Wee stood away to the southward, intending to see New Holland, and mett
nothing worth observing till the first day of December, and then, being
in latit. 13° 50´, wee were close aboard a showle, which wee lay by for
in the night; it lyes S. by W. from the N.W. end of Timore about seventy
leagues. Wee steered to weather it but could not, therefore bore away to
the eastward of it; it lyes in a triangle, with many sharp rocks about
water, and on the south side is a small spitt of land.
This showle is laid downe within twenty leagues of New Holland due
south, but wee made our course south, yett run into latitude 16° 50´
before wee made land, which is forty odd leagues; so that by our runn,
except wee had a current against us, which wee did not perceive, New
Holland is laid downe nearer then it should be to those islands in the
south seas by forty leagues.
The fourth day of January 1687–88 wee fell in with the land of New
Holland in latitude 16° 50´, the land low and a deepe sandy bay, but no
shelter for us, therefore wee runn downe along the shore which lyes N.E.
by E., about twelve leagues; then wee came to a point with an iland by
it, but soe neare the maine that wee could not goe within it a league;
to the westward of this pointe is a showle a league from the maine.
From this pointe the land runs more easterly and makes a deepe bay with
many ilands in it; the sixth day wee came into this bay, and anchored
about foare miles to the eastward of the forementioned pointe, in
eighteen fathome water, a mile from the shoare, good clean sand.
I drew a drafte of this land and the bay where we road, but at the
Necquebar,[27] when we oversett our prows, I lost it and some others
that were not in my book; those that I had placed in my book were all
preserved, but all wett.
Wee sent our boate ashoare to speak with the natives, but they would not
abide our comeing, soe wee spent three dayes in seekeing their houses,
being in hopes to allure them with toyes to a comerce.
For wee begun to be scarce of provision, and did not question but these
people could relieve us; but after all our search neare the sea side and
in the country wee found ourselves disapointed, for the people of this
country have noe houses nor any thing like a house, neither have they
any sorte of graine or pulse; flesh they have not, nor any sorte of
cattle, not soe much as catt or dog, for, indeed, they have noe occasion
of such creatures unless to eat them, for of that food which they have
they leave no fragments. They have noe sorte of fowle, neither tame nor
wild, for the latter I saw very few in the country, neither did wee see
any kind of wilde beast in the country, but the track of one.
I believe there are not any of the natives in the country farr from the
sea, for they gett their living out of sea without nett or hooke; but
they build wares with stones cross the bays, and every low water,
whether night or day, they search those wares for what the sea hath left
behinde, which is all that they have to depend on for a livelyhood; some
times they are bountyfully rewarded for their paines, and at other times
providence seemes to be nigardly, scarce giving them a taste instead of
a belly full. The fish which they take they carry home to their
famelyes, whoe lye behinde a few boughs stuck up to keepe the wind from
them. All that are of age to search those wares goe downe at the time of
low water, leaving only the old sicke weake people and children at home,
who make a fire against the coming of their friends to broyle their
fish, which they soone devoure without salt or bread. Their habitations
are neare those wares and remove as occasion serves, for they are not
troubled with household goods nor clothes, all that they weare is only a
piece of rine [rind] about their wastes, under which they thrust either
a hand full of long grasse or some small boughs before to cover their
privityes.
They are people of good stature, but very thin and leane, I judge for
want of foode. They are black, yett I believe their haires would be long
if it was comed out, but for want of combs it is matted up like a
negroes haire. They have, all that I saw, two fore teeth of their upper
jaw wanting, both men, women, and children.
They swim from one iland to the other or toe and from the maine, and
have for armes a lance sharpned at one end and burned in the fire to
harden it, and a sword made with wood, which is sharpe on one side;
these weapons, I judge, are cutt with stone hatchetts, as I have seene
in the West India.
The country is all low land, with sand hills by the sea side; within it
is a wood, but not extraordinary thicke; the chiefest trees are dragon
trees, which are bigger then any other trees in the woods: wee found
neither river, brooke, nor springs, but made wells in the sand, which
aforded as good water, where wee watered our ships.
