The Dutch East India company sent many boats around the coast of West Australia towards Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) one of their major colonies (1619-1942). After the slow passage through the doledrums, the waters off the coast of West Australia were fierce so, many were shipwrecked, including the Batavia which wrecked off the coral island of Abrolhos. Having just been to an exhibition about Babylon - Myth and Reality at the British Museum - I have been thinking about possible connections between Batavia - Babylon - Perth. The shipwreck of the Batavia contained the 32 tonne sandstone arch (in pre-fabricated pieces) for the Batavia Castle (Jakarta), a fragment of a perhaps babylonian dream to build an architecture which symbolised human ambition, an aspiration and a folly.
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