1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Some of the research that we talked about 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: on on Earth related to the Dutch East India Company 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: ship Batavia. We did a two part podcast on the Batavia, 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: which included a mutiny, a shipwreck, and a massacre, as 5 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: well as a lot of other violence, including sexual assault 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: and rape. Those episodes came out in April of twenty fourteen. 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: So one of the things that's wild about this two 8 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: partner is if we were recording it today, based on 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: the outline from twenty fourteen, it would have been one part. 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: Like in terms of the word count, the outline is 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: meaningfully shorter than a typical single, one part episode for 12 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: me today, so we are running both parts of this 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: as one episode today. That means if you get to 14 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: something later on in the episode that says in part 15 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: one that was part of today's episode. Also, if we 16 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: were recording this episode today rather than almost a decade ago, 17 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: there would be less casual use of words like crazy 18 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: or insane. So, keeping all of that in mind and 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: recognizing that this episode has some very rough elements to it, 20 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: we hope you enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in 21 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: History Class, a production of iHeartRadio, Hello and Welcome to 22 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly front. 23 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: So we have our second shipwreck story in as many weeks, 24 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: and the Batavia was not just a shipwreck. It's a 25 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: shipwreck and a mutiny and also a massacre. So this 26 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: perfect storm of nautical carnage. Yeah, there's a lot going on. Yeah, 27 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: as you were researching, Tracy would keep sending these instant 28 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: messages of like this is crazy because everything knew she 29 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: would uncover would add another layer of insanity to it. Yeah, 30 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: it just escalates and escalates. And there are a couple 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: of notes that we're going to just lay out in 32 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,399 Speaker 1: the beginning, and the first is the names in this episode. 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 1: So the main cast of characters in the story came 34 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: from what's now the Netherlands and Belgium. And at this 35 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: point in history, the Dutch didn't generally use surnames the 36 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: way most of us are used to today. Instead of 37 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: established surnames that were passed down through the family and 38 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: stayed the same, people had patronymic names which came from 39 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: their father's first names. So Adrian Jakobs, who was our 40 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: ship's skipper, was Jakob's son Adrian, and his father would 41 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: have been Jakub somebody else's son. But then our ship's 42 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: upper merchant, Francisco Pelser. He was from Antwerp, and he 43 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: had a more typical family surname that we would expect 44 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: to see today, which was Pelser. So for the sake 45 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: of consistency, we're just gonna call everybody the equivalent of 46 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,519 Speaker 1: what they're saying their name was, because it gets a 47 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: little confusing. Yeah. The other note is that you may notice, 48 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: as you are listening to this episode and the next one, 49 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: because the story is so big, it's in two parts, 50 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: the number of passengers and crew on the boat. These 51 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: numbers don't seem to quite add up all the time, 52 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: and this is because as the voyage went on, people 53 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: were born, other people died. Sometimes crew just went a wall. 54 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: When the ship would stop to take on supplies somewhere, 55 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: people would just decide they were done with this mess 56 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: and they would go away. Even the starting number of 57 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: people on board is not totally clear because there were 58 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: some last minute no shows and people who just never 59 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: reported for duty. So if you're if you're doing the 60 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: math on this episode and you kind of go with 61 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: these numbers. These don't these don't sink. That is why. 62 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: So today's episode is going to be about the first 63 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: part of the voyage, the shipwreck, and the rescue mission 64 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: that happened afterward, and then our next episode will be 65 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: about sort of happened to the survivors while their bosses 66 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: were away trying to get help. Ready, yeah, okay, so 67 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: this whole story starts with the Dutch East India Company 68 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: or in Dutch the verenicda Ostendisa Company. I practiced that 69 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: I probably still did not say it perfectly, So we're 70 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: just going to call them the VOC, which is what 71 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: that boils down to. So the VOC was dominating trade 72 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: in the East Indies, which is basically Indonesia and the 73 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: surrounding islands in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It became 74 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: this political and commercial powerhouse, and it sent ships from 75 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: the Netherlands to Asia to buy things like spices and 76 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: silk and then to return to Europe to sell them. 77 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: And the VOC was headquartered in Batavia, which is what's 78 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: now Jakarta in Indonesia. One of the VOC's ships, which 79 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: was also called the Batavia, left tessel Holland on its 80 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: maiden voyage to Batavia in October of sixteen twenty eight, 81 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: and its cargo included an enormous amount of silver and jewel. 