OBJECT OF THE DUTCH VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE
SOUTH-LAND.--CONCLUSION.
Although it is quite true that the south-east- and east-coasts of the
Australian continent were not discovered by Dutch ships, still it is an
undoubted fact that, so far as is known up to now, the whole of the
Australian coast-line from Prince of Wales Island and York Peninsula and
along the Gulf of Carpentaria, the north- and north-west-coast of
Australia then following, the whole of the west-coast, and the
south-coast down to the islands of St. François and St. Pieter (133° 30'
E. L. Greenwich) were in the 17th century discovered by vessels belonging
to the Netherlands [*].
[* It is true that Dampier touched at the north-west coast in 1688, but
at that time this coast had already been surveyed by Dutch skippers.]
We now come to the question of the object which the Dutch authorities had
in view in arranging for the expeditions that ultimately led to these
discoveries.
In answering this question we shall have to distinguish between two
different categories of voyages: among the voyages undertaken by
Netherlanders that have led to discoveries on the coasts of Australia,
there are some which were not begun with the express purpose of going in
search of unknown lands; but there are others also that were undertaken
expressly with this end in view. Of course the second class only can be
called exploratory expeditions in a more restricted sense--the voyages of
the first category became voyages of discovery through accidental
circumstances.
The discoveries on the west- and south-west coasts of Australia down to
Tasman's time all bore an accidental character. Eendrachtsland was
discovered by accident in the year 1616, and after that time a number of
Dutch ships unexpectedly touched at those shores, thus continually
shedding additional, though always imperfect light on the question of the
conformation of the coast-line. How was it, we may ask, that it was
especially after 1616 that this coast was so often touched at, whereas
there had never been question of this before that time? The question thus
put admits of avery positive answer.
When the Netherlanders set sail for India for the first time, they
naturally took the route which they knew to be followed by the
Portuguese. After doubling the Cape of Good Hope, they directly continued
their voyage on a north-eastern course, along the west-coast, or close by
the east-coast, of Madagascar, and then tried to reach India coming from
the west. To this route there were grave objections both as regards the
winds prevailing in those latitudes, the intense heat soon encountered,
the great number of "shallows or foul islands," etc. Besides, the voyage
was apt to last very long. In 1611, however, certain ships going from the
Netherlands to India followed another route: directly after leaving the
Cape they ran on an eastern course (in about 36° S. Lat.) for a
considerable time, after which they tried to navigate to Java on a
northerly course. The commander of these ships, the subsequent
Governor-General {Page xiv} Hendrik Brouwer, wrote to the Managers of the
E.I.C. about "this fairway" in highly laudatory terms. They adopted the
idea suggested by Brouwer, