At the start of the journey, a bad omen occurred when the mast broke and the crew threatened to jump ship. Sickness and desertions threatened the expedition before the ship had even begun to cross the Indian Ocean. The stifling heat had destroyed many provisions, the water was putrid, fish and meat had gone bad and were full of big worms, butter had turned to oil, and scurvy was rampant. A short stay of 15 days at Malailli, one of the Comoroes islands, vastly improved the health of the crew before they crossed the Indian Ocean. On July 1, some reefs and islands were sighted which were correctly recognized as the Maldives by the English pilot. The night was supposed to be spent beating about, but the Corbin was virtually left to herself. During the night the captain was ill and in his bunk, the mate and second mate were drunk and the watch was asleep. In the early hours of the morning of July 2, the ship struck the reef.

Of the 40 or so survivors, one band of 12 men stole a boat and made it to India. Only four of the remainder survived the five-year captivity. One of them was Francois Pyrard, who wrote about his adventures when he returned. It wasn't until February 1607, when an expedition from Chittagong invaded the capital, that Pyrard and his three remaining companions were taken to India and eventually returned to France. Ironically, it was the excellent cannon on board the Corbin that the raiding party was after, which eventually freed the captives. The treatment of Pyrard and his companions by the Maldivians was uncharacteristically cruel but their fate was largely determined by their conduct in the days following the wreck of the Corbin. All the silver and the most precious merchandise were stowed at the bottom of the ship which, after running onto the reef was under water and irretrievable. What remained of the silver was hidden in their waistbands.

During their first night on Fulhadhoo, they hid their waistbands for fear they should be searched by the islanders. At length, the sailors obtained little to eat and were dying of hunger, so they unearthed the coins and offered money for food, which they received. In turn, the natives would give nothing except for money and before long the coins started to run out.

Pyrard was taken with two other crewmembers to another island, Fehendhoo. Unlike the others, they had no belts of money and although this caused some trouble at first, they found they were better off with nothing, as little by little, the natives gave them some food. News of the wreck and the money reached Male and commissioners were sent to Fulhadhoo to secure the wreck on behalf of the sultan. All merchandise and money from shipwrecks automatically became the property of the sultan and Maldivians were prohibited from selling anything to the shipwreck victims. When the commissioner arrived at Fulhadhoo, he demanded to know who had the money from the vessel. To get hold of it, he arrested all the inhabitants, even the women, and had their thumbs put into cleftsticks and squeezed and bound with iron clasps, to see if they would confess. The villagers on the island of Pyrard's captivity were in no trouble when it was proved they had taken nothing, for which they were grateful. Pyrard took great pains to learn their language and by doing so was able to largely determine his own destiny and obtain an insight into Maldivian society never before seen by a westerner, on which he wrote extensively.

Pyrard wrote:
I have remarked that nothing served me so much, or so conciliated the goodwill of the people, the lords, and even the king, as to have a knowledge of their language, and that was the reason why I was always preferred to my companions, and more esteemed than they.

The wreck of the Corbin may have passed unnoticed through history were it not for the historical accounts left by Francois Pyrard. His account of the wreck and ensuing captivity makes compelling reading and his description of life in the islands and the customs of the people make his book a valuable source of reference for historians and students of Maldivian history and culture.

Next morning the sailors discovered they had run on to an enormous reef, as far as the eye could see, which turned out to be covered with water on the high tide. A small islet was seen by telescope 25 km away which they called the "Isle of Hope". On the 22nd, three sailors tried to reach this isle by raft but were never seen again.

On the 24th, every sailor was employed in building a raft large enough to carry them all, but when it was nearly completed the Lascar sailors cut the rope and sailed away. One man who tried to reach them, was threatened with an axe.

The long boat was taken out from the ship but was damaged on the reef and went adrift with a woman and her two daughters and three men, who were never heard of again. Then the barge was launched and it was not long before she capsized and split on the reef.

A Maldivian sailing boat was seen and appeared to be heading in their direction, so an officer, Schultz, and some crew gave chase in a dinghy. After several hours rowing, they found they were separated by the boat by a big reef and it passed by without noticing the castaways.

Two more sailors, Serang and his brother, were separated from the remaining survivors when a raft on which they were paddling between the reef and the shipwreck, was caught in the current and drifted away to the south east. In another accident, a rope was stretched between the reef and the ship and a young boy died trying to return to the ship.

Finally, on the 26th some sailors embarked on the small dinghy and sailed for the Isle of Hope. They were discovered by fishermen from the island of Makunudhoo and the remaining passengers were rescued. The survivors arrived in Male on August 4 and were treated with much hospitality.

On August 10, Serang and his brother arrived in Male'. After drifting away on their raft, they spent three nights and four days out at sea and passed eleven islands before they landed on an uninhabited island. They were both very weak and survived on coconuts before being rescued by a passing fishing boat. They were conducted to the island where the fishermen lived and were treated with much kindness.

On August 14, the six Lascars who stole the large raft, arrived at Male'. They resorted to lies to explain the infamy of their behaviour, claiming the raft had been broken, had gone adrift and the current had carried them away. Despite their treachery, they were treated equally by the sultan.

