The vessel
Vergulde Draeck was a jacht with a cargo capacity of 130
lasten. The vessel was purchased by the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East
India Company in 1653, and its first trading voyage was between Holland
and the East Indies. On 4 October 1655 Vergulde Draeck, under the
command of Pieter Albertsz, set sail for Batavia. Aboard was a crew of 193
men, eight chests of silver coin worth 78 600 guilders and a cargo of trade
goods worth 106 400 guilders (Green, 1973:267).
Following the Brouwers route, Vergulde Draeck left the Cape of
Good Hope with the intention of making use of the trade winds to cross 5000
miles of Indian Ocean before turning north toward the East Indies. However,
without the ability to establish longitude and distance with any accuracy,
the vessel struck a reef off the Western Australian coast north of Yanchep,
near Ledge Point, on the morning of 28 April 1656.
The wreck event
The vessel began to break up immediately. Two of the ship's boats were
launched but only 75 of the crew were able to make it to shore, along with
a few of the provisions and stores. Seven of the crew were immediately dispatched
to seek assistance in Batavia, while Albertsz and the rest of the crew remained
behind (Green, 1973:267). Forty-one days later, with news of the wreck,
the jacht Goede Hoop and the fluit Witte Valke left
Batavia in search of survivors. Several other expeditions were mounted in
the following year, but all failed to turn up any of the missing crew, although
some wreckage was noted in the region of Fremantle.
Site description
The wreck site covers an area 50 metres long by 40 metres wide, bound
on one side by honeycomb reef. The shallowest part of the reef is less than
1 metre at low tide. The maximum depth over the site is 8 metres. The site
itself lies scattered throughout a complex cave system. An inspection of
the site in 1972 provided the following description:
The only wreck material noticeable on the site is overgrown (with weed)
and a heavily concreted cannon and anchors [sic], most of the site being
covered with a light seaweed and algaeNumerous small, yellow bricks are
scattered over the site, and a closer examination may reveal pottery and
brass candle-stick (Green, 1977:72).
A mortar from Vergulde Draeck (MA 294)
Statement of significance
Historical
This site is significant in the early European exploration of Australia
and parts of the Western Australian coast. It demonstrates the difficulties
of early navigation and the inability to establish accurate measures for
longitude without the aid of a chronometer. Dutch commercial activity and
the development of trading routes across the Indian Ocean meant that several
other vessels including the seventeenth-century Batavia were wrecked
on this coast. They represent a unique aspect of inter national maritime
trade. Their wrecking led to further expeditions in search of survivors
and encouraged the mapping of the little known Western Australian coastline,
that was hitherto regarded as The Great Southland. |
Rediscovery
The English translation, in 1859 and 1899, of the documents relating
to the Vergulde Draeck gave rise to much speculation as to the whereabouts
of the vessel and its valuable cargo. In 1931 A. Edwards discovered 40 silver
coins in the sand-hills just north of Cape Leschenault (Green, 1973:272).
The wreck was not found, however, until 14 April 1963 by a group of spear
fishermen.
Site location
The site is located just north of Moore River on a reef 12 kilometres
south-south-west of Ledge Point, 5.6 kilometres west of the coastline.
Legislation
Together with the discovery of the seventeenth century Dutch wreck Batavia
the significance of these wreck sites led to the enactment of legislation
through the mechanisms of the Museum Amendment Act 1964. This deemed
sites of wrecks that occurred prior to 1900 in Western Australian waters,
to be archaeological sites. This protection was amended by and transferred
to the Maritime Archaeology Act 1973 (Western Australia). The Dutch
Government as heirs to the VOC have transferred their rights of ownership
to the Dutch vessels wrecked in Western Australia to the Commonwealth Government,
through the Australian Netherlands Committee on Old Dutch Shipwrecks. These
are contained in the Separate Schedules of the Historic Shipwrecks Act
1976.
Excavation and artefacts
Following the discovery of the wreck the first material raised and recorded
was an elephant tusk (African) and some ballast bricks. However, the wreck
site was not protected at this time and the details of the artefacts are
only gleaned through contemporary newspaper references. Reports of blasting
at the site encouraged State Government intervention and the responsibility
for the excavation and protection of the wreck site was vested in the Museum.
Exposure of the site to the Indian Ocean swell made any work undertaken
on Vergulde Draeck hazardous. However, in early 1972, a full expedition
was mounted to systematically excavate the remains of the cargo and ship's
fittings. Little remained of the vessel's structure and stratigraphy had
been disturbed by the action of looters. Over several months a quantity
of artefacts was recovered including beardman jugs, ceramic masks and medallions,
clay tobacco pipes, bronze and brass utensils (e.g. a bronze mortar with
the inscription Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All), shown below),
tools and accessories, glass bottles, a tool-box, various armaments and
much organic material.
References
Green, J. N., 1973, 'The wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman
the Vergulde Draeck, 1656', International Journal of Nautical Archaeology,
2.2:267-89.
1977, The AVOC Jacht Vergulde Draeck wrecked off Western Australia 1656, British Archaeological Reports, Supplementary Series 36, Oxford.
1983, 'The Vergulde Draeck excavation 1981 & 1983', Bulletin of the
Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, 7.2:1-8.
1985, Treasures from the Vergulde Draeck, Western Australian Museum, Perth.
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