82 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 1: The ship also carried materials for a gatehouse which was 83 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: to be built at VOC headquarters. In command of the 84 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: Batavia was the upper Merchant, also called the Supercargo, and 85 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: this was a man named Francisco Pelsert, and he was 86 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: one of the most experienced merchants in the Dutch East 87 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: India Company's fleet. He was also very fond of women 88 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: in money, and at one point, sort of extraneous to 89 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: this story, set himself up as a money lender, using 90 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: company funds while charging people extremely steep interest. This was 91 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: something that was discovered after the end of the Batavia's story, 92 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,919 Speaker 1: but it kind of clues you in to a little 93 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: about this man's character. Willing to misappropriate company funds, that's 94 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: no problem right Next in command was the ship's skipper, 95 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: Adrian Jacobs, who was a sea captain with more than 96 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: twenty years of experience, and he was in a rather 97 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:58,359 Speaker 1: awkward leadership position because in any other nautical context he 98 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: would be the one ultimately in char charge. However, on 99 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: a VOC ship, he reported up to the upper merchant 100 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: who was a merchant and not a seaman. This is 101 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: pretty much how things worked in most of the big 102 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: trading companies. You would have somebody who was ultimately in charge, 103 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: whose job was to safeguard the financial interests of the company. 104 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: Everyone ultimately reported to this person, even though this person 105 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 1: did not necessarily know how to sail a ship. So 106 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: that led to some headbutting in many contexts, not just 107 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: this one. I imagine we have several listeners at the 108 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: moment thinking that this is very similar to some corporate cultures. Yeah, 109 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: not ours, I'm happy to report, but it does happen. 110 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: I mean, I've certainly been in companies for the person 111 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: in charge it doesn't really know how anything works. Yeah. 112 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 1: I tempt one time for a company where there was 113 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: somebody who was in charge of it who had a 114 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: history degree and they had Yeah, he'd been hired because 115 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,480 Speaker 1: he was a people manager, but the people who were 116 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: working in it found that very frustrating. Yep, Jacobs and 117 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: Pelser had actually sailed together before, and they had never 118 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 1: really gotten along, and their headbutting only got worse after 119 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: this incident. On a voyage where Pelser was traveling as 120 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: a guest, Jacobs had gotten extremely drunk and insulted him 121 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: in a very loud way, and that ship's upper merchant 122 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: had given Jacobs a really public reprimand, and Jacobs always 123 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: blamed Pelser for having gotten him dressed down in front 124 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: of everybody. Always a good relationship to start along voyage with. 125 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: Always good to blame other people for your own behavior. 126 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: Third in command was the under merchant, Uronymous Cornellis, who 127 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: had very little experience at sea. And we'll talk a 128 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: little bit more about his backstory as we go on, 129 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: because it becomes really really relevant later on in the tale. Yeah, 130 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: his story is really relevant to part two, So it's 131 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: in part two of the episode. Gotcha. So, also on 132 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: board the Batavia were about three hundred and forty other people, 133 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: and about two thirds of them were officers and crew 134 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: of the ship. There are also about one hundred soldiers 135 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: along with some civilians seeking passage to the Indies, and 136 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: some of these were women and children. These are mostly 137 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: families of Voce employees or other people who were going 138 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: to join their family in the Indies. And before we 139 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: talk about the voyage itself, shall we take a moment 140 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: and talk about a word from our sponsor Capital Idea. 141 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: The Batavia left Teeshsel in a convoy of seven ships, 142 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: but at the very start of the voyage they went 143 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 1: through a huge storm in the North Sea and most 144 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: of the ships lost sight of each other. Only three 145 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: of them managed to find one another again. Once the 146 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: weather had improved, the Batavia, Asindeft and the Burin sailed 147 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: on together towards South Africa. These three ships made really 148 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: good time. They got to the Cape of Good Hope 149 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: an entire month ahead of schedule. But on board the Batavia, 150 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: the under merchant Cornelis and the ship or Yakubs started 151 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: to conspire to commit mutiny. They also drew the ship's 152 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: high Bosin into their plot as well, and so as 153 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: the ship departed from South Africa, in order to further 154 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: their plan of mutiny, Jacobs deliberately steered the ship away 155 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: from the two remaining ones in the convoy, and so 156 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: the Batavia wounded up going on the rest of its 157 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,839 Speaker 1: journey alone. And then, during the last stretch of the 158 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: Batavia's route northwards through the Indian Ocean, upper merchant Pelsert 159 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: became seriously ill and had to be confined to his 160 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,719 Speaker 1: cabin under the care of the surgeon Franz Jan's. At 161 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: this point, Jacobs and Cornellis put their plotting on hold. 162 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,319 Speaker 1: They were kind of enjoying Pelser's absence and binding their 163 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: time and waiting to see if he would just die 164 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: and leave the ship in their hands. Yes, they weren't 165 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,679 Speaker 1: sort of an interesting attitude to have about it. They 166 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: weren't going to have to put the effort into staging 167 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: a mutiny if the you know, the Upper Merchant was 168 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: just going to die. Take some work. Yeah, So sadly 169 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: thwarting their plans. Eventually, Pelser recovered, and when it became 170 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: clear that he was going to live, Yacubs and Cornellis 171 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: realized that they had wasted some time and getting their 172 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: whole mutiny plan off the ground. They hadn't recruited enough 173 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: men to physically take over the ship from the people 174 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 1: who would be loyal to the Upper Merchant, so they 175 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: decided to have another ploy. They conspired to have a 176 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: wealthy female passenger named Lucretia Yans or you also see 177 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: her name as Lucretia Vandermillion, which was her husband's last name. 178 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 1: They conspired to have her sexually assaulted by masked members 179 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: of the crew, and Jans was traveling to Batavia to 180 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: join her husband, and her station was high enough that 181 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:50,679 Speaker 1: she had one of the best cabins on the ship 182 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: and her own maid, And by attacking someone so prominent, 183 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: they hoped to lure Pelser into punishing those responsible, which 184 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: they hoped would trigger a revolt among the rest of 185 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: the Skipper's team. It seemed like a sure thing after 186 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: Yan said she recognized the voice of one of her 187 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: attackers and it was the high Bozen. What a horrible plan. 188 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: It was not a good plan in every possible respect. 189 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: It was not good to plan to do that in 190 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: the first place, and also on top of that being 191 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,719 Speaker 1: a terrible thing to do. It didn't work. Pelser investigated 192 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: the incident. You know, he accepted her assessment of who 193 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: had attacked her. He didn't punish anybody. Part of this 194 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: is because he was still pretty sick, even though he 195 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: was now recovering, and he also was starting to suspect 196 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: that maybe there was something bigger going on and that 197 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: he should not get involved in it quite yet until 198 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: he had a better sense of exactly what was happening. Yeah, 199 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: so he was kind of keeping his cards close to 200 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: his vest, so to speak. Yeah, he didn't want to. 201 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,719 Speaker 1: I didn't want to incite the riot that he thought 202 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: might becoming now. But before they could come up with 203 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: some other ploy to bring the up merchant down, the 204 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: mutineer's plan was spectacularly derailed because the ship was wrecked 205 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: yes on June fourth, sixteen twenty nine, a couple of 206 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 1: hours before dawn. Pelsert, who at this point was still 207 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: not well, He was in his bunk but awake. He 208 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: felt a quote rough, terrible movement, the bumping of the 209 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: ship's rudder, and then he felt the ship strike rocks 210 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: so hard that he was knocked out of his bunk. 211 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: Because they were not really anticipating that they were suddenly 212 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: going to run into land, they were traveling at full 213 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: speed when they struck this reef, and huge waves and 214 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: a bit really heavy wind continued to just pound on 215 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: the ship and push it harder and harder against the rock. 216 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: Pelser ran on deck to see that there were breakers 217 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: all around them, and according to his journal, he said 218 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: to Yakub's skipper, what have you done that, through your 219 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: reckless carelessness, you have run this noose around our necks. 220 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: The crew really scrambled to try to lighten the ship. 221 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: They threw cannons overboard, they felled the masts, and they 222 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: started sounding the depths to try to find a way 223 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: that they might be able to work the ship back 224 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: into deeper water. But it was no use. The ship 225 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 1: was stuck, and on top of that, they really didn't 226 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: know where they were. This part of the sea was 227 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: virtually uncharted by Europeans at this point, And on top 228 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: of all that, when they felled the main mast of 229 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: the ship, it came down in a different direction than 230 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: they were expecting, and it crushed everything in its path 231 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: all the way down. So their effort to lighten the 232 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: ship just broke it worse. It was only after some 233 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: discussion that Pelser and Yakubs decided they must be in 234 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,719 Speaker 1: the Houtman of Brolos Islands, which is a long chain 235 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: of islands about forty kilometers off the western coast of Australia. 236 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: Their name comes from Portuguese abro Ojos, or open eyes, 237 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: and it got its name after the Dutch East India 238 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: company vessel Doordrecht stumbled upon them about ten years earlier, 239 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: and the crew believed that they were in open ocean, 240 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: and then suddenly reef and islands were everywhere. And these 241 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,559 Speaker 1: islands are as, you can imagine, treacherous for ships. More 242 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: than sixty vessels are known to have been lost among them, 243 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: And at this point in history, Europeans had not explored 244 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: or charted all of this, and they're so far off 245 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: the coast that they were likely completely unexplored by Australia's 246 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 1: Aboriginal peoples as well. So kind of just a big 247 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: mystery danger sitting out there in the ocean. Yeah, that's 248 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: why they got that name about keeping your eyes open. Yeah, 249 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: there's another collection of islands off the coast of South 250 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: America with the same name for the same reason, like 251 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: people venturing into them believing they were in totally open 252 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: ocean and then whoa, not so much islands everywhere. So 253 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: after the wreck, about one hundred and eighty people were 254 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: removed from the ship and taken away in boats. Was 255 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: included about thirty women and children, and about seventy men 256 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: stayed on board, including under merchant Cornellis. Most of the 257 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: survivors made their way to an island which was later 258 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: named Beacon Island, while the commander of the captain and 259 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: about forty other men went to an island that was 260 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: nearer the shipwreck, and that later came to be known 261 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: as Trader's Island. With the party split up this way, 262 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: the majority of the survivors at this point, very panicked 263 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: and in poor health from the length of their journey, 264 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: were on an island by themselves, and no one was 265 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: really in charge. Yeah, you had basically civilians and the 266 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: rank and file crew off on an island by themselves, 267 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: with no leadership, no leadership, and on top of that, 268 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: no supplies. So the men who stayed on board the Batavia, 269 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: who were overall the seediest and most disreputable of everyone 270 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: on board, largely amused themselves by drinking, plundering the ship's stores, 271 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: looting things for themselves, and attacking anybody who came to 272 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: the ship to try to salvage supplies from it. A 273 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: delightful bunch. The crew did manage to get some provisions 274 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: off the ship, but it was not enough to sustain 275 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: them for very long, and these islands were basically barren. 276 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: There were some birds, there were some fish, and there 277 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: were some sea lions that they could eat. Almost nothing 278 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: in the way of water, shelter, so it was more 279 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: like they were stuck on a big chunk of coral 280 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: and rock just sticking out of the ocean. And because 281 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: this larger group of survivors just became more and more 282 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: desperate as time went on, the officers started to balk 283 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: at the idea of trying to get supplies from the 284 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: ship to the island where most of the survivors were. 285 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: It started to become really risky, like there was a 286 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: genuine risk that panicked survivors were going to mob the 287 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: boat and capsize it and possibly destroy the cargo or 288 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: the boat itself or kill the crew. So after a 289 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: while it was sort of like we're just we're just 290 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: not going to mess with them on that island because 291 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: we're scared of them. This is see, this keeps getting worse. 292 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: I know, it's awful. There are so many just callous 293 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: and horrible moves made along the way that it's it's 294 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: hard to Yeah, you don't there's not really a lot 295 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: of people to root for. The officers debated at this 296 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: point what to do, because saying where they were seemed 297 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: completely hopeless. Once the storms that had driven them into 298 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: the islands cleared, they didn't have a source of fresh 299 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,360 Speaker 1: water unless it started raining again and they would need 300 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,160 Speaker 1: just enough to provide water without threatening their lives, or 301 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: an equally unlikely scenario, if the hull of the ship 302 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: broke apart and the current happened to carry all of 303 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: the ship's stores directly to the islands, they might get 304 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: some relief. So what they did was they decided to 305 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: start scouting the islands and the mainland for sources of water. 306 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: So Pelsert, most of the officers, and some crew and passengers, 307 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: including two women and a baby, went searching for water. 308 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: This wasn't really Pelsert's idea. He was sort of feeling 309 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: like at this point it was his job to stay 310 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: with the survivors and to die with them if that 311 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,919 Speaker 1: was what happened. His job as upper merchant also involved 312 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: the responsibility for making sure the cargo stayed safe, and 313 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: so he was really reluctant to leave it behind, like 314 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: his priority was definitely more on the cargo than the 315 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: people in terms of his job description. But some of 316 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: the sailors were pretty set on trying to save themselves 317 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: at whatever cost, and so ultimately he went with them 318 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: in the ship's longboat forty eight total people went to 319 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: look for water while the rest stayed behind. Pretty much 320 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 1: the only senior officer that was not among the scouting 321 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 1: party was Uronymous Cornelis Back aboard the Batavia, their four 322 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: day search for water was fruitless, and finally Pelser decided 323 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 1: that the only possible way that they were going to 324 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: get out of this mess was to go to Batavia 325 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: for help. So they took their longboat, which was about 326 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: thirty feet long, and they crossed nine hundred nautical miles 327 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: of the open Indian Ocean. Imagine Australia on a map, 328 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: so the Houtman Abroljos Islands are about halfway down the 329 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: straightish part of the western coast of Australia. Batavia is 330 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: in Indonesia, and in between them is just this long 331 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: expanse of the Indian Ocean, and that is what they 332 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 1: were crossing. Yes, and a long boat, and a longboat 333 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: that had like ten pairs of oars. I mean there 334 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: are some shipwreck and mutiny survival stories that are that 335 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: involve longer ocean crossings and remarkably small craft in this, 336 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: but still the fact that there were just these all 337 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: these people packed in the boat, including two women and 338 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: a baby is astounding to me. Yeah. Uh So, to 339 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: cuttle this part of the long story short, they made it. 340 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: It took them thirty three days to get there. When 341 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: they did get there, after thirty three days across the 342 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 1: ocean open, they had less than two pints of fresh 343 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: water left. And once they got to Batavia, Pelser charged 344 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: the ship's high bowson for outrageous behavior before the wreck, 345 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: because remember he was implicated in the sexual assault of 346 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: a passenger and he was executed and skipper Yakubs was 347 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: arrested for negligence in causing the wreck. Pelser gathered supplies 348 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: and bordered the yachts Artem and they headed back to 349 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: find the survivors. It took the sixty three days to 350 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: find them again, so basically twice as long, just months 351 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: and months of misery. Yeah. So a whole lot happened 352 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: on the island in this three month period between when 353 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: Pelser left and when he got back with help, and 354 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: probably survivors didn't even know they were heading out across 355 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: the Indian Ocean to begin with. They had no idea, 356 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: so they were just there three months not knowing what 357 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: was going on, believing they had been abandoned, and that 358 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: is the story that we were going to talk about 359 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 1: in the next episode because as I discovered as I 360 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 1: was researching this crazy story. But they get long and involved, 361 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: they do when you're taking a long boat across the 362 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: Indian Ocean and when there is a shipwreck and a 363 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: mutiny and a massacre. Yeah, so we're going to continue 364 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,680 Speaker 1: the mutiny and massacre part of this story in our 365 00:20:48,760 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: next episode. So nobody on the islands, as we talked 366 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 1: about at the end of the last episode, knew that 367 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,120 Speaker 1: Pelser had decided to go to Batavia for help. They 368 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: had no way of finding out about his progress. They 369 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: just knew that they hadn't seen anything of him or 370 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: the skipper for days. But about a week after the 371 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: search party left in their longboat, the survivors finally got 372 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: an authority figure. The Batavia finally broke apart, forcing Cornellis 373 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: to join the survivors that were on these islands. So, 374 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: just for context, about forty people died when the Batavia 375 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: broke apart. The survivors clung to rafts that they had 376 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: made on board as it became clear that the time 377 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: of the ship was drying to a close. Cornellis in 378 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: particular survived by climbing the bowsprit at the four of 379 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:46,880 Speaker 1: the ship and then clinging to it when it broke 380 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: off and using it to float to land. And for 381 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: the backstory we promised on him earlier, Cornellis was an educated, 382 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: literate man from an affluent family. He had trained and 383 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: apprenticed as an apothecary, and he started his own apothecary practice. 384 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: He had been married and had a child, but the 385 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: baby unfortunately died in its infancy. And first a deranged 386 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: and incompetent midwife had handled the delivery and she failed 387 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: to deliver part of the placenta, so his wife got 388 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: a life threatening infection as a result, and then they 389 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: had to hire a wet nurse while she recovered, and 390 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: the wet nurse unfortunately gave the baby syphilis. It was 391 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: just the worst possible series of events for a birth. 392 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,160 Speaker 1: It's also kind of unclear exactly how he was such 393 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: a poor judge of character to have hired both an 394 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: incompetent midwife and, as we are about to tell you, 395 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: a clearly unwell wet nurse for the baby. So in 396 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: spite of Cornellis getting sworn statements from basically everybody attesting 397 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: to the fact that he was completely clean and the 398 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 1: wet nurse was an abominable character and obviously poor health. 399 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,200 Speaker 1: Everyone still assumed that the baby had gotten syphilis from 400 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: his mother, and this was a huge stigma and a 401 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: very tear arrible reflection on Cornellis and his family and 402 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: his practice. Like, obviously, if the baby had gotten syphilis, 403 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: it had gotten syphilts from his mother, and that meant 404 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 1: that his mother or his father, somebody had been unfaithful 405 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: in this situation, Like there was a whole boatload of 406 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: social expectation and rules for behavior. Yeah, and that's violated, 407 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: And that meant that as an apothecary, there was sickness 408 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: introduced into that as well. Yeah, So his business seriously 409 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: suffered as a result, and it had already been on 410 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 1: shaky footing even before this scandal happened. All of this 411 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: combined with demands for reparation from a merchant who had 412 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: loaned Cornellis money to put him completely under and otherwise 413 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 1: he'd not really have had any reason to code, to see, 414 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: and he had also developed sort of a strange personal, 415 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: religious and moral code. It was a hodgepodge of influences 416 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: from throughout his life. It combined Anabaptist and Mennonite teachings 417 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: with the blasphemous and heretical philosophies of a Dutch named 418 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: Johannes Simons Vanderbeek who also was known as Tarentius, and 419 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: somewhere along the line he picked up ideas from Epicurus 420 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: as well, along with the Antinomian idea that you only 421 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:16,239 Speaker 1: need faith to attain salvation. So reason number two that 422 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: Cornellus had taken to a life at sea. Tarantius wound 423 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: up on trial for his heretical beliefs and other stuff, 424 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: and Cornellis realized that he was extremely lucky not to 425 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: have been named in the proceedings, which would have resulted 426 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,399 Speaker 1: in him being prosecuted as well. So all of this 427 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: together made it seem really prudent that he get as 428 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: far away as possible. I'm again lack of judgment. Maybe 429 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: on top of prompting him to abandon his wife and 430 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:48,159 Speaker 1: his home. These philosophical and religious influences led Cornellis to 431 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: hold some troubling beliefs of his own. He deeply believed 432 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: that every action that he personally undertook was divinely inspired, 433 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: and this also meant that nothing he could do, no 434 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: matter what it was, could be considered sinful or evil 435 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: because it had all been inspired by God. So when 436 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:12,119 Speaker 1: the Batavia broke up, this became the highest ranking man 437 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: on the islands. The people who were left on the 438 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: islands really felt like Pelser had abandoned them when they 439 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: really really needed him, and so Cornelis was really, without 440 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: a whole lot of effort, able to recruit about forty 441 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: men to continue in his original plan to commit mutiny, 442 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: even though the ship they were going to originally use 443 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: for this plan was now destroyed. Instead, what he and 444 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 1: his mutineers planned to do was to commandeer whatever ship 445 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: came to their rescue and then to use it to 446 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: become pirates. It's hard not to giggle. I feel like 447 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:48,400 Speaker 1: this is a plan that like a ten year old 448 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,160 Speaker 1: put together. The plans of this story are not good plans, 449 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,880 Speaker 1: but the results are horribly tragic. Yeah. To make sure 450 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: he would face no opposition, he started systematically removing people 451 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: who might not be down with his mutiny plan from 452 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 1: the island. This also gave him fewer mouths to feed, 453 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: even though the current really had delivered a bunch of 454 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: supplies from the Batavia to the islands. It still wasn't 455 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: enough to sustain everyone there, and everybody he got rid 456 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,919 Speaker 1: of that was not on his team, so to speak, 457 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,880 Speaker 1: would make it all last a little bit longer. Yeah, 458 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: everybody had sort of felt like it was a huge 459 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: long shot to think that the Batavia would break apart 460 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,680 Speaker 1: and the current would bring supplies to them. That did 461 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: actually happen. The one thing that worked out. Yeah, And 462 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: it sounds like a lot of supplies because it was 463 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: like hundreds of barrels of things, but that it was 464 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,719 Speaker 1: not when you looked at how many mouths there were 465 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: to feed, that did not actually equate many days of 466 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: sustenance for anybody. So Cornelis started sending people off to 467 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 1: the other nearby islands, and he would tell them that 468 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: there was water there, or he would send them there 469 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: to search for water or some other ploy. And he 470 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,160 Speaker 1: basically sent them off to these islands and didn't expect 471 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,879 Speaker 1: them to survive. He was expecting them to die of 472 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: hunger and thirst. A horrible man. I'm edaitorializing, but I 473 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: don't know how you can't come to that conclusion at 474 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 1: that point, he also started sending people out in boats, 475 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: presumably as scouts, but he'd also put men that were 476 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 1: loyal to him on those boats and they would throw 477 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: his targets overboard and leave them to drown. Really systematic. Yeah. 478 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: He also straight up had his cronies murder people who 479 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: were sick or hurt, and they left most of the 480 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: women alive when so that he and his crew could 481 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: use them for sexual purposes. He also claimed Lucretia Yn's 482 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,400 Speaker 1: as his own sexual toy. So on top of all 483 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: these murders, there were many many rapes happening on the island. 484 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,679 Speaker 1: When he saw survivors on one island continuing to wander 485 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: around the shore when he thought they should be dead 486 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: and that his little I'll just get rid of them 487 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 1: this way plan had not worked out, he sent men 488 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: in boats to kill them as well. So as a 489 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: result of all of this, Beacon Island later came to 490 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:08,040 Speaker 1: be known as Batavia's Graveyard. This strategy of removing threats 491 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: from the island became Cornellis's downfall. He sent a group 492 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: of soldiers led by Wibby Hayes to two large islands 493 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,120 Speaker 1: where they which they were calling the High Islands. Pelser 494 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: and company had already searched these islands and reported that 495 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: they had no water, but that was not widespread knowledge. 496 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 1: Cornellis confiscated the soldier's weapons and sent them there, assuming 497 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: that they would just die of thirst. Yeah. He was like, 498 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: you guys go search these big islands to water over there, 499 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: you guys go find it. Yeah. Wibby Hayes, on the 500 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: other hand, was a good leader, and you know his 501 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: soldiers under his direction were very industrious. They built a shelter. 