Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.Major, Richard Henry
History
Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.
Major, Richard Henry
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels
owners, who had fetched that money out of the wreck, the fact of their
having it in their possession being in our opinion a violation of the
law, which forbids the export of coined money to private persons. His
answer is to be found in a copy subjoined. But afterwards he was
obliged, as a matter of official duty, to put the law in force, and an
indictment was accordingly issued against the claimants before the
Council of Justice, whose decision is still pending. We are nevertheless
at the same time of opinion that salvage ought to be allowed to the men
who, at no inconsiderable danger to themselves, brought the money from
the wreck. The journals kept on the voyage, as far as they were saved
and brought over, were, in accordance with the resolution of the 30th of
April, handed over to the Equipagemeester, Coenrad Mels, and a committee
of skippers, under the presidency of the above-mentioned fiscal, as it
appeared to us rather doubtful whether the ship had not been wrecked in
an inexcusable manner. And, indeed, it was subsequently proved by the
report of the committee, that the former skipper, Jan Steyns, had not
only run too near the Southland, contrary to his orders, and in
opposition to the protests of the steersmen, and thereby caused that
disaster; but had also contemplated deceiving the government by altered
and falsified journals, in order to hide as much as possible his
indefensible conduct. Whereupon, on the 17th of August, it was
determined to indict the said Jan Steyns before the Court of Justice,
and he has since been placed under arrest.[42]
“The position of the islands against the most outlying reef of which the
_Zeewyk_ was wrecked, is shown by the accompanying maps. They lie out of
sight of the Southland, and are partly overgrown with some edible wild
plants. On them were found not only some excavated wells, but also some
signs of a Dutch ship, probably wrecked against the above-mentioned
reef, which might have been the _Fortuyn_ or _Aagtekerke_, whose crew
may have died or perished at sea on their way hither. This also seems to
have been the fate of the boat of the _Zeewyk_, which, under command of
the uppersteersman Pieter Langeweg, with eleven common sailors and the
papers of the Company, had set out for this port shortly after the wreck
of the ship, in order to give information of the mishap and to ask for
assistance. Up to this time nothing has been heard of it.
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