The captain-general

Front matter

BY W. J ddRDON

?v

Vl/-

Preface

It was in Mr. Henniker Heaton's "Australian Dictionary of Dates" that I first read of the Dutch attempt to colonise New Holland, and on further inquiry it seemed to me an experience of some significance, dramatic in incident and completeness, and worth recording at length with due regard to its modern application.

It is a story of the struggles of a nation in miniature, whose central figure is an unscrupulous adventurer making capital out of the political theories of the day, and advancing through democracy to despotism in a way not unknown to students of revolutions.

It is a pirate story, bloodstained, as all such stories are, and ending in cruelty and death ; but I trust I have not dwelt on the details of crime more than was necessary, and I am sure those of my readers who turn to the older versions will acquit me of giving undue prominence to the horrible.

It has not been thought worth while to give copies of all the bonds and undertakings entered into on the xii PEE FACE.

island, Those of my readers who are curious in the matter will find the documents, with the minutes of the court-martial, set forth at length in the black-letter quarto of the " Ongeluckige Voyagie."

NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

I little thought that I should receive a letter from the scene of this story, or that a Fellow of the Linnean Society, on ornithological studies bent, would one day visit the far coral island and on it find a copy of my book. But so it has come about. It is not, however, to parade these facts that I add a note, but to mention from information received from the spot, and also from a paper read before the Australasian Association for the Advaucement of Science, that Houtman's Abrolhos are now the haunt of a greater number of sea birds than any other distinct or limited spot in the world, and that the old Batavia's Grave is now the richest guano field in Australasia. The story seemed complete as I found it ; the phosphatic robe of oblivion is a characteristic finish on which we might moralise much !

W. J. G.

Contents

CHAP. FAfitt

I. AT ANXHOR 1

Derrik brings the news — The first boy-colonist of New Holland — Francis Pelsart — Claes Gerrits.

Chapter I. At Anchor

It was an October afternoon, misty, grey, and chill. The sun lay low in the sky, a pale, watery disc, peering through a veil, and the mere phantom of its summer self. The Zuyder Zee rolled lazily and wearily, with unequal effort, as if each oily, ashen wave were the sport of a different wind, and broke only in bursts of petulance. There were no brisk white horses, and the tangled strings and flakes of foam were few and far apart. The wide stretch of restless water was bounded by the distant land, but the movement of the waves seemed less and less as they neared it, and no streak of brightness marked the boundary.

A fleet was riding at anchor in the shelter of the Texei. By the island shore the ships lay close ; and far away to the south-eastward, just losing the sun,

B another group of masts and patches of slowly gliding sail betrayed the whereabouts of Enkhuizen and the narrowing entrance to the South Sea, properly so called, for Zuyder is but Dutch for south.

There were eleven ships in the fleet off Oude Schild to which the boats from the shore went to and fro the often est. These were flying the flag of the Dutch East India Company, and were evidently outward bound. Solid and clumsy they were, but pleasantly picturesque, gaudily painted with much green and white, high in the stern, low in the bow, and of a rig long passed away and only recognizable in survivals.

A lugger, reaching in from the North Sea round Eierland and past Oostereinde, brought to as she passed through the fleet ; and signals were made from her to the shore boats returning empty. One of the shore boats answered the hail, pulled alongside, and took a passenger, and as she sheered off the lugger launched her own boat, which went away at top speed towards the town.

" To the Batavia" said the passenger, a swarthy looking boy of fifteen, wrapped in a thick blue cloak. And the boatman headed straight for the flagship, which lay a little away from the rest. Passing the Dordrecht and Assendelft, the boat was soon alongside the biggest of the Indiamen, and the boy briskly

AT ANCHOR. 3

mounted the short rope ladder and asked to be taken immediately to Captain Pelsart.

" What name ? " asked the guard at the gangway, looking suspiciously at the blue cloak, which might be covering a prince's velvet or a pauper's rags.

" Derrik "

" From whom ? "

" Urgent news from France, tell the captain."

A black boy, a very black boy, passing at the moment, was sent to the cabin with the message, and in a minute or two returned. Holding the cloak tightly round him, so as to hide everything but his feet, Derrik followed his guide, and was ushered into the presence of the great man he sought.

He made a most elaborate and lengthy bow ; the captain acknowledged the prolonged salute with a very slight and distant nod ; the negro shut the cabin door, and as it clicked Derrik threw off the cloak, and stood revealed, an ordinary sailor boy, wearing nothing but a shabby shirt and trousers and a formidable pair of boots.

