who were drowned in the breakers. Some Hottentots or natives of the Cape told the Master Knyf and his crew that a little to the north from them another ship had been lost, and that there were white men there. Thereat Knyf went thither with his crew, and found them to be English, with whom they agreed together to build a vessel and journey in the same to the Cape. When this vessel was ready, Knyf and 10 of his sailors and some English sailed from there to the Cape, but the rest of his crew, about 48 men, would not go aboard, but went inland, and up to now have not been seen again.
This Master Knyf was an old and good friend of mine, since once we had sailed to war together, he as a Lieutenant. There came also here to the Cape a little English ship with 4 to 6 guns, called the Vergulde Pellikaan [error for Providence, dr 24/3], with nine English sailors: these had lain at anchor in the Vlees-Bay about 40 miles south of the Table Bay, where their Master went ashore in the longboat* with the Surgeon and 6 sailors, to barter or deal with the natives; but they were never seen again. The Mate, who had remained aboard with the rest of the crew, could not think where the longboat might be delaying so long, and waited for a few days; but perceiving nothing, and suspecting that they had been killed by the savages, they sailed for the Cape, and now anchored near us.
The Portuguese ship lost here the previous year with the Siamese Ambassadors ran ashore about 60 miles south of Table Bay near the Struis Bay, and still lay aground there and had not entirely broken up; and it was suspected that there was still much of value in the wreck, since in her there had been many gifts, of gold, jewels and other rarities, and she also had a valuable cargo. The Governor of the Cape [Simon] van der Stel, having learnt of the loss of this ship from the Ambassadors and Portuguese who arrived at the Cape, at once sent thither Olof [Bergh*] the Swede and Serjeant Kristoffel van Dieringe with 7 or 8 men, to take charge of her and exercise good care that the goods that were saved should be justly dealt with, and that the same should be duly restored to their owners. But these pious souls thought rather to look after themselves, and did not heed the orders which the Governor had given them; but instead so soon as they were come to the vessel began to loot, hack, break and rob, not like guardians of the gold who had been set to watch over it, but like folk who had been brought up on coasts and islands where ships were often lost, and where it is an honourable act to steal from and rob those whom their duty it is to help and aid. When they had soon raked together a great treasure, with their axes they cut in pieces the gold and silver hand-basins, cans, cups, beakers and other gold and silver work, and weighed it out among them with baconscales for lack of a goldsmith's balance. Then when they came to the Cape the work which they took in hand day and night was drinking, dicing, and womanising. They sold to hosts and hostesses and such the gold and silver work, and other rarities too many to mention, for less than half their value. This carousing was not done so silently that it did not come
to the ears of the Governor, and he had them all arrested because they had looted [text ‘gesloken’, smuggled]. They were still in arrest when we sailed from the Cape, and how things will go further with them, time will tell. The Lieutenant was accused of having
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