502 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: They conducted this methodical search for water. They would like 503 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: they would nourish themselves from water that had been collected 504 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: in little pits in the rock. As they systematically conducted 505 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: this widespread search, they eventually found two cisterns. On top 506 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: of that, the two islands, which they were right next 507 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,959 Speaker 1: to each other, they could get between them. They were 508 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: later named East and West Wallaby Island. They were home 509 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: to wallabies and lots of birds, which gave them a 510 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: pretty ample supply of food. Apparently, the fishing near these 511 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: islands was also pretty awesome, so they were also In 512 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: addition to the fact that they found water, they found food. 513 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: They made a shelter and they started making simple weapons 514 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: with which to defend themselves. And when Hayes' men found 515 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: the cisterns, they sent up a smoke signal. This was 516 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: their pre arranged method of letting Cornellis know that there 517 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,760 Speaker 1: was water. And while water was awesome and all, Cornellis 518 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: immediately saw the soldiers, their water supply, their vantage point, 519 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: and their smoke signals as a threat. How dare you 520 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: be more industrious and successful than me? Well, so, how 521 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: dare you now have things to eat and water to 522 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: drink and weapons to defend yourself with? Because they were industrious, 523 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: and a little shelter that they built out of rocks. Ye. 524 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: So first he tried to persuade them to join his mutineers, 525 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: and they refused, after which a big fight followed, and 526 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,480 Speaker 1: so Hayes and his men drove Cornellis and his men off. 527 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: So after that, Cornellis sent an attack party to try 528 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: to kill them. And by this point hayes men, who 529 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: had named themselves the Defenders, had really organized themselves. They 530 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: had tried to rescue other survivors. They fought back, and 531 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: after a really bloody battle, the soldiers executed five of 532 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: Cornellis's men and they captured Cornellis himself and held him 533 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: prisoner as they continued to wait for rescue. Cornelis's cronies, 534 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: who had not been part of this failed overthrow of 535 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,240 Speaker 1: Webby Hayes, were smart enough to stay away from the 536 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: Wallaby Islands. From that point they recognized that they were 537 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: not going to win against the people. They were outmatched. 538 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,719 Speaker 1: Yeah by perhaps the man who should have in charge 539 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: from the beginning beginning. That is my editorializing of this situation. 540 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: So finally, after a month spent getting back to Australia 541 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:17,000 Speaker 1: from Indonesia, and then another month spent in a frustrating 542 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: search to try to figure out where they had left 543 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 1: that shipwreck, Pelser and his yacht wound up back at 544 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: Batavia's graveyard. It sounds maybe a little ridiculous that they 545 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: got back to Australia and they could not find the shipwreck, 546 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: but at this point the ship had been destroyed and 547 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: the area was not charted in the first place, because 548 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 1: they didn't know where they were when they wrecked to 549 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: begin with. So yeah, so he wound up back in 550 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: the area. He disembarked on an island that was about 551 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: a mile away from the Wallaby Islands, and they had 552 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,720 Speaker 1: water and wine and bread for the survivors with them. 553 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: Soon Webby Hayes and three other men rode up and 554 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,479 Speaker 1: told them to get back aboard the yacht because there 555 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: were two parties of Cornellis's men on the loose and 556 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: they meant to commandeer the yacht, and they did in 557 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: fact try to do that. The remaining mutineers found the yacht, 558 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: they tried to board it, but Pelsert and the screw, 559 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: having now advanced knowledge of what was going on, captured them, 560 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 1: and while questioning his newfound prisoners, Pelser learned that Jacobs 561 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: and cornellis original plan to mutiny had started way way 562 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: back before the ship was even shipwrecked in the first place. 563 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: After Hayes handed Cornellis over, Pelser questioned him, then went 564 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: to round up the rest of his co conspirators, and 565 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: while a few seem to have evaded capture, most surrendered 566 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: on the spot. Pelser interrogated all of the accomplices and 567 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 1: found out that their crimes included, in addition to mutiny 568 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,959 Speaker 1: and murder, rape, looting, and treason, their trials, which were 569 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: really torture and interrogation and their executions were carried out 570 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: on Seal's Island. All of the primary mutineers had their 571 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 1: right hands cut off, Cornellis had both of his hands 572 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: cut off, and then all of them were hanged on 573 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: October second of sixteen twenty nine, roughly a year after 574 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: the Batavia set sail from Holland, and those hanged on 575 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: Seal's Island were left dangling from the gallows. Pelsert also 576 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: marooned two of the youngest members of the crew in Australia. 