The wreck of the Hayston is noted for the humanity of the Maldivians and generosity of the sultan. In all cases, the castaways were well provided for and the sultan would not allow them to pay for anything in his country. 

Officer Schultz wrote:
Let the Christians blush thinking that, though they profess a religion that enjoin the most tender charity, you turned out, in our minds, to be, as it were, superiors to them in the practice of virtue and humanity.

When the captain arrived in Male' on June 13, he demanded from the sultan 50 men and four large boats to save the property of the company. The sultan was outraged by this extraordinary demand and gave no answer and, in any case, was not prepared to send boats to the site as the vessel was cast away on a place to which a small boat can approach only with difficulty, as the seas were rough and the surf dangerous.

The Dutch were invited to return in the calmer months to attempt further recovery and the crew of the shipwrecked Ravestein were returned to Ceylon with the gold and silver chests and other goods recovered from the wreck.

One night in August 1658, five months after her departure from England, the Persia Merchant was wrecked on Maamakunudhoo Atoll, while en route to Bengal. On board were eight chests of silver and probably gold from West Africa. Salvage was attempted at the time of loss but was unsuccessful.

Many were drowned, but the 50 survivors were well treated by the islanders and after one month they were given a good boat in which they sailed to Sri Lanka. Among the survivors were Captain Roger Williams and the mariner-captain Roger Middleton, who wrote an account of his adventures to his family after reaching India.

Middleton said the ship filled with water quickly, leaving the survivors with nothing and within four hours she had broken into pieces. One of the boats sunk under the ship, leaving just one other to rescue the victims. The survivors found their way by boat and broken pieces of the ship to an uninhabited island south of Makunudhoo, but without food, drink or arms.

Middleton wrote:
Being without food, wee ranged about the island. Wee found a well of water, of which wee dranke like pigeons, lifting head and harts for soe greate a mercy. Thus drinking water, by good providence wee found coker nutt trees, which is both food and rayment, soe wee went by the sea side and found little shell fish and the like, but wanting fire wee tooke sticks and rubbed them together untill they kindled, thus wee lived heare ten or twelve dayes, not knowing wheather it was better for us to be seen by the Neighbouring Islanders, for the ancient seamen sayd they would cutt our throats. Att last there arived three of their boats full of men, which wee dreaded but could not resist.

The stricken castaways were taken to the island of Kuburudhoo (South Thiladhunmathee) "where wee had fish and other good things, as honey and rice, on which wee,feed like farmers". For the price of a gold chain and a 100 dollars from one of the merchants, they obtained a vessel and sailed to Ceylon.

Major de Quinhones, who was in charge of the convicts, said in a report of the disaster:
At about 4 o'clock in the evening the ship was so near land that we could see the people distinctly; and it was then that a little boat manned by blacks, and with an English jack fixed at the poop, came off from one of the islands. Approaching the ship one of the Moors pointed towards a channel which lies between three or four islands. The Captain hailed the Moors, and told them to come on board; but seeing the convicts they immediately departed through fear, lowering the jack. Thus we were committed to the current, which every moment drove us much nearer land, and upon a reef of coral which lies opposite the second island. The night was dark, and there was lightning; the breakers dashed incessantly on the sides of the ship, forcing her more on to the reef; at length the rudder broke, and the ship rested; but a large leak was sprung. All of us worked the pumps, but it was impossible to reduce the water.

The ship had struck the reef off Muli Island in Mulaku Atoll and on the morning of the 18th, the passengers and crew were transported to Muli Island without loss of life. On the following day the cock-boat, the long boat, and a hired boat from the villagers were dispatched in order to procure more provisions but all three boats were sunk by waves. Eleven lives were lost mostly convicts.

The 104 survivors remained on the island of Muli for five days before being transported to the "King's Island". It took seven days sailing by day only and stopping the night at islands to reach Male'. The captain hired two Catamarans to transport the survivors to Ceylon, among whom were two ladies and three children.

Pyrard wrote:
I was at that island one day, and saw the mast and rudder of the ship that was lost there. 1 was told it was the richest ship conceivable. It had on board some 500 persons, men, women, and children, for the Indians take the greater part of their household to sea with them. These 500 persons were nigh all drowned, and there remained but a hundred saved. This ship came from Sunda (Indonesia), laden with all kinds of spices and other merchandise of China and Sunda. Judging merely from the mast of this vessel, I thought it the largest I had ever seen, for the mast was taller and thicker than those of the Portuguese carracks; and the king of the Maldives built a shed of the length of the mast to keep it as a curiosity. I saw also another mast and a top much larger than those of Portugal. Thus was I led to believe that in the Indies they build vessels larger and of better material than in Portugal or anywhere else in the world. The greatest ships come from the coast of Arabia, Persia, and Mogor, and some have as many as 2,000 persons on board.

Old folk on Guraidhoo still talk about a wooden ship believed to be wrecked on Medhu Faru near Guraidhoo centuries ago; however no visible remains are to be seen.