" I have a letter, mynheer, from Monsieur Guitton. I come direct from La Eochelle "

" What does Monsieur Guitton want with me ?" asked the captain, opening the letter.

" Only to help me, sir."

B 2

" So it seems. But what is your urgent news ? "

" La Bochelle fell, starved out, nine days ago, Saturday week, the i 8th of October."

" What ? " said Pelsart, with a start ; " did then the English do nothing ? "

" Nothing ! King Chaues sent Admiral Pennington to block up the harbour to help Eichelieu, and the men mutinied. Then the King ordered him to consign his own ship to the French Admiral, and enter the service of King Louis ; and every man deserted and joined us in La Eochelle. Then King Charles changed sides, and sent a Duke named Buckingham to help us, who did nothing, and left us. Then Buckingham was coming again to do nothing, when some one put a knife into him at Portsmouth and rid the world of an impostor. Then an Earl of Lindsey came and stayed outside till Monsieur Guitton had no food to give the people, and he had to yield, not to King Louis or Cardinal Eichelieu, but to General Starvation."

" Then La Eochelle has gone, and the Protestant cause in France is lost. Now, who are you ? "

" My name is Jan Derrik. My father and mother are dead. My uncle, Maurice Pieters of Haarlem, sent me off to La Eochelle a year ago, telling me he was lad to get rid of me, and wanted to see my face no more. He sent me to his brother, Luycas Pieters, who

D

AT AXCHOlt. 5

lived next to your father's house at Antwerp. Luycas Pieters was a good friend to me. At La Rochelle he was in command of the Hill Battery, and was shot. "When he was dying he asked Monsieur Guitton to look after me, and told him I had no friends, and it would be better for me. for many reasons, not to go back to Haarlem. On the day of the surrender I heard of your expedition to the new land, and I found Monsieur Guitton, and asked him for that letter. I escaped through the Trench lines over the breakwater of piles that the Cardinal made to shut out the English. I was picked up by a lugger, which has just brought me here. And I ask two favours of you. I hope, mynheer, the letter will incline you to grant my requests.''

" "What are they ?"

"First, that you let me join the Batavia. Second "

"Second — what?"

" That you give me enough wages on account to pay the boatman who has brought me in the lugger. For I am moneyless."

" The request is not modest, but the reason is a just one. I can make a place for you, hut your tongue seems to run too fast to promise faithful service. However, for your uncle's sake and Monsieur Guitton's, I will risk it. As to wages, I am not used to make advances to boys : but to that as a gift you are welcome ; " and the captain put a florin on the table very carefully, and after a good look at it to see that he had made no mistake. " Did you pay for your passage in the lugger ?"

" Yes, mynheer, I had a little money with me when I got away, but the old man did not think it enough, so I kept my boots and my hat and exchanged the rest of my clothes for these things, and that paid the debt."

Captain Pelsart looked straight at Derrik as if he doubted him, but as he met the boy's eyes his look changed.

" You paid your debt !" he said. "It is well ; " and then, with another look at the boy, he rose and unlocked a drawer, and, after much fumbling, took out twelve florins, one by one, and turned them over as he counted them. As he locked the drawer again with one hand, with the other he held out the money, saying as he did so :

"Your news is worth your passage money. Get clothes suited to your place, clothes that will last, for the voyage will be long. Tell the sentry at the door I want him,"

Dcrrik's thanks were genuine, but soon said, and he lost no time in bringing in the sentry.

AT ANCHOR. 7

" Pass the word for Abraham," said the captain.

The soldier had not been gone half a minute before the black boy appeared.

" Oh, Abraham," said Pelsart, " take this lad to Mynheer de Scanis, and "

But here came a knock at the door and an officer entered.

" Come on board, sir," said the new comer, turning to go, as he said so.

" Oh ! that is better. All right, Abraham, you can go. Mynheer Gerrits, one minute. Here is a boy who will be of use to you. He is the nephew of an old friend of mine, and has just come from La Kochelle, which has gone at last to the Cardinal^ — as you will not be pleased to hear. He will tell you about it.

Give him something to do. Enter him as a Oh,

Derrik, did you want to join the ship or the colony ?"

" I thought the colony, sir, but "

"But what ?" asked Pelsart.

" I will leave it to you, sir."

" Choose for yourself," was the reply. " I have said you shall go, and you shall go. You can if you like be the first boy colonist of New Holland, which will be the finest country in the world if all goes well for us ; or you can be a boy on the ship that takes the first colonists there. In any case you may be immortal ! — which is it to be ? Misery on land, or misery on water ? "

"I think I would like my misery on land, mynheer."

" Then Mynheer Gerrits will see you do not get too much misery on water. And if you are a good boy you may have a chance of changing your opinion."

And at a sign from Mr. Gerrits, Derrik followed him from the captain's cabin.

There was not much resemblance between the Captain and his fourth in command, for such the officer proved to be. They were dressed alike, it is true, in buff coat, and baggy brown breeches, and tall, white felt hat with no brim to speak of ; but Pelsart was a slightly built man of five feet five or thereabouts, while Claes. as he was familiarly called, was quite a head and a half taller, with massive shoulders and powerful neck ; and, while Pelsart was dark and clean shaven, the other sported a heavy yellow beard and moustache, with the ends brushed outwards and upwards, so as to make the most of them.

" You had better say you'll join the ship," said the fair-haired giant, stooping, as he led the way to the main deck. " You will have the same work as if you did, and you'll get better paid. You'll be everybody's drudge and nobody's master. If you want to stay behind in the end it will make no difference."

AT ANCHOR. 9

The advice was evidently given in good faith, and in a few minutes " Jan Derrik van Eochel " was duly entered as a "jongen," or boy, in the list of the crew of the Batavia.

His first duty was to tell the news from La Eochelle to Mr. Gerrits and Mr de Scanis, who had come up to listen. This did not take long, as neither of the officers had much time to spare. "When they were moving away, Derrik asked what he was to do about his clothes.

"Oh!" said Gerrits, "there'll be a boat going ashore in a few minutes. You can go in her ; and I'll send somebody with you."

Chapter II. Outward Bou X D

Commodore Pelsart sat in his cabin looking over a batch of official papers just come to him by special messenger from Amsterdam. Putting on one side the Articles of War — the Artykelbriefs, approved by the Stadtholder, Frederick Henry of Orange, and thus, sanctioned by the State, become the laws of the voyage, in accordance with which, in the little kingdom of the fleet, justice was to be administered — he unfolded his sailing instructions.

" The Cape of Good Hope being doubled," he read, " it is thought good that you sail in an easterly direction between 36 and 39 south latitude until you have reached a point eight hundred miles east of the Cape of Good Hope ; that you then direct your course as much north as east, in such a manner that on reaching 30 south latitude you should find yourself about nine hundred and fifty or one thousand miles from the Cape of Good Hope."

" That;' said Pelsart, " is as usual ; what else ? "

" These nine hundred and fifty or one thousand miles from the Cape of Good Hope," he continued, " being attained, it is advisable that you bear down upon the Land of Endraght at 27 degrees of south latitude, or more to the north, so as to take thence such a course as will enable you to clear Houtman's Abrolhos in about 20 decrees south latitude without danger."

" Better give them a wide berth ! " murmured Pelsart to himself. " If all that is said of them is true, they are the greatest dangers in our course ! Ah ! Here is the caution ! " and he read on :

" The Land of Endraght lies south of 2 7 degrees south latitude. It has many perilous sandbanks, and the soundings are hard rock ; consequently, extreme caution is thereabouts necessary, and constant use of the lead."

" That's a cheerful look out," said he, interrupting his reading. " However "

" The distance," he went on, flattening out the paper on the table — " the distance between the Cape of Good Hope and the Land of Endraght is probably much shorter than is shown on the chart, and by the aid of the currents, which are reported to be .irregular in force and direction, the route may be found shorter, so that land may be reached in much less time than you may be led to anticipate."

" That is vague enough, as usual ; it is here, so that whatever happens the company may say, We told you so. It means a constant look out night and day from the Cape."

" You will then — " he began to read on, but he suddenly pushed the paper away from him. " Ah ! That is the clause I saw in draft. Enough ! We must get all on board to-night, and start first tide to-morrow. With caution and care all will go well. There never was a better ship or a better crew. Would I could say the same of the rest of the fleet ! "

Folding up the papers, and putting them away in their proper place — a methodic man was Pelsart, and unused to trust to others what he could do himself — he went to the cabin door.

" Signal to the Dordrecht," he ordered, " and ask if the captain is 'aboard yet."

" They are just signalling that her captain has started for the Batavia, sir."

" Very well ; then signal to the Assenclel/t that I shall visit Captain Vlack in half an hour."

" Ay, ay, sir."

And the signal was made in effective fashion by simply chalking on a black board, for flag code then there was not — Kempenfeldt, Popham, and Marryat were to come.

The little commodore stepped on to the lofty poop, and, standing by the shrouds of the tiny mizen-mast, looked away to the town, at ease in his own mind that in his ship at least all would be well.

