Ships in the 17th Century
Compiled by Albert J. Beintema, 7th July 2022
Adapted from The Remotest Island (New Generation Publishers, 2022)
A hundred years after the Spanish and the Portuguese conquered the world's oceans, the Dutch entered the naval scene and sailed to the East Indies, where they ultimately replaced the Portuguese. The East Indian Spice Islands would become a Dutch colony. Dutch pilots did their homework. They were a bit bolder, or perhaps more reckless that the Portuguese, and ventured further south to make better use of the strong westerlies. Following that course, Tristan da Cunha appears more regularly in shipping reports. We can call the 17th century the Dutch era in Tristan history.
Our knowledge of the Dutch era is mainly based on the work of Brander (1940). Being Dutch himself, he had relatively easy access to the Colonial Archives in The Hague. Since Brander's days, access to these archives (no longer colonial) has become much easier, so, being Dutch too, I could find some interesting additions for my earlier book (1997), which I will relate below.
Brander thought he was the first to write about the early Dutch voyages (he says so in his introduction), but it appears that the Italian polar geographer Arnaldo Faustini mentioned them much earlier, around 1925, in his Annals of Tristan da Cunha. The Annals had not yet been published when he died in 1944. His daughter found the manuscript in the attic after her mother's death, in 1990. She had it transcribed into English, and published it on the internet in the early 2000's, where it can be downloaded as a PDF document (see URL in reference list). Faustini's handwriting must have been pretty awful, and the transcriber probably had a hard time, names of ships and captains often being corrupted beyond recognition.
According to Faustini, the second Dutch voyage to the East Indies, under Jacob van Neck (spelled Heck by his transcriber) sailed close to the northern shores of Tristan. It was on this voyage, that the uninhabited island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean was discovered and named after Prince Maurits. The crew found prolific wildlife. They rode on the backs of giant tortoises and killed the first Dodos, the most famous of all extinct animals. The journals of this voyage have been republished by the Van Linschoten Society in five volumes, from 1938 to 1949. I read all the reports of the ships involved, and none of them mentions seeing Tristan da Cunha. They all mention large numbers of birds at a latitude of 34 degrees south, which made them think they might be nearby, but they were still a few hundred kilometres north of the island. They saw albatrosses, Cape Pigeons, and probably the endemic Spectacled Petrels from Inaccessible. And large numbers of birds like Turtle Doves, which most likely were Broad-billed Prions. They just ran into a rich food patch which had attracted the birds, but did not see Tristan. They stayed at 34 degrees until they reached the Cape.
The first non-Portuguese ship, the Dutch Bruinvis, skipper Willem van Westzanen, in a fleet commanded by Jacob van Heemskerk, arrived at Tristan in 1601. Van Heemskerk was famous for sailing with Willem Barentsz in 1596, discovering Spitsbergen, and wintering on Nova Zembla in a failed attempt to find the NE-Passage to China and the Spice Islands. Willem van Westzanen saw land during the night, and sailed at a safe distance until morning. Then they returned to the island, saw the impressive cliffs and snow on the peak, found no safe anchorage, and when sudden wind gusts came rolling down from the mountain, they fled for safer water.
In 1610, allegedly, the first sighting of Tristan by a British ship, the Globe, took place.
I think this is a wrong interpretation of the journal. The ship's log mentions passing the Abrolhos near the Brazilian coast on April 14th. The next entry is May 14th, when they had reached 34 degrees south. On May 18th they saw the Cape of Good Hope. That means that on the 14th, they must have been closer to the Cape than to Tristan, as it usually took about two weeks to sail the distance from Tristan to the Cape. From the 14th till the 17th they had a severe storm from the west. They reefed, fearing that they would be blown onto the coast, which must have been Africa, not Tristan. They found the compass declination to be only three degrees, indicating they were near the Cape, but figured they were a bit farther away because of the birds they saw: for wee saw dyvers foules that keepe aboute the Cape, etc. These followed us from the island of Tristan d'a Chuna to the Cape. The log does not mention an actual sighting of the island, which they must have passed north of 34 degrees, more than 300 km away. It is quite normal to see large numbers of petrels that breed in the Tristan archipelago in the waters between Tristan and the Cape, but that does not mean you are close to land at all (see also van Neck). So I don't believe they saw the island. The name was only used, together with the Cape, to indicate the huge ocean area between the two places. Minor detail: the voyage took place in 1611, not 1610.
According to Brander, the Dutchman Willem IJsbrantsz. Bontekoe saw Tristan in 1618, but Bontekoe's report explicitly states that they must have passed close, but did not see the island. Faustini also mentions Bontekoe (spelled Brutekoé), but for the year 1619.
Faustini names three French ships in 1620, Montmorancy, Esperance, and Hermitage, skipper Beaulieu. They tried to approach the island but found their way barred by large fields of floating seaweed.