The first spring after wee came hither wee hail’d our ship into a sandy
bay, where shee lay dry all the neepe tides, for it flows there right up
and downe above five fathome; the flood setts north by east, and the ebb
setts S. by W.
There are many turtle and manatoe in this bay, which our strikers
supplyed us with all the time we lay here, and one time they mett some
of the natives swimming from one iland to the other, and tooke up foure
of them and brought aboard, whoe tooke noe notice of any thing that wee
had noe more than a bruite would; wee gave them some victualls, which
they greedily devoured, and being sett out of the ship ran away as fast
as their leggs (for the ship was now dry on the sand) could carry them.
Wee mett divers of them on the ilands, for they could not run from us
there, but the women and children would be frighted at our approach.
Wee tarried here till the twelfth day of February, in which time wee
cleaned our ship, mended our sailes, and filled our water; and when our
time drew neare to depart from thence, I motioned goeing to Fort St.
George, or any settlement where the English had noe fortification, and
was threatened to be turned a shoare on New Holland for it; which made
me desist, intending, by God’s blessing, to make my escape the first
place I came neare, for wee were now bound into India for Cape Comorin,
if wee could fetch it.
SOME PARTICULARS RELATING TO THE VOYAGE OF WILLEM DE VLAMINGH TO NEW
HOLLAND IN 1696.
_Extracted from MS. Documents at the Hague._
Of this expedition, which owes its origin to the loss of the ship _De
Ridderschap van Hollandt_, between the Cape of Good Hope and Batavia, in
the year 1685, reports are to be found in various works, as in Witsen,
Valentijn, the _Historische Beschrijving der Reizen_, perhaps also in
some others. No coherent account, however, appears to exist, although we
read in the last-mentioned work that a narrative of the voyage was
published in 1701, at Amsterdam.[28]
The project originally formed was, that the expedition should set out
from Batavia, and the Directors of the Council of the Seventeen write on
this understanding in their dispatch of November 10th, 1695, to the
Governor-General and Council of India; but in the assembly of December
8th and 10th of that year[29] that plan was abandoned, and it was
resolved that, “for various reasons,” the expedition should be
undertaken from the Cape of Good Hope, under the command of William de
Vlamingh, with orders to land at the islands of Tristan d’Acunha, on
this side of the Cape, and also at the islands of St. Paul and
Amsterdam, to examine and to survey them.
For this purpose three ships were fitted out: the frigate _De
Geelvinck_, commodore Willem de Vlamingh; the hooker _De Nijptang_,
Captain Gerrit Collaert; and the galiot _Weseltje_, Captain Cornelis de
Vlamingh, son of the commodore.
“On Thursday, the 3rd of May, 1696, at one o’clock in the morning, the
noble Burgomaster Hinlopen sent the Company’s boat, having on board the
Commander Barent Fockesz, with orders that we should put to sea at
daybreak.” They accordingly weighed anchor, and set sail northwards
towards England.
On the result of this expedition the Governor-General and Council of
India report to the Directors of the Council of Seventeen as follows:—
“For the result of the voyage of the three above-mentioned ships, which,
according to the order of the Gentlemen Seventeen of the 10th of
November 1695, and 16th of March 1696, and according to your instruction
of the 23rd of April of the same year, have prosperously completed their
journey over the islands of Tristan d’Acunha, the Cape, islands of
Amsterdam and St. Paulo, and have also arrived here, both crew and
vessels in a tolerably good condition, we shall principally have to
refer you to their journals and notes, together with their maps and some
drawings of those places; all of which, with the draughtsman himself,
the overseer of the infirmary Victor Victorsz, will reach you by the
ship’s _Lants Welvaren_; the drawings, packed up in one box, consisting
of eleven pieces, viz.:—
7 of several places on the South Land.
1 of the island Tristan d’Acunha.
1 of the island Amsterdam.
1 of the island St. Paulo, and
1 of the island Mony.
