In 1696 the Honourable Directors of the Dutch Chartered Company trading
to the Dutch East Indies decided to send an expedition for the purpose
of searching for missing vessels, especially for the _Ridderschap van
Hollandt_, of which no news had been received for two years. The local
Board of Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Company was charged
to carry out this resolution, and it equipped three vessels which were
placed under the command of Willem de Vlaming. The Commander was
directed to search for missing vessels or for shipwrecked sailors at the
Tristan da Cunha Islands, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Islands of
Amsterdam and St. Paul in the Southern Ocean. Thence he was to proceed
to the '_Onbekende Zuidland_,' by which name, or by that of Eendragts
Land, Australia was designated in whole or in part in the official
dispatches of the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth century.
On the 29th of December, 1696, the vessels under the command of De
Vlaming lay at anchor between Rottnest Island and the mainland of
Australia. The island was searched for wreckage with little result. One
piece of timber was found which, it was conjectured, might have been
deck timber, and a plank was found, three feet long and one span broad.
The nails in the wreckage were very rusty. The search for shipwrecked
sailors on the adjacent mainland was unsuccessful. On the 20th and on
the 31st of December, and on the 1st of January, 1697, De Vlaming notes
in his journal that odoriferous wood was found on the mainland. Portions
of it were subsequently submitted to the Council of the Dutch East
Indies at Batavia, and from these portions an essential oil was obtained
by distillation. It may well be supposed that this experiment was the
first in the manufacture of eucalyptus oil, which, however, in our day
is obtained not from the wood but from the leaves of the tree. On the
13th of January De Vlaming records that a dark resinous gum resembling
lac was seen exuding from trees.
In a narrative of the voyage published under the title _Journaal wegens
een Voyagie na het onbekende Zuid-land_, we read that on the 11th of
January nine or ten Black Swans were seen. In a letter from Willem van
Oudhoorn, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, to the Managers of
the East India Company at the Amsterdam Chamber, it is stated that three
black swans were brought alive to Batavia, but died soon after their
arrival.[7]
Several boat expeditions were made, and Swan River was entered and
ascended. During these expeditions the author of the _Journaal_ mentions
that the song of the 'Nachtegael' was heard. There are no nightingales
in Australia, but the bird to which the writer of the _Journaal_ alludes
may have been the Long-billed Reed Warbler, the Australian
representative of the Sedge Warbler and a denizen of the reed-beds of
the Swan River. Two species of geese are also mentioned by the same
writer under the names of European geese. It is somewhat difficult to
determine to which geese the author of the _Journaal_ alludes under the
names 'Kropgans' and 'Rotgans.'
When English-speaking Dutch are asked to translate 'kropgans,' they do
so by 'Christmas goose' or 'fat goose.' Dictionaries are silent
respecting 'kropgans,' or render it by 'pelican.' I am inclined to think
that this rendering arises from a confusion between 'kropgans' and the
German word 'kropfgans,' and that 'kropgans' was formerly applied to
domestic geese in general which were being fed for the market, and also,
as in the present instance, to the wild goose from which they were
derived, namely to the Grey Lag Goose (_Anser ferus_). If this be so,
the Australian bird with which the kropgans is compared in the
_Journaal_ may be the Cape Barren Goose (_Cereopsis novæ-hollandiæ_),
which is found sparingly in Western Australia. The 'Rotgans' is the
Brent Goose (_Branta bernicla_) and the Australian bird which most
resembles it is the Musk Duck (_Biziura lobata_), which also is found in
the west of Australia, although more sparingly there than in the south
of the island continent.
Other birds which were seen at the same part of the Australian coast
were 'Duikers,' by which name Cormorants are probably designated,
Cockatoos and Parrakeets. It is said that all the birds were shy and
flew away at the approach of human beings. No aborigines were seen,
although smoke was visible.
On the 15th of January De Vlaming quitted the anchorage near Rottnest
Island, and followed the coast until 30° 17´ S. lat. was reached. Two
boats were there sent to the shore and soundings were taken. The country
near the landing-place was sandy and treeless, and neither human beings
nor fresh water were to be seen. But footmarks resembling those of a dog
were seen, and also a bird which the _Journaal_ calls a 'Kasuaris' and
which must have been one of the Emus.[8]
On the 30th of January, 26° 8´ S. lat. was observed, which is
approximately that of False Entrance. On the 1st of February the pilot
of the _Geelvink_ left the ships in one of the _Geelvink's_ boats in
order to ascertain the position of Dirk Hartog's Anchorage, and the
captains of two of the vessels made an excursion for a distance of six
or seven miles inland. They returned to the ships on the following day,
bringing with them the head of a large bird, and they imparted the
information that they had seen two huge nests built of branches.[9]
The pilot of the _Geelvink_ returned to the ship on the 3rd of February,
and reported that he had passed through a channel--probably that which
is now known as South Passage--and had followed the coast of Dirk
Hartog's Island until he reached the northern extremity of the island.
There, upon an acclivity, a tin plate was found on the ground. Certain
words scratched upon the metal indicated that the ship _Eendragt_, of
Amsterdam, of which Dirk Hartog was master, had anchored off the island
on the 25th of October, 1616, and had departed for Bantam on the 27th
day of the same month. The pilot brought the metal plate--a flattened
tin dish--with him, and also two turtles which had been caught on the
island. The squadron anchored in Dirk Hartog's Reede on the 4th of
February, and remained there until the 12th day of that month.
The anonymous author of the _Journaal_ relates that on the 6th of
February many turtles were seen, and also a very large nest at the
corner of a rock; the nest resembled that of a stork, but was probably
that of an osprey, which places its nest on a rock--often on a rock
surrounded by water.
De Vlaming quitted the Australian coast at 21° S. lat., and proceeded to
Batavia, where he arrived on the 20th of March, 1697.
[7] Heeres, _The Part borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of
Australia_, p. 84.
[8] No Cassowary is known to inhabit western Australia.
[9] Wedge-tailed Eagles and also Ospreys build nests of sticks.