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at the gallows until he is dead. His clothes, monthly pay, and goods, are forfeited to the company, our Lords and Masters.
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till further charges shall be proved against them, either to be taken to Batavia, or eventually to be committed to sentence on the voyage, namely,
Further, having found from various testimonies and from incontrovertible evidence that Webbye Hays, of Winn- |
account of all that had happened from the beginning.
He said that ten days after the wreck he had still been on board the vessel, though it was mostly broken to pieces by that time. For two day he had been on the bow sprit mast, and finally floated ashore on a portion of the bowsprit, together with three casks of water, wine, and vinegar, having been on the island about a month. David van Seevanck, Coenraldt van Huyssen, ensign, and twelve others had armed themselves in their tent, and coming in to him one evening between 10 and 11 o'clock, they had said, "There are too many people and there is too little food; we intend to surprise the people in their tents, and to reduce the number to 40". Jerome Comelisz had then begged of them not to do this, and suggested that they should send the people to the high island to look for the 20 who had been sent out for fresh water; but they would hardly listen to it. Still at his earnest intercession they were moved to send some of them there. Seventeen days after this David van Seevanck had gone |
David van Seevanck, Coenraldt van Huyssen, Gijsbert van Welderen, Wouter Loos, and Cornelis Pietersz, of Utrecht, four of whom had been killed in an ensuing fray, whilst Wouter Loos had escaped and he, Jerome Cornelisz, had remained a prisoner.
The Commodore proposed to put Jerome Comelisz to the torture, in order to obtain the real truth from him, since he is trying to exculpate himself before the council with plausible stories, putting all his own guilt on people who are dead, and therefore cannot answer for themselves. Jerome Cornelisz being bound and pulled up, and feeling the pain, prayed for a surcease, being willing to confess whatever he knew of that which they would ask him. His request was conceded, and the examination resumed. The Commodore then asked him why and in what manner he had intended to seize the yacht. He related that at the time when the 22 men were at the high island fighting, and he had gone to bring them back, David van Seevanck, with him in the longboat, had told him a dream of the ensign Lucas Gillisz, to the |
the Cape, and the Commodore had gone ashore Jerome Cornellsz had entered the cabin and unexpectedly opening the door in the passage he had found the Skipper and Swaantje together, wherefore, going away, he had closed the door. Two days after, the Commodore went ashore again in order to get cattle inland. Thereupon the Skipper had likewise started for the land, taking Gerome and Swaantje with him. They had enjoyed themselves till the evening, when they went to the yacht Assendelft, where the Skipper behaved in a very reckiess manner. In the night they had gone to the ship Buren, where he became worse, and at midnight they had returned on board. The next day the Commodore had called him into the gangway, and reprimanded him on the score of his reckless behaviour, especially in the act of taking Jerome and Swaantje ashore without consent. His chief had told him, among several other kind exhortations, that if he did not refrain from his improper proceedings measures would have to be taken to check him. When the Skipper had come upstairs again he had said to Jerome, "By God, if the other ships were not close by I'd give him such a hiding that he would not be able to leave his bunk for a fortnight; but I swear that as soon as we sail I'll get away from the ships and then I'll be my own master". To which Jerome had asked, "How would you manage that? The mates will be on the watch also". To which he replied, "That's nothing. I'll manage it during my own watch, for I haven't much faith in the first steersman, and less still in my brother-in-law. I don't think I could come to an understanding with them".
The Commodore asked him further when he and his counsellors had resolved to seize the vessel, but he protested absolute ignorance on this point. He was, therefore, once more put to the torture and some water already poured into his mouth, when he promised to obey, and to tell what he knew. He had heard for the first time of a plot to seize the vessel Batavia on the day of the shipwreck, and this publicly from the lips of one Rijckert Woutersz, at the time when the Commodore and the Skipper went to the mainland in the longboat. If the ship had not remained a wreck, they would soon have seized her and thrown the Commodore and all the people except one hundred and twenty overboard. They were only waiting for a good opportunity, which they thought would occur when the Commodore would be occupied putting those in irons who had interfered with Lucretia. They would then first of all set sail to Madagascar or Saint Helena. He had also, he said, heard all this from Coenraldt van Huyssen, and moreover that the latter, when the aforesaid person would be punished or put in irons, would be the first to rush into the cabin with a sword, and to throw the Commodore overboard. He was again asked whether he had no knowledge of this before the ship had foundered, and answered in the negative. But when orders were once more given to continue with the torture, he prayed again to be confronted with some of his accusers, which was granted. Jans Hendricks, soldier, was called, and asked whether he was also one of the conspirators, who had planned to seize the vessel. He answered that he knew nothing of the conspiracy, neither had he known of it on board, but after the ship had foundered he had heard from divers people, now dead, that such a plot existed between the Skipper, Jerome, the boatswain, Rijckert Woutersz, Allert Jansz, of Assendelft, Cornelis Jansz, of Haarlem, surnamed Boontjen*, Gijabert van Welderen, Coenraldt van Huyssen, and ten or twelve others. The idea had been first to nail down the trap door of the soldiers' berths, and then to get the mastery of the ship. Allert Jansz, of Assendelft, was undoubtedly one of the accomplices. Allert Jansz, of Assendelft, was called and freely examined as to the manner in which they had intended to seize the vessel and who it was that had induced them to it. He answered that he knew nothing of this, but that he had heard Jerome say, when ashore, that they were inclined to do it and that some of the men had their swords ready in their bunks. He would confess nothing further. Then being put to the torture, he still maintained that he had not known of the plot. When the torture had commenced he begged to be let free, and he would con-
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| hooten, soldier, when he was on the high island with forty-seven souls, protected them faithfully and preserved them bravely from the murderous party that intended to put them all together out of the way, attacking them for this purpose three times, we have found good, since there are no officers over the soldiers, to appoint the said Webbye Hays a sergeant, with a pay of eighteen guilders a month. Also we make Otter Smit, of Halberstadt, and Allert Jansz, of Elsen, both ensigns, for their faithful help to Webbye Hays, corporals on a pay of fifteen guilders a month.
