VI.

[Illustration: ]No. 18. Typus orbis terrarum uit GERARDI MERCATORIS Atlas...De Novo...emendatus...studio JUDOCI HONDIJ, 1632.

No. 18. Typus orbis terrarum uit GERARDI MERCATORIS Atlas...De Novo...emendatus...studio JUDOCI HONDIJ, 1632.

Whence all those names? The answer to this question, and at the same time various other new features, are furnished by the chart ofHessel Gerritsz.of 1627 [*] and by the one dated 1618 [**], in which corrections have been introduced after date. The 1627 chart is specially interesting.Gerritsz., at the time cartographer in ordinary to the E.I.C., has "put together this chart of the Landt van d'Eendracht from the journals and drawings of the Steersmen", which means that he availed himself of authentic data [***]. He acquitted himself of the task to admiration, and has given a very lucid survey of the (accidental) discoveries made by the Dutch on the west-coast of Australia. In this chart of 1627 the Land of d'Eendracht takes up a good deal of space. To the north it is found bounded by the "Willemsrivier", discovered in July 1618 by the shipMauritius, commanded byWillem Janszoon[****]. According to the chart this "river" is in about 21° 45' S. Lat., but there are no reliable data concerning this point. If we compare Hessel Gerritsz's chart with those on which about 1700 the results of Willem De Vlamingh's expedition of 1696-7 were recorded [*****] we readily come to the conclusion that the ship Mauritius must have been in the vicinity ofVlaming Head (N.W. Cape)on theExmouth Gulf. From Willem Janszoon's statements it also appears that on this occasion in 22° an "island (was) discovered, and a landing effected." The island extended N.N.E. and S.S.W. on the west-side. The land-spit west of Exmouth Gulf may very possibly have been mistaken for an island. From this point then the Eendrachtsland of the old Dutch navigators begins to extend southward. To the question, how far it was held to extend, I answer that in the widest sense of the term ('t Land van Eendracht or theSouth-land, it reached as far as the South-coast, at all events past thePerthof our day) [******]. In a more restricted sense it extended to about 25° S.' Lat. In the latter sense it included the entrance toShark Bay, afterwards entered by Dampier, andDirk Hartogs island, likewise discovered by Dirk Hartogs.

[* No. 4 on p.9infra.]

[**No. 5(folding map).]

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

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

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

[****** ChartNo. 14]

{Page xi}

More to southward we find in the chart of 1627I. d'Edels landt, made in July 1619 by the shipsDordrechtandAmsterdam, commanded byFrederik De HoutmanandJacob 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 theHoutman Rocks), also discovered on this occasion [**]. To the south, in about 32° S. Lat. [***] Dedelsland is bounded by theLandt van de Leeuwin, surveyed in 1622 [****]. Looking at the coast more closely still, we find in about 29° 30, S. Lat. the nameTortelduyff (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 NORDENSKIÖLD had known these documents, he would have withheld the second alinea on p. 199 of his interestingPeriplus.--The doubts, also, concerning Frederik De Houtman's share in the discoveries on the west-coast of Australia, expressed by COLLINGRIDGE (Discoveryp. 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.55ff).]

[*** 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 ofSt. FrançoisandSt. Pieter(133° 30' E. Long. Greenwich), still figuring in the maps of our day: theLand of Pieter Nuyts, discovered by the shiphet Gulden Zeepaardin 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 shipVianencommanded 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 theMonte Belloand thaBarrowislands are the principal, and besides, certain islands of theDampier 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 thisDe 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}

TasmanandVisscher[*] did a great deal towards the solution of this problem, since in their voyage of 1644 they also skirted and mapped outthe entire line of the West-coastof what since 1644 has borne the name ofNieuw-Nederland,Nova Hollandia, orNew Holland, from Bathurst Island to a point south of theTropic 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 thewest-coastwas more accurately mapped out also,to the south of the tropic of Capricorn. In the year 1658Samuel Volekersenwith the shipde Wakende Boei[Floating Buoy], andAucke Pieters Jonckwith the shipEmeloordsurveyed a portion of the west-coast, and the charts then made have been preserved [*]. The coast-line from a point near theTortelduyfdown to pastRottenest(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 presentPerth, were surveyed with special care. In the same year the shipElburg, commanded byJacob Peereboom, brought in further reports about theLand van de Leeuwin, where she had been at anchor "in Lat. 33° 14' South, under a projecting point" (inGeographe Bay?).

