Chapter 3

[*** It is evident that he did not use all the data then available. Thus, for instance, he left unused those furnished by the Zeewolf (No. VIII, pp. 10 ff. below), and those of the ship Leiden (No. XV, p. 49).]

[**** See the Documents under No IX (pp. 12f.).]

[***** Nos. 13 and 14]

[****** Chart No. 14]

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More to southward we find in the chart of 1627 I. d'Edels landt, made in July 1619 by the ships Dordrecht and Amsterdam, commanded by Frederik De Houtman and Jacob Dedel [*]. To the north of Dedelsland the coast is rendered difficult of access by reefs, the so-called (Frederik De) Houtmans-Abrolhos (now known as the Houtman Rocks), also discovered on this occasion [**]. To the south, in about 32° S. Lat. [***] Dedelsland is bounded by the Landt van de Leeuwin, surveyed in 1622 [****]. Looking at the coast more closely still, we find in about 29° 30, S. Lat. the name Tortelduyff (Turtle Dove Island), to the south of Houtmans Abrolhos, an addition to the chart dating from about 1624 [*****].

[* See the documents sub No. XI (pp. 14 ff.). If NORDENSKI÷LD had known these documents, he would have withheld the second alinea on p. 199 of his interesting _Periplus_.--The doubts, also, concerning Frederik De Houtman's share in the discoveries on the west-coast of Australia, expressed by COLLINGRIDGE (_Discovery_ p. 304), CALVERT (_Discovery_, p. 25), and others, are now likely to be set at rest.]

[** They were then held to lie in 28° 46'. On this point see also the documents of PELSAERT'S shipwreck (No. XXIII, pp. 55 ff).]

[*** About this latitude, between 32° and 33° S. Lat., also De Houtman and Dedel estimated themselves to be, when they first came upon land. They afterwards ran on on a northerly course.]

[**** See the documents sub No. XII (p. 17).]

[***** See No. XVI (p. 50) below, and the highly curious charts Nos. Nos. 16 and 17.]

So much for the highly interesting chart of Hessel Gerritsz of the year 1627. If we compare with it the revised edition of the 1618 chart, we are struck by the increase of our forefathers' knowledge of the south-west coast. This revised edition gives the entire coast-line down to the islands of St. François and St. Pieter (133° 30' E. Long. Greenwich), still figuring in the maps of our day: the Land of Pieter Nuyts, discovered by the ship het Gulden Zeepaard in 1627 [*].

[* See No. XVIII (p. 51) below.]

North of Willemsrivier, this so-called 1618 chart has still another addition, _viz_. G. F. De Witsland, discovered in 1628 by the ship Vianen commanded by G. F. De Witt [*]. In this case, too, it is difficult to determine exactly the longitudes between which the coast-line thus designated is situated. [**] But with great distinctness the chart exhibits the chain of islands of which the Monte Bello and tha Barrow islands are the principal, and besides, certain islands of the Dampier Archipelago, afterwards so called after the celebrated English navigator. I would have these observations looked upon as hints towards the more accurate determination of the site of this De Wit's land, and they may be of the more value since the small scale of the chart renders an exact determination of it exceedingly difficult.

[* See No. XXI (p. 54) below.]

[** See, however, No. XXI., C. _infra_.]

In Gerritsz's chart of 1627, as well as in the so-called 1618 one, we are struck by the fact, that on the west-coast the coast-line shows breaks in various places: De Witt's land is not connected with the coast of Willems-rivier; the coast-line of Eendrachtsland does not run on; there is uncertainty as regards what is now called Shark-bay; the coast facing Houtmans Abrolhos is a conjectural one only; the coast-line facing Tortelduyf is even altogether wanting; Dedelsland and 't Land van de Leeuwin are not marked by unbroken lines. This fragmentary knowledge sufficiently accounts for the fact, that about the middle of the seventeenth century navigators were constantly faced by the problem of the real character of the South-land: was it one vast continent or a complex of islands? And the question would not have been so repeatedly asked, if the line of the west-coast had been more accurately known.

