The text on the wall

The engraved text on the outer wall on the left of the main entrance of the Zeeuws Archief is part of the description of the first encounter with an inhabitant of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the Pacific Ocean by Western Europeans on board the ship Arend of the Dutch West India Company on April 7, 1722 during an expedition to the unknown 'Southland' under command of Jacob Roggeveen, a lawyer from Middelburg, home town of the Dutch province of Zeeland. The bold text is engraved on the wall of the Zeeuws Archief.

Fragment

Fragment from the log by Cornelis Bouwman, captain of the yacht Thienhoven, part of the expedition of three ships of the Dutch West India Company under command of Jacob Roggeveen, 1721-1722

Tuesday, April 7, 1722

Tuesday morning or night, the wind variable with strong squalls, thunder and lightning. Stood out to sea and in for the land, approached to the shore at day, but proceeded not much due to the variable weather. At 8 hours a steady breeze came in, on which we draw near a little. Meanwhile we become aware of a small craft close by, in which an old naked person was sitting, which shouted enormously. I sailed with my sloop to the same, and after a lot of resistance brought him on board of the Arent, being a man well into his fifties, of the browns, with a goatee after the Turkish fashion, of very strong physique. He was much astonished at the make of our ship and all that belonged to it, as we could perceive from his expressions. As we could not in the least understand each other, we had to make it out from his expressions and signs. We gave him a small mirror, wherein he looked at himself, at which he was very frightened, as also at the sound of the bell. We gave him a glass of brandywine, which he poured over his face, and when he felt the strength of it he began to open his eyes wide. We gave a second glass of brandywine with a biscuit, none of which he used. He had some shame because of his nakedness when he saw that we were clothed. He went therefore and put his arms and head on the table, appeared by this to make a speech to his deity, as was evident from his actions, and raised his head and hands many times to the sky, used many words in a loud voice, being engaged thus for half an hour, and when he stopped this he began to leap and sing. He showed himself very merry and gay. We tied a piece of sailcloth in front of his private parts, which wonderfully pleased him. He was naturally cheerful of face. He danced with the sailors when they had the fiddle played before him. He was not a little astonished at the sound and make of the instrument. His little craft was made of small pieces of wood and held together by some plant, being provided from within with two pieces of wood. It was so light that one man could easily carry it; it was for us wonderful to see that one man alone dared to proceed in so frail a craft so far to sea, having nothing to help him but a paddle, for when he reached us were about three miles from the shore.

Source

• The original of this copy of the log by Cornelis Bouwman is deposited at the Gemeentearchief (Municipal Archive) Rotterdam, archive family Hudig, inv.nr 533. [description of this file in the online inventory of this archive]

• The complete text of the log by Cornelis Bouwman was published in Dutch in: F.E. Baron Mulert (ed.), 'Scheepsjournaal, gehouden op het schip Tienhoven tijdens de ontdekkingsreis van Mr. Jacob Roggeveen, 1721-1722' [Ship's journal, kept on the ship Tienhoven during a voyage of discovery of Mr. Jacob Roggeveen, 1721-1722], in: Archief. Vroegere en latere mededeelingen voornamelijk in betrekking tot Zeeland uitgegeven door het Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, 1911, 52-183 [with additions and improvements in Archief ..., 1912, 159-160]. [Worldcat]

• Fragments from the log by Cornelis Bouwman, which gives additional information of significance throwing light on or expanding that given by the journal by Jacob Roggeveen, were published in Dutch in: F.E. Baron Mulert (ed.), De reis van Mr. Jacob Roggeveen ter ontdekking van het Zuidland (1721-1722). Werken uitgegeven door de Linschoten-Vereeniging IV ('s-Gravenhage 1911) 178-205. [Worldcat]

• An English translation of the journal by Jacob Roggeveen, with the additional information of significance from the log by Cornelis Bouwman quoted or cited in footnotes, was published in: Andrew Sharp (ed.), The Journal of Jacob Roggeveen (Oxford 1970). [Worldcat]

The above quoted English translation of the text on the wall of the building of the Zeeuws Archief, from halfway the fifth line '... a man well into his fifties', is cited from the edition by Sharp, page 91-92.