Buried at sea (1641-1655)

The town of Nagasaki, where the Dutch settled in 1641, was a substantial commercial centre according to the standards of the time. For almost a hundred years, the Portuguese had conducted trade with Japan via Nagasaki, but it was primarily the Chinese who were everywhere. The move of the trading post to the artificial island of Dejima in June 1641 had considerable consequences. And when the ships from Batavia put into the harbour here, the first problems loomed up. For example, the senior surgeon on board the Koningin (Queen), a ship that was lying in the harbour, died on 2 August 1641. The banjoosten were asked whether he could be buried on the island that had been allocated to the VOC to graze their cattle. This was customary in Hirado, according to what Le Maire wrote in his journal. The guards would not discuss the matter and indicated that the Governor would have to make that decision but, because the Dutch were 'just like the Portuguese Christians', the Governor decided that the same rules applied to them too.

That meant that the dead had to be taken five miles out to sea, weighted down and thrown overboard. The deceased could also be preserved in salt in anticipation of an answer from the Commissioner, as the Governor said that he did not have the authorisation to allow them to be buried in the ground. Le Maire wrote that he was angry about so much barbarism. Because the captain of the ship did not like the idea of preserving a corpse, the Japanese suggested rolling it in a rattan mat with two or three stones, taking it out on board a boat and disposing of it. This meant that it would appear to those on the ship lying in the harbour that the corpse was to be brought to the island whereas, in fact, it was to be thrown into the sea out of their sight. Le Maire allowed this just this once but he informed the Governor that this was not going to be the end of the matter. Several others on the ship died in the same month and they were also lowered overboard at sea. When, in the night of 27-28 October 1641, another seaman died on board the Koningin, Le Maire again asked the Governor permission to bury him and future cases on land so that he would no longer have to throw their mortal remains into the sea. The request was again denied. All Christian ceremonies were, after all, forbidden by the Shogun on pain of death. Le Maire and the others on Dejima begged the interpreters to submit their case to the Commissioner but the latter were afraid of what the Governor's response would be. Moreover, explained the interpreters, the Commissioner would not be able to give orders that ran counter to those of the Governor. So the dead were buried at sea this time, too. No scrap of mercy could be expected from the Japanese. That became obvious the next day when a seaman on the ship Meerman (Merman) died. The Master told Le Maire later that when the banjoosten and the interpreters came on board to fetch the deceased, he had asked whether his body would be buried in the same way as the others or on land. He was then given to understand by the interpreters that the Governor had apparently said that the dead man was to be thrown into the sea with a stone around his neck because the corpse of a Christian was not worth burying in the ground.

Chief factors keep entreating

In August 1642, Elseracq brought a number of points to the Governor's attention, including the matter of the burial of the dead, probably because there was yet another loss to be mourned. The Governor stated that neither he nor the councillors had ordered that the dead had to be thrown into the sea. It was permitted to cremate the dead, like the Japanese did, or to take them back home on the ships. Elseracq indicated that the latter would be problematical on the ships, that cremation was not customary in the Netherlands and that the dead ought to be buried in the ground. There was therefore no option but to bury them at sea. Elseracq also raised the point that the Governor General of the VOC had requested a special place where the dead could be buried.^[1] However, the Japanese stuck to their ban and the practice of burying the dead at sea was to continue for years.

On 10 June 1643, one of the steward's servants died on Dejima. The then chief factor Overtwater described how the body was bound in mats because a coffin was too reminiscent of Christianity. The dead person was brought out to sea in a small rowing boat, known as a sampan, without any Dutch people in attendance, because that was not allowed. In August of the same year, a seaman on the ship Zwaan (Swan) died and was lowered overboard shortly afterwards. The captain of the Swan Cornelis Jansz was also ill and was taken to the mainland to be nursed in the hospital but died on Dejima in September. Overtwater asked the Governor's permission to bury the captain somewhere with prayers being said. The request was refused but this time a coffin in accordance with Dutch standards was permitted.

The fact that the Dutch were not the only people to be buried at sea is evident from the following. The arrival of two Portuguese ships in the late summer of 1647 heralded an exciting time. It was clear that the Japanese would not permit the Portuguese to enter the harbour and had no intention of trading with them. When a seaman on board one of the Portuguese ships died, the Japanese took the body out to the open sea, as was the case with the Dutch.

The chief factors continued to request that they be allowed to bury their dead on land in subsequent years. When, for example, in September 1649, Master Jan Hendricksz Kant died, chief factor Snoecq asked whether his body could not be buried somewhere on a little island. But the hope of a positive answer was again crushed, although Snoecq was given permission to use a weighted coffin which was later committed to the sea. When, not long after, Kant's brother, who had also been on board, died, he was also buried at sea.

