{Page 68}
C.
Journal of the voyage to Nova Guinea, 1636.
...In the early morning of Friday [June 6]...we arrived before the native village of Taranga...
On Monday the 9th do. At daybreak the wind was S.E...we set sail from Taranga...shaping our course to the S.S.W.
We could take no latitude at noon...
In the first watch we sailed S.S.W. the space of about 3 glasses; the wind was S.E. with a fair breeze, and afterwards E.S.E.; we sailed to southward for the time of 12 glasses; at the beginning of the day-watch the wind was E.N.E. with a fresh breeze; we sailed S.E. for about eight glasses...
On Tuesday the 10th do. In the morning about breakfast-time the wind blew from the E.N.E. as before...
We estimated ourselves to have sailed 9½ miles on a generally Southern course from last night to the present night.
On Wednesday the 11th do. Course held S.S.E...We had sailed on a Southern and S. by E. course about 11 miles by estimation during the last 24 hours...
On Thursday the 12th do. The wind E.S.E. as before...At noon we were in Lat. 10° 2', so that I find we are farther to southward as would accord with our estimation and our courses kept, on which account I believe the current must have driven us a good deal to S.S.E.. In the afternoon the sky was overcast, the wind E.S.E. and S.E. by E. with a light breeze; we sailed to S. by W. with our mainsails set. Towards the evening the water became all of a sudden very smooth and of a pale colour; after sunset we cast the lead in 40 fathom good anchoring ground, fine sand, but could see no land: we took in our foresail and sailed in the night with the mainsail only to avoid press of sail. We estimated ourselves to have sailed about 12 miles on a general S.W. by S. course during the last 24 hours. In the night the wind was E. by S., E.S.E. and S.E. by E. with fine, lovely, clear weather and a top-gallant gale; throughout the night our average course was S., we cast the lead now and then in 42, 39, 38, 36 and 25 fathom good anchoring-ground.
On Friday the 13th do., the wind was nearly S.E., with a top-gallant gale and smooth water; course S.S.W. and S. by W.; the water was very pale in colour, but we could see no land; the weather was lovely and clear; at noon we found ourselves to be in 10° 50' S.L.
Shortly after noon we cast the lead in 32 fathom good anchoring-ground; at four glasses in the afternoon we saw the land S.E. by S. of us, at about 6 miles' distance from us it was a low-lying coast with small hills; about 6 miles farther to westward we also saw land, not connected with the first land, but upwards of three miles distant from the same.
Towards the evening it fell a calm; at sunset there was a faint breeze from the S.S.E.; we made out the extremity of the land to be at about 3 miles' distance S.E. by S. of us; we were still in 32 fathom good anchoring-ground; we accordingly went over to eastward, but when shortly before the setting of the watch, the wind went down still more and began to turn to the N.W., we dropped anchor in 29 fathom good anchoring-ground.
{Page 69}
On Saturday the 14th do. the current began to set to the S.E. in the morning, and the wind to blow hard from the E.S.E., so that we could not carry mainsails then; we weighed anchor and set sail on a South and South-by-east course. The water gradually shallowed, and seeing that we could not make the easternmost land, we ran to the westernmost, where we came to anchor at about a musket-shot's distance from the land in 10 fathom good anchoring-ground. Close along the shore the land is somewhat rock and reefy here; this land extends here about 3 miles S.E. by S. and N.W. by N., both slightly more to South and North. In the afternoon we sent out our small boat to take soundings close inshore; on returning the men reported that until they came to the reefs they had found no less than 3½ fathom good anchoring-ground. Off the point near which we lay at anchor, a river ran landinward; we hoisted the white flag, and caused the little boat to paddle close along the shore. We saw smoke, indeed, in many parts of the inland, but no natives, houses or vessels. This land is not high, chiefly level, thickly covered with trees, and with a sandy beach at the seaside. We had taken no latitude at noon; the tide seems to run from the N.W. here; in the night at the latter end of the first watch we could take the latitude by the stars and found it to be 12° 8' South.
On Sunday the 15th do. at daybreak the wind blew hard from the E.S.E.; it was mainsail weather; we convened the Plenary Council and resolved with the same further to explore this land to the north-west and to use all possible diligence to get knowledge touching the island of Timor, as will be found more amply set forth in this day's Resolution.
