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We shall try to find an answer with meticulous attitude. First of all one has to mention that there is no town, no village, no place with the name of Patusan (as far as we know). Which place did Conrad have in mind ? In the novel there are some faint hints regarding the location of Patusan. Maybe we shall take the time to read these hints.

We hereby follow the fictive journey of Brown and read in chapter 37:

.who stole with complete success a Spanish schooner out of a small bay near Zamboanga ..." The next chapter goes a bit more in detail: "Brown related to me in detail their passage down the Straits of Macassar ..." and later "... three days of squally misty weather from the north-east shot the schooner across the Java-Sea ...", and " ... in less than a week after clearing the Sunda Straits, he anchored off the Batu Kring mouth ...".

We compare this information with the map: Zamboanga is a port at the southwestern tip of Mindanao (Philippines). The 'Strait of Macassar' is situated between the eastern coast of Borneo and the western coast of Sulawesi (Celebes). The Java-Sea again we find to the north of Java and the south of Borneo, and the 'Sunda Strait' is between Java and Sumatra. Brown therefore was on a quite rationally way to his destination Madagascar, where he wanted to sell the stolen ship. He had first headed south and then he had reached the Indian Ocean (passing the 'Sunda Strait'). From there he kept to the north, he was in need for some food and water for him and his men, and he had sailed along the coast of Sumatra.

So, Patusan is located at the west-coast of Sumatra. But where ?

Now, we take the likely speed of a sailing-ship, using good winds (Conrad tells us about the help of land and sea breezes) und we simply say that such a ship reaches an average speed of 5 knots. This would lead to a nautical day of 120 nautical miles. The expression 'less than a week' could mean different things. A week is seven days and 'less than a week' could possibly be 6 days. The ship, making 120 nautical miles every day, would sail a distance of 720 miles. We shall take one day off from our calculation (a short act of piracy, or not always good winds ?). So this leads us to 5 days of 120 miles each, this is 600 nautical miles or 1111 kilometers. There is Patusan.

What do we have on the map there ? We are just north of the town of Padang, about the latitude of Pariaman, Tiku and Mandiangin, all of them small towns at the coast of Sumatra. Inland we find Padangpanjang, Singarak and lake Singarak. Off the coast are the Batu islands. The land is hilly, partly mountainous, as Conrad described it in his novel. The problem is: there is no evidence Conrad ever visited this part of Sumatra. More than that: it is quite unlikely.

But it is known that he visited the town Tanjung Redeb at the east coast of Borneo. Today Tanjung Redeb is a town with approximately 50000 inhabitants and with a small airport. The town is capital of the province of Berau and is located at the river Berau, about sixty kilometers from the coast. The area is flat. At the coast there is a small village called Tanjung Batu.

We recall Batu Kring, the fisherman's village at the coast of Patusan. Damned, we are confronted with two Batu's: the Batu islands off the coast of Sumatra, then Tanjung Batu on Borneo. ('Batu' means 'rock' in Malayan language). Whereto does Conrad lead us ?

Many historians are quite sure they have found Patusan when they talk about Tanjung Redeb. I don't want to argue with them. In the opinion of some others Conrad ment the village of Muntok on Bangka-Island. How come ?

Conrad was Second Officer on the ship 'Palestine'. In March 1883 while passing the Bangka-Strait (east of Sumatra) and before the ship reached the Gulf of Siam the coal in the ship's hull began to burn. The ship could not be saved and the crew (with Conrad) had to abandon the ship. The crew had to go into the lifeboat. After about twelve hours in the small lifeboat they finally reached the port of Muntok on Bangka Island. This should become the very first close impression for Conrad of 'the East'.

One has to add that Bangka is a big, flat island off the southeastern coast of Sumatra. At the eastern coast of Bangka-Island is a village called Batu Rusa. Three Batu Kring's ? And now ?

Conrad might have had the social environment of Tanjung Redeb in mind during his time; for sure he was deeply affected from the extraordinary experience of a ship-disaster and from being saved to the coast of Bangka, he might had also taken some geographic facts for his story. But he did not mean Tanjung Redeb or Muntok itself. He did not mean Pariaman or Singarak either. Again he had put together some memories, this time his memories about different islands, towns and villages, added some spices to it and created Patusan. Patusan is located, if you really want to know it, at the catholic cemetery of Canterbury.