{Page xii}

Tasman and Visscher [*] did a great deal towards the solution of this problem, since in their voyage of 1644 they also skirted and mapped out the entire line of the West-coast of what since 1644 has borne the name of Nieuw-Nederland, Nova Hollandia, or New Holland, from Bathurst Island to a point south of the Tropic of Capricorn. In this case also certain mistakes were committed: they failed, for instance, to recognise the real character of Bathurst Island, which, like Melville Island, they looked upon as forming part of the mainland; but if we make due allowance for the imperfection of their means of observation, we are bound to say that the coast-line has by them been mapped out with remarkable accuracy [**].

[* I pass by certain other exploratory voyages on the westcoast (see e.g. No. XXIV. _infra_, etc.).]

[** Cf. Tasman's chart of 1644 in the Tasman Folio.]

About fifteen years after the west-coast was more accurately mapped out also, to the south of the tropic of Capricorn. In the year 1658 Samuel Volekersen with the ship de Wakende Boei [Floating Buoy], and Aucke Pieters Jonck with the ship Emeloord surveyed a portion of the west-coast, and the charts then made have been preserved [*]. The coast-line from a point near the Tortelduyf down to past Rottenest (the large island on which Volkertsen did not confer a name, preferring to "leave the naming to the pleasure of the Hon. Lord Governor-General") and the present Perth, were surveyed with special care. In the same year the ship Elburg, commanded by Jacob Peereboom, brought in further reports about the Land van de Leeuwin, where she had been at anchor "in Lat. 33° 14' South, under a projecting point" (in Geographe Bay?).

[* See _infra_ No. XXIX., pp. 75 ff., and the charts sub No. XXIX. E, F and I.]

The surveying of the lines of the west-coast was finally brought to a close by the exploratory voyage of Willem De Vlamingh in 1696-7 with the ships Geelvink, Nijptang, and het Wezeltje. A remarkable chart referring to this voyage, here reproduced [*], as well as the ISAAC DE GRAAFF chart [**] of _circa_ 1700, give an excellent survey of the expedition. The whole coast-line from the so-called Willemsrivier (N.W. Cape) to a point south of Rottenest, Garden-island and Perth, was now mapped out. And that, too, with great accuracy. Thus, for instance, the true situation of the belt of islands enclosing Shark Bay was this time observed with unerring exactitude, and Shark Bay itself actually discovered, though its discovery is usually credited to Dampier (August, 1699).

[* No. 13.]

[* No. 14.]

VI.

THE NETHERLANDERS TO EASTWARD OF PIETER NUYTS-LAND.

The south-east- and east-coasts of Australia have never been visited by the ships of the East India Company. Tasman and Visscher [*] discovered Tasmania (Van Diemen's land) in 1642, but were unaware of the existence of what is now known as Bass Strait; they discovered the west-coast of New Zealand (Staten-land) and certain island-groups east of Australia, but did not touch at or sight the east-coast of Australia. Of course, after the discovery of the west-coast of New Zealand and of the island-groups east of Australia [**], the existence of an east-coast of Australia to westward of the regions thus discovered, was an indubitable fact, but this east-coast itself was never visited by the Netherlanders.

[* See the journal of this voyage and the discussion of it in my Tasman Folio.]

[** In the year 1616 Lemaire and Schouten (No. V), and in 1722 Roggeveen (No. XXXIV), also touched at various island-groups east of Australia, but these voyages fall outside the plan of the present work.]

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VII.

OBJECT OF THE DUTCH VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE SOUTH-LAND.--CONCLUSION.

Although it is quite true that the south-east- and east-coasts of the Australian continent were not discovered by Dutch ships, still it is an undoubted fact that, so far as is known up to now, the whole of the Australian coast-line from Prince of Wales Island and York Peninsula and along the Gulf of Carpentaria, the north- and north-west-coast of Australia then following, the whole of the west-coast, and the south-coast down to the islands of St. François and St. Pieter (133° 30' E. L. Greenwich) were in the 17th century discovered by vessels belonging to the Netherlands [*].

[* It is true that Dampier touched at the north-west coast in 1688, but at that time this coast had already been surveyed by Dutch skippers.]

We now come to the question of the object which the Dutch authorities had in view in arranging for the expeditions that ultimately led to these discoveries.

