the West Wallabi Island sand, Jeronimus was made to watch as his
lieutenants were executed. Back on Beacon Island, the men
who were still loyal to him regrouped under a new leader,
a man named Wouter Loos. In late September, these men returned to
West Wallabi Island to fight
the mercenaries, only this time, they brought muskets with them that Jeronimus had been saving for his
planned hijacking of any rescue ship. The hand weapons the mercenaries had
were obviously no match for these muskets, and they fought bravely, but it seemed like only a
matter of time before they would be overtaken. Then, as the fighting continued, someone spotted
a ship in the distance. In an instant, the fighting stopped as the
rescue ship became the priority for both sides, but for very dif
ferent reasons. Aboard the Saardam, Francisco had
spotted smoke to his west, but he mistakenly believed it was
coming from another island which lies between West Wallabi Island
and Beacon Island. He then directed the Saardam
as close as he could to the island, dropped the anchor, and boarded a longboat. With a barrel of water, some bread, and a keg of wine,
Francisco was surprised to find no one on the island, and saw that the smoke was actually
coming from further west. Then as he turned to go
back to his boat,
he spotted another boat with four men in it, frantically paddling toward him, and immediately
recognized it was Wiebbe. When the boat pulled onto the island, Wiebbe raced to
meet Francisco and started shouting at him as he did. Francisco, Wiebbe, and the three others
with him, immediately hurried to the Saardam to warn the crew and defend the ship. And while on the way, Wiebbe filled Francisco in on all the details of what happened
after he left three months earlier. Unfortunat
ely, there wasn't much time
to react to this news; Wouter and his men were simultaneously
nearing the Saardam. Thankfully, Francisco's boat beat them there, and the captain shouted orders to the men
to take defensive positions. When Wouter's boat pulled up alongside the
Saardam and the men climbed aboard, they were met by Francisco and dozens
of muskets pointed directly at them. They all then placed their weapons
on the ground and surrendered. After that, every one of the remaining
mutineers was
captured, and Francisco began to learn the full details
of the atrocities in his absence. A 49-year-old mutineer was particularly
forthcoming about his involvement and admitted to killing up to 20 people
in compliance with Jeronimus' orders. Francisco then asked to be taken to
Jeronimus, and he was led to the shelter where Jeronimus was being held captive. Francisco then launched into the accusations
and the claims others had made about his actions, but in answering every question,
Jeronimus pl
aced the blame on anyone and anything but himself, refusing to confess
to any of what he was accused of. So, shortly after this initial confrontation, Francisco carried out a series of investigations
and trials on the island. This investigation revealed the awful details
of the murders and assaults perpetrated by Jeronimus and his men. By the conclusion of the investigation,
every last one of the mutineers had admitted to their crimes except Jeronimus. The worst offenders among them
were sentenc
ed to death, and when the time came to carry out the
punishment on October 2nd, 1629, the mutineers were brought to Seal Island. The other castaways had been asked
to build gallows there, and when the condemned arrived, their right hands
were removed before being hanged. Many of the survivors watched in relief as each of the worst mutineers was brought
to the gallows one by one. Jeronimus was also hanged that day,
but both his hands were removed before he met the same fate as the other mutineers
. Others who had committed lesser crimes
were dealt with differently. One of the soldiers who defected and a cabin boy
who defended Jeronimus, were left marooned on mainland Australia. Interestingly, they became the very first Europeans
to live on the continent and are still regarded somewhat as celebrated pioneers,
despite the circumstances that led them there. The Saardam then left the Houtman Abrolhos
with the 77 remaining survivors and 16 mutineers destined for more
official trial in Batavia
. Five of the mutineers didn't even make it that far
as they were flogged, keelhauled, and dropped from the yardarm high above
the ship into the ocean on the way. And while Wouter's actions were almost as egregious
as the acts Jeronimus committed, Francisco decided to bring him to Batavia instead. And when his trial was complete, his punishment was
the worst of any of those aligned with Jeronimus; he was sentenced to the breaking Wheel. Being broken on the wheel, as it was called, was considered
the most gruesome form
of punishment at the time. And it truly was a horrific punishment. To be as non-descriptive as possible,
the gist is that the condemned was mangled to the point of being able
to be tied to a large wheel, where further punishment
would occur as the wheel spun. This was eventually set ablaze
high above a crowd of onlookers. Strangely enough, if the condemned fell off the wheel
at any point during the punishment, it was viewed as a sign from God
to show mercy, and leave the
criminal to live. Wouter, however, remained firmly attached to the wheel. As for Ariaen, he was physically punished
by Batavian officials, but still never confessed to any of the accusations
made against him, so he was eventually spared for a lack of evidence. Wiebbe was celebrated for his bravery in fighting off
the mutineers and capturing Jeronimus, and he was promoted to a higher
military rank as a result. The island is also referred to as its
unofficial name, Wiebbe Hayes Island. Today, a st
atue of Wiebbe can be found
on the Western Australian coast, and the remains of the fort he built
are still present on the island. It's believed to be the oldest European structure
built on Australian land. Francisco, for all his effort to reach
help and rescue others, was subject to an inquiry that admonished him
for a lack of leadership and not set up command before
he left for Western Australia. But unfortunately, it was determined that he was
still partially to blame for the tragedy. His rep
utation was completely ruined,
his assets were seized, and he would die from an unspecified illness within
a year of his return to Batavia with the others. When it left the Netherlands in October of 1628,
it did so with between 322 and 341 people. Of them, only 122 made it to Batavia. It's believed Jeronimus was responsible for
the deaths of at least 109 castaways, with some estimates as high as 125. The rest were either due to illness,
starvation, or the initial shipwreck. The wreck of the Bat
avia was lost to time
until it was located in 1963, and the remains of the bow can now be viewed
at the Western Australia Museum. If you made it this far, thanks so much for watching. If you have a story suggestion, I'd love to hear it.
You can submit it to the form found in the description, and hopefully, I will see you in the next one.
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