Chapter 14

(1658). THE SHIP ELBURG, COMMANDED BY JACOB PIETERSZOON PEEREBOOM, TOUCHES AT THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OF AUSTRALIA AND AT CAPE LEEUWIN, ON HER VOYAGE FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO BATAVIA [*].

[* The ship Elburg arrived at Batavia on July 16, 1658.]

_Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E.I.C., December 14, 1658._

...The flute Elburgh, Jacob Pietersz. Peereboom master, in coming hither struck the South-land in 31Ω degrees S.L., and the estimated longitude of 117°, where, at about 2Ω miles' distance from the land, she was by the strong wind and the hollow sea forced to come to anchor in 22 fathom, not without great peril of being lost; but after 12 days' hard trying they at length got off again and into the open, for which God's name be praised. Meanwhile, in 33° 14' S.L., round a projecting point, they have found a good anchoring-place, where they have been at anchor in 20 fathom, and where the skipper, together with one of the steersmen, the sergeant and 6 soldiers landed round Leeuwinnen cape, finding there three black men, hung with skins like those at Cape de Bonne Esperance, with whom, however, they could not come to parley.

On the spot where the blacks had been sitting, our men found a burning fire, near which there lay a number of assagays, together with three small hammers, consisting of a wooden handle to one end of which a hard pebble was fastened by means of a kind of wax or gum, the whole strong and heavy enough to knock out a man's brains.

A little farther inward they came upon a number of huts, without any persons in them, and in various spots they found rills of fresh water, and here and there large quantities of the wax or gum aforesaid, of which we beg leave to hand you a small sample herewith, together with one of the said hammers, the wax or gum being of a red colour, and emitting an agreeable smell after being rubbed for some time...

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XXXI.

(1678). FURTHER DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH COAST OF AUSTRALIA BY THE VLIEGENDE ZWAAN, COMMANDER VAN DER WALL, ON HER VOYAGE TERNATE TO BATAVIA, IN FEBRUARY 1678.[*]

[* The ship sailed from Ternate in December, 1677, and arrived at Batavia "by way of Timor and thus along Nova Guinea, without passing through Sunda Strait" (_Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E.I.C. May 8, 1678_).]

_Chart of "the north side of the Southland and surveyed with the flute de Vliegende Zwaan in the month of February, by Jan Van Der Wall," A.D. 1678_ [*].

[* This chart is the only evidence of this voyage known to me. LEUPE, Zuidland, also, has not found anything else concerning it.]

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[Map No. 11. Kaart van de Noordzijde van 't Zuidland (Chart of the North side of the Southland), 1678]

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XXXII.

(1696-1697). FURTHER SURVEYINGS OF THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA BY THE SHIP GEELVINK, COMMANDED BY THE SKIPPER-COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION, WILLEM DE VLAMINGH, THE SHIP NIJPTANG UNDER GERRIT COLLAERT, AND THE SHIP HET WESELTJE, COMMANDED BY CORNELIS DE VLAMINGH. [*]

[* In November and December 1695 the Managers of the E.I. Company (_Resolutions of the Heeren XVII of November 10, December 8 and 10, 1695_) resolved to dispatch a flotilla to the South-land or the land of d'Eendracht, this time starting from the Cape of Good Hope. Willem De Vlamingh was appointed commander-in-chief of the expedition. He was also instructed to inquire into the fate of the ship de Ridderschap van Holland, which had miscarried on her voyage from the Cape to Batavia in 1694.]

A.

_Letter of the Governor-General and Councillors to the Managers of the E.I.C. at the Amsterdam Chamber, November 30, 1697._

...As regards the results of the voyage of the three...vessels aforesaid [de Geelvink, de Nijptang and het Wezeltje], which, pursuant to the letters of the "Heeren XVII" of November 10, 1695, and March 16, 1696, and in accordance with Your Worships' Instructions of April 23 of the same year, have successfully accomplished their voyage by way of the Tristan de Cunha Islands and the Cape of Good Hope, furthermore via the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paulo, and along the land of d'Eendragt or the South-land, and have arrived here in good condition as regards ships and crews, we shall in the main beg leave to refer you to the journals kept on board the said ships, and to their annotations, together with the charts and a number of drawings of the said places, all which will be handed to Your Worships by the bearer of the same, Almoner Victor Victorszoon, who is now homeward bound in the ship Slants Welvaren. The drawings are packed in a case to the number of 11, to wit:

7 of divers places in the South-land, 1 of the island of Tristan de Cunha, 1 of the island of Amsterdam, 1 of the island of St. Paulo, and 1 of the island of Mony [*].