In answering this question we shall have to distinguish between two different categories of voyages: among the voyages undertaken by Netherlanders that have led to discoveries on the coasts of Australia, there are some which were not begun with the express purpose of going in search of unknown lands; but there are others also that were undertaken expressly with this end in view. Of course the second class only can be called exploratory expeditions in a more restricted sense--the voyages of the first category became voyages of discovery through accidental circumstances.

The discoveries on the west- and south-west coasts of Australia down to Tasman's time all bore an accidental character. Eendrachtsland was discovered by accident in the year 1616, and after that time a number of Dutch ships unexpectedly touched at those shores, thus continually shedding additional, though always imperfect light on the question of the conformation of the coast-line. How was it, we may ask, that it was especially after 1616 that this coast was so often touched at, whereas there had never been question of this before that time? The question thus put admits of avery positive answer.

When the Netherlanders set sail for India for the first time, they naturally took the route which they knew to be followed by the Portuguese. After doubling the Cape of Good Hope, they directly continued their voyage on a north-eastern course, along the west-coast, or close by the east-coast, of Madagascar, and then tried to reach India coming from the west. To this route there were grave objections both as regards the winds prevailing in those latitudes, the intense heat soon encountered, the great number of "shallows or foul islands," etc. Besides, the voyage was apt to last very long. In 1611, however, certain ships going from the Netherlands to India followed another route: directly after leaving the Cape they ran on an eastern course (in about 36° S. Lat.) for a considerable time, after which they tried to navigate to Java on a northerly course. The commander of these ships, the subsequent Governor-General {Page xiv} Hendrik Brouwer, wrote to the Managers of the E.I.C. about "this fairway" in highly laudatory terms. They adopted the idea suggested by Brouwer, of henceforth prescribing this route in the instructions for the commanders and skippers sailing for the Indies, leaving them a certain scope certainly as regards the latitude in which the said easterly course was to be followed, and the degree of longitude up to which it was to be kept. As early as the beginning of 1613 such a route was enjoined on the ships' captains by the Managers of the E.I.C. The ship Eendracht also was directed to follow this course: she ran so far to eastward as to come upon the west-coast of Australia, and the same thing happened to subsequent vessels.

Although in the sense thus indicated we must here speak of _acczdental_ discoveries on the west-coast, yet the Dutch authorities were fully aware of the importance of such discoveries. As early as 1618, the Managers of the E.I.C. were considering the possibility of "discovering the Southern Lands in passing," and in a letter of September 9, 1620, with reference to "the discovery of a vast land, situated south of Java...by the ship Eendracht", etc., they expressly enjoined the G.-G. and Counc. to dispatch a ship for the purpose of "resuming this work with some hope of success." The lands discovered were to be mapped out, and efforts made to ascertain "the situation and condition of the country, its productions, what commodities it yields, the character of the natives, their mode of life, etc."

The Managers had not preached to deaf ears: the direction of the Company's affairs in India was at that time in the hands of Jan Pieternoon Coen, who, being himself strongly disposed in favour of extending the Dutch connections with the East [*], eagerly embraced the idea thus suggested, as is proved by the instructions, dated September 29, 1622, for the ships Haring and Hazewind, "destined for the discovery of the South-land". [**] Thus we see that one of the projects contemplated by the Dutch authorities certainly was the dispatching of ships also to the west-coast of Australia for the purpose of further discovery and of definitely ascertaining the real state of affairs there.

[* See below.]

[** See below, No. XIII, B (pp. 18 ff.)]

But not for the purpose of further discovery exclusively, although this continued to be "the principal end in view." The instructions of September 29, 1622, also point to other motives that led the Netherlanders to reckon also with regions to be first discovered, in carrying out their colonial policy. The commanders of this expedition were "specially to inquire what minerals, such as gold, silver, tin, iron, lead and copper, what precious stones, pearls, vegetables, animals and fruits, these lands yield and produce";--the commercial interests of the E.I.C.--and what was more natural in the case of a trading corporation?--were to take a foremost place. Wherever possible, also political connections were to be formed, and the countries discovered "to be taken possession of". The authorities were even considering the idea of at some future date "planting colonies" in some of the regions eventually to be discovered.

