[The following takes place during the Batavia mutiny. A bit of context: In 1628, the Dutch Republic merchant vessel Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, on a small group of barren and uninhabited Abrolhos Islands. Jeronimus Cornelisz, the ship’s under-merchant, had been planning a bloody mutiny during the voyage and, after the shipwreck and subsequent departure of much of the ship’s leadership to seek rescue, he set about following through with his mutiny. He planned to gather a large enough following amongst the nearly 200 survivors to overwhelm any rescue vessel, to commandeer said vessel, and to take the Batavia’s treasure, turning to a short life of piracy in the Indies before retiring to a life of luxury. Here, Cornelisz has already formed a large following and, assuming a leadership role soon after the crash, conspired to send large parties of loyalist refugees and soldiers to nearby barren islands in search of water and to establish camps, all the while making sure any weapons and supplies remained under his care. At this point, Cornelisz has already begun the killing that would see most of the survivors that hadn’t declared loyalty to him dead, and was now setting about getting some of those who had only recently joined him to prove their dedication to him.]
Jeronimus had perhaps derived some satisfaction from crushing hardens, for he next turned his attention to Andries de Vries. The young Zeelander was lucky to be alive, having escaped death by drowning at the beginning of the month, but he had yet to demonstrate his loyalty to the men who had spared his life. On 10 July Jeronimus gave De Vries that opportunity. He was told to prove his worthiness by killing on the under-merchant’s orders.
The chosen victims were people in the sick tent. There were 11 of them in all – useless mouths, Cornelisz observed, who were so weakened by scurvy and fever that they would offer no resistance. De Vries crept into their tent by night and cut their throats, one by one, while Zevanck, Van Huyssen, and Van Welderen stood over him to make quite sure he carried out his task. Three days later the assistant was compelled to return and slaughter another four or five men who had taken sick in the interim.
From then on, to fall ill on Batavia’s Graveyard was to receive a death sentence. First Jan Hendricxsz and Allert Janssen slit the throat of Jan Pinten, the island’s only English soldier, while he lay in his bed; then a sick cabin boy went the same way. A few days later, De Vries and Janssen conspired to end the life of Hendrick Claasz, a carpenter. These killings also took place by night.
Source:
Dash, Mike. “The Tiger.” Batavia's Graveyard. Three Rivers Press, 2003. 171-72. Print.
Further Reading:
Batavia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia_(ship)
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