As we were weighing our anchor, a lanyard and a pulley got broken; we shaped our course to N.W. by N. and N.N.W. Having sailed the space of about 2 miles, we came to a point, between which point and another point, a distance of about 4 miles, the land extends W.N.W. and E.S.E. with hardly any curve, and with rocks and reefs along the shore. Off this point the surf and the breakers ran very strongly, as if there were a shoal there, seeing that the wind and the current were opposed to each other. We therefore sailed along the coast at less than a mile's distance from the same in 12, 11 and 10 fathom good anchoring-ground. In many places we saw great clouds of smoke landinward, but no fruit-trees, houses, vessels or natives; the land seems to be quite wild. Towards the evening we cast anchor in 9 fathom good anchoring-ground at about half a cannonshot's distance from the land; the aforesaid point was E. by N. of us at upwards of half a mile's distance; during the night we had violent squalls from the E.S.E. with a thick, foggy sky; landinward we observed a number of fires.
On Monday the 16th do. in the early morning the wind blew from the E.S.E. as before with sudden violent squalls. As we were weighing our anchor, the lanyard-pulley broke, and shortly after our anchor-cable snapped off at about three fathom's distance from the anchor, so that we lost the latter. As we were setting our foresail, a musket-shot was fired from the Yacht Wesel, upon which we dropped our other anchor again; when towards the evening the weather had somewhat improved, we sent our orangbay to the Wesel, to learn the meaning of the musket-shot; when the men returned, they informed us that the Wesel had also lost an anchor, but that the buoyrope had remained entire, so that we remained here till the following day in order to recover the same.
On Tuesday the 17th do. towards noon we were informed that the buoy-rope of the Wesel had broken of its own accord close to the anchor, so that they had also lost their anchor, upon which forthwith weighing the anchors of both the Yachts, we found that the cables had also been damaged through rubbing against hidden stones and rocks.
{Page 70}
As beforementioned, the coast here extends W.S.W. for the space of about 4 miles, with hardly any curve; at 3/8 of a mile's distance from the land there is already 8 and 7 fathom, good clayey bottom; the wind still blew from the S.E. and E.S.E. with a steady stiff gale; towards the evening we came to anchor in 7 fathom good anchoring-ground, at about half a mile's distance from the land, having the point E.S.E. of us at less than a mile's distance.
Up to now we have seen no men, vessels or houses; we should certainly have landed with the boats here and there, but that they were both of them stove in, and had first to be thoroughly overhauled before they could be used. During the night the weather was lovely and calm.
On Wednesday the 18th do., the wind blowing from the E.S.E., the weather was calmer, fairer and steadier than before. We gave a coat of tar to both our yachts, and remained at anchor the whole of this day, chiefly in order to see if we could not get sight of natives here or there and come to parley with the same, but we waited in vain for them. During the night the weather was bright, fair and clear, the wind blowing from the S.S.E., S.E., and E.S.E.
On Thursday the 19th do. at daybreak, the wind being E.S.E. with fair weather and a weak breeze, we weighed anchor and shaped our course to W.S.W., slightly more to westward. (The land here extends with a great curve and river as far as the Witte Hoeck [White point], known by the white sand-hill near the strand when you come from the east).
At 4 glasses after breakfast we came near a stony, rocky reef, which we kept outside or to seaward of in 8 and 9 fathom. The eastern extremity of it is less than a mile to the S.W., slightly more southerly, of the Witte Hoeck, and the western extremity upwards of mile to the S.W. by S., slightly more southerly, of the same; the reef extends S.E. by S. and N.W. by N.; it is not very long or broad, and there were violent breakers upon it.
When we had weathered the reef, we again ran W.S.W. at less than a mile's distance from the land, in 8, 9, 7 and 5 fathom good anchoring-ground. From the Witte Hoeck the land trends nearly to W.S.W. with a slight curve, as far as one can see; close to the sea the beach is chiefly sandy, with small, low sand-hills here and there.
The whole day we saw a good deal of smoke landinward; at noon we were in exactly 11° S.L. From this Witte Hoeck the land trends to W.S.W., slightly westerly, with a slight curve for the space of upwards of 3 miles; from there to W.N.W. with a strong curve the space of upwards of two miles, as far as a point, off which point, at less than half a mile's distance to N.E. by E., there is a small island on all sides surrounded by shoals and reefs; beyond this island the land falls off to the S.W., making a curve of 2 miles at least but afterwards it trends to the N.W. again. This island bears from the land about N.W. and S.E.; the beach is sandy with reefs here, and there.
At sunset it fell a calm, and we came to anchor in 8 fathom good anchoring-ground at about a mile's distance from the land, having the island S.S.E. of us at upwards of a mile's distance. Shortly after we saw two fires on the beach beyond the island. We estimated ourselves to have sailed about 8 miles this day; during the night the wind blew from the S. and S.S.W. with lovely weather. We found little or no current running here.
{Page 71}
On Friday the 20th do. we set sail at daybreak with a weak breeze from the S.; we kept mainly at a mile's distance from the land in 7 and 7½ fathom good anchoring-ground. In the course of the day the wind went over to N.E., after which we ran N.W.; at noon we got near the Roode Hoeck [red point], situated N.W. of the island aforesaid at about 5 miles' distance; upwards of half a mile's distance from here the land falls off to W. by W.; from this point a large reef was seen running out to sea the length of upwards of 1½ mile, which reef being unable to weather because we sailed so close to the wind, we came to anchor in 7½ fathom good anchoring-ground, at half a mile's distance from the land; the Roode Hoeck was S.W. and S.W. by S. of us at upwards of half a mile's distance; we saw smoke rising in various places.
On Saturday the 21st do. we set sail with a S.S.E. and S.E. by S. wind, a weak breeze and lovely weather. Here, from the point, the land extended to S. by W. and S.S.W. as far as one could see, with a slight curve only. The reef above referred to runs out to sea in a northward direction from the Roode Hoeck upwards of two miles, and from there very far to westward, upwards of 1½ mile from the land. It consists of sandy shoals, having a small hill or rock above water; alongside it the depth was 7, 6, 5 and 4 fathom, uneven bottom. And since the wind blew from the S.E. by S. as before, so that we could not make the land again, we resolved to run N.E. We accordingly shaped our course to the N.N.E. for the purpose of touching at Timor with the help of Almighty God, and take surveyings of the same.
In or near this land, which in our chart [*] we have named Van Diemensland, we have seen no men, houses, fruit-trees or prows, although we ventured to inspect it paddling with our orangbay close along the shore; the boats of both the yachts being unfit for use, stove in, and under repair. About 2 glasses after noon, the wind was N.E., N.N.E., and N.E. by N. with calm and steady weather. At sunset we estimated ourselves to have the Roode Hoeck S.S.E. of us at 6 miles' distance; during the night there was a weak breeze from the E.S.E., N.E. by E. and also N.E.; course held N.N.W., N. by W. and also N., with bright, lovely and clear weather.
[* This chart is wanting.]
On Sunday the 22nd do. in the morning the wind was E.S.E. with a lovely breeze and top-gallant weather; course held N.E. At noon we took the latitude and found it to be 10° 10' South...[*]
[* The further progress of the voyage has no interest connected with our present subject.]
See Frederik Muller and Co's Tasman Folio.
A.
See Frederik Muller and Co's Tasman Folio.
B.
Letter of the Governor-General and Councillors to the Governor of Banda, November 29, 1644.
...We shall not recount here how...Tasman had coasted along the land of Nova Guinea and the South-land without finding any channel or opening up to Willems River, from where he has returned hither through Sunda Strait, but would refer Your Worship to the annexed extract from their journals, which we request you to peruse with attention, and to order...Dortsman [*] or any other person whom you shall charge with the voyage to Timorlaut, in case their plans touching these islands should succeed speedily and prosperously, and they should still have time at their disposal, to make for the great river which our men have christened Waterplaets, in 12 degrees Southern Latitude and 160¼ degrees Longitude, to sail up the same river landinward, in which there is the less difficulty, since the river, being deep and wide, can be sailed up by the yacht, which can conveniently turn, veer and tack in it...
[* Adriaan Dortsman had been ordered on a voyage of discovery east and south of Banda. This voyage took place in 1645 and 1646, but Australia was not visited on that occasion.]
