BENGALA
CHINA
GOTHENBURG | THE NORTH SEA | CADIZ | CAPE TOWN | BENGALA | ROARING 40's | CHINA | CANTON | NORTH AMERICA
Late in august 1743 the East Indiaman Götheborg reached Java and proceeded north, to the South China sea. By the height of the Mekong River Delta the winds were so unfavourably that they decided to turn back and spend the winter at Batavia (Djakarta).
The Javanese approached them in their canoes (Prahas) bringing fresh fruits and all kinds of supplies. The crew caught fresh fish by dragging a net through the water. "Thanks God who spared me", one of the sailors wrote, "since the water was full of crocedyles".
The satellite photo courtesy of SSC Satellitbild, NOOA-11 GAC Image ©SSC Satellitbild 1993, Kiruna, Sweden.
The climate was hot and humid and the living conditions in the old wooden ship unhealthy. "Here we lost 35 men in the hot weather", one of the men wrote in his diary.