[* SeeinfraNo.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 ofWillem De Vlaminghin 1696-7 with the shipsGeelvink,Nijptang, and hetWezeltje. A remarkable chart referring to this voyage, here reproduced [*], as well as the ISAAC DE GRAAFF chart [**] ofcirca1700, 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-islandand Perth, was now mapped out. And that, too, with great accuracy. Thus, for instance, the true situation of the belt of islands enclosingShark Baywas 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.]

The south-east- and east-coasts of Australia have never been visited by the ships of the East India Company.TasmanandVisscher[*] discoveredTasmania (Van Diemen's land)in 1642, but were unaware of the existence of what is now known asBass Strait; they discovered thewest-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 1616LemaireandSchouten(No. V), and in 1722Roggeveen(No. XXXIV), also touched at various island-groups east of Australia, but these voyages fall outside the plan of the present work.]

{Page xiii}

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 byvessels 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.

Thediscoverieson the west- and south-west coasts of Australia down to Tasman's time all borean 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 ofacczdentaldiscoveries 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 ofJan 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 counries 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 especiallyJan Pieterszoon Coen(1619-1623 and 1627-1629),Hendrik Broulwer(1632-1636) andAntonio 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.64infra.]

[*** 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. 65infra), 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 myBouwstoffen 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.72and 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 ofJ. P. Purrysubmitted 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.60infra.]

[** As regards this see J F GEBHARDHet leven van WitsenI., 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]

[*** Witsen to Cuper, August 1, 1712 (GEBHARD p. 480).]

"The which is sorely to be regretted!"...The times of Van Diemen had failed to return; the spirit by which he was imbued no longer presided over the debates on colonial matters. But his name is indissolubly bound up with the palmy days of Dutch discovery in the Far East, initiated by the East India Company.

Fortunately, in our time Holland again bears a part in what is done by cultured Europe for the scientific exploration of the unknown regions of the world. In this field of inquiry the nineteenth century has again beheld her sons take a place which the achievements of their forefathers have as it were by right of inheritance assigned to them.

{Page 1}

Itinerario, Voyage ofte Schipvaert, van JAN HUYGEN VAN LINSCHOTEN naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien [Itinerary, Voyage or Navigation of J. H. v. L. to Eastern or Portuguese India]...t' Amstelredam. By Cornelis Claesz opt Water, in 't Schrijf-boeck by de Oude Brugghe. Anno CIC.IC.XCVI (1596?--Ed.)[*].

[* There may have been an earlier edition of this book. At all events, the Netherlanders who in 1595 undertook the first voyage from Holland to India, were acquainted with the work either in manuscript or in print. See the journal of this voyage, kept by Frank Van der Does, one of the sharers of the expedition, and printed in the second volume of J. K. J. De JONGE'S well-known book: De Opkomst van het Nederlandsch gezag in Oost-Indië [The Rise of the Dutch power in the East Indies] ('s Gravenhage, Amsterdam MDCCCLXIV), pp. 287-372.It may safely be assumed that Van Linschoten's book contains everything that the Dutch knew of the East, when in 1595 Dutch vessels were first sent out to those remote regions. Charts Nos 1 (a part of theOrbis terrarum combmdiosa descriptio. Antverpiae apud joafiem Baptistam Vrient), and 2 (a part of theExacta & accurata delineatio cum orarum maritimarum tum eijam locorum terrestrium quae in regionibus Chiua...una cum omnium vicinarum instilarum descriptjone ut sunt Sumatra, Java utraque...) give a survey of this knowledge so far as our present purpose is concerned. I have made use of a copy of Van Linschoten's work in the library of the Leyden University.]

It may safely be assumed that Van Linschoten's book contains everything that the Dutch knew of the East, when in 1595 Dutch vessels were first sent out to those remote regions. Charts Nos 1 (a part of theOrbis terrarum combmdiosa descriptio. Antverpiae apud joafiem Baptistam Vrient), and 2 (a part of theExacta & accurata delineatio cum orarum maritimarum tum eijam locorum terrestrium quae in regionibus Chiua...una cum omnium vicinarum instilarum descriptjone ut sunt Sumatra, Java utraque...) give a survey of this knowledge so far as our present purpose is concerned. I have made use of a copy of Van Linschoten's work in the library of the Leyden University.]

Pag. 25. Chapter the Twentieth.

Concerning the island of Java Mayor, together with its commodities, merchandise and dealings, weights, coins and value of the same, and other particulars.

[Illustration: ]No. 1. Gedeelte der (Part of the)Orbis terrae compendiosa describtio

No. 1. Gedeelte der (Part of the)Orbis terrae compendiosa describtio

{Page 2}

South-south-east, facing the farthest extremity of the island of Samatra, south of the lineequinoctial, lies the island calledJava Mayor, or greatJava...This island begins in 7 degrees Latitude South, and extends east by south a length of 150 miles but of its breadth nothing is known up to now, since it has not yet been explored, nor is this known to the inhabitants themselves. Some suppose it to be a mainland, [forming part] of the land calledTerra incognita, which would then extend hitherward from beyond theC de boa Esperançabut of this there is no certitude hitherto, so that it is usually accounted an island...

