The Batavia Saga - by Susan Groom (Mutiny on the Abrolhos, Buttsworth and Groom, WA Museum, 1987)
Players: Francisco Pelsaert – commander of the fleet; Jeronimus Cornelisz – merchant; Ariaen Jacobsz – Batavia’s Skipper; boatswain; soldier; lad; sailors; first woman; second woman.
SAILORS: From Amsterdam Batavia sailed;
Her hull was green and gold,
And on her stern the emblem
Shone in scarlet, proud and bold.
The princess of the Indies fleet,
With four ships at her side.
For Java was the course they set,
To sail with wind and tide.
SOLDIER: The wealth of Amsterdam she bore,
In chests of jewels and gold;
And silver guilders, by the score,
Were stowed within her hold.
FIRST WOMAN: But life at sea is wearisome,
Conditions cramped and stark,
With hundreds living side by side,
In cabins small and dark.
SECOND WOMAN: We’ve been at sea almost a year;
I long to be on land,
To walk without a stumbling gait,
To sink my toes in sand.
SAILORS: And after that long time at sea,
Such discontent spread wide,
That whispered talks of mutiny
Were heard on every side.
JACOBSZ: Now listen hard and carefully
To what we hope and plan –
But first I need to hear a pledge
From each and every man.
CORNELISZ: You by the door – keep watch and ward,
Lest anyone comes by,
Who, hearing but a breath of this,
Could send us all to die.
BOATSWAIN: I’ll speak for all – you have our pledge
In any venture bold
That frees us from our slavish lives
And gives us jewels and gold.
CORNELISZ: Batavia is a treasure-chest.
We’ll all be wealthy when
We take this ship and its control
From Pelsaert and his men.
JACOBSZ: First I will seize on any chance
To leave the fleet behind.
A storm will be the time, and then
The Southland we will find.
CORNELISZ: The, as we sight the Southland’s coast,
‘Twill be the time to rise.
And when the ship is fully ours
Commander Pelsaert dies.
JACOBSZ: We’ll use the ship to sail the seas,
And great will be our loot.
We’ll plunder wealth from sister ships,
That sail the Indies route.
SAILORS: So greed and discontent were joined,
To raise rebellion high,
And Pelsaert sometimes caught a glance
Both secretive and sly.
PELSAERT: I feel unrest upon this ship,
A mood of great discord,
And something like hostility
That cannot be ignored.
SOLDIER: And then one day he questioned why
Batavia sailed alone.
JACOBSZ: That storm we met off Cape Good Hope
Has caused our ship to roam.
SAILORS: And all the while the ship drew close
To dangerous reefs unseen,
That, had we steered a fraction north,
We would have passed between.
JACOBSZ: What’s that I see ahead of us?
Is that a reef to port?
LAD: ‘Tis only moonshine on the waves,
Don’t worry, sir, ‘tis naught.
SOLDIER: But suddenly we heard the sound
Of timbers wrenched by reef.
JACOBSZ: We’ve run aground. We’re wrecked!
We’re lost!
Our ship has come to grief.
SAILORS: And in a moment Pelsaert too
Was standing on the deck
As waves lashed high and angrily
Against the groaning wreck.
SOLDIER: In vain we tried to lighten ship,
We heaved the cannon in.
PELSAERT: The fight to save Batavia
Is one we cannot win.
SOLDIER: We’d no idea what lay ahead,
Till, with the dawning light
We saw some islands to the north.
PELSAERT: Thank heaven for the sight!
FIRST WOMAN: Come, Marie, they’ll row us ashore.
SECOND WOMAN: I choose to stay on board.
I feel that I would rather be
Where food and drink are stored.
SAILORS: Batavia’s senior officers,
Set sail for Java’s shores,
They took supplies upon their boats
From the remaining stores.
PELSAERT: We’re leaving hopelessness behind –
Morale is very low,
From the water in the wooden casks
Is destined soon to go.
SOLDIER: And soon the wreck was breaking up;
We all were forced to leave
But forty souls were drowned at sea,
We paused on shore to grieve.
There, on the islands, life grew harsh –
The water barrels dried.
With neither food nor drink enough,
More of our people died.
SAILORS: But on the sixth day rain began
To fall upon our band,
And joyous folk in sodden clothes
Knelt down upon the sand.
LAD: It seems at least our lives are saved –
We’ve water and to spare.
SOLDIER: But little did we realise
What next would happen there.
SAILORS: For mutiny and murder rose,
And thieves and pirates reigned,
Men fought and killed for gold and power –
With blood the sand was stained.
SOLDIER: While loyal sailors set up camp
Upon another isle,
We prayed that Pelsaert would return,
Enduring fear the while.