Given under our hand on the island "Batavia's Grave" at the above date and signed.
Here follows, to throw still further light on the occurrences among these wicked murderers on the island, the verbal examination and free confession of Jerome |
with a longboat full of them to an island, where some of those people were by themselves. He had surprised them with his mates and killed them all except seven boys and some women. On his return he had told Jerome Cornelisz what he had done, adding that he wished those on the high island were disposed of also, so that they might not have to fear any danger on that side. Seven or eight days later they had again come to Jerome, telling him that they wished to go across to fight the remaining people on the high island, the more as Pieter Lambertsz, a boatswain's mate, had saved himself thither in a just built little boat. They wished to bring this boat back and, if possible, to kill all the people. For this project they had selected twenty-two men. Jerome had said that this plan did not please him. He had begged of them, so he related, to prepare a boat or a shallop to sail to the mainland, and then to India. This they had considered impossible, and, carrying out their own resolution, they had gone across with the twenty-two men. On their return, he (Jerome Cornelisz) had once more begged of them to rig out a vessel, but all in vain. They had again | effect that a yacht had come which they found it necessary to seize in order to sail therein to Spain or some other place, and they had resolved to do so.
He was further asked in what manner he had intended carry out this intention. He answered that if a yacht had come they would have induced the crew to come ashore in a boat and made them drunk, in order to kill them the more easily; thus they would undoubtedly have captured the yacht. He said that when this plot had been made the others had wished to see the company's jewels; in order to value what would be everyone's share, he had opened the case and shown them these. On the previous day, the 18th of September, while Jerome Cornelisz and the soldier, Jan Heyndricksz, were locked up together in the hold of the yacht Sardam, and the boatswain, Jan Willemsz, of Dort (Dortrecht) was lying just above them, the latter had overheard Jerome Cornelisz asking Jan Heyndricksz why on the morning of the 17th, when they were about to fight those of the yacht, they had not captured the Commodore's boat, and why their muskets had not fired; had their powder | |||||||||
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Cornelisz in its daily progress since his imprisonment, until the sentence of death had been pronounced on him and his accomplices.
Today, the 17th of September, 1629, in the afternoon, the Commodore, Francois Pelsaert, and his ship's council have resolved to examine, and if necessary to put to the torture, Jerome Cornelisz, chemist, of Haarlem, late supercargo on the ship-wrecked vessel Batavia, now imprisoned on board on account of the horrible misdeeds committed by him.
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started, this time with three boats and thirty-seven men. On this occasion Jerome had joined them himself, as he said, in order to prevent the fighting as much as possible by his presence. They had gone straight to the island, but the others had defended their shore well, standing up to their knees in water. Meanwhile Jerome had tried to speak to those on the island in order to come to an agreement if possible. In consequence of this, through the intermediation of the parson, who went backward and forward between the two parties, the fighting had been discontinued for that day, Jerome and his side had promised to bring across some of the material the next day, so that those on the high island might clothe themselves properly; on the other hand, they would be repossessed of the little boat. Jerome's people had by no means been pleased
with the treaty, and in their anger they had decided to continue the fight. Coenraldt van Huyssen had declared that he would send his men to battle in spite of anyone, but Jerome, according to the agreement, had gone across with the promised material with some others, in all six people, namely, |
been wet? Whereupon Jay Heyndricksz had answered, "If we could have fired a musket, we should have captured the boat for a certainty; but the powder burnt away in the touchhole three or four times". Jerome then had said, "If you had used cunning you would easily have conquered while on the water, and then we should have been all right". Jerome and Jan Heyndricksz being confronted with this statement, confessed it to be correct.
When he had set sail from Sierra Leone, he had noticed that the Skipper had become very familiar with Lucretia. He had reproved him for this, and asked him what his intentions were with the woman. The Skipper had answered that her skin was beautiful and fair, and that he wished to make her comply with his desires, and that he intended to tempt her with gold or other means. A short time after this he, the aforesaid Jerome, had again spoken to the Skipper, asking him why he was not so familiar with Lucretia now, but seemed to have taken a fancy again to Swaantje*. The Skipper had answered that the cook's wife had said the woman was a loose woman, and moreover Swaantje liked him to talk to her and while away the time with her. When they had reached | |||||||||
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