[Illustration: ]No. 2. Gedeelte der (Part of the)Exacta & accurata delineatio cum orarum maritimarum tum etjam locorum terrestrium, quae in regjonibus China...una cum omnium vicinarum insularum descriptjone ut sunt Sumatra, Java utraque

No. 2. Gedeelte der (Part of the)Exacta & accurata delineatio cum orarum maritimarum tum etjam locorum terrestrium, quae in regjonibus China...una cum omnium vicinarum insularum descriptjone ut sunt Sumatra, Java utraque

{Page 3}

Journal or Daily Register, begun on the 22nd day of April, A.D. 1601, kept on board the sho Gelderlant...

This 10th day of April 1602.

The meeting of the Plenary Council [*] having been convened by order of the Lord Admiral [**] to resolve to dispatch the yacht calledDuyffkento the island of Ceram, the Council have drawn up the Instructions following, which Supercargo Master Claes Gaeff [and] skipper Willem Cornelisz Schouten will have to act up to.

[* The joint council of all the ships forming the flotilla to which the Gelderland belonged.]

[** Wolphert Hermanszoon.]

Imprimishe will have to navigate to the island of Ceran, and there call at the ports or roads following, to wit: Queuin, Quelibara, Quelilonhen or Goulegoubj [*], and failing these, at certain others where profitable dealings may be expected...

[* Keffing, Kilwaroc,...Goeli-goeli. These place-names go to show, that by Ceram are meant the south-eastern extremity of Ceram and the Ceram-Laut islands.]

Secondly, [he will have to inquire] whether there is anything to be had there besides sago; their way of doing business and in what places; what commodities had best be sent thither; and to what limits their farthest navigation extends; also, whether they have any knowledge ofNova Guinea; whether they have ever sent ships thither, or whether ships from Nova Guinea have ever come to Ceran. In the island of Banda, actum April the 10th, A.D. 1602, on board the ship Gelderlandt. God send his blessing unto salvation. Amen.

Laus deo A.D. 1602 This 15th day of May in the island of Banda.

A brief account of certain islands with which they of the islands of Ceran and, Banda carry on trade...

They can say nothing certain respecting the island ofNova Guinea, but say that there are white people living on thesouth side, inhabited by Portuguese [*], but [the people of the parts of Ceram visited by the Dutch] had never seen any Portuguese ships. They can give no information about their dealings and commodities.

[* If any reliance can be placed on this report, it proves that in 1602 the Portuguese were acquainted with the South(-west) coast of New Guinea. But considering the fact that the Dutch were utterly unacquainted with New Guinea, it isquite possiblethat on this point they misunderstood the inhabitants of the parts of Ceram visited by them.]

{Page 4}

HACKLUYTUS Posthumus or PURCHAS his Pilgrimes Contayning a History of the World in Sea voyages, & lande-Travells by Englishmen & others.

English Voyages beyond the East-Indies, to the islands of Japan, China, Cauchinchina, the Philipinae with others; and the Indian navigations further prosecuted...

THE FOURTH BOOKE.

Chap. II.

Observations of Captaine Iohn Saris, of occurrents which happened in the East-Indies during his abode at Bantam, from October 1605, till October 1609...

The eighteenth [November 1605] [*] heere [**] departed a small Pinnasse of theFlemmings, for the discovery of the Land calledNova Guineawhich, as it is said, affordeth great store of Gold...

[* Old style: therefore November 28, 1605.]

[** Bantam.]

The fifteenth [*] of June [1606] heere [**] arrivedNockhoda[***]Tingall, a Cling-man fromBanda, in aJavajuncke...

[* Old style: therefore Junr 25, 1606.]

[** Bantam.]

[*** Nachoda or Anachoda: a skipper.]

He told me that theFlemmingsPinasse which went upon discovery forNova Ginny, was returned to Banda, having found the Iland: but in sending their men on shoare to intreate of Trade, there were nine of them killed by the Heathens, which are man-eaters; So they were constrained to returne, finding no good to be done there.

Instructions drawn up to serve as a basis for Answers on the part of the General United E.I.C. to the advice given by the Lords States of Holland and Westfriesland, touching the Charter of the Australia Company. Laid before the Council, Aug. 2, 1618.

