The Eendracht at the Cocos Island (2)

On 10 May the Eendracht of Jacob le Maire and Willem Schouten reached the island Tafahi of the Tonga archipelago, which they named Cocos Island for its many coconut trees. They reached the island on the 11th and won the trust of local fishermen, who came on board and danced to music with the crew. They promised to bring coconuts and livestock to the ship. Soon the ship was swarmed with people from the island, who brought many coconuts but also stole many items from the ship. They fled after the crew shot one of them. The boat of the Dutch that had been sent to the shore, and tried to return, was attacked. The Dutch had to fire their muskets to fend off their attackers. The next day, many more canoes came alongside the Eendracht and extensive bartering took place for coconuts, bananas, ubis and other foods. A representative of another nearby island sent a delegation with gifts, for which the Dutch gave some old iron, cloths and other items. They indicated that they wanted the Dutch to come to their island.

Later, the king of the nearby island also visited the ship. On the 13th a large group of canoes with about 1000 men in total surrounded the Eendracht and after Le Maire suspected that a fruit that was offered to him was poisoned he decided to leave Cocos Island. The nearby island from which the king had visited and by whose men Le Maire was offered the fruit he named Traitor’s Island for their suspected attempt to poison him.