The Flying Dutchman is the name given by sailors to a phantom ship which is rumored to often be seen cruising in storms off the Cape of Good Hope. The legend is believed to be based on the ship of Captain Bernard Fokke, which in the 17th century completed its journeys between Holland and Java with uncanny speed, and reputedly with the aid of the Devil himself. According to tradition, the Dutch captain, bound home from the Indies, met a long-continued hard wind at the Cape of Good Hope, and refused to put back to sea, swearing that he would beat around the Cape even if it should take until the Day of Judgment.
The fates heard him and he was taken at his word. His ship is believed to have become white, and his sails threadbare with age, as he is doomed to sail the Cape until that day shall come. He cannot heave to, or lower a boat, but sometimes speaks to passing vessels through his speaking trumpet, requesting them to take letters home for him. Sailors believe the sight of the ship is a portent of impending doom. The Flying Dutchman has been sighted many times throughout the 19th and 20th century, not the least famously by Prince George of Wales and his elder brother Prince Albert of Wales, who's path it crossed in 1880 off the coast of Australia.
