The wreck of the Batavia - 1629
Dutch East India Company ship - wrecked off Geraldton, Western Australia.
The History of Australia shows that on the 4th June 1629 the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia, with 316 people on board, was wrecked in the Wallabi Group of the Abrolhos Islands just 60 km the coast of Geraldton, Western Australia.
Most of the people on board made it safety to the islands and then dispersed to find food and water. A religious fanatic named Jeronimus Cornelius, then led a mutiny that systematically murdered, raped and tortured other survivors.
Before help arrived, 125 people had been murdered and their bodies dumped in mass graves.
After being rescued, Cornelius had his hands cut off and was then executed. Two of the mutineers, Wouter Loos, a soldier, and Jan Pelgrom de Bye, a cabin boy, were left marooned on the Australian mainland near the mouth of the Murchison River, thereby becoming Australia's first European settlers.
Later European exploration recorded Aborigines with blue eyes, suggesting at least one of the men survived.
Although no civilisation grew from the Bativia survivors, they did nevertheless have a influence upon Australian culture. The mass graves were later excavated and became a morbid tourist attraction. The story is frequently taught in schools and has even been made into an Opera.