A Short History of the Australiërs or Boers in Australia.
1616: Dirk Hartog a VOC Captain is blow off course while sailing the Eendracht from Cape Town to Batavia. He lands on Dirk Hartog island a part of continent where Desert meets the sea. He leaves behind a pewter plate nailed to a tree to prove his claim and adds New Holland to the VOC's maps.
25th April 1656: The Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) en route to Batavia is shipwrecked only 10 km north of the Swan River at what they christen Aanleggen (Scarborough, WA)[POD]. 138 sailors reach shore including 9 women however the Vergulde Draeck is completely wrecked along with its lighter. Unable to despatch a boat north to Batavia to request rescue the survivors retrieve what they can from the wreck including seeds, tools, wood and crucially a dozen chickens and four sheep, including a ram. Initial relations with the local Aborigines are positive and they help show the Dutch the safe plants to eat and the best place to get the abalone and tortoises which will form the basis of their diet until they can either be rescued or the seeds they have planted start yielding crops.
Early August 1656: Using salvaged materials and local wood a small boat has been built and a party of 11 men is sent North to request rescue, since the ship wreck 16 men have died from various causes leaving the party with 111 people including 9 women. Despite the mysterious disease (flu) that has savaged the local aboriginal population 12 have chosen to join the small settlement including 7 women. The first European baby is conceived in New Holland to Dillianne van den Boogaard and her husband Dirk van den Boogaard, a Calvinist priest man who was on his way to perform missionary work in the East Indies.
Late August 1656: The local Mooro group of the Whadjuk people divisions over the issue of the newcomers, who many blaming them for the disease that has swept through them killing 50% of the population, break out into open conflict. The Dutch are forced to defend themselves and their camp is burned down and 7 men die in the ensuring conflict. However they manage to driver off the hostile Mooro. However with the camp burned and continued threat they decide to move to a more defensible location. They also take in another 23 refugees from those among the Mooro who had sided with them. The remaining Mooro have suffered greatly from the superior Dutch firepower and have retreated inland but there will be continued conflict in the months ahead.
September 1656: The crew of the Vergulde Draeck have moved from the initial camp near the beach to a much more defensible location atop a hill near a local lake which they name after their deceased leader Captain Albertsz[Herdsman, Perth], who went down with his ship. However inorder to maintain a lookout for a rescue ship they also establish an outpost manned by a dozen men closer to the sea on a nearby hill. The new fort is made up of mud, rocks and a palisade wall partly made up of salvaged timbers from the Vergulde Draeck. The newly built fort they name Fort Albertsz after their deceased Captain. With the beginning of spring and the abundance of water in their new location the shortage that the had plagued them is solved and they are able to plant much more extensively though they still are dependent on foraging and hunting. With spring the three ewes all lamb and while they have chosen not to either eat the chickens or their eggs in-order to grow the numbers they now can afford to take some eggs for special occasions.
January 1656: Despite the continued hope of rescue with the crops mostly in the ground and both the fort and outpost now built the New Hollanders are increasingly switching from tents made of sail canvas to stone and wooden huts that better protect them from the scorching heat of the Western Australian summer. There have been continued skirmished with the local Aborigines leading to the deaths of 3 more sailors and much worse casualties for the Aborigines who cannot match the flintlock muskets, and steel swords of the Dutch, however an agreement has been made to leave each other in peace through the mediations of one Bungarup an Aborigine who has joined the crew of the Vergulde Draeck and has learnt a basic amount of Dutch.
25th April 1657: Its now been a full year since their arrival and there has been no sign of rescue with survivors increasingly discontented. Of the 138 people who survived to reach shore 42 have now died in various skirmishes and accidents though they have been joined by a 23 (surviving) Mooro. While they had planted crops most of which have now been harvested a shortage of seed and the need to abandon their initial locations means that they will continue to be dependent on foraging and hunting for at least another year and thus hungry. However despite this they are now increasingly established in Albertsz and are beginning to replace the current wooden walls with more secure stone walls. The outpost at Mount Draeck[Mount Kenneth] that has been built to spot any rescue ships has also been upgraded with 30 people living there full time and several small fields newly planted, it has even managed to beat off an Mooro attack.
