Attack on a catamaran near Cocos Island (1)

In May 1616 Jacob le Maire and Willem Schouten’s expedition approached an island they would later name called Cocos Island (Tafahi in the Tonga archipelago). Before encountering the island they came across a small ship, a catamaran, with men, women and children in it. The Dutch decided to send out a boat with 8 (according to Le Maire) or 10 (according to Schouten) men armed with muskets to attack the vessel. They saw the men were armed and decided to shoot one. They wounded one man, who jumped overboard, and the other men soon followed. The ship was entered and confiscated, but not before many chickens and mats were thrown overboard. The people in the ship were made to come on board the Dutch ship. Here the accounts of Le Maire and Schouten differ. According to Le Maire (nearly) all men were rescued from the ocean, while according to Schouten most of the men drowned. The women were given some small items and soon after all captured people were allowed to depart in their ship.

The image shows the Eendracht in the background. On the left is the catamaran, which is under attack from the Dutch boat with musketeers on the bottom right. On the left, some men are jumping in the sea.