[* I have not found these drawings.--In the seventeenth-century charts Mony is South-west of Java.]

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We besides beg to forward to you a number of larger and smaller disks of wood, brought over from the said South-land by skipper Willem de Vlamingh, concerning which wood he had noted in his journal at the dates December 30 and 31, 1696, and January 2, 1697, that it was odoriferous, a point which we have not been able to verify here, although we have directly ordered a small portion of it to be distilled, and beg to hand you with the rest a small bottle of the oil thus gained for Your Worships' examination...together with a box containing shells collected on the beach, fruits, plants, etc., the whole, however, of little value and decidedly inferior to what elsewhere in India may be found of the same description; so that in general in this part of the South-land, which in conformity with their instructions they have diligently skirted, surveyed and observed, they have found little beyond an arid, barren and wild land, both near the shore and so far as they have been inland, without meeting with any human beings, though now and then they have seen fires from afar, some of the men fancying that two or three times they have seen a number of naked blacks, whom however they have never been able to come near to, or to come to parley with; nor have they found there any peculiar animals or birds, excepting that especially in the Swaene-revier [*] they have seen a species of black swans, three of which they have brought to Batavia alive, which we should have been glad to send over to Your Worships, but that shortly after their arrival here they all of them died one after another. Nor, so far as we know, have they met with any vestiges of the lost ship de Ridderschap van Hollant or of any other bottoms, either in those parts or near the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paulo, so that in sum nothing of any importance has been discovered in this exploratory voyage. Only, we must not omit to mention that in an island situated in 25° S.L. near or before the South-land, they have found fastened to a pole, which though half-rotten stood still erect, a common pewter dish of medium size, which had been flattened and nailed to the pole aforesaid, where they found it still hanging; the said dish bearing the following words engraved on it, still distinctly legible:

[* Opposite to the Rottenest island.]

"A.D. 1616, on the 25th of October there arrived here the ship den Eendragt, of Amsterdam; supercargo Gillis Miebais, of Liege; skipper Dirck Hartog, of Amsterdam; she set sail again for Bantam, on the 27th do.; subcargo Jan Steyn, upper-steersman Pieter Ledocker van Bil."

This old dish which skipper Willem de Vlaming brought us, has now likewise been handed to the Commander [*] in order to be delivered to Your Worships, who with us will no doubt stand amazed that the same has for so long a series of years been preserved in spite of its being exposed to the influence of sky, rain and sun [**].

[* Viz. of the fleet with which this letter was sent to the Netherlands.]

[* The dish would seem to be no longer extant.]

In the same spot they have again erected a new pole with a flattened pewter dish nailed to it in commemoration of their visit, having first had the following inscription engraved on the dish, as is more amply set forth in the Journals:

"A.D. 1697, on the 4th of Febr. there arrived here the ship de Geelvinck, skipper Willem de Vlaming, of Vlieland; assistant Joannes van Bremen, of Copenhaguen; upper-steersman Michiel Blom, of Bremen; the hooker de Nijptang, skipper Gerrit Collart, of Amsterdam; assistant Theodorus Heermans, of do.; upper-steersman Gerrit Gerrits, of Bremen; the galiot 't Weseltje, master Cornelis de Vlaming, of Vlieland; steersman Coert Gerrits, of Bremen; the whole of our flotilla sailed from here on the 12th do., in order to explore the South-land with destination for Batavia" [*]

[* This dish was afterwards brought to Paris by the French expedition, with the ships l'Uranie and la Physicienne (1817-1820), (see L. DE FREYCINET, _Voyage autour du monde, sur les corvettus l'Uranie et la Physicienne_, Historique, Paris, 1825. pp. 449, 482-486) and would seem to be no longer extant there. An evidently inaccurate copy of the inscription engraved on the dish, is here reproduced on a reduced scale from _Planche 14_ of the _Atlas Historique_ accompanying De Freycinet's work.]

[Map No. 12. Opschrift op den schotel, door Willem De Vlamingh op het Zuidland achtergelaten (Inscription on the dish, left by Willem De Vlamingh at the Southland), 1697.]