{Page 73}
A.
A.
Instructions for the officers of the Yacht den Leeuwerik...June 27, 1648.
Having learned by the ships last arrived here from Banda, what poor rice-crops they had in those quarters last year, so that, had not they received some timely supplies of this grain from Amboyna, they would have been put to exceeding inconvenience; and having besides seen from the letter of Governor Cornelis Willemse van Outhoorn that also this year they are under serious apprehensions of the like scarcity, in case supplies from Batavia should be long in coming.
Therefore we have lately resolved in our Council to make an express shipment thither at this time of year...chiefly and principally that, if this voyage should have the expected success, which may the Almighty grant in His mercy, we may in future be sure that such voyage could be made every year after the arrival of the first ships from there, and the said important Government be by us duly assisted...as regards rice and other necessaries.
This Yacht, which we consider to be of strong build and a good sailer, having by us been assigned for this purpose...you will weigh anchor in the name of God early to-morrow, set sail, and use your utmost endeavours to get clear of Sunda Strait as soon as possible, and thus gain the open...
As soon as you shall have got clear of the Prince islands...you will from there shape your course directly to the south, straight across the sea, thus sailing by the wind without looking right or left, until you shall have come to 32 or 33 degrees S.L., where with the help of God you will meet with the westerly trade-winds; and when you are quite sure of having got the same, without the least doubt on your part, you will direct your course to the South-land, trying to make it and get it alongside in 25 or 26 degrees Southern Latitude, where the coast is generally of easy access, the land being of moderate height and somewhat resembling the coast of England.
Having reached the South-land in such fashion as we have just indicated, you will keep the coast alongside, and not leave the same, but use your best endeavours to skirt it, not parting with it until you have weathered the Vuylen hoecq (Foul Point); after which you may leave the coast, and cross over from there, next using the easterly and south-easterly winds which you will meet with in those waters, for running in sight of the islands of Arou, Tenember and Damme or any of these, and then making straight for Banda with the utmost expedition, which port you will with God's help conveniently reach in the manner hereinbefore described.
As we have already said, the accomplishment of this voyage at this season of the year (in which only strong headwinds are blowing along the ordinary route to Banda and other quarters nearer home) is of very great importance to the Honourable Company...
We herewith hand you a new chart of the South-land, which you may avail yourselves of in due time, and we noways doubt you will find the same of great use to {Page 74} you, of which we hope afterwards to receive your report. Seeing that the waters you are going to navigate are for the greater part little known as yet, and that accordingly many noteworthy things are not unlikely to occur in your voyage, we hereby likewise earnestly enjoin you, not only to keep a complete and elaborate journal of this voyage, but also to make due observation of the direction of the winds, the trend of the coasts, the situation of bays, inlets and capes, and properly to note and make drawings of the same, that on your return you may be able to hand us a full and perfect report of the whole undertaking, thus furnishing fresh material for the correction of the charts now in use, and perhaps also of the courses to be kept...
Given in the Castle of Batavia, June 27, A.D. 1648.
(Signed) CORNELIS VAN DER LIJN, FRANÇOIS CARON, CAREL RENIERSZ, JOCHUM R. VAN DEUTECOM, and GERARD DEMMER.
B.
Letter of the G.-G. and Councillors to the Managers of the E.I.C., January 18, 1649.
...[We have dispatched to Banda] the yacht den Leeuwerck on the 28th of June of last year...through Sunda Strait, in order, if possible, to make the voyage to Banda along this route north of the South-land. Which undertaking has succeeded to our complete satisfaction but especially to the great joy of our Banda people, for which the Almighty be praised...since this success is undoubtedly of great advantage to the General Company, and makes it quite sure that in cases of shipwreck or other accidents we shall always be able to send succour and supplies to Banda and the quarters on this side of it along this newly discovered route...which, on receipt of the first advices in May next, may be done by the route abovementioned along the South-land. How this voyage was undertaken and successfully accomplished as far as Banda in the space of two months and 23 days, your Worships may be pleased to gather from the annexed daily journal and Chart [*] of Skipper Jan Jansz Zeeuw.
[* Journal and chart are both of them wanting.]