In addition to these we also enclose some big and small chips of wood,
brought by Willem de Vlamingh from the before mentioned South Land, and
described in his journal under the 30th and 31st of December 1696, also
2nd of January 1697, as a kind of scented wood. Upon this we have not
been able to come to any distinct decision; we have, however, had a
portion of it distilled, and forward a small bottle of the oil for your
examination by Commander Bichon. Likewise we send a little box
containing shells, fruits, plants, etc., gathered on the coast; these
specimens, however, are of less importance, and such as are to be found
in a better condition elsewhere in India. So that, generally speaking,
with respect to the South Land, along which, in conformity with their
instructions, they have coasted, and to which their accurate
observations have been devoted, nothing has been discovered but a
barren, bare, desolate region; at least along the coast, and so far as
they have penetrated into the interior. Neither have they met with any
signs of habitation, some fires excepted, and a few black naked men,
supposed to have been seen on two or three occasions at a distance;
whom, however, they could neither come up with nor speak to. Neither,
again, were any remarkable animals or birds observed, except principally
in the Swan River, a species of black swans, three of which they brought
to us alive, and should have been sent to Your Nobilities, had they not
died one by one shortly after their arrival here. Neither, so far as we
know, have any traces been discovered of the missing ship _De
Ridderschap van Holland_ or of other vessels, either there or at the
islands Amsterdam and St. Paul. Consequently in this voyage and
investigation nothing of any importance has been discovered. A singular
memorial, however, was seen by them. On an island situated on or near
the South Land, in 25° latitude, was found a pole, nearly decayed, but
still standing upright, with a common middle-sized tin plate, which had
been beaten flat and attached to the pole, and which was still lying
near it. On this plate the following engraved words were still legible:—
“Anno 1616, the 25th of October, arrived here the ship _De Eendraght_,
from Amsterdam, the upper-merchant Gilles Mibais from Luijck, Captain
Dirck Hartog from Amsterdam; the 27th ditto set sail for Bantam,
under-merchant Jan Hijn, upper-steersman Pieter Dockes from Bil. Anno
1616.”
This old plate, brought to us by Willem de Vlamingh, we have now handed
over to the commander, in order that he might bring it to Your
Nobilities, and that you may marvel how it remained there through such a
number of years unaffected by air, rain, or sun. They erected on the
same spot another pole, with a flat tin plate as a memorial, and wrote
on it as to be read in the journals.[30]
And since we are desirous to afford Your Nobilities all possible
information and satisfaction with respect to this voyage, we have given
permission to its former chief, Captain Willem de Vlamingh the elder,
with his upper-steersman Michel Blom, to return with the last return
ships. As they have not come back yet from Bengal with their vessels the
_Geelvinch_ and _Nijptang_, but are expected daily, we shall leave this
for the present and refer you for further information to their own
verbal reports.
We also found recorded in the notes of the above-mentioned skipper,
Willem de Vlamingh, that on the island of Mony, lying 10° south latitude
and 60–70 miles without Sunda Strait, by which he steered on his way
from the South Land hither, trees are to be found fit for masts of
ships. No further explanation, however, being given as to their
abundance or scarcity, or the kind of the wood,—a small piece only,
about two spans in length and less than a finger’s breadth in thickness,
having been brought to us, and the skipper of the _Nijptang_, and the
gezaghebber of the _Weseltje_, son of the old Vlamingh, knowing nothing
whatever about the subject, we, in order to settle the point once for
all, thought it not unadvisable to set on foot a further investigation,
and accordingly once more despatched the galiot _Weseltje_ on the 11th
of May, in order that a more minute survey might be taken of the island,
adding at the same time a reinforcement of eight native soldiers, with
such instructions for the steersman Cornelis de Vlamingh, as are to be
found in the letter-book under that date, and also under Batavia.
According to the diary of the same steersman from May 12 to June 17,
kept in the journey, in which they nearly got wrecked, and owing to the
heavy breakers could nowhere effect a landing, and from the vessel and
boat could not perceive anything else but thick brushwood and a few
small crooked trees, none of which was either straight or more than
three fathoms long; so that no expectation remained of finding there
anything useful.
APPENDIX I.
EXTRACT FROM THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE XVII.
Thursday, December 8th, 1695.