Here we have the colonial policy of the E.I.C. of the period to its full extent: commerce, increase of territory, colonies. And these ideas were at the bottom of most of the voyages of discovery to the north-coast of Australia before Tasman, and of Tasman's voyages themselves. The celebrated voyage of the ship Duifken (1605-6) {Page xv} bears a character of intentionality, and if we bear in mind that the same ship's voyage of 1602 had for its professed object the extension of the Company's mercantile connections, we need not be in doubt as to this being equally the motive or one of the motives of the expedition on which she was dispatched in 1605-6. We know, moreover, that New Guinea was then reported "to yield abundance of gold." The three principles of colonial policy just mentioned also underlay the voyage undertaken by Jan Carstensz in 1623; for we know that this commander got the instructions drawn up for the ships Haring and Hazewind, but not then carried into effect, since these ships did not sail on their ordained expedition [*]. These principles are found set forth with more amplitude than anywhere else in the instructions drawn up for Tasman and his coadjutors in 1642 and 1644 [**]. The voyages, then planned, were to be undertaken "for the enlargement, increase and improvement of the Dutch East India Company's standing and commerce in the East."

[* See below, p. 21, Note 1.]

[** See these instructions in my Life of Tasman, pp. 131 ff. and 147 ff.]

In the instructions for Tasman's voyage of 1644 the G.-G. and Counc., who drew them up, could still refer to "the express commands of the 'Heeren Maijoores" [*] to "attempt the discovery of Nova Guinea and other unknown Eastern and Southern lands." And it is a fact certainly, that in the first half of the seventeenth century the Governors-General who planned these exploratory voyages were in their endeavours supported by the Managers of the E.I.C. in the mother country [**]: it was especially Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1619-1623 and 1627-1629), Hendrik Broulwer (1632-1636) and Antonio van Diemen (1636-1645), who were most efficiently backed in their efforts for this purpose by their principals at home. Among these Governors-General Van Diemen holds the foremost place as regards the furtherance of discoveries by Netherlanders in the Far East: in the Pacific and on, "the mainland coasts of Australia." It is, with complete justice, therefore, that a foreign author mentions the name of Van Diemen as "a name which will ever rank among the greatest promotors of maritime discovery".[***]

[* Meaning the Managers of the E.I.C.]

[** See also the instructions for the voyage of 1636, p. 64 _infra_.]

[*** BURNEY, Chronological History, III, p. 55. Speaking of Van Diemen, we must not omit to call the reader's attention to sentiments such as the following: "Whoever endeavours to discover unknown lands and tribes, had need to be patient and long-suffering, noways quick to fly out, but always bent on ingratiating himself" (p. 65 _infra_), a piece of advice elsewhere taking the form of a command, e.g. p. 66: "You will not carry off with you any natives against their will". And, sad to say, such injunctions were often imperiously necessary!]

And this same eminent manager of the Company's interests in India lived to see at the end of his official career far narrower views about colonial policy not only take root in the mother-country (where isolated opinions that way had found utterance long before), but even get the upper hand in the Company's councils. Van Diemen's policy came ultimately to be condemned in the Netherlands, whatever homage might there be paid to his eminent talents, whatever acknowledgment vouchsafed to his great merits! It may almost be called a matter of course that great differences of opinions were bound surely, if slowly, to crop up between the Managers on one hand, and able Governors-General on the other, touching the line of conduct to be followed by the Netherlanders in the East. The Managers were in the first place the directors of a trading company: they hardly looked beyond the requirements of a purely mercantile policy. Eminent Governors-General on the contrary were conscious {Page xvi} of being more than this: they were not only the representatives of a body of merchants, they were also the rulers of a colonial empire which in the East was looked up to with dread, with hatred also sometimes, to be sure, but at the same time with respect and awe! There lay the ultimate cause of the fundamental difference of opinion respecting the colonial policy to be followed [*]. Van Diemen dreamt a bold dream of Dutch supremacy in the East and of the East India Company's mastery "of the opulent Indian trade." To this end he deemed necessary: "harassing of the enemy [**], continuation and extension of trade, together with the discovering or new lands." But if he had lived to read the missive [***], his grand projects would have received an effectual damper as he perused the letter addressed to him by the Lords Managers, on September 9, 1645, and containing the passage following: "[We] see that Your Worships have again taken up the further exploration of the coast of Nova Guinea in hopes of discovering silver- and gold-mines there. We do not expect great things of the continuation of such explorations, which more and more burden the Company's resources, since they require increase of yachts and of sailors. Enough has been discovered for the Company to carry on trade, provided the latter be attended with success. We do not consider it part of our task to seek out gold- and silver-mines for the Company, and having found such, to try to derive profit from the same; such things involve a good deal more, demanding excessive expenditure and large numbers of hands...These plans of Your Worships somewhat aim beyond our mark. The gold- and silver-mines that will best serve the Company's turn, have already been found, which we deem to be our trade over the whole of India..."

