“The position of the islands against the most outlying reef of which the _Zeewyk_ was wrecked, is shown by the accompanying maps. They lie out of sight of the Southland, and are partly overgrown with some edible wild plants. On them were found not only some excavated wells, but also some signs of a Dutch ship, probably wrecked against the above-mentioned reef, which might have been the _Fortuyn_ or _Aagtekerke_, whose crew may have died or perished at sea on their way hither. This also seems to have been the fate of the boat of the _Zeewyk_, which, under command of the uppersteersman Pieter Langeweg, with eleven common sailors and the papers of the Company, had set out for this port shortly after the wreck of the ship, in order to give information of the mishap and to ask for assistance. Up to this time nothing has been heard of it.
“We cannot without painful feelings think of the heavy misfortunes, from which the company has been a sufferer during the last nine or ten years, especially in the loss of many ships and treasures, which mishaps have to our great concern been considerably increased in number, not only by the disaster which befell the ship _Luchtenberg_, on the Wielingen, on the Zeeland Banks, shortly after leaving port, as communicated to us by the Directors of several Chambers, and particularly by the letter from Amsterdam of the 8th of January; but also by the misfortunes which befell the other ships that had sailed for this country in company with that ship on the 2nd of November, 1727, and were obliged to put into several harbours in a disabled state. Again, by the stranding on the 3rd of July, in Table Bay, of the ships _Middenrack_, _Stabroeck_, and _Haarlem_, of which the _Middenrack_ was dashed to pieces and lost all hands, except the few who were on shore at the time, while the two others were driven so close on shore that all hope of safety was abandoned, but succeeded so far as to run their prow aground, whereby the crew and money were saved, and the remainder of the cargo was recovered from the ship undamaged by the sea water. The cargos of these two stranded ships, together with three boxes containing amber from the _Middenrack_, which had been washed ashore, have already been brought over by the ships _Meyenberg_ and _Nieuwvliet_, they having, through God’s blessing, happily ridden through this awful storm from the N.W., not without extreme danger. The ship _Hillegonde_ also lost its rudder and _goodgings_, and had to be helped into Saldanha Bay. Thus we shall not be able to make use of it here for some time to come, any more than, as we fear, of the ships _Berkenrode_ and _Heenhoven_, which had not yet appeared at the Cape on the 18th of July. This is the more alarming, as the _Heenhoven_, on the 9th of February, in the north, at about 57° L., parted through stress of weather from the consorts _Meyenberg_ and _Haerbroeck_, in whose company it had left Zeeland on the 24th of January. However, we hope soon to welcome the arrival of the above-mentioned two ships, under the blessing of the Most High, who also is besought henceforth to ward off all disasters from the ships and the establishment of the company, and to make them prosperous in all things; so that the crew of the outward-bound ships may not be afflicted so severely by sickness and death, as has been the case of late with several ships, to such an extent, that it has been necessary to reinforce them one from the other at the Cape; whereby, since the departure of the ship _Meerlust_, in sixteen ships from Holland, only 1375 sailors, 575 soldiers, and 40 artisans, in all 1990 paid servants, including the sick, have come over.”