...So that the E.I.C. opines that in every case the Australia Company aforesaid ought to be excluded from the Southern parts, situated between the Meridian passing through the Eastern extremity of Ceylon and the Meridian lying a hundred miles eastward of the Salomon islands; seeing that the United East India Company has repeatedly given orders for discovering and exploringthe land of Nova Guinea and the islands situated east of the same, since, equally by her orders, such discovery was once tried about the year 1606 with the yachtde Duyveby skipperWillem Janszand subcargoJan Lodewijs van Rosingijn, who made sundry discoveries on the said coast of Nova Guinea, as is amply set forth in their journals. [*]

[* In 1618, therefore, there must have been extant journals of the expedition of 1605-6.]

{Page 5}

SeeinfratheJournal of the voyage Of JAN CARSTENSZOON 1623, at the dates:March 7, May 11, 12, 15.

South-eastern part of the MapIndiae Orientalis Nova descriptioin the atlas JOANNES JANSSONIUS-MERCATOR-HONDIUS 1633 [*]

[* The whole map is reproduced inRemarkable Maps(II, 7.) See also C. H. COOTE'S Introduction; P. A. TIELE: Nederlandsche Bibliographic van Land- en Volkenkunde, s. vv. Janssonius and Mercator, and my Life of Tasman, p. 91, note I.]

[Illustration: ]No. 3. Zuidoostelijk gedeelte der Kaart (South-eastern part of the Map)Indiae Orientalis Nova descriptio

No. 3. Zuidoostelijk gedeelte der Kaart (South-eastern part of the Map)Indiae Orientalis Nova descriptio

Instructions for Skipper Commander Abel Jansen Tasman, Skipper Pilot-Majjr Frans Jacobsen Visscher, and the Council of the Yachts Limmen, Zeemeeuw, and the Quel de Brack, destined for the further discovery of Nova Guinea, and of the unknown coasts of the discovered East- and South-lands, together with the channels and islands presumably situated between and near the same.

Both by word of mouth and through the perusal of Journals, Charts and other writings, it is in the main well-known to you, how the successive Governors of India, at{Page 6} the express command of our Lords and Masters the "Heeren XVII", have, in order to the aggrandisement, enlargement and improvement of the Dutch East India Company's standing and trade in the East, divers times diligently endeavoured to make timely discovery of the vast country of Nova Guinea and of other unknown Eastern and Southern regions; to wit, that four several voyages have up to now with scant success been made for this desired discovery; of the which voyages the first was undertaken in the year 16066 with the Yacht't Duyffken, by order, of President Jan Willemsz Verschoor (who then managed the Company's affairs in Bantham), on which voyage the islands of Key and Arouw were visited in passing, and theunknown south and west coasts of Nova Guineawere discovered over a length of 220 miles from 5 to 13¾ degrees Southern Latitude, it being only ascertained that vast regions were for the greater part uncultivated, and certain parts inhabited by savage, cruel, black barbarians who slew some of our sailors, so that no information was obtained touching the exact situation of the country and regarding the commodities obtainable and in demand there.\; our men having by want of provisions and other necessaries, been compelled to return and give up the discovery they had begun, only registering in their chart with the name ofCape Keer-weerthe extreme point of the discovered land in 13¾ degrees Southern Latitude.

In the castle of Batavia, this 29th of January Ao 1644. Signed ANTONIO VAN DIEMEN, CORNELIS VAN DER LIJN, JOAN MAETSUIJCKER, JUSTUS SCHOUTEN and SALOMON SWEERS.

Second volume of "Het begin ende voortgangh der Vereenighde Nederlantsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie.Gedruckt in den jaere des Heeren 1646" [Rise and Progress of the United Netherlands Chartered East India Company. Printed Anno Domini 1646].

A Narrative and Journal of the voyage made from Bantam to the coast of Choromandel and other parts of India, by Supercargo PAULUS VAN SOLT in the years 1605 1606, 1607, 1608.

"On the 4th of March 1607, through God's mercy [we] arrived before the Castle [of Victoria in Amboyna]...here we found...the yachtDuyfken, which had come fromNova Guinea"...

One of the journals of this voyage has been repeatedly printed in various languages. (See TIELE, Mémoire Bibliographique, pp. 42-62, and the same writer's Bibliographic Land- en Volkenkunde, s. vv. Begin ende Voortgangh, Herrera, W. Cz. Schouten, and Spilbergen). I need not, therefore, go into detail on this point here. The voyage was begun on the 14th of June 1615, and in January 1616 the strait of{Page 7} Le Maire was discovered. In the Pacific Ocean various islands unknown to the voyagers were touched at:inter aliaKokos-island (Boscawen or Tafahi), Verraders-eiland [Traitors' island] (Keppel or Niutabutabu), (Goede) Hoop island (Nino-fa), the Hoornsche islands (Fotuna and Alofi). Besides, various islands east of New Guinea were surveyed, and New Ireland, New Hanover and the north-coast of New Guinea with the islands north of it (among others Schoutens island), sailed round or touched at.

