The Batavia
unmonumental.substack.com
Content warning: this story contains descriptions of colonial violence and sexual assault.
In 1629, the Dutch East India Company’s ship the ‘Batavia’ wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands 65 km off the Western Australian coastline. Members of the ship's crew mutinied, which led to a series of massacres involving the survivors. This was the first European shipwreck, first massacre and first temporary European colonial encampment in Australia.