Voyages of the Dutch brig of war Dourga

by D. H. Kolff

In January 1817, I was appointed by the Minister of Marine to the corvette Venus, Commander B.W.A. Van Schuler, then lying in the Niewe Diep, ready for sea on a voyage to Batavia. On the 28th of the same month we sailed, under a salute of the guns, and having sent away the pilot with parting letters to our friends, we stood out to sea, the shores of our beloved country soon fading from view.

Remarkable events seldom occurring during the outward voyage, a few words will suffice to give an account of our proceedings. In the month of April we arrived off Tristan D'Acunha, and having espied a number of huts on the shores of a bay on the north side of the island, we stood towards them, and anchored in twenty-five fathoms, tolerably close to the land. When viewed from a distance the island has the appearance of a single high mountain, the sides rising abruptly out of the sea. The bay in which we anchored lies open to the sea, and therefore can afford no shelter to vessels. Its shores were steep and lined with alternate patches of sand and rock, against which the sea beat with great violence. The snow-white foam of the surf, glittering in the sun-beams, contrasted strikingly with the soft green of the uplands; the charming prospect this afforded being embellished by a beautiful waterfall tumbling into the sea from the hills above.

The English establishment, which had been fixed here a short time previous to our visit, consisted of seventy-four men, with their wives, under the command of Major Kloete, the settlement being a dependance of the Cape of Good Hope. It had already made great progress, agriculture being carefully attended to; and among other vegetables we were delighted to find an abundance of excellent potatoes. The industrious and orderly habits of these settlers, coupled with their civility towards strangers, of which we had evidence in the friendly reception we met with, entitled them to every praise. This settlement, however, now no longer exists.

After our departure from Tristan D'Acunha we encountered a severe gale, in which we lost two topmasts, the foremast and bowsprit. Lieutenant Vendoren with seven seamen also fell overboard, and the former only was saved. On the 29th of June we arrived at Batavia, and after a short stay there, departed for the populous town of Sourabaya to refit our damaged vessel.

The first expedition in which we were engaged was directed against Ceram and Sapanua, where some serious disturbances had taken place. On the 22nd of February 1818 we obtained a decided victory over the Sultan Muda of Batjoli in the Moluccas, for which I believe, our commander, M. Van Schuler, was made Knight of the third class of the Military Order of William.

During the whole of the year 1818, we were employed in cruizing among the Molucca Islands, for the prevention of piracy and the contraband trade, especially the illegal sale of gunpowder to the natives in a state of insurrection. The pirates sometimes behave with great boldness, deriving confidence from the rapidity with which their light vessels can escape into the numerous creeks; the oars which they use when the wind is contrary giving them great advantages in point of swiftness over our cruizers. A couple of steam-boats, which would be able to follow them into their lurking places, would be very efficacious in ridding us of these plagues.

On the 12th of January 1819, the then Governor of the Moluccas, General De Kock, with his family, embarked on board the Venus for the purpose of being conveyed to Java. We sailed on the following day, and did not reach Batavia until the 4th of May following. During this tedious passage, a beautiful collection of the birds of the Moluccas, the property of the General, died from want of food. Salt meat and biscuit formed our sole diet during the greater part of the voyage, and it is surprising that with such provisions, we did not have considerable sickness on board.

We now proceeded to Sourabaya, being accompanied by Captain Stout, of the Colonial Marine, with several light vessels. When off the Taggal Mountain we encountered some piratical vessels, and having been several times employed with native seamen, speaking their language with tolerable fluency, I was placed in charge of a Korra-korra, and sent in chase. Captain Stout met with a sad accident on this occasion. A gun that had been fired by the Captain himself, perhaps from its being overloaded, recoiled so much that it burst through the bulwarks on the opposite side of the vessel and fell overboard, striking the Captain violently on the breast during its passage, and causing the almost immediate death of this brave seaman.

In the latter part of the year 1819, the Venus was placed in readiness to return to the mother country. Our joyful expectations, however, were soon disappointed, for the disturbances which had broken out at Palembang, rendered it necessary that the corvette should proceed there, to be in readiness to act against the Sultan Mohammed Badr-el-Din; and on the 4th of December we arrived in the roads of Minto, on the island of Banka, to await the time when our services would be required.

All prospects of a speedy return home were thus destroyed, but I consoled myself with the consideration that duty required the sacrifice, and that I could serve my country in these remote regions as well as in the Netherlands. Our foreign possessions, indeed, though far distant, are still provinces of the fatherland.