Exceptions prove the rule

Those who died on the ships on the way to and from Japan were often lowered overboard. However, this was not always the case: a watery grave was not seemly for those in high positions. This applied, for example, to Petrus Blockhovius, who was sent to Japan as an emissary but died on 15 August 1649 on board the ship Robijn (Ruby). When the ship put into the port of Nagasaki on 19 September of that year, the body of Blockhovius was lying in a coffin in the hold. Later, because of the stench, a larger outer coffin was made and the space between the two layers was filled with camphor. Blockhovius's replacement, who was also on board, had to deputise for him in Japan. Blockhovius's remains went back to Batavia on the Robijn again and were interred there.^[2]

The journals in question did not always give a true picture of what actually happened to those that died at sea. The chief merchant Philip Schillemans died on 22 June 1650 on board the Zwarte Beer (Black Bear). When the ship put into the port of Nagasaki on 4 September, his death was reported but not what had happened to his body, so we can only assume that he was buried at sea. Some of the dead just missed being buried ashore, as shown by the case of the junior merchant Pieter van der Meulen. Van Lier, who was on his way to Dejima to become chief factor in 1661, reports in the journal he kept that Van der Meulen had already been ill for the entire voyage and that he died about 66 miles from Japan. Because no one knew how long the voyage would take, the body was placed in a coffin with heavy iron bolts. Before the coffin was committed to the sea, it was carried around the mast three times and a cannon was fired as a final salute.

In February 1654, something striking happened. During the official court visit made by chief factor Happart, junior merchant Otto Wacker became ill and died in Edo on 23 February. Happart asked for permission to bury his body in the presence of a few Dutch people who would pay their last respects, as was customary. The first response was that it was not appreciated that anyone should attend the dead man because the envoy had not yet appeared before the Shogun. The rest of the answer came a day later. In the meantime, Happart had a sturdy coffin made. Late in the afternoon of the following day a large Japanese delegation came to collect the body to bury it after all. This funeral took place around a mile from the town at a temple, known as Asakusa, which still exists today. In Edo, Happart learned that the Japanese did not consider burials at sea to be customary either. The fact that the officials in Nagasaki had not allowed the burial of those that had died, may have been to do with incidents in the past whereby Christian graves had been desecrated and parts of bodies removed for use as holy relics. Happart asked the interpreters to raise this point with the Shogun and it was subsequently a regular topic during discussions at the court.

When, in September 1654, a sailmaker died on board the ship Kalf (Calf), Happart mentioned the events in Edo to the Japanese at Nagasaki. They discussed the request but were unwilling to give their permission so quickly, suggesting that permission would definitely be given when the next chief factor made the request during the subsequent official court visit. The body of the sailmaker had, by now, been taken out to sea, in the familiar manner. At Happart's departure in October 1654, he reminded the Governor in Nagasaki once more that he hoped that the Governor would, in future, allow the dead to be buried decently. This permission was granted on the last day of his appointment on the understanding that the dead would be buried in the Japanese manner in large caskets or urns without any ceremony.^[3]

Burials at sea not yet over

Between 1641 and 1655, those who died on Dejima or on the ships in the harbour were buried at sea. About twenty such cases have been described in translations of the journals available but there may have been more. Burials at sea were not over yet though; there are still a lot of reports of how crew members who died on board ships en route for Dejima fared, even after 1655. We know, for example, the story of Pieter Vermeulen who went to the Far East on the VOC ship Kasteel van Woerden (Castle of Woerden) in 1728. In his capacity as bottelier (steward), he was responsible for the distribution of rations of food and drink to the cook on the ship and he made various voyages, including one to Japan. In 1730, possibly on the return trip from Japan to Batavia, Pieter became ill on board the ship Padmos. He drew up a 'power of attorney in a handwritten disposition'^[4] and closed his eyes for good. His mortal remains, weighted down with a cannon ball on each foot, were lowered into the sea under cries from the seamen of 'Eén-twee-in godsnaam (One, two, in God's name)!'^[5] We also find references in the journals that some bodies were intentionally buried at sea instead of on land. That is what happened to Sjako, chief factor Chasse's slave, who was punished for an offence on Dejima in October 1738. He was thrown into shackles and transferred to a ship in the harbour to be returned to Batavia. However, Sjako died on board and the chief factor did not deem it appropriate to bury him so he was thrown into the sea instead.

Lost with all hands

The journals also report that sometimes the entire crew received a watery grave, whether they wanted one or not. In 1722, the Valkenbos (Falcon wood) sank in the vicinity of Japan. In 1724, the same fate overcame the Apollonia. During the voyage to Dejima, the ship was wrecked in a fierce storm close to the Chinese coast on 28 July. Chief factor Hendrik Durven and the secunde (second in command) Hendrik Rijkman, were on board, among others. In 1758, the Stadwijk was lost en route and, ten years later, so was the Vredenhof. Sometimes luck was with them, as in the case of the Burgh (Castle). She was badly damaged during a typhoon but the crew were able to abandon ship. Fortunately, the ship Vrouwe Margaretha Maria (Lady Margaretha Maria) was in the vicinity and the crew could transfer to her. The Vrouwe Margaretha Maria subsequently arrived in Dejima without a mainmast or a topmast. The hull of the Burgh was salvageable and was later sold in Nagasaki.

In this way, hundreds, if not thousands of crew members ultimately met a watery grave on their voyages to Japan. The numbers probably bear no relation to the numbers that were finally buried in Nagasaki.

^[1] This request was included in the fifth point that Elseracq submitted to the Governor to bring to the attention of the Shogun. (Source: Deshima dagregisters (The Deshima Diaries). Their original tables of contents. Vol. XI, 1641-1650, p. 80, August 1642).

^[2] Although various authors report that Blockhovius was the first to be buried in the Dutch Cemetery, Snoecq's journals indicate that his body was not buried in Japan but returned on the ship on which he came.

^[3] Happart's Journal 1653-1654, 31 October 1654.

^[4] This is a document that authorises someone to execute a will.

^[5] Gens Nostra XLVII (1992).