History
The 'Barouw' was a paddle steamer of the Dutch East Indies government.
The Dutch government steamship Berouw became known in August 1883 when, during the violent eruption of the Krakatau volcano, it was swept kilometers inland by a huge tsunami. The ship was swept 3,300 meters inland by the tidal wave.
A description by the French journalist Edmond Cotteau from 1884
We forded the Koeripan River and then continued our journey upstream, along the right bank. Finally, after a very tiring hour's journey, we suddenly see a most extraordinary sight before us at a bend in the river: a large paddle steamer, completely undamaged, lies there, in the middle of the forest, like a bridge over the river, which flows peacefully under its keel over a bed of wide black pebbles.
At the moment of the disaster, the only two Europeans aboard the Barouw, the captain and the engineer, thought they could save themselves by clinging to the branches of a tree; but a second wave, even more powerful than the first, swept the tree away in its wake, so that the two unfortunate souls drowned. The crew, however, who had remained on board, escaped unharmed.(1)