Batavia's Graveyard - Mike Dash [242]
I owe particular thanks to my research assistant, drs Henk Looijesteijn of Amsterdam, who carried out extensive original research on my behalf in archives the length and breadth of the Netherlands, and whose discoveries have added immeasurably to our knowledge of the Batavia and her passengers and crew.
I have also been fortunate enough to receive valuable assistance from many other sources. In Australia, drs Marit van Huystee and drs Juliïtte Pasveer of the Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle, generously shared the results of their recent archaeological work on Beacon Island; Marit was also kind enough to read and comment on the manuscript. Ed Punchard of Prospero Productions told me a good deal about conditions in the Abrolhos Islands. Dr. Alanah Buck and Dr. Stephen Knott of the Western Australian Centre for Pathology and Medical Research in Perth explained what the skeletons of Cornelisz’s victims, dug up on the island, can tell us about the Batavia mutineers and their bloody methods; and Max Cramer and the staff of Abrolhos Helicopters in Geraldton helped during my flying visit to the site of the tragedy.
In the Netherlands, Professor Femme Gaastra of the University of Leiden described his research into the possible survival of shipwrecked Dutch mariners in the Australian interior, and Dr. F. W. M. de Rooij of Erasmus University, Rotterdam discussed the implications of the existence of porphyria in Australia and the possibility that shipwrecked Dutchmen might have been integrated into aboriginal society. Paul van Dam of the Gemeente Archief, Haarlem, was especially helpful during research in Cornelisz’s old stamping ground.
My agent, Patrick Walsh, had enormous belief in this book from the start and was a great support during the final stages of writing. My remarkable editor, Rachel Kahan, shared Patrick’s faith in the project and was a valued source of inspiration and advice.
As for Penny and Ffion, who had to see things through to the very end, what can I say but thank you, and I hope that it was worth it.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Tulipomania
The Limit
Borderlands
Copyright © 2002 by Mike Dash
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dash, Mike.
Batavia’s graveyard: the true story of the mad heretic who led history’s bloodiest mutiny / Mike Dash.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Batavia (Ship) 2. Cornelisz, Jeronimus. 3. Shipwrecks—Australia.4. Mutiny. 5. Shipwreck victims. I. Title.
G530.D27 2002
919.41’3—dc21 2001054775
eISBN: 978-1-4000-4510-5
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