Written in Your Worships' Castle of Batavia, this 18th of January, A.D. 1649.
Your Worships' faithful servants the Governor-General and Councillors of India:
CORNELIS VAN DER LIJN, F. CARON, CAREL REINIERS, J. P. VAN DUTECUM, GERARD DEMMER.
{Page 75}
A.
Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E.I.C, December 4, 1656.
...On the 7th June there arrived here...from the South-land the cock-boat of the yacht den Vergulden Draeck with 7 men, to our great regret reporting that the said yacht had run aground on the said South-land in 30 2/3 degrees, on April the 28th, that besides the loss of her cargo, of which nothing was saved, 118 men of her crew had perished, and that 69 men who had succeeded in getting ashore, were still left there. For the purpose of rescuing these men, and of attempting to get back by divers or other means any part of the money or the merchandises that might still be recoverable, we dispatched thither on the said errand on the 8th of the said month of June [*], the flute de Witte Valeq, together with the yacht de Goede Hoop, which after staying away for some time were by violent storms forced to return without having effected anything, and without having seen any men or any signs of the wreck, although the said Goede Hoop has been on the very spot where the ship was said to have miscarried...[**]
[* The day following that on which the report regarding the Vergulde Draak had reached Batavia.]
[** Some of the men of the Goede Hoop had gone ashore, but had not returned.--The Witte Valk had touched at the Southland, but by "bad weather and the hollow sea" had been compelled to return without having effected anything.]
In the Castle of Batavia, December 4, A.D. 1656.
Your Worships' Obedt. Servts. the Governor-General and
Councillors of India
JOAN MAETSUYKER, CAREL HARTZINCK, JOAN CUNAEUS, NICOLAES
VERBURCH, D. STEUR.
B.
Daily Register of Batavia, 1657.
[July] the 8th. Late in the evening there arrived in the road-stead here, and came to anchor, the small flute de Vinck of the Zealand Chamber, which had sailed [from the Netherlands] on December 24, 1656...she came hither via the Cape of Good Hope and the South-land...
The skipper further reports that, according to the order and instructions handed him by Commander [*] Riebeeck, he had touched at the South-land, but it being the bad monsoon on the said coast, they had found it impossible to sail along the coast so far {Page 76} as to look after the wreck and the men of the lost ship den Draeck; for in the night of June 8 (having the previous day seen all signs of land, and the weather being very favourable) they had come to anchor in 29° 7' S.L., and the estimated Longitude of 130° 43', in 25 fathom coarse sandy bottom mixed with coral; the following morning at daybreak they saw the breakers on the reef at the end of which they were lying at anchor, and on one side ahead of them, the South-land, which there showed as a low-lying coast with dunes; upon which they weighed anchor and continued sailing along the coast in order to keep near the land, which was still in sight the day following; but the weather began to become so much worse and the breakers on the coast were so violent, that it was a fearful sight to behold, upon which they shaped their course a little more to seaward. On the 10th and 11th they kept sailing along the coast in 40 or 50 fathom, but seeing their chances of touching at the coast this time get less and less, and the weather continuing very unruly with violent storms of thunder and lightning, they resolved to keep off the coast, and drifted on without sail. On the 12th they made small sail, the wind continuing to blow from the S. and S.S.W., and also from the S.S.E., and shaped their course for Batavia...
[* Of the Cape of Good Hope.]
C.
Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E. I. C., December 14, 1658.
...By our previous letters we informed Your Worships that on the first of January last we dispatched from here to the...Southland the galiots De Waeckende Boeij and Emeloort, for the purpose of making search for the crew of the lost ship de Vergulden Draecq, and of ascertaining whether they were still alive. The said ships returned to this place on the 19th of April following, after exploring the coast about the place of the disaster each of them for herself, since they had got separated; having in different places sent manned boats ashore, and fired many cannon shots time after time both by day and night, without, however, discovering any Netherlanders or any traces of the wreck, excepting a few planks [etc.]...which must undoubtedly be looked upon as remnants of the said ship...We herewith hand you the journals of the galiots [*] aforesaid...together with the small charts of the coast drawn up on board each of them[**]...
[* See D and H infra]
[* See E, F and I infra.]
Written in Your Worships' Castle of Batavia, December 14, 1658.
