History Blog

     Day 1:  Today I Dirk Hartog will set sail for India October 26^th 1616. With my crew of about two hundred men and thirty two guns just in case of pirates. My crew is strong and ready for the journey ahead. This journey will be set in Netherlands history for ever. I am sailing for the trading company VOC (Dutch East India Company) for spices in India. My beauty of a ship the Eendracht will be taking us there followed by a few other ships for any (just in case) situations like being stranded or by a sinking vessel. I will depart in approximately five minutes and I am so very exited.  I have just step foot onto my ship and I am ready to take of. My men are sternly in position, and I am ready to navigate. We have prepared for any storms ahead, and hopefully have brought enough food to survive this journey. We have just left the shore and the boat seems perfectly fine. Being lost at sea is my only concern because if we do get lost, I do think we cannot get back to the motherland. The sun now is at it highest point right now, and it has been a good few hours out on the open sea. It feels like we have been out here for days, as the sun sets we will slowly settle down for the night. The sleeping arrangements are a bit tight so we are forced to take sleeping shifts. For now the winds & the ocean is calm & welcoming into our adventure into the new world...

Dirk Hartog

     The Storm and The Sick: It has been at least one month that I recall writing in, and some of the men have an unexplainable illness and now are unable to be available crew. The waves are beginning to grow large, and the ripples in the waves are a bad sign for the storm to come. The skies are grim and show no mercy for our the hours to come.Some of the men will find it difficult to overcome the storm, and stay together with the other ships. I am starting to get a little frightened for the safety of the ship and the men aboard. I am forced to reduce the crew so that the men who are ill may rest in order to regain strength. Some of the men are so tired they can not even stand on their own, and their mouths are swollen and gum's bleeding. The storm has bared down upon us. I have lost sight of my other ships, they out of are completely out of range. I can’t see anything and keeping a direct course, or even changing it could lead us straight into a giant wave.  I am being pushed, I have to turn, the storm has hit it's calm... I think it will be over in a couple minutes and we can get back to our regular sailing course. The men that were sick have are now in critical condition, and have to be treated or else they will die. We lost the other ships now and I and are afraid for their safety. Hopefully we will meet up with them once we reach India.

Dirk Hartog

     The Arrival: We have successfully made it to shore but we are not in India, these lands are empty and are to be claimed as Dirk Hartog Island. The men are very exited but I am not as pleased as they are, because my journey was a complete failure, and I have no spices to return for my company. My company will be pleased  I think because I have discovered a new land, but for I...I had set out for a purpose and did not achieve the goal I was set out for...

Dirk Hartog




                                                                       Bibliography
     http://www.nla.gov.au/exibitions/southland/Char-Dirk_Hartog.html
     http://www.australianhistory.org/dirk-hartog
     http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0816597.html