Marten Jansen and Hidde Dirks Kat are contemporaries. They are both commanders on a whaling ship. Cat on Miss Klara and Jansen on Het Witte Paard. They mainly hunted seals and bowhead whales for the tear. There is a restaurant in Nes with the name of Marten Jansen’s whaler. Hidde Kat came from Hollum and his adventures are known through the diary he wrote. Jansen also wrote about his whale adventures. Both commanders have a street with their name, Jansen in Nes and Kat in Hollum.
Source: Het Witte Paard
Commander Jansen from Nes
- Whaler The White Horse
- Real story of the commander Marten Jansen
- Eskimos and raw meat eaters
- Inuit burial
- Wintering and assistance
- Marten Janszenstraat
Whaler The White Horse
Marten Jansen sailed as a commander on Het Witte Paard and went after the whales from Hamburg in 1777. Commander Kat sailed with the brig De Juffrouw Klara from the same Hamburg to Greenland. Kat and Jansen tell how they got stuck in the ice and made a hike across the ice to civilization. Kat left in March 1777 and was able to embrace his wife and child again on Ameland in September 1778. Jansen left in April 1777 and returned to the island a year later in May.
Real story of the commander Marten Jansen
Jansen described the history of the accident of his ship under the title ‘Short but true story of Commander Marten Jansen, Due to the accident of his ship, called Het Witte Paard, and nine other ships, all of which crashed, in Greenland, by the occupation of ‘t West Ys, in the year 1777.’
Eskimos and raw meat eaters
Jansen leaves with Het Witte Paard and seven sloops and 46 diners . Just like Kat, he encounters natives, Eskimos or Inuit. Jansen also calls them Wilden . They are fed dried smelt, dried seal meat and lettuce that grew next to the houses. They meet nice and less nice Inuit. The men suffer from hunger and have to get used to the customs of the natives. They must eat the meat they are given raw. They catch mussels themselves.
Eskimo or Inuit
Eskimo means ‘raw meat eater’. Some consider that a swear word and call themselves Inuit. Inuit is plural for Inuk, which means ‘human’ or ‘real human’. The Eskimos of Greenland and Canada call themselves Inuit. The Eskimos of Alaska are the Joepik.
Inuit burial
When one of the men dies, Jansen is introduced to the burial custom of the Inuit. They take everything out of their house, roll the deceased in a sealskin and put him and all his belongings in a ready grave. The hole was already dug last summer, because this is not possible in winter due to the frozen ground. The Inuit supposedly have a stockpile of burial pits. After the funeral, household items are brought back inside. The Eskimos weep twice a day for a month because of the deceased.
Peaceful natives
Jansen marvels at the peaceful coexistence of the natives. The Inuit do not argue and share the meat. They live with eight to eleven families in a house that is partly underground. The many bodies make the house warm. “They gather together like beasts.” They make love without any problems in the presence of housemates.
Wintering and assistance
Some Inuit manage to convey a letter from Jansen to someone in a port. Eventually, a fellow commander gets hold of the letter and picks up Jansen and his crew. Several more men die, some on board from scurvy. After about six weeks they arrive in Bergen and Jansen sees two Dutch ships there. He sails back home with one of them. He returned home at the end of May 1778.
Source: Book Marten Jansen
Exciting stories
Whaling shipwrecks were often told in books. The general public enjoyed reading it. The proceeds from the expenses partly went to the relatives of the shipwrecked.
Marten Janszenstraat
Marten Jansen has been honored with a street in Nes. The enamelled street sign reads: Marten Janszenstraat Commandeur Walvisvaart 1737 – 1811. The Marten Janszenstraat is located in the center of the village, along the church square. The name Jansen is sometimes written with an s, a z and sz, as in Marten Janszenstraat.
Restaurant Het Witte Paard
In Nes on Ameland a restaurant is named after Marten Jansen’s ship: Het Witte Paard. It is located near the church square, at Tower height, within sight distance of Marten Janszenstraat. “The hardships suffered by the crew are in stark contrast to the pleasure you can enjoy in the current Witte Paard,” the restaurant refers to the history of the ship and its crew.
read more
- Whaler Hidde Dirks Kat from Ameland
- Commander’s houses with mouse teeth and tiles on Ameland
- Whales big and fat – Hans Beelen and Ingrid Biesheuvel
- Sperm whale strandings on the Wadden Islands – Wanderers
- Humpback whale on Ameland – whale on the beach