[* I have dealt at some length with this subject in Vol. III ('s-Gravenhage, NIJHOFF, 1895) of my _Bouwstoffen voor de geschiedenis der Nederlanders in den Maleiscken Arckipel_, pp. LVI ff.]

[** The eighty years' war was still going on]

[*** Van Diemen died April 19, 1645.]

Is it wonderful that, where the supreme authorities of the E.I.C. regarded matters in this light, there was no longer question of exploratory voyages of any importance? The period of the great voyages of discovery undertaken by Netherlanders, accordingly terminates with Van Diemen's death. It is true that occasionally voyages of this nature were planned [*]; that Australia--not to go further afield--was also visited now and then in later times, but such visits either bore an incidental character, or formed part of expeditions undertaken for other purposes [**], the occasion being then used to "obtain once for all some full and reliable information touching the situation and coast-lines" of lands previously discovered.

[* See p. 72 and Note below: 1645 and 1646.]

[** Now, for instance (No. XXVIII, 1648), for the purpose of seeking another route than the customary one from Batavia to Banda, at another time (No. XXIX, 1656-1658) to inquire into the fate of a shipwrecked crew; or to prevent the voyages of William Dampier from entailing unpleasant consequences for the Dutch E.I.C. (1705, No. XXXIII).--Thus, in 1718, a Swiss of the name of J. P. Purry submitted to the Managers of the E.I.C. proposals for the further discovery of Nuytsland. The proposal was duly reported on, but ultimately laid aside _(Resolutions of the "Heeren XVII", Oclober 3, 1718, and March 11 1719; Resolution of the Amsterdam Chamber, April 17, 1719)_.]

Still, we must not omit to mention that at the close of the seventeenth century a desire to contribute to the enlargement of geographical knowledge for a moment got a voice in the question of equipping vessels for expeditions sent out for this purpose. And this scientific impulse originated in the mother-country [*]. The impulse was undoubtedly given by the well-known burgomaster of Amsterdam and Manager of the E. I. C., _Nicolaas Corneliszoon Witsen, LL D_, author of the work entitled {Page xvii} _Noord en Oost Tartarije_. He took a diligent part in the preparations for the voyage of skipper De Vlamingh: "We are having the vessels manned mainly with unmarried and resolute sailors; I have directed a draughtsman to join the expedition that whatever strange or rare things they meet with, may be accurately depicted". And Witsen anxiously awaited the outcome of De Vlamingh's expedition. He was disappointed by the results: the commander had indeed "surveyed and made soundings on the coasts, but had made few landings." At the same time Manager Witsen mentions not without some satisfaction the results of this voyage, meagre though they may be in his eyes, in letters to friends both at home and abroad, imparting to them what he has learned on the subject [**]. A few years later, however, he bitterly complains of the indifference of many of his countrymen in those days: "What does Your Worship care about curious learning from India," he grumbles in a letter to one of his friends [***] "no, sir, it is money only, not learned knowledge that our people go out to seek over there, the which is sorely to be regretted."

[* _Resolution of the "Heeren XVII", August 25, 1692; see also p. 60 infra._]

[** As regards this see J F GEBHARD _Het leven van Witsen_ I., pp. 480 f.: II. pp. 260 f. (Letter of Witsen to "Dr. Martin Lister, fellow of the Colledge of Physicians and R. S., concerning some late observations in Nova Hollandia" October 3, 1698), pp. 299 f. (Letter to Gijsbert Cuper at Deventer, 1698?) pp. 407, 414, 416]