''Betsey'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

of 75 tons that was wrecked in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

in 1805 while ''en route'' to the newly established

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. ''Betsey'' departed

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

on 10 November 1805, heading for Sydney in New South Wales. Her crew comprised two officers, Captain William Brooks and

chief mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

Edward Luttrell, and ten seaman including four from China, three from the Philippines and three from Portugal. At 2.30 AM on 21 November 1805 ''Betsey'' struck a reef. For three days the crew struggled to refloat their stricken vessel before abandoning her. Brooks, Luttrell, and three Portuguese crew climbed into the jollyboat and the remaining crew abandoned the ship on a raft. The jollyboat and raft planned to travel together but a strong wind parted them. The raft and its crew were never seen again. The jollyboat reached

Balambangan Island Balambangan Island ( ms, Pulau Balambangan) is an island in Kudat Division, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located off the northern tip of Borneo and is situated just about 3 kilometres west of Banggi Island. It is now part of the Tun Mustapha Marin ...

off the North Coast of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and the crew landed on 2 December. There 11 natives attacked them. Brooks died after having had both legs cut off. One of the Portuguese crew was severely wounded as he made his way back to the boat; he died in the boat. Lutterell fought off the attackers and with the remaining two Portuguese headed back out to sea. On 15 December the three men approached some new islands where they hoped to replenish their food supplies. As they were planning to land three

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

prows attacked them. The Malays succeeded in spearing and killing one Portuguese, and wounding the other. Their attackers captured both Lutterell and the surviving crew member and kept them as slaves. They were entirely naked and lived off

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is ...

. On 20 April 1806 their captors put Lutterell and the Portuguese sailor aboard a prow, took them to Singapore, and released them. Both made it back to

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

References

External links

Dr. Edward Luttrell of England and Australia
Maritime history of Australia History of New South Wales Shipwrecks in the South China Sea Schooners Maritime incidents in 1805 Individual sailing vessels {{ship-stub