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And since it is our intention, in order to let Your Worships have the more information and satisfaction touching this voyage, to dispatch to the Netherlands again in the last return-ships sailing from here, the ex-leader of the expedition, Skipper Willem de Vlaming Senior, together with his upper-steersman Michiel Blom, they having not yet returned from Bengal with their ships Geelvinck and Nijptang, but being expected every day, therefore we shall not trouble Your Worships with further particulars, but would beg leave to refer you to their verbal reports for ampler information touching their experiences in the said expedition...

In the Castle of Batavia, on the last day of November, 1697.

B.

_Journal kept by Skipper WILLEM DE VLAMINGH on his voyage with the ships de Geelvinck, Nijptang and T'Weseltje via Trestan da Cunha, the Cape, the islands of Peter and Paul, and the South-land to Batavia, begun on May 3, 1696, and ended March 20, 1697. [*]_

[* This is the only journal of this voyage that I have found in the Old Colonial Archives at the Hague. I have not printed it here--so far as the South-land is concerned, it wil be found printed in LEUPE, Zuidland, pp. 153-184--for two reasons: 1st because it differs only slightly from a journal of the voyage printed in 1701, of which MAJOR, Terra Australis, pp 120-133 gives a translation; and 2nd, because the two charts immediately following in the text (Nos. 13 and 14) give an excellent survey of the results of this voyage of discovery.]

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C.

_Chart of the South-land, made and surveyed by Willem De Vlamingh in 1696-1697. [*]_

[* This chart was not made on the voyage, but is the work of ISAAC DE GRAAFF, cartographer to the E.I.C. from 1690 to 1714.]

[Map No. 13. Kaart van het Zuidland, bezeild door Willem De Vlamingh in 1696-1697 door ISAAC DE GRAAFF (Chart of the South-land, made and surveyed by Willem De Vlamingh in 1696-1697)]

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D.

_Chart of the Malay Archipelago, the north- and west-coasts of Australia, etc. [*]_

[* This chart is likewise the work of ISAAC DE GRAAFF (1690-1714). It gives a survey of the results of De Vlamingh's voyage, and may also do duty as a general record of the Dutch discoveries on the north- and west-coast of Australia in the 17th century. The dotted (uncertain) line on the N.W. coast is supplemented by the chart of Van der Wall's discovery in 1678 (No. 11).]

_(See folding Chart, marked No. 14.)_

[Map No. 14. Uitslaande kaart van den Maleischen Archipel, de Noord- en West-kusten van Australië door ISAAC DE GRAAFF (Folding chart of the Malay Archipelago, the North- and West-coast of Australia) 1690-1714]

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XXXIII.

(1705). FURTHER DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-COAST OF AUSTRALIA BY THE SHIPS VOSSENBOSCH, COMMANDED BY MAARTEN VAN DELFT, DE WAIJER UNDER ANDRIES ROOSEBOOM, OF HAMBURG, AND NIEUW-HOLLAND OR NOVA-HOLLANDIA, COMMANDED BY PIETER HENDRIKSZOON, OF HAMBURG.

A.

_Instructions_ (by the G.-G. and Counc., dated January 20, 1705) _for the officers of the Frigate de Geelvink, along with the Pinnace de Kraanvogel and the Patchiallang Nova Guinea, destined to set out for the outside coast of the said Nova Guinea; as also for the Flute Vossenbos, together with the Pinnace de Doradus [*] and the Patchiallang Nieuw Holland, having destination for the bay of Hollandia Nova._

[* Afterwards replaced by the pinnace de Waijer.]

[Various] considerations have determined us to dispatch you from here on a cruise, in such fashion that the frigate Geelvinck together with the pinnace Craanvogel and the patchiallang Nova Guinea, mentioned in the heading of the present, will first run from here directly for Banda...and from Banda continue their voyage to the coast of Nova Guinea.

In the same manner we annex sailing instructions for the officers of the ship Vossenbosch, which together with the pinnace de Doratus and the patchiallang Nieuw Holland, likewise above mentioned, will first run for our Castle of Concordia in Timor, and then continue her voyage to Hollandia Nova, in such fashion as you will for your guidance find further amplified below...

You will in the first place have diligently to observe, whether there is anywhere a passage from the outside to the inside, and this not only as regards Nova Guinea, but also as concerns Hollandia Nova, so that these orders...will have to be acted up to not only by the officers of the Geelvinck, but also by those of the Vossenbosch; and you should take special care, in case you should find such real or seeming passage, not to run too far into it, lest you should be carried away by currents in the same, and run the risk of accidents; on which account the examination of such passages should nowise be undertaken by the frigate or by the flute, but only by a pinnace or patchiallang; never to any farther distance than the experienced sailors in the same shall deem advisable to enable a safe return out of the said passages, and in no case so far as to get out of anchoring depth...