The Commissioners of the Chamber of Amsterdam have reported, how the
said Chamber, in accordance with and to fulfil what their Nobilities
have by resolution of the 10th of last month been ordered to do,
concerning the sending of a ship to the South Land, or the land of
d’Eendracht, having examined and also heard and taken the advice of
Commander Hendrich Pronck and Skipper Willem de Vlamingh, is of opinion;
firstly, as regards the South Land, that for certain reasons it should
not be undertaken from Batavia, as previously thought proper, and in
favour of which this Assembly has declared itself by its missive of Nov.
10 last, to the General and Council, but from the Cape of Good Hope, and
on the 1st of Oct. next year; that for this purpose should be equipped
and prepared, in order to go to sea next March, a frigate and two
galiots, under command of and accompanied by the before-mentioned
skipper De Vlamingh, with such instructions as should be deemed
necessary. That the said frigate should be provided with a Greenland
shallop—supposed to be better adapted for putting into harbour and
landing than the ordinary shallops in the use of the Company. Secondly,
that De Vlamingh should be directed in his instructions to touch at the
islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam, as lying directly on his track, on
his way from the cape to the South Land, to examine their situation, and
also, whether any traces of the crew of missing vessels, especially of
the _Ridderschap van Hollandt_, are to be found.
After deliberation, the resolution was passed:—That all the above
written shall be further examined by Commissioners, and report be made
of their considerations and resolutions; and for which hereby are
requested and commissioned: from the Chamber Amsterdam, Messrs. Hooft,
Geelvinck, Fabritius, and Velsen; from the Chamber Zeelandt, Messrs.
Boddart and Schorer; and from the other Chambers, those who shall be
commissioned by them; with the addition of Mr. van Spanbrock from the
principal participators.
APPENDIX II.
Saturday, December 10th, 1695.
Touching the report of the Commissioners, who, in compliance with the
Commissarial resolution of the 8th c., have given due attention to the
subject of the search and inquiry after the ship _De Ridderschap van
Hollandt_, and to the inquiry to be connected therewith, viz., as to the
nature of the South Land, and of the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam,
and matters connected therewith, together with the sending of an
expedition thither for the purpose of the inquiry;—on deliberation and
in conformity with the advice of the above-mentioned Commissioners, it
has been resolved and found good:—that the said voyage shall be
undertaken not from Batavia, as has been heretofore thought good, and in
favour of which this Assembly had given instructions in its missive to
the General and Council from the 10th of last month, and which is hereby
altered in so far—but from the Cape of Good Hope, and in the beginning
of October next; that for this purpose the Chamber Amsterdam shall equip
and get ready for sea by March next, a suitable frigate, 110–112 feet
long, to be built by the said Chamber, and which is to have the name of
_Geelvinck_, together with two sailing galiots, under the command of and
accompanied by the skipper Willem de Vlamingh, provided with such
necessaries as shall be thought proper.
That furthermore, the said De Vlamingh shall, if he can do so without
much loss of time, and as it were _en passant_, touch at the islands of
Tristan d’Acunha, on this side of the Cape, in 37´ south latitude, to
examine them as much as he can, and under such instructions as shall be
handed over to him. The Chamber Amsterdam being hereby once more
requested and authorized, to arrange and carry into execution what has
been said above with regard to the South Land and Tristan d’Acunha, and
to prepare such instructions as shall be thought proper.
Lastly, that De Vlamingh shall in his instructions be ordered to touch
on the islands St. Paul and Amsterdam, lying directly on his track
in ... degrees south latitude, and to examine their situations; also,
whether any signs of men from wrecked ships are to be found, especially
from the _Ridderschap van Hollandt_.
EXTRACT FROM THE JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE MADE TO THE UNEXPLORED SOUTH LAND,
BY ORDER OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY, IN THE YEARS 1696 AND 1697,
BY THE HOOKER DE NYPTANG, THE SHIP DE GEELVINK, AND THE GALIOT DE WESEL,
AND THE RETURN TO BATAVIA.
PRINTED AT AMSTERDAM, 1701.
