Shipwreck & Survival in Oman, 1763

The Fate of the Amstelveen and Thirty Castaways on the South Coast of Arabia
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-90-8964-838-9
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, 148 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 363 g

In 1763, the Dutch ship Amstelveen set sail from the Dutch East Indies for Muscat, Oman. Through a tragic combination of human error and rough seas, the ship never made it to port, sinking off the southern coast of Oman. The thirty surviving crew members then faced a terrible trek across a desolate desert landscape to Muscat. Drawing on the logbook of Cornelis Eyks, the ship’s only surviving officer,Klaas Doornbos tells the fascinating story of the men’s journey across the Gulf of Oman desert, their encounters with the country’s inhabitants, and their struggle to survive.

Quoting extensively from Eyks’s logbook, Doornbos describes how the sailors,barefoot and almost naked, walked hundreds of miles in the blazing sun in the hope of reaching civilization. Some of the men died on the way, while the fate of others is uncertain. It was not until 1766 that Eyks and the remaining men reached Muscat.Throughout Doornbos uses Eyks’s logbook - the oldest remaining European account of the area - to reveal much about the desert coast of Oman and its people. Equal parts social history, anthropology, and survival chronicle, this gripping account of the Amstelveen’s crew is a thrilling piece of naval history. Richly illustrated reconstruction - equal parts social history, anthropology, and survival chronicle - of the journey of 30 castaways from the Dutch ship Amstelveen.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Doornbos, Klaas

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prologue, The VOC at home and in Asia, A mysterious accident, The Dutch East Indiaman Amstelveen, In the Bay of Sawqirah, Two old letters, At Cape Mataraca (Ras Madrakah), Forsaken in the desert, Along the Gulf of Masirah, Hunger, thirst, rocks and robbers, Trapped by the Bedouin, At a forked river (near Duqm), Saved by some water, The fate of the little Javanese boy, A warmer welcome, Through the high sand dunes, Encounters on the Sharqiyah coast, A cunning merchant captain in Hadd, Arrival in Muscat, Unrest in the Arabian merchant fleet, With the Resident on Kharg, Salt from Bandar Abbasi, A surprising reunion in Muscat, To Batavia by way of Cochin, To Muscat once again, Back in Middelburg at last, Cornelis Eyks, a life at sea, Causes and location of the disaster, Those on board and their fate, Remaining mysteries, ‘The salvaged people’, Acknowledgments, Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Klaas Doornbos (b. 1936) is teacher, researcher, advisor in educational policy, and emeritus professor of special education at the University of Amsterdam.