577 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 1: The rest of them were keeled, hauled and dropped from 578 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: yard arms and flogged on the way back to Batavia, 579 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: where they were ultimately executed. Before leaving the islands, Pelsert 580 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: led a pretty successful salvage mission, loading up the Sardam 581 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: with as much as they could find before returning to Batavia, 582 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: and they arrived Areund December fifth of sixteen twenty nine. 583 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: Even though he had done his ultimate job of protecting 584 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: the cargo, eventually, after a fashion, his career never really 585 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: recovered from this whole incident, and he died not long after, 586 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: probably of the same illness that had brought him down 587 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 1: on board, and it was after he died that they 588 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: discovered his illicit money lending business, which he was funding 589 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: with company money. Yeah, so again, it's hard to root 590 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: for many people in the story. Even though he seems 591 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: kind of stand up in many ways he compared to 592 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: the other people on board, there were still some there 593 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,960 Speaker 1: were issues, And then the voc didn't actually make a 594 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: lot of money, even though he did salvage a lot 595 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 1: of the stuff, because the person they had been planning 596 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: to sell all of this stuff too. By the time 597 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: it was all said and done was no longer in power, 598 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 1: and the person who had taken his place did not 599 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,640 Speaker 1: really care about the stuff that had been brought over. 600 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,360 Speaker 1: It was a failure in a lot of ways. The 601 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,000 Speaker 1: last living mutineers who had come all the way back 602 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: to Batavia were eventually executed there, and in the end, 603 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: out of the three hundred and sixteen people who were 604 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: aboard the Batavia when it wrecked, only about one hundred 605 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: and sixteen survived. Webbie Hayes was commissioned as an officer 606 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 1: on arrival in Batavia, and all his soldiers were promoted 607 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,320 Speaker 1: from privates to cadets. Lucretia Yans, who at one point 608 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,759 Speaker 1: during the trials was accused by her rapists of having 609 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:02,319 Speaker 1: tempted them into it, arrived in Batavia to learn that 610 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 1: her husband had been dead for at least five months. 611 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,360 Speaker 1: We don't really know whether Cornellis's wife ever learned of 612 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: his treacherream. Her story sort of fades away after a 613 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:15,319 Speaker 1: prolonged and public back and forth with the syphilitic wet 614 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 1: nurse that they had hired. So Lobster fishermen found the 615 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: Batavia's wreckage in nineteen sixty three and part of the 616 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: hull was raised from the ocean floor and it's now 617 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 1: displayed in the Western Australian Maritime Museum, and there are 618 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,920 Speaker 1: also other artifacts from the wreck that are on displayed 619 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: there and in other museums. There has also been an 620 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: extensive study of bodies from Batavia's graveyard and surrounding islands. 621 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:43,279 Speaker 1: It's basically super horrifying. Yeah, lots of evidence of how 622 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 1: people were brutally bludgeoned to death and had multiple broken 623 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:54,239 Speaker 1: bones and skull fractures, and it's pretty terrible. In a 624 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,359 Speaker 1: weird way. The Batavia and its shipwreck wound up being 625 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:00,839 Speaker 1: the source of a whole lot of firsts, slash other 626 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: notable historical things like it was the first Dutch ship 627 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 1: lost off the coast of Australia. Webby Hayes's shelters were 628 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: the first European structures on the continent of Australia, and 629 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 1: the ruins of those shelters still stand today. The two 630 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:20,239 Speaker 1: marooned Mutineers were the first European residents of Australia, and 631 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 1: the Batavia is the only VOC ship to have been 632 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 1: archaeologically raised and conserved. And this whole incident also inspired 633 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,960 Speaker 1: the VOC to methodically map the coastline of US Australia 634 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 1: so that perhaps such a disaster would never happen again. Yeah, 635 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:40,240 Speaker 1: that'll make you not want to get on a boat. 636 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: It's that the whole story has so many layers of 637 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: just awful star awfulness that keeps getting worse and more awful. 638 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 1: I think this is one I don't remember who. I 639 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: think this is one that someone suggested on Twitter and 640 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:00,160 Speaker 1: I was kind of like, sound good, and then I 641 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:01,920 Speaker 1: took one look at it and went, wait, this is 642 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,200 Speaker 1: more than just a mutiny. There's a whole lot more 643 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,400 Speaker 1: than mutiny going on here. Yeah. It's kind of like 644 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 1: a portrait of like the worst of humanity in many ways. Yeah, 645 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:19,080 Speaker 1: that troubling. Yeah, I like Webby Hayes. He kind of 646 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 1: fades away from history. We don't really know what happened 647 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,160 Speaker 1: to him. It's kind of assumed that perhaps he died 648 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:27,000 Speaker 1: of some sort of tropical illness. We just don't have 649 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:30,799 Speaker 1: a lot of historical record on him after the end 650 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: of the Batavia story. But yeah, while everybody else was 651 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 1: having some Lord of Flies action, he was keeping things 652 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: in order civil as ducks were in a row. Thanks 653 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,719 Speaker 1: so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since this 654 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:51,799 Speaker 1: episode is out of the archive, if you heard an 655 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,759 Speaker 1: email address or a Facebook RL or something similar over 656 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,439 Speaker 1: the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 657 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: Our current email address is hissed podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 658 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,279 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at missed Inhistory, 659 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 660 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:14,319 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen 661 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:19,840 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuffy Missed in History Class is a production 662 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:24,839 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 663 00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:28,160 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.