13th May 1657: Elise van den Boogaard is the first European child born in New Holland, by now three other Dutch women are pregnant, as are two of the aboriginal women who have taken up with Dutch sailors.
June 1657: Hunger is still a serious problem as shortage of seeds plus the destruction caused in the abandonment of the camp meant that insufficient land was planted and in 1656. Also the climate and nature of the soils means that yields are lower than expected. While this has been offset by fishing and hunting there is still significant shortage or basic roughage and the local plants are not liked by the Dutch. Though the continued growth of the chicken population which now number nearly a four hundred means that eggs are once more on the menu. The New Hollanders are thus very busy trying to clear as much land as possible in the vicinity of Albertsz and Mount Draeck to plant a sufficient harvest next year which up until now has been done on a communal basis. However thanks to the relative peace with the Mooro the decision is taken to allow men to start setting up private farms to work themselves, though only in the vicinity of the two settlements. 10 subdivisions are made linking up Albertsz with Mount Draeck these have been given to the more senior men in the colony who have stated their desire to stay on in New Holland even after they are rescued.
October 1657: Dirk van den Boogaard as the priest and one of the more senior people to survive has been the nominal leader or at least first among equals since the immediate aftermath of the wreck, though due to the small size of the group he had been careful of general opinion. However there is a large number who are increasingly unhappy with the affairs of New Holland. Much of this discontent is coming from the majority who have not either paired up with one of the Dutch or the Aborigine women in the group. He and Dillianne have grown to like life in New Holland but the majority are still determined to get rescued and insisting that they dispatch another boat. While he has held this off by pointing out that it would take at least 2 months for the initial boat to reach Batavia and then more time for a rescue party to be dispatched and find them, however pressure has grown to great and he gives in and allows another boat to begin construction. But only on condition that a church is built first so that he can minister to his flock.
A Short History of the Australiërs or Boers in Australia.
1616: Dirk Hartog a VOC Captain is blow off course while sailing the Eendracht from Cape Town to Batavia. He lands on Dirk Hartog island a part of continent where Desert meets the sea. He leaves behind a pewter plate nailed to a tree to prove his claim and adds New Holland to the VOC's maps.
25th April 1656: The Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) en route to Batavia is shipwrecked only 10 km north of the Swan River at what they christen Aanleggen (Scarborough, WA)[POD]. 138 sailors reach shore including 9 women however the Vergulde Draeck is completely wrecked along with its lighter. Unable to despatch a boat north to Batavia to request rescue the survivors retrieve what they can from the wreck including seeds, tools, wood and crucially a dozen chickens and four sheep, including a ram. Initial relations with the local Aborigines are positive and they help show the Dutch the safe plants to eat and the best place to get the abalone and tortoises which will form the basis of their diet until they can either be rescued or the seeds they have planted start yielding crops.
Early August 1656: Using salvaged materials and local wood a small boat has been built and a party of 11 men is sent North to request rescue, since the ship wreck 16 men have died from various causes leaving the party with 111 people including 9 women. Despite the mysterious disease (flu) that has savaged the local aboriginal population 12 have chosen to join the small settlement including 7 women. The first European baby is conceived in New Holland to Dillianne van den Boogaard and her husband Dirk van den Boogaard, a Calvinist priest man who was on his way to perform missionary work in the East Indies.
Late August 1656: The local Mooro group of the Whadjuk people divisions over the issue of the newcomers, who many blaming them for the disease that has swept through them killing 50% of the population, break out into open conflict. The Dutch are forced to defend themselves and their camp is burned down and 7 men die in the ensuring conflict. However they manage to driver off the hostile Mooro. However with the camp burned and continued threat they decide to move to a more defensible location. They also take in another 23 refugees from those among the Mooro who had sided with them. The remaining Mooro have suffered greatly from the superior Dutch firepower and have retreated inland but there will be continued conflict in the months ahead.
