The Lords Seventeen, the directors of the East India Company were very powerful men. But they were also misers and accountants. All details of each ship were accurately recorded to the last penny.
For example, in the archives of the East India Company that have been preserved, it can be found that the ship 'Middelburgh' was built in 1619 by order of the Chamber of Zealand on a shipyard in Middelburg. It had a loading capacity of 700 tons and sailed for the first time in the year 1620 from the Wielingen in Zealand under Skipper William Jakobs van Arnemuiden. After a successful journey to Batavia, it returned to Zealand in the year 1622 loaded with spices and other merchandise.
At the end of 1622 it sailed for its second voyage, now under skipper Jan Williams Dik. It arrived in Batavia in August of the year 1623. In January of the year 1625 it began its journey home, again laden with spices, now under Skipper William Cornelius Schouten.
On March 13 during the night, it ended up in a hurricane 1500 km east of Madagascar. It lost all its masts, but managed to carry out emergency repairs with the help of the other ship in the convoy, the 'Hollandia', and to reach Madagascar. On April 29, the ship resumed her voyage and arrived safely in Table Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. On December 18, it set sail from the Cape of Good Hope for the final leg of its journey home, but disappeared somewhere in the Atlantic. After that, nothing more was heard from the ship. There were only some vague rumors that the ship had been captured by Portuguese pirates off Saint Helena.
But the manuscript found in a jug from the sole survivor, tells the whole story from the day the seventeen-year-old steward's mate was placed on board in 1622, after having gotten himself into trouble. The departure for her second voyage to Batavia. The hurricane east of Madagascar. The attack by Portuguese privateers and the loss of the ship.
Then the terrible, but also wonderful experiences of the only survivor of the shipping disaster, Cornelius (Cor) Hoock. His rescue. His encounter with slave traders and cannibals. And his life among the natives in the interior of West Africa.