VOYAGE NR:
3802.1 NAME OF VESSEL: Meermin |
The MEERMIN was a hoeker of 450 tons, built in 1759 at the Amsterdam Yard for the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company, and used by the Cape authorities. Since there was a chronic shortage of slaves at the Cape in 1675, the Company had despatched the MEERMIN to fetch a cargo of slaves from Madagascar. By 20 January 1766 the Captain Gerrit Christoffel had called several places at Madagascar and he had accumulated 140 male and female slaves. On that date he sailed for the Cape. On the voyage back to the Cape, Captain Christoffel loosened discipline on board. He himself was recovering from a severe bout of fever, and therefor left much of the handling of the ship to his chief mate Olof Jacobus Leij, while the pilot Daniel Gulch van Rostock took care of navigation. A man called Crause kept an eye on the slaves. Because the Captain saw no harm in relaxing the Company rules that the slaves must be kept in chaines, after all he had an armed crew of 62 men, he ordered that the slaves were to be freed from their irons. While the male slaves were put to work doing the dirty jobs around the ship, the crew had time for parties, at which the wine flowed freely, and the slave women were asked to sing and do their national dances. As the vessel neared the end of its journey the vigilance relaxed even further. The height of folly was reached late in February when Crause handed some firearms to the blacks to be cleaned; he followed this up with a number of assegais that had been bought in Madagascar. Nothing more was needed, all the requirements for a slave uprising were on hand. When Crause came to collect the weapens, one of the slaves whirled round and with a loud cry plunged an assegai into the Supercargo. Only one armed guard was on hand and Crause screamed at him to fire, which he did, killing one of the blacks. He was too late. The armed slaves were now attacking the unprepared crew. Crause was killed even as he pleaded for mercy. The Captain, surprised unarmed on the deck, was wounded and chased by a slave, but succeeded in making his way below. On the deck all was confusion, a few of the crew fought deperately, the ship's corporal defending himself with a piece of burning wood from the galley. But the odds were against the unarmed men and soon the slaves were in control of the deck. The entire watch of 30 men had been wiped out with the exception of the few that had managed to climb the shrouds and take shelter aloft. The watch below decks was effectively marooned there by a couple of slaves guarding the companion ways. Next the slaves concentrated on enticing down the men who were aloft in the rigging. By signs they indicated that if the seamen would descend they could join their companions below decks. Foolishly the men returned to the deck; when all were down they were seized and thrown overboard. Then the slaves amused themselves by using the drowning sailors as targets for assegais. After this orgy of killing, the slaves were left in command of the decks. But the situation was actually a stalemate, for whilst the crew below could not come up on deck, the slaves were equally unable to penetrate below decks, where the now armed survivors were gathered. Down below in the hold were the men who knew how to sail the vessel; on deck were the victors, unable to manoeuvre their prize. The vessel drifted at the mercy of wind and tide. For two days this impossible position continued. The crew were forced to live on raw potatoes. Fortunately for them they had a barrel of wine from which they drew both courage and inspiration. On the third day they decided to use their only other asset, a barrel of gunpowder. Pouring out a large quantity of gunpowder they set it off. The explosion made a very satisfactory bang, which thoroughly frightened the slaves. Then the mate, who was in charge since the Captain had been incapacitated, sent a message through one of the female slaves that if the blacks did not come to terms they would detonate the barrel of gunpowder and blow up the ship. Considerably sobered, the slaves agreed to talk and Leij conducted the negotiations himself. After a good deal of threatening on both sides it was agreed that the crew would not be harmed, but that they in turn must sail the MEERMIN back to Madagascar. To this both sides agreed, with mental reservations as to what would happen thereafter. The slaves tried to get Leij to throw the gunpowder overboard, but he was quite unprepared to do anything so foolish. This rather patchy truce having been concluded, the crew were allowed on deck again and took charge of the ship. Then followed a battle of wits. The MEERMIN had been in the vicinity of False Bay when the slaves rose. Whilst they knew nothing of navigation, the blacks were aware that they had come from the direction of the rising sun and eastward the crew were forced to sail, though every mile took them farther from home and safety. All day long the slaves watched closely and they were unable to deviate from their course. But when the sun set, the whole position altered. A little skilful seamanship soon had them sailing westward. Well before dawn the course would be changed to