A Dutch Castaway on Ascension Island in 1725

Download or read book A Dutch Castaway on Ascension Island in 1725 written by Alex Ritsema and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2006 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 5 May 1725 a Dutch ship's officer, Leendert Hasenbosch, was set ashore on the desert island of Ascension in the South Atlantic Ocean, as a punishment for sodomy. He tried to survive on turtles and birds but found very little water on the barren island. He wrote a diary. He probably died after about half a year. In January 1726 British mariners found his tent, diary and other things and brought the diary to England. In 1728 a first English version of the diary of the Dutch castaway was published. Other versions followed. Who was the castaway? The truth was disclosed by the Dutch historian Michiel Koolbergen (1953-2002), in a posthumously published book in Dutch. With the support of Michiel Koolbergen's family and publisher, this new book discloses the truth in English. This book is illustrated with line drawings, both historic ones and by the Dutch artist Anneke de Vries.