Smith (1991) mentions a Dutch fleet and an attempted landing in 1626. I found no trace of this visit in any other source, and since Smith does not give a source for this one (which he otherwise does), and the failed landing went exactly like Speckx's attempt that according to Brander took place in 1628, I conclude that this is a duplication, 1628 being misread or misprinted as 1626. I checked the visit of Jacob Speckx, where Brander does not name a ship. In fact, Speckx visited Tristan in 1629, not 1628. He left Texel in December 1628, and arrived at Tristan on 7 June, 1629, with the ships Hollandia, Der Goes, Oostzaenen, and Westzaenen. An attempted landing failed. Admiral Speckx was appointed Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, after Jan Pietersz. Coen, the first Governor General, died. When digging into Speckx, I found a 'true new' visitor: Artus Gijsels, who was sent as governor to Ambon, with the Deventer, Middelburg, and Hof van Holland. On 3 August 1630 he saw the islands of Tristan. Like Speckx the year before, he was impressed by their beauty and ruggedness, but he did not attempt a landing.
The first documented landing on Tristan took place in February 1643, with the Dutch ship Heemstede, skipper Claes Gerritszoon Bierenbroodspot, from the city of Hoorn. Extensive reports on this visit, and the subsequent Dutch expeditions later in the 17th century, are found in several books and publications on Tristan, so here I keep it brief.
The Heemstede found the anchorage opposite the waterfall, and stayed there for eight days in fine weather. People went ashore several times, found the drinking water of excellent quality, and praised the taste of the wild celery they found. The beach was loaded with Elephant Seals and Fur Seals which they killed as often as they could, bashing in their heads. Their report recommends that it would be advisable for the East India Company to claim the island as a refreshment post as it lay so perfectly halfway between Holland and the East Indies.
In 1652 the Cape Province became a Dutch colony, and the governor, Jan van Riebeeck, organised an exploratory mission to Tristan da Cunha. So, in November 1655 the galiot 't Nachtglas, skipper Jan Jacobz, left the Cape for Tristan, the first true Tristan expedition. 't Nachtglas stayed for eight days at Tristan, in January 1656. They first landed on Inaccessible, which was unnamed yet, and named it Nachtglas Eylandt. They also visited Nightingale, which they called Gebroocken Eylandt (Broken Island). They tried to land at several places around Tristan, but found it was only safe to land near the same waterfall, where they found a plaque, nailed to the rocks by Bierenbroodspot in 1643. Wherever they landed, they had to kill seals left and right, to create passage. The report from 't Nachtglas states that generally speaking, the waters around the island are too dangerous. The usefulness of Tristan as a station for the company would be doubtful. No further steps were undertaken.
In 1659, the Dutch ship Graveland visited Tristan. They made an easy landing near the waterfall, and reported favourably about the island. Thus, the interest in the island was renewed. In 1665 the Pimpel was sent to explore and compare the usefulness of Martin Vaz, Tristan da Cunha, and Diego Alvarez. The Pimpel did not get any further than Martin Vaz, and never reached Tristan. In 1669, The Grundel, captain Gerritsz Riddermuis, visited Martin Vaz and Tristan with the same purpose. Their conclusion was that, with favourable winds, small ships could get close enough to go ashore for refreshments, but that this would be impossible for larger ships because there was no safe anchorage.
A 'new' visitor to Gough comes from the report of the Grundel. After visiting Tristan they searched for Diego Alvarez in vain, at the 38th parallel. Therefore, the captain concluded that twelve years earlier Rijklof van Goens, who saw an island at 40 degrees, which nobody believed could have been Diego Alvarez, must have seen that island after all! So I dug out Van Goens' report. With his ship Orangie he circled around the island in February 1657. Diego Alvarez was at that time believed to lie further north, so Van Goens did not know what he was seeing. Meanwhile, Gough has been moved to the right place on the map, and, judging from his descriptions, Van Goens cannot have seen anything else.
Faustini mentions a French fleet sailing along the southern coast of Tristan in November 1666, under the command of Marquis de Mondevergne. They observed: 'The main island has a peak higher as that of Teneriffe', which of course is not true as we now know. The Pico the Teide is almost twice as high as Tristan, and has long been believed to be the highest mountain on earth. In 1676 there was another French ship, the Vautour whose crew observed: 'We found three islands, one large and two small', and 'The peak is covered with snow. The island is uninhabited'.
Like Brander, I started digging in the archives of the Dutch East India Company, which was a rewarding exercise, because today these archives are much easier to access than in Brander's days. An important source for instance is Dutch Asiatic Shipping, by Bruijn et al. (1979), which sums op over 4700 outgoing voyages of the Dutch East India Company. It mentions the following hitherto 'unknown' visits to Tristan:
1646: Witte Olifant, skipper Klaas Bot,
1646: Koning David, skipper Reinier Egbertz,
1646: Witte Paard
1658: Elburg, skipper Pereboom,
1681: Ternate, skipper Jan Gerritz.