Had he heard what was going on in the back room of " The Thirsty Soul " — the nearest of the Oude Schild inns — he would assuredly have altered his opinion.

A much-becurtained house was " The Thirsty Soul ; " trim and tidy, but not a door or window was there in it which had not been bent into a curve. It looked as though the whole fabric had become soft in the sun, and then been saved from dissolution by a sudden gust of cold. It might have been the crooked house of the crooked man with the crooked sixpence. The roof sagged, the front bulged, the sides curved ; and yet the house stood squarely enough — a whitepainted, green-lined gem of cleanliness, the very last place in the world from which the stranger would expect to hear the snatch of a sailor's drinking song.

And yet its front room was full of seamen, in the amplest of jerseys, the baggiest of breeches, and the biggest of boots ; all of them intent on the business of the hour, to drink any given quantity in a given time, and roar forth in full power of lung, and yet melodiously, the popular song of the day.

Little comfort would it have given to the sorrowing relatives who had stood by the Weepers' Tower on the quay at Amsterdam, and bidden good-bye to the colonists, to have heard the uproarious jollity of those to whose steadiness they had entrusted their lives. But the unpromising state of things might have been much worse — that is, as far as appearances went. But as a matter of fact nothing could be worse than things really were. For Pelsart was to be the victim of a so-called " no monopoly " conspiracy, and the chief of the conspirators, who were to sail with him and mature their plans in his very presence when out at sea, was his second in command, the supercargo Jerome Cornells, then taking his ease in the back room of " The Thirsty Soul."

These men in the front room were but the catspaws, the tools to be eventually thrown aside by the cynical, unscrupulous, philosophic schemer, who would use them to help him to fortune and power. Cheerily enough they sang, and free enough from mischief were their thoughts, as in deep jovial baritone they rolled out the burden :

Come and take a drink, boys,

Come and take a drink !

Drink and take an old man's war-ar-ning !

Your ship is outward bound

"Where no drink like this is found, And you'll have to try another in the mor-or-ning.

This is very old in wood,

And it's mellow and it's good, With the ruddy bloom its cheery face ador-or-aing.

Ton may never come ashore

To try it any more, For you're off to the Indies in the mor-or-ning.

And the " Off to the Indies," fortissimo, made the room ring again.

" Yes " said the bushy-browed supercargo, taking a long whiff from his pipe, and stroking the wiiy black beard cut short round his chin — " yes, off to the Indies in the morning — but they won't get there under Francis Pelsart ! "

" Not they," said his companion, Heyndricks the steward — " not they ; and they know it. But let them sing ! Let the Company's agent listen ; it'll do him good ! Company, indeed ! What business have they with so much money ? It is a charity to all honest citizens to take some of it away from them ! "

"They stole it from somebody, I suppose," said Cornells.

" And we'll steal it from them ! " announced Heyndricks.

" Well, not steal," said Cornells ; " we don't steal — we take. There's a difference between stealing and taking."

" Of course — of course," said the steward ; " there's a difference. When you give a man physic from your apothecary's shop in Haarlem, he takes it, he doesn't steal it, does he ? "

" Well, no," answered the supercargo ; " but "

" But ! What about ' but ' ? " interrupted the steward. " The Company's got the proper sort of physic for us ; we won't steal it only, we'll steal it and take it. And it's the proper sort of physic, Jerome, better than what you sold. It's good for all men ; it doesn't cut them off when they are in the way. Does it ? "

" What do you mean, man ? "

" Mean ! I don't mean anything. But there are caps that may fit, eh ? Never mind, mynheer, I'm with you, and I'll never leave you. But don't you be too clever. My share's half yours, half what you get, you see ; and if that's right I'm the best friend you've got. There'll be two hundred and fifty folks aboard the Batavia all told. That's a lot to look after ! You'll want a friend or two. There's a preacher who will require some managing.

" Preacher ! What preacher ? "

" Bastians of Alkmaar. He's gone aboard just now with his daughter."

" Exported as a failure or a spy ? Which ? "

" That's for you to discover. There are five French soldiers joined now. And they'll stand up for Pelsart to the last."

OUTWABD BOUND. 17

"Well, we've got a nice little knot to begin with. The crew is well salted. There's Conrad — I chose him."

" Yes, you did. And so you did those fellows in the front room who are off to the Indies again — that's about the eighth time they've been off this afternoon — and there's Jan and his gang aboard. Say two dozen in all, that's your following; but it isn't enough — not nearly enough."

" No, not yet, but we'll soon make it more when we get to sea. And then hey for Dunkirk or Barbary, and a profitable cruise ! "

" Ay ! Hey for Barbary and a craft of our own ! It is the counter-changeabout to old Hermansoon's."

