TRAITORS ISLAND
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TRAITORS ISLAND
G. de L’Isle included ‘Route de Pelsaert 1629’, showing Pelsaert’s journey from the Wallabi Group to Indonesia in this world map, drawn about 1740. Tap map icon to view inset.
Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Leaving in the longboat
Commander Pelsaert and Captain Jacobsz, along with some of the crew and passengers (48 people in all), decided to look for water along the coast. They used the ship’s only undamaged longboat for their journey. Survivors called the coral cay on which Pelsaert had sheltered ‘Traitors Island’, in the belief that the Commander had abandoned them.
During Pelsaert’s search, they made two sightings of Aboriginal people, although in both instances no actual contact was made. When no water was found, Pelsaert and his crew set off in the boat for the port of Batavia (modern-day Jakarta), arriving on 7 July 1629.
