Wessel's Island

The northern part of the archipelago, Kuiper's Island and Wessel's Island,were first settled by the Dutch in under the leadership of Heironymous Wessel in 1630.

Heironymous Wessel

The Dutch focused their activities on Wessel's as the natives were less hostile and the terrain was more favourable for development. Wessel himself noted the fundamental differences between the tribes on the two islands.
Kuiper's inhabitants were warlike, and lived in small isolated groups in the forest. They were hunter gatherers. The people of Wessel's on the other hand were essentially placid, with rudimentary agriculture, domesticated goats and systematic fishing. The population was centred on one large settlement (later the site of the ill fated New Utrecht).
The Dutch rule on Wessel's was a blueprint for bad colonialism. They forcibly converted the natives to Christianity and exploited them as slaves.
There was some trade between the Dutch and their Portuguese counterparts on Tome- Tome.
In 1688 The Dutch abandoned the Archipelago following a catastrophic plague (probably some form of Island Malaise), had killed 75% of the settlers in New Utrecht.
Following the mutiny HMS Dreadful, under the command of Lieutenant Summers, called at Wessel's. Many of the mutineers saw it as an earthly paradise, and wanted to prolong their stay, but the 'King', Tahatue, made it known to Summers that he did not want to incur the wrath of the English, and that ancient religious beliefs, coupled by the bad memories of the Dutch colony, were against white men living on the island.
Tahatue however was quite happy for his people to consort with the sailors, and welcomed the proposition that some of them accompanied the Dreadful on to Tamba- Tamba. There is no history of any friction between the two sets of islanders, and migration from Wessel's to Tamba- Tamba remains common up to the present day.

During the British Colonization of Tamba- Tamba the notion of also annexing Wessel's and Kuiper's was considered on a number of occasions, but was never deemed to be an economically viable venture. The islands did, however, enjoy a sort of informal British protectorship due to the relative proximity of Tamba- Tamba.
The absence of any firm colonial control is evident in the way in which whereas Tamba- Tamba is essentially westernised, Wessel's society has changed little since the departure of the Dutch, and the population is homogeneous.
The island is 320 km².
In 2010 the population is estimated to stand at 1,400.