Resolution of the Governor-General and Councillors, October 8, 1616.

...Inasmuch as heretofore the Company has taken in hand to dispatch a ship for the discovery of the South-land-Nova-Guinea and the dependencies thereof, which project has not been executed owing to other intervening business, it has been resolved to take the said project once more in hand at the present time; and that to this end the Lord Admiral...[*] shall dispatch from Amboyna or Banda the ship de Jager with any other small yacht that should lie at anchor there, or happen to put into port, in order to the discovery of the lands aforesaid; seeing that it is much more convenient to visit those parts starting from here than from the Netherlands, and that the same can now be done without any inconvenience or detriment to the Company. And if in Amboyna or Banda no other yacht besides the ship de Jager should be found available, then the Lord Admiral shall be free to assign the ship Morgenster for the said purpose...

[* Steven Van der Haghen.]

Resolution of the Governor-General and Councillors, October 21, 1616.

...Considering the confident inclination to the said voyage evinced by the Lord Advocate Dedel [*], and the importance of this enterprise being conducted with great skill and judgment, it has been determined and resolved to employ the Advocate aforesaid in the said voyage, to the end that all things may be conducted in good order, with the requisite courage and resolution, for which purpose the Hon. Advocate will now depart for Amboyna with the Lord Admiral...

[* Cornelis Dedel, LL. D.]

Letter from the Governor-General LAURENS REAEL to the Managers of the E.I.C., May 10, 1617.

...Mr. Cornelis Dedel, LL. D., had by us been dispatched to this place [*] from the Moluccas, that with two or three yachts and pinnaces he might proceed to the discovery of theSouthern lands, which undertaking had heretofore once more by order of...Admiraal Verhagen been engaged in byJan Rossangin[**]. But when lying at anchor in Amboyna...Dedel's ships were employed on other services. [***]

[* Reael was then staying in Banda.]

[* This almost certainly refers to the voyage of 1605-6 under Willem Jansz. and Rosengein.]

[* Although, as we see, the project was not carried into execution, I have thought it good to print the above documents, because they bear testimony to the earnest intention of the Dutch authorities in India once more to undertake the discovery of the "South-land" (at the same time the matter was by no means lost sight of in the Netherlands, as is proved by a resolution of the Managers of the E.I.C., of October 1616); [and] because document C in the text ispresumablyfresh evidence for the voyage of 1605-6.]

{Page 8}

Letter of Supercargo Cornelis Buysero at Bantam to the Managers of the East India Company at Amsterdam.

Worshipful, Wise, Provident, very Discreet Gentlemen,...

...The shipEendracht[*], with which they had sailed from the Netherlands, after communicating at the Cabo sailed away from them so far southward as to come upon 6 various islands which were, however, found uninhabited [**]...

[* Commanded by Dirk Hartogs, or Hartogszoon.]

[* What "uninhabited islands" the ship Eendracht "came upon", Buysero's letter does not say. Various authentic archival documents of 1618 and subsequent years, however, go to show that the land afterwards namedEendrachtslandorLand van de Eendracht, and theDirk Hartogsreede(island) must have been discovered on this voyage.]

Bantam, this last day of August, A.D. 1617.Your Worships' servant to commandCORNELIS BUYSERO [*]

[* Buysero was supercargo at Bantam (DE JONGE, Opkcornst, IV, p. 68,) and was therefore likely to be well informed as to the adventures of the ship, which had sailed from the Netherlands in January 1616, departed from the Cape of Good Hope in the last days of August, and had arrived in India in December of the same year, as appears from what Steven Van der Haghen, Governor of Amboyna, writes May 26, 1617: "That in the month of December 1616, the ship Eendracht entered the narrows between Bima and the land of Endea near Guno Api (Goenoeng Api) in the south of Java" (Sapi Straits).]

See infra Document No. IX, of 1618.

It proves that as early as 1618 the name ofEendrachtslandwas known in the Netherlands.

The subjoined chart (reproduced on the original scale inRemarkable Maps, II, 4) was drawn by HESSEL GFRRITSZ, Cartographer in ordinary to the East India Company{Page 9} (Ress. of the "Heeren XVII", March 21, 1619 and October 21, 1629). He had accordingly at his disposal the official documents referring to this discovery.

Back to Index Next