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RESCUE AND SALVAGE
Learning of the horrific events that had occurred since his departure, Pelsaert and Sardam’s soldiers quickly captured the remaining mutineers on Batavia’s Graveyard, and recovered the jewels and other company valuables. The following day, Pelsaert went to the Batavia wreck to begin salvaging goods, using two expert Dutch swimmers and four Gujurati (Indian) divers, whom he had brought with him for this purpose. By 25 September, they had raised four of the money chests. Pelsaert also sent men to the ‘High Island’ (East Wallabi Island) to burn off vegetation in search of fresh water, which they found, substantially enlarging at least one narrow rockhole entrance with picks and crowbars.
Sardam’s skipper lost
On 12 October, Sardam’s skipper Jacob Jacobsz and four crew went missing in the yawl while attempting to salvage a barrel of vinegar washed up on a reef. They were never seen again. On 12 November, the divers salvaged some silver dishes and a carpenter’s chest, ‘declaring upon their Manly truth’ to Pelsaert that nothing further could be retrieved. One money chest was abandoned, trapped under a cannon. In total, ten of the twelve money chests, and some loose coin had been recovered.
Return to Batavia
Sardam sailed for Batavia the next day, with 74 survivors aboard, including five women and one child, the captive mutineers, jewels, money and other salvaged goods. On the way, two mutineers spared the death sentence were marooned on the Australian mainland, near present day Kalbarri. The ship arrived in Batavia on 5 December 1629.
Of Batavia’s original complement of 341 passengers and crew who had departed Texel, and an unknown number who departed the Cape of Good Hope, a total of 115 survivors made it to Batavia. Of the estimated 322 people aboard Batavia when it wrecked, 115 were murdered by the mutineers.
Pelsaert’s divers were tasked with the arduous work of salvaging goods from the wreck. Diving naked with no air supply, they would have appeared similar to this depiction of Indian pearl divers at work.
Credit: Freshwater and Marine Image Bank, University of Washington Libraries
A Roman emperor in Australia
The Gemma Constantiniana, also known as ‘The Great Cameo’, is a Roman gemstone, intricately carved from a single piece of agate about 1,700 years ago. Depicting Emperor Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius in 312 CE, this imperial jewel was stranded in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands for four months in 1629.
Between 315 and 316 CE, the Roman Senate commissioned the cameo to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Constantine’s accession to the throne. The exquisite gift displays Constantine in a chariot, flanked by his wife Fausta, and his mother, Helena. Constantine’s firstborn son, Crispus, proudly stands in front of the trio. This powerful illustration reveals a strong dynastic rule, with the implication that it will continue for many generations. Two centaurs, whose hooves are crashing down and trampling Constantine’s enemies, stand in the foreground of the cameo. In the sky flies the goddess Victoria, bearing a laurel wreath to bestow upon the triumphant Constantine.
The jewel had many owners, including the artist Peter Paul Rubens. A gold frame studded with polished rubies and emeralds was added in 1628 before it was entrusted to Commander Francisco Pelsaert.
The Mughal empire
In 1628, Pelsaert entered discussion with the then owner of the cameo, Amsterdam-based jeweller Caspar Boudaen. With plans to sell the precious gem for a significant profit to Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor of India, Pelsaert took it aboard Batavia. VOC employees were not permitted to conduct their own business, however, on this occasion, special permission had been granted to Pelsaert in the hope he would secure good relations with the Mughal Empire, and open up new markets. The gem, along with other jewels, was seized by the mutineers following the wrecking of Batavia. It was recovered by Pelsaert when he returned
to the Abrohlos to rescue the survivors and salvage the ship’s cargo.
Despite recovering the cameo, Pelsaert was unable to sell it. Jahangir had died in late 1627 and the court of his successor, Shah Jahan, had ceased to promote the same interest in the arts. The VOC failed to find other interested buyers in India, Sumatra and Persia. In 1656, the cameo was returned to the Netherlands, where it can be seen today in the Rijksmuseum van Oudehen in Leiden.
Above: Gemma Constantiniana cameo, otherwise known as the ‘great jewel of Gasper Boudaen’.
Credit: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Left: Hand-coloured print of the Gemma Constantiniana cameo, by S. Fokke, around 1765.
Credit: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