SAILORS: At last from Java Pelsaert came
To punish and to save.
With memories grim, but thankful hearts,
We left Batavia’s grave.
SAILORS: From Amsterdam Batavia sailed;
Her hull was green and gold,
And on her stern the emblem
Shone in scarlet, proud and bold.
The princess of the Indies fleet,
With four ships at her side.
For Java was the course they set,
To sail with wind and tide.
SOLDIER: The wealth of Amsterdam she bore,
In chests of jewels and gold;
And silver guilders, by the score,
Were stowed within her hold.
FIRST WOMAN: But life at sea is wearisome,
Conditions cramped and stark,
With hundreds living side by side,
In cabins small and dark.
SECOND WOMAN: We’ve been at sea almost a year;
I long to be on land,
To walk without a stumbling gait,
To sink my toes in sand.
SAILORS: And after that long time at sea,
Such discontent spread wide,
That whispered talks of mutiny
Were heard on every side.
JACOBSZ: Now listen hard and carefully
To what we hope and plan –
But first I need to hear a pledge
From each and every man.
CORNELISZ: You by the door – keep watch and ward,
Lest anyone comes by,
Who, hearing but a breath of this,
Could send us all to die.
BOATSWAIN: I’ll speak for all – you have our pledge
In any venture bold
That frees us from our slavish lives
And gives us jewels and gold.
CORNELISZ: Batavia is a treasure-chest.
We’ll all be wealthy when
We take this ship and its control
From Pelsaert and his men.
JACOBSZ: First I will seize on any chance
To leave the fleet behind.
A storm will be the time, and then
The Southland we will find.
CORNELISZ: The, as we sight the Southland’s coast,
‘Twill be the time to rise.
And when the ship is fully ours
Commander Pelsaert dies.
JACOBSZ: We’ll use the ship to sail the seas,
And great will be our loot.
We’ll plunder wealth from sister ships,
That sail the Indies route.
SAILORS: So greed and discontent were joined,
To raise rebellion high,
And Pelsaert sometimes caught a glance
Both secretive and sly.
PELSAERT: I feel unrest upon this ship,
A mood of great discord,
And something like hostility
That cannot be ignored.
SOLDIER: And then one day he questioned why
Batavia sailed alone.
JACOBSZ: That storm we met off Cape Good Hope
Has caused our ship to roam.
SAILORS: And all the while the ship drew close
To dangerous reefs unseen,
That, had we steered a fraction north,
We would have passed between.
JACOBSZ: What’s that I see ahead of us?
Is that a reef to port?
LAD: ‘Tis only moonshine on the waves,
Don’t worry, sir, ‘tis naught.
SOLDIER: But suddenly we heard the sound
Of timbers wrenched by reef.
JACOBSZ: We’ve run aground. We’re wrecked!
We’re lost!
Our ship has come to grief.
SAILORS: And in a moment Pelsaert too
Was standing on the deck
As waves lashed high and angrily
Against the groaning wreck.
SOLDIER: In vain we tried to lighten ship,
We heaved the cannon in.
PELSAERT: The fight to save Batavia
Is one we cannot win.
SOLDIER: We’d no idea what lay ahead,
Till, with the dawning light
We saw some islands to the north.
PELSAERT: Thank heaven for the sight!
FIRST WOMAN: Come, Marie, they’ll row us ashore.
SECOND WOMAN: I choose to stay on board.
I feel that I would rather be
Where food and drink are stored.
SAILORS: Batavia’s senior officers,
Set sail for Java’s shores,
They took supplies upon their boats
From the remaining stores.
PELSAERT: We’re leaving hopelessness behind –
Morale is very low,
From the water in the wooden casks
Is destined soon to go.
SOLDIER: And soon the wreck was breaking up;
We all were forced to leave
But forty souls were drowned at sea,
We paused on shore to grieve.
There, on the islands, life grew harsh –
The water barrels dried.
With neither food nor drink enough,
More of our people died.
SAILORS: But on the sixth day rain began
To fall upon our band,
And joyous folk in sodden clothes
Knelt down upon the sand.
LAD: It seems at least our lives are saved –
We’ve water and to spare.
SOLDIER: But little did we realise
What next would happen there.
SAILORS: For mutiny and murder rose,
And thieves and pirates reigned,
Men fought and killed for gold and power –
With blood the sand was stained.
SOLDIER: While loyal sailors set up camp
Upon another isle,
We prayed that Pelsaert would return,
Enduring fear the while.
SAILORS: At last from Java Pelsaert came
To punish and to save.
With memories grim, but thankful hearts,
We left Batavia’s grave.