View of the Mauritius roadstead

View of the Mauritius roadstead.

In the foreground a figure is shown fishing and on the right a figure on a raised dais before a group of people. Behind him is a smith and in the centre a cooper; on the left several exotic animals. In the centre of the picture is a tree bearing the coats of arms of Zeeland, Amsterdam and Holland.

The print features a key numbered 1 through 12 with explanatory notes.

Cf. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, inventory number 197 J 96 after p. 294 and 511 K 23 p. 216 and Rijksmuseum Amsterdam inventory number RP-P-OB-75-375 and RP-P-OB-75-379.

The prints held by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek are amended copies of this one, here East Indiamen have been added. The prints held by the Rijksmuseum are identical to this one, but lack the key.

The two prints held by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek are mirror images of one another. The same holds true of the two prints held by the Rijksmuseum.

The second Dutch expedition to the Indies, led by Jacob van Neck and Wijbrant van Warwijck, set sail from the Dutch Republic in May 1598 and arrived in Bantam, on West Java, towards the end of that same year. En route to Bantam five of the eight ships stopped at Mauritius and Madagascar. This print shows how the crews of these ships loaded up refreshments on Mauritius. This print shows the Mauritius roadstead. However the caption accompanying another, comparable print (RP-P-OB-47-490) refers to St. Losie on Madagascar. But given that this print is the original illustration taken from the travel journal of Jacob van Neck and Wijbrant van Warwijck who refreshed on Mauritius, it is highly unlikely that Madagascar has been depicted.