September 1656: The crew of the Vergulde Draeck have moved from the initial camp near the beach to a much more defensible location atop a hill near a local lake which they name after their deceased leader Captain Albertsz[Herdsman, Perth], who went down with his ship. However inorder to maintain a lookout for a rescue ship they also establish an outpost manned by a dozen men closer to the sea on a nearby hill. The new fort is made up of mud, rocks and a palisade wall partly made up of salvaged timbers from the Vergulde Draeck. The newly built fort they name Fort Albertsz after their deceased Captain. With the beginning of spring and the abundance of water in their new location the shortage that the had plagued them is solved and they are able to plant much more extensively though they still are dependent on foraging and hunting. With spring the three ewes all lamb and while they have chosen not to either eat the chickens or their eggs in-order to grow the numbers they now can afford to take some eggs for special occasions.
January 1656: Despite the continued hope of rescue with the crops mostly in the ground and both the fort and outpost now built the New Hollanders are increasingly switching from tents made of sail canvas to stone and wooden huts that better protect them from the scorching heat of the Western Australian summer. There have been continued skirmished with the local Aborigines leading to the deaths of 3 more sailors and much worse casualties for the Aborigines who cannot match the flintlock muskets, and steel swords of the Dutch, however an agreement has been made to leave each other in peace through the mediations of one Bungarup an Aborigine who has joined the crew of the Vergulde Draeck and has learnt a basic amount of Dutch.
25th April 1657: Its now been a full year since their arrival and there has been no sign of rescue with survivors increasingly discontented. Of the 138 people who survived to reach shore 42 have now died in various skirmishes and accidents though they have been joined by a 23 (surviving) Mooro. While they had planted crops most of which have now been harvested a shortage of seed and the need to abandon their initial locations means that they will continue to be dependent on foraging and hunting for at least another year and thus hungry. However despite this they are now increasingly established in Albertsz and are beginning to replace the current wooden walls with more secure stone walls. The outpost at Mount Draeck[Mount Kenneth] that has been built to spot any rescue ships has also been upgraded with 30 people living there full time and several small fields newly planted, it has even managed to beat off an Mooro attack.
13th May 1657: Elise van den Boogaard is the first European child born in New Holland, by now three other Dutch women are pregnant, as are two of the aboriginal women who have taken up with Dutch sailors.
June 1657: Hunger is still a serious problem as shortage of seeds plus the destruction caused in the abandonment of the camp meant that insufficient land was planted and in 1656. Also the climate and nature of the soils means that yields are lower than expected. While this has been offset by fishing and hunting there is still significant shortage or basic roughage and the local plants are not liked by the Dutch. Though the continued growth of the chicken population which now number nearly a four hundred means that eggs are once more on the menu. The New Hollanders are thus very busy trying to clear as much land as possible in the vicinity of Albertsz and Mount Draeck to plant a sufficient harvest next year which up until now has been done on a communal basis. However thanks to the relative peace with the Mooro the decision is taken to allow men to start setting up private farms to work themselves, though only in the vicinity of the two settlements. 10 subdivisions are made linking up Albertsz with Mount Draeck these have been given to the more senior men in the colony who have stated their desire to stay on in New Holland even after they are rescued.
October 1657: Dirk van den Boogaard as the priest and one of the more senior people to survive has been the nominal leader or at least first among equals since the immediate aftermath of the wreck, though due to the small size of the group he had been careful of general opinion. However there is a large number who are increasingly unhappy with the affairs of New Holland. Much of this discontent is coming from the majority who have not either paired up with one of the Dutch or the Aborigine women in the group. He and Dillianne have grown to like life in New Holland but the majority are still determined to get rescued and insisting that they dispatch another boat. While he has held this off by pointing out that it would take at least 2 months for the initial boat to reach Batavia and then more time for a rescue party to be dispatched and find them, however pressure has grown to great and he gives in and allows another boat to begin construction. But only on condition that a church is built first so that he can minister to his flock.
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