Editing Batavia (1628 ship) (section)

===Shipwreck{{anchor |wrecking}}===
[[File:Houtman Abrolhos location.svg|thumb|Shipwreck location near the Western Australian coast]]
[[File:Ongeluckige voyagie 01.jpg|thumb|Survivors being transferred from the wrecked ''Batavia'' to nearby islands in the ship's boats.]]
[[File:Beacon Island Abrolhos.jpg|thumb|Batavia's Graveyard, now known as [[Beacon Island (Houtman Abrolhos)|Beacon Island]], in the Wallabi Group, Abrolhos Islands]]
On 4 June 1629, ''Batavia'' struck Morning Reef near [[Beacon Island (Houtman Abrolhos)|Beacon Island]], part of the [[Houtman Abrolhos]] off the western coast of Australia.<ref name="museum-wa" /> Of the 322&nbsp;aboard, most of the passengers and crew managed to get ashore, although 40 people drowned. The survivors, including all the women and children, were then transferred to nearby islands in the ship's [[longboat]] and [[yawl]].

An initial survey of the islands found no fresh water and only limited food ([[sea lion]]s and birds). Pelsaert realised the dire situation and decided to search for water on the mainland. A group consisting of Jacobsz, Pelsaert, senior officers, a few crew members, and some passengers left the wreck site in a {{convert|9|m|spell=in|adj=on}} longboat in search of drinking water. After an unsuccessful search for water on the mainland, they left the other survivors and headed north in a danger-fraught voyage to the city of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies]], the ship's namesake, to seek rescue. En route the crew made further forays onto the mainland in search of fresh water.

In his journal, Pelsaert stated that on 15 June 1629, they sailed through a channel between a [[reef]] and the coast, finding an opening around midday at a latitude guessed to be about 23 degrees south where they were able to land, and water was found. The group spent the night on land. Pelsaert commented on the vast number of [[termite]] mounds in the vicinity and the plague of flies that afflicted them. Pelsaert stated that they continued north with the intention of finding the "river of Jacob Remmessens", identified first in 1622, but owing to the wind were unable to land. Drake-Brockman has suggested that this location is to be identified with [[Yardie Creek]].{{sfn|Drake-Brockman|2006|pp=300–304}}{{sfn|Godard|1993|p=156}}{{sfn|Dash|2002|p=150}}

It was not until the longboat reached the island of [[Nusa Kambangan]] in the Dutch East Indies that Pelsaert and the others found more water.{{sfn|Godard|1993|pp=186–187}} The journey took 33 days, with everyone surviving. After their arrival in Batavia, the [[boatswain]], Jan Evertsz, was arrested and executed for negligence and "outrageous behavior" before the loss of the ship (he was suspected to have been involved). Jacobsz was also arrested for negligence, although his culpability in the potential mutiny was not guessed by Pelsaert.{{sfn|Dash|2002|pp=161–162}}

[[Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies|Governor-General]] [[Jan Pieterszoon Coen]] immediately gave Pelsaert command of {{ship||Sardam|1628|2}} to rescue the other survivors, as well as to attempt to salvage riches from ''Batavia''{{'}}s wreck. Within a month, Pelsaert reached the general area where the shipwreck had occurred, but it took another month of searching to locate the islands again. He finally arrived at the site only to discover that a bloody massacre had taken place among the survivors, reducing their numbers by at least a hundred.{{sfn|Dash|2002|p=162}}