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And furthermore, as sailing instructions for the officers of the flute [Vossenbosch], over and above that which should be applicable to them in the instructions given up to now, it has been resolved to enjoin them that having reached Timor...they will thence set sail from the north-eastern extremity of the said island, and shape their course south-eastward as far as 11° S. Lat. and 148Ω° Longitude, whence on an eastward course they will run in sight of Van Diemensland in Hollandia Nova, which point is said to consist altogether of islands, a matter that will thus be cleared up. From there this coast will have to be further followed to eastward as far as Aarnemsland and the Drooge eyland, which will have to be skirted and surveyed both on the inside and outside; next, the coast aforesaid will have to be followed as far as Van der Lijns eiland, which you will examine in the same way as you have done the Drooge eyland. You will then continue your voyage as far as Lemmens bogt and Abel Tasmans baay and Waterplaats, and from there run for Cape Van Diemen, which having rounded you will follow the coast of Carpentaria in a northward direction along Sweeris, Van der Ljns, Van Diemens and Staten rivers, until you have passed the Nassauw river, which according to the chart has its mouth beset with numerous sand-banks and shallows. Next, running past Cape Keerweer, the Carpentier river, the Hooge eyland and the Groote vuyle imbocht, together with the Oranjen river, and having rounded the great projecting point of the Meeuen river, you will run along the bay of Keerweer then following, always along the coast in a westerly direction, past the Doodslagers revier, de Waterplaets, until you have got beyond Goening Apy, Moordenaers revier and the Wesels eyland, and also beyond Speelmans river and Rijkloffs bays, after which you will make the point of Ony, whence you will cross over along Keffing in Banda, as has already been noted in passing...

The commander of the flute Vossenbosch aforesaid, in case the whole bight of Nova Hollandia, owing to adverse weather or defects of the ship, cannot be made according to these our instructions so as to enable her to be back in Banda at the end of September, will be empowered with the advice of the ship's council, from the Drooge eylant aforesaid to cross over to the Meeuen river, situated nearly N.W. and S.E. of each other, and thereby to shorten the voyage to that extent, always provided that no other means can be found...

If in...Nova Hollandia you should happen to come upon unknown Indians, of whom you might without violence or risk, and of their own free will, bring two or three with you hither, such men might possibly prove of great use in subsequent voyages, but this point we leave to your own judgment and discretion, as you shall find circumstances to shape themselves.

Victuals and provisions for all your ships for the space of 10 months have been ordered on board here...

In the Castle of Batavia, January 20, 1705.

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B.

_A Report and account [dated October 6, 1705] of what has been discovered and found noteworthy in the voyage of the flute Fossenbosch, the pinnace d'Waijer and the patsjallang Nova Hollandia, dispatched from Batavia to Hollandia Nova aforesaid by way of Timor, by the Supreme Government of India, A.D. 1705; as collected and digested from the written journals [*] and verbal narratives of the officers returned, by the Councillors-Extraordinary HENRICK SWAARDECROOM and CORNELIS CHASTELIJN, commissioned for this purpose; the whole to serve as a report to be delivered to His Worship Governor-General JOAN VAN HOORN and the Lords Councillors of India. [**]_

[* I have not found these journals.]

[* I have not printed this Report, 1st because it has been edited by LEUPE in _Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde van Nederlandsck-Indie_, Nieuwe Volgreeks, I, pp. 193-201; 2nd because an English translation of it is given in MAJOR, Terra Australis, pp. 165-173; 3rd because chart No. 15 excellently represents the results of this voyage. The reproduction being on a reduced scale, some names of places are not so clearly legible as could be wished, but they will be found referred to in my Introduction.]

C.

_Chart of Hollandia Nova, further discovered A.D. 1705 by the ships Vossenbosch, de Wajer and Nova Hollandia, which left Timor on March 2 [*]._

[* On July 12 the ships discontinued their voyage of discovery, and returned to Banda, where they arrived about a fortnight later.]

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[Map No. 15. Kaart van (Chart of) Hollandia Nova, nader ontdekt anno 1705 door (more exactly discovered by) de Vossenbosch, de Waijer en de Nova Hollandia]

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XXXIV.