On the morning of the 29th December (1696) at half-past two o’clock, we
discovered the South Land, to east north-east of us at from four to five
miles distance. We found the country low, the main coast stretching from
south to north. Our people observed a remarkable fish here, about two
feet long, with a round head and a sort of arms and legs and even
something like hands. They found also several stems of plants. They cast
anchor in from fourteen to fifteen fathoms. At nearly half a league from
the island on the south side they had good holding ground. The wind
south-west by south.
On the 30th December we took counsel, and then with our guns on our arms
put the shallop afloat and with the chief pilot I went on shore to look
round the island. We rowed round to the east corner of the island about
a cannon shot distance from the coast, and found there two fathoms water
with muddy bottom, filled with shells, and occasionally a sandy bottom.
Proceeding a little further, we sounded the little island bearing to the
south of us, and the westernmost point of the large one bearing
north-west of us; and we found five fathoms, and good and bad bottom by
turns. We afterwards sounded north, the westernmost point bearing N. W.
and by W. of us, and the little island S. W., and had as before five
fathoms. At nearly a gun shot from the shore we found on the south-east
coast of the island seven or eight great rocks, the island being on this
side of a rocky and stony aspect, bearing north-east from us; then we
had eight fathoms both good and bad ground; with here and there a gulf,
where was a straight bank stretching from the coast up to the nearest
rock nearly three quarters of a mile from the coast. Along the east side
there are many capes and gulfs, with white sand, which is found also
round the greater part of the island. It stretches lengthwise from east
to west nearly four leagues, and is about nine leagues in circumference.
On the 31st of December I again put on shore with our skipper, and
directing my steps into the interior of the island, I found several
sorts of herbs, the greater part of which were known to me, and some of
which resembled in smell those of our own country. There were also a
variety of trees, and among them one sort, the wood of which had an
aromatic odour nearly like that of the Lignum Rhodii. The ground is
covered with little or no soil, but chiefly with white and rocky sand,
in my opinion little adapted for cultivation. There are very few birds
there and no animals, except a kind of rat as big as a common cat, whose
dung is found in abundance over all the island. There are also very few
seals or fish, except a sort of sardine and grey rock bream. In the
middle of the island, at about half an hour’s distance, we found several
basins of excellent water, but brackish, and six or seven paces further
a fountain of fresh water fit to drink. In returning to the shore, the
crew found a piece of wood from our own country, in which the nails
still remained. It was probably from a shipwrecked vessel, and three or
four leagues from us some smoke was seen to rise at different points of
the main land. The country has the appearance of being higher than it
really is. The coast is like that of Holland.
On the 1st of January, 1697, the crew went to seek for fuel, and again
saw smoke rising at different points on the mainland. They observed also
the flow and ebb; and our sail-master found on the shore a piece of
planed wood about three feet long and a span broad.
On the 2nd I again went on shore, with our skipper, to examine the
island on the west side, which we found similar to the last. It is to be
avoided for about a league, on account of the great numbers of rocks
along the coast; otherwise it is easily approachable, as from six to
seven leagues from the shore there are soundings at a hundred fathoms.
On the mainland we again saw smoke arising.
On the 3rd, after sunset, we saw a great number of fires burning, the
whole length of the coast of the mainland.
On the 4th, De Vlaming’s boat made sail for the mainland. On its return
a council was held with the view of making an expedition on shore on the
morrow. _N.B._—Here we have the headlands inaccurately indicated.
At sunrise on the morning of the 5th, the resolution which had been
taken was put into execution; and I, in company with the skipper, pushed
off to the mainland with the boats of the three South Land navigators.
We mustered, what with soldiers and sailors, and two of the blacks that
we had taken with us at the Cape, eighty-six strong, well armed and
equipped. We proceeded eastwards; and, after an hour’s march, we came to
a hut of a worse description than those of the Hottentots. Further on
was a large basin of brackish water, which we afterwards found was a
river; on the bank of which were several footsteps of men, and several
small pools, in which was fresh water, or but slightly brackish. In
spite of our repeated searches, however, we found no men. Towards
evening we determined to pass the night on shore, and pitched our camp
in the wood, in a place where we found a fire which had been lighted by
the inhabitants, but whom, nevertheless, we did not see. We fed the fire
by throwing on wood, and each quarter of an hour four of our people kept
watch.