First published 1982
Third published 1985
Fourth published 2002
In this book James Henderson tells the story of the wreck of the Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) off the coast of Western Australia on her voyage in 1656 from Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta) in Indonesia. It also tells the story of how Abraham Leeman van Santwits and thirteen sailors were marooned on an island off the west coast during a voyage to find the survivors of the Vergulde Draeck.
Henderson set out to find where Leeman was marooned, what happened to him and his men, and how they made the heroic journey from the ‘coast of iron’ back to civilisation in Batavia. To tell the story Henderson has had the advantage of his own knowledge of sailing ships and the sea, the gift of the detective in unravelling what happened, and the experience gained as a journalist in the art of telling a story.
The book is a valuable addition to our knowledge of the period when the European made his early contact with the land and people of Australia. It deserves to be widely read.
Manning Clark.