" And what of him ? "

" Why, not so long ago, when you were poisoning the good folks "

" Now, Heyndricks, I will not have my professional "

" Of course — of course ; no offence meant. When you were an innocent apothecary we were off the Straits of Gibraltar in chase of corsairs. We had taken four, when old Hermansoon, who was then on the infidel side, ran up and coolly tried to walk away with one of our prizes. But the Christian slave who was steering ran his ship on to us, and jumped aboard with several

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18 THE GATTAIN-GENEBAL.

other slaves. Whereupon Herman soon took the bull by the horns and followed them, and appealed to the Admiral to hand them back. ' Not I,' said the Admiral ; ' why you ought to be ashamed of yourself sailing in such company. If you had any sense in you, you would join us ! ' ' And so I will ! ' said Hermansoon ; and thereupon he changed sides and became a good Dutchman again."

" Sensible man ! And shared in the money for the prizes already won, I suppose ? "

" Just so ; he helped to keep them you see ! " " Well, when we've got hold of the Batavia we'll help to keep her, and be good Dutchmen. No monopoly, say I."

" Of course — of course. No monopoly ! Except in the Batavia I "

" Well, we must draw the line somewhere."

" Yes ; draw it at that. What's theirs is ours ; but what is ours is our own."

" That's what I say, Heyndricks. All men are equal — until you get out of the crowd. Everything ought to be in common — until we can get a bigger share than any one else for ourselves."

And as if to echo the sentiment there came from the front room a particularly vigorous burst of

Come and take a drink, boys,

Come and take a drink !

Drink, and take an old man's war-ar-ning !

We're as good as one another,

And every man's a brother — Until we go to quarters in the mor-or-ning!

" Bah ! Let us be going. It's about time they stopped that noise now," said the supercargo, knocking the ashes out of his pipe ; " you pay the score, Heyndricks."

And, leaving the bulky steward to follow as he liked, Cornells went into the front room.

Lifting his hand at the end of a stanza of the never-ending " Off to the Indies," he procured a moment's silence.

" Now, my lads," said he, " all aboard's the word, and the sooner the better. Those who don't come now will be left behind, and lose the best chance they ever had of making a fortune."

As he went out on to the strand he saw one of the Batavias boats come ashore, with one of the soldiers and a boy in a blue cloak as her only passengers.

"Where are you going to, Hays?" he asked the soldier.

" Captain's orders, sir ; to the agency."

" Is the young gentleman a friend of the captain's ?"

" Yes, sir — no, sir. He's a boy, sir. He's not a gentleman, sir. Not yet, sir. He was a gentleman, sir. But lie's a boy now, sir."

"Do you mean he's one of our boys ?"

" Yes, sir."

" Then what is he doing here ? He ought to go back to the ship."

"No, sir. Captain's orders, sir. He's with me on duty, sir."

" What duty ? "

"Private and special, sir."

And, touching his broad-brimmed hat, the soldier moved on. The "private and special" duty being merely to get Derrik's outfit improved.

" That is the supercargo," said the soldier to Derrik, when they were out of earshot.

" "What is his name ? "'

" Cornells — Jerome Cornells. He is better as a friend than an enemy He used to be a sailor. Then he kept an apothecary's shop at Haarlem, and sold drugs — foreign drugs. He has not cured all who have come to him. Some have died. Men do say one died too soon. The shop is shut up. A friend of mine bought the crocodile that hung from the ceiling, and the Saracen's head, with the tongue hanging out, that was over the door. And the apothecary is now supercargo ; and has business in the Indies. I heard

Koopman Vlack, of the Assendelft, tell our chief that he did not like apothecaries who retired from business to take to colonial trade, and that he wouldn't mind leaving Mynheer Cornelis behind without a bolus box."

" Is Mynheer Vlack a nice man ? " asked Derrik.

" A nicer man than Mynheer Cornelis 1 "

Chapter III. The Two East Ixdia Companies

Or late hardly a year had goue by without the Dutch making some discovery on the western and north-western coasts of the largest island of the southern seas. A few months before Pieter Carpenter, the Admiral of the Dutch East India Company, had returned with the news of his discovery of the gulf that, in Carpentaria, still bears his name. Men had begun to suspect that the long talked-of southward continent of the Asiatic nations had at last been stumbled upon, and in the north of what we now call Australia the Dutch had resolved to found a colony. The fleet had been equipped and put under Telsart's command, first to land the colonists in their new home, and then to go on to the Spice Islands for the usual profitable cargoes for which the usual silver was on board.