JOAN MAETSUYKER, CAREL HARTSINCK, A.D. V. v. OULDTSHOORN, N. VERBURCH, D. STEUR, PIETER STERTHEMIUS.
{Page 77}
D.
Daily Journal kept by skipper SAMUEL VOLKERSENN on board the flute de Waeckende Boeij, sailing in the same from Battavia to the Southland. A.D. 1658 [*].
[* On December 21, 1657 the G.-G. and Counc. resolved to dispatch to the South-land the ships de Wakende Boei and Emeloord, for the purpose of making another attempt at rescuing what might still be rescued of the men, the cargo, etc. of the Vergulde Draak; "and also to get perfect knowledge, once for all, of the situation and trend of the said coast, with its shoals, reefs and shallows." The journals of the skippers of both vessels are preserved in the Hague State Archives. After mature consideration I have deemed it needless to print the said journals here, seeing that MAJOR, Terra Australis, refers to them on pp. 77-90, and gives the substance of the information contained in them (LEUPE, Zuidland, pp. 105 ff. has printed certain parts of the two journals). But above all, the charts made on this expedition, which are here carefully reproduced, give a more convenient survey of the results of it than could be done by the journals themselves, which for the rest contain little that is of interest for our present purpose.]
E.
Chart of Eendrachisland, 1658, on a small scale.
{Page 78}
F.
Chart of Eendrachisland, 1658, on a larger scale.
{Page 79}
G.
A brief account of the west-coast of the South-land.
The South-land has sandy dunes forming many points on the sea-side; the dunes all consist of loose sand overgrown with grass into which a man will sink up to his ankles, and leave deep footprints on withdrawing his feet.
About a mile more or less off shore, there is as a rule a rocky reef, on which the breakers may be seen to dash violently in many places, the depth above the reef being in several places, 1, 1½ and even 2 fathom, so that pinnaces and boats may get over it for the purpose of landing, there being deeper water close inshore, but all of it with a rocky, sharp coral-bottom, so that it is difficult to land there, and much harder still to keep a pinnace at anchor with a drag; except in a place about 9 miles north of the island, where there are three rocks close to the shore, which are connected by a rocky reef, behind which you may conveniently lie at anchor and effect a landing with pinnaces or boats; but the bottom is foul and rocky everywhere.
Inward, the land is pretty high, with hills of even height, but barren and wild to look at, except near the island where a great many trees are seen.
In slightly under 32° S. Lat. there is a large island, at about 3 miles' distance from the mainland of the South-land; this island has high mountains, with a good deal of brushwood and many thornbushes, so that it is hard to go over; here certain animals are found, since we saw many excrements, and besides two seals and a wild cat, resembling a civet-cat, but with browner hair. This island is dangerous to touch at, owing to the rocky reefs which are level with the water and below the surface, almost along the whole length of the shore; between it and the mainland there are also numerous rocks and reefs, and slightly more to southward there is another small island.
This large island to which we have been unwilling to give a name, leaving this matter to the Honourable Lord Governor-General's pleasure, may be seen at 7 or 8 miles' distance out at sea in fine weather. I surmise that brackish or fresh water might be obtainable there, and likewise good firewood, but not without great trouble.
Two good and certain landmarks of the West-coast of the Southland:
Firstly: If in these regions you observe about 11 degrees variation of the compass, you may be sure of not being at more than 18 or 20 miles' distance from the land.
Secondly: If you see rock-weed floating about, you may be assured that you will sound the bottom in 70, 60, 50, 40, 30 fathom or less.
At foot:
Your obedient Servant
(signed)
SAMUEL VOLCKERSEN.
H.
Daily Journal kept by Skipper AUCKE PIETERS JONCK, skipper of the galiot Emeloordt, on her voyage from Battavia to the South-land, A.D. 1658 [*]
[* See preceding note.]
{Page 80}
I.
Chart of Eendrachisland, 1658
{Page 81}
[* 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 31½ degrees S.L., and the estimated longitude of 117°, where, at about 2½ 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...
[* 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.]
{Page 82}
No. 11. Kaart van de Noordzijde van 't Zuidland (Chart of the North side of the Southland), 1678
{Page 83}
[* 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.]
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.]