(1721-1722). EXPLORATORY VOYAGE BY ORDER OF THE WEST-INDIA COMPANY "TO THE UNKNOWN PART OF THE WORLD, SITUATED IN THE SOUTH SEA TO WESTWARD OF AMERICA", BY THE SHIPS AREND AND TIENHOVEN, AND THE AFRICAN GALLEY, COMMANDED BY MR. JACOB ROGGEVEEN, JAN KOSTER (IN THE SHIP AREND), CORNELIS BOUMAN (IN THE SHIP TIENHOVEN), AND ROELOF ROSENDAAL (IN THE AFRICAN GALLEY).

Although the history of this voyage, begun from the Texel on August 1, 1721, does not form part of the subject here treated, I mention it in passing merely to note that among other places the ships touched at Paasch-eiland, and at the Paumatos and Samoa island-groups, and reached Java along the north-coast of New Guinea. The journal of this voyage is preserved in the Hague State Archives and has been edited by the Zealand Genootschap der Wetenschappen. (Middelburg, 1838).

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XXXV.

(1727).THE SHIP ZEEWIJK, COMMANDED BY JAN STEIJNS, LOST ON THE TORTELDUIF ROCK.

A.

_Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E.I.C., October 31, 1728._

...On the 26th of April there arrived here quite unexpectedly with the patchiallang de Veerman a note from the ex-skipper and the subcargo of the Zealand ship Zeewijk, Jan Steijns and Jan Nebbens, written from Sunda Strait...informing us that the said ship, after sailing from the Cape of Good Hope [*] on April 21 [1727], had on June 9 following run aground on the reef situated before the islands called Fredrik Houtmans Abriolhos near the South-land in 29° S.L., also known as the Tortelduijf islands; that favoured by good weather the men had saved from the wreck all kinds of necessaries, and with the loosened woodwork had constructed a kind of vessel, with which they had set out from there on the 26th of March, and arrived in the aforesaid strait on the 21st of April last...

[* The ship had sailed from the Netherlands, November 7, 1726.]

[We] have found...not only that the ex-skipper Jan Steijns has, against his positive instructions and against the protests of the steersmen, too recklessly sailed near the South-land, and thereby been the cause of this disaster, but also that he has attempted to impose upon his superiors by falsified journals, hoping thereby, if possible, to conceal his grievous mistake...

The situation of the islands on whose outermost reef the ship Zeewijk has run aground, is shown by the annexed small chart [*]. They lie out of sight of the South-land, and are partly overgrown with brushwood, edible vegetables, etc...here have been discovered not only a number of wells dug by human hands, but also certain vestiges of a Dutch ship, presumably also lost on the reef aforesaid...

[* To the Netherlands were sent "two charts of the situation of the Reef, and of the islands aforementioned" (charts 16 and 17 _below_).]

[Map No. 16. Kaarte betreffende de schipbreuk der Zeewijk (Chart, concerning the shipwreck of the Zeewijk) 1727.]

[Map No. 17. Kaarte betreffende de schipbreuk der Zeewijk (Chart, concerning the shipwreck of the Zeewijk) 1727.]

B.

_Journal or daily register, kept [by the second steersman Adriaan (Van) de Graeff] on board the sho Zeewijk;_ after the miscarriage of the same, _on the wreck stuck fast on a rocky reef near the unknown Southland;_ and a few days after, _in the island [*]._

[* This journal is of no interest for our purpose, and I mention it _pro memoria_ only. The charts sufficiently record the results.]

C.

_Chart drawn by JAN STEIJNS. (No. 16)._

D.

_Chart drawn by ADRIAAN (VAN) DE GRAAF [*]. (No. 17.)_

[* Later in the XVIII century (_inter alia_ in 1755 and 1765) the West-coast of Australia was again visited by Dutch ships, but what we know about this point is of no significance.]

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XXXVI.

(1756). EXPLORATORY VOYAGE OF THE SHIPS RIJDER. AND BUIS, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT JEAN ETIENNE GONZAL AND FIRST LAVIENNE LODEWIJK VAN ASSCHENS, TO THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA.

_Report of the "Master Cartographer" at Batavia, GERRIT DE HAAN, to the G.-G., and Counc. September 30, 1756._

Pursuant to Your Honourable Worships' highly honoured orders, the undersigned has the honour to submit to Your Honourable Worships a report concerning the voyage made by the small bark-ships de Rijder and de Buijs to the South-land, so far as the same has been touched at by them, as Your Honourable Worships may be pleased further to gather from the annexed charts [*].

[* I have not found either these charts or any journals of this expedition.]

On the 8th of February, 1756 the two ships set sail together from this roadstead...