These visits are also mentioned by Headland (1992), with reference to Bruijn et al. However, I discovered that the first four never visited Tristan, so Brander overlooked less than I at first thought.
On April 6th, 1646, the Witte Olifant, Koning David and Witte Paard left Texel. On September 5th they are said to have arrived at Tristan. From archives kept in Batavia, it appears that the story is different. The three ships sailed in the company of two others, the Zeelandia and the Patria. On the 5th of September, 'about Tristan da Cunha', they had to split up, because the first three ships ran out of drinking water and had to divert to the Cape of Good Hope. Zeelandia and Patria arrived in Batavia on November 12th, the three others in December. The captains were reprimanded, because they would have been on schedule, had they taken more water at the Cape Verde Islands. From this story I must conclude that none of these ships reached Tristan. They did not mention actually seeing the island, and the name Tristan only appears in that one sentence about splitting up.
The Elburg was said to have been forced to spend four weeks at Tristan, because of ... calms. Who can believe that? The diary of Jan van Riebeeck, Governor of the Cape, says that the ship arrived at the Cape on 13 April 1658, that no place was visited on the way, and that the ship had been troubled by calms for four weeks, between Tristan da Cunha and the Cape. So this is another non-visitor.
Remains the Ternate, which touched Tristan indeed: it nearly wrecked. The Ternate left Texel on 31 May 1681. In thick fog it scraped the rocks of Tristan and sprang a small leak. Fortunately it was able to get away and proceed to the Cape, where it arrived on 27 September. The Ternate continued its voyage to Batavia, but never sailed again.
There is a wonderful story about the expedition of the Tonquin Merchant in 1684. British colonists in Saint Helena were looking to expand, and wanted to colonise Tristan da Cunha. People interested were promised free passage, a salary, and free supplies. According to Faustini, the ship sailed to Tristan. Captain Knox was ashore, but when he wanted to go back on board, the crew cut the cables and sailed away, leaving him behind. However, the real story is different. The incident of the crew leaving the captain behind did take place but not at Tristan. It happened in Saint Helena when the expedition was about to leave. So the expedition never took place, and the disappointed Captain Knox had to return empty-handed to England from Saint Helena.
There are two more British voyages in the 17th century. There was a 'maybe' landing on Gough by Antoine de la Roche in 1675, and the visit of the Welfare, Kent and Rainbow in 1685.
There was another Dutch visit which we do not often see in Tristan literature. In 1690 the French Huguenot François Leguat (after fleeing from France) sailed from Texel with the Hirondelle (in English sources named Swallow) to Rodriguez in the Indian Ocean. He saw Tristan, but a landing could not be made. Leguat became famous for his reports on now extinct birds on Rodriguez (e.g. the Dodo-like Solitaire).
The last Dutch expedition took place in 1696. Three ships left Texel, the frigate Geelvinck, the hooker Nijptang, and the galiot 't Weseltje, under the command of Willem de Vlamingh. They were asked to look for the ship Ridderschap which had vanished after leaving the Cape, in early 1694, and to investigate Tristan da Cunha once more. The ships lost each other in bad weather, and did not arrive at Tristan together. Only the Geelvinck managed to make a landing on Nightingale, and their judgment was that, especially in winter, (they were there in August) the islands were pretty useless, because of strong winds, mist, and generally bad weather. After Tristan, they visited Amsterdam Island and St.Paul in the Indian Ocean, and eventually they reached the west coast of Australia, thinking it was the Great South Land at last!
The Tasmanian historian Irene Schaffer wrote The Sea shall not have them (2010), about the Tasmanian descendants of Stephen and Peggy White, survivors of the famous Blenden Hall shipwreck at Inaccessible Island. In an appendix about Tristan da Cunha she mentions a ship I had never heard of, the Vlaming, with Captain Francis Cheyne, visiting Tristan in 1697. This is an error. When England wanted to establish a convict colony in Australia in the second half of the 18th century, Alexander Dalrymple, hydrographer for the East India Company, suggested using Tristan da Cunha instead, as it was closer and guards would not be needed. In 1786 he wrote the pamphlet A serious Admonition to the Publick on the intended Thief Colony at Botany Bay, later re-published by George Mackeness in his series of Australian Historical Monographs (1943). Dalrymple added a description of Tristan da Cunha, which Schaffer quoted. I found Dalrymple's text on the internet (see URL in reference list). He took his description from the English Pilot for Oriental Navigation which has a footnote at the end, saying that the 'Burgomaster' (whoever that may have been) told him of Vlaming visiting the island in 1697. On the next page there is another description of Tristan from the journal of Captain Francis Cheyne. The footnote about Vlaming continues at the bottom of this page, below Cheyne's text. Schaffer mistook this as Vlaming being Cheyne's ship. The footnote actually refers to the visit of Willem de Vlamingh. In Cheyne's report, there is no name of a ship mentioned, or a year of his visit.