the east once again. On the fourth day they came in sight of land in the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas. Leij, who must have been a very smooth talker, convinced the blacks that this was part of Madagascar. The ship anchored a couple of miles out to sea. The blacks decided to go ashore and try to establish contact with their own people. The MEERMIN possessed a pinnace and a longboat, and into these now piled a number of slaves, estimated by the anxiously watching crew as between 50 and 70 men and women. Before leaving, the blacks arranged that if everything was in order they would light three fires and would send the boats back to the ship. All this activity had not remained unobserved on the shore. The sight of a ship at anchor off Cape Agulhas caused considerable speculation amongst the neighbouring farmers. The news spread rapidly and soon a fair number of farmers were watching from the shore. Apparently they used a telescope for long before the ship's boat neared the shore, the farmers were aware that the boats, which carried the VOC brand of the Company were manned by well-armed negroes. Obviously something was wrong, they withdrew into cover behind the dunes and sent for reinforcements. As for the slaves in the boats, they had been unable to make out who the figures were, and as soon as they landed and found the beach deserted, they set off inland. For the farmers it was comparatively easy to lay an ambush for the inexperienced party of blacks. The slaves resisted, but were no match for the accurately firing Dutchmen. Fourteen blacks were killed and the rest laid down their arms, 24 muskets, two pistols, eight swords and two bayonets. Meanwhile the atmosphere aboard the MEERMIN was growing tense. Time passed and their comrads did not return, nor were any fires lighted; the blacks were suspicious but unsure. As for the crew, they were desperately anxious. They had gambled on the blacks all disembarking and their ruse had succeded in part, there were still far too many slaves aboard for the crew to have an even chance of regaining control. Furthermore, if some of those who had gone ashore returned with news of the true position, the crew dreaded the consequences. At this juncture they decided to write messages explaining their plight and asking for three fires to be lighted. The messages were sealed in bottles and thrown overboard in the hope that the tide would carry the bottles ashore. The fates were kind, for a change, and both messages were found, one by a Hottentot and one by a farmer. The Landdrost, hastening to the scene, was met by the two messages written by Leij. The messages were too short to explain fully the problem but insisted on fires lighted immediately and asked the whites to take shelter behind the dunes so that the blacks would not realize it was a Christian country. Impressed by the crew's urgency, the Landdrost decided to comply and the three fires were lit. Immediately there was jubilation aboard the ship, all was well! But where were the boats? Tired of waiting and believing that they were home at last, the blacks cut the anchors and the MEERMIN began drifting towards the shore. This was too slow for the leader of the slaves, however. He had found a canoe aboard the ship and now piled into this together with four other slaves. Hardly had they landed when they were surrounded. They were captured, but not before a shot had been fired, killing one of the blacks. A member of the crew had, in the meanwhile, slipped overboard unpercieved and swum ashore. He arrived too late to stop the scuffle on the beach, which was clearly seen aboard the MEERMIN. Now, for the first time, the blacks perceived the true position and they rounded on the MEERMIN's crew in fury. The battle which the crew had hoped to avoid broke out, and the burghers ashore listened to the shooting and din, unable to render any assistance. The crew defended themselves desperately and below decks the weight of numbers did not count so heavily against the whites. In the midst of the battle the MEERMIN ran aground, putting an end to the slaves' hopes of sailing away. Even at this stage his soothing manner had apparently not deserted Leij and he was able to convince the blacks that if they laid down their arms all would be forgiven. This surrender was a triumph for Leij and soon the slaves were back in irons. The watchers on the shore cheered when they saw the Dutch flag rise to the masthead again, showing that the uprising was over. They had all reckoned without the sea, however. Fast aground on a reef, on 9 April 1766, the MEERMIN could not be shifted and very soon began to break up. Everyone aboard was rescued, but the MEERMIN soon became a total wreck. Altogether 112 slaves reached Cape Town so the voyage was not a complete loss. For Muller, however, there was no forgiveness. He was tried for culpable negligence, found guilty, striped of rank and pay, and discharged from the Company's service. |
Bibliography and Sources: Bruijn, J.R., Gaastra, F.S., Schöffer, I. Dutch-Asiatic Shipping In The 17th and 18th Centuries (3 Vols). The Hague, 1979, 1987 Turner, Malcom. Shipwrecks & Salvage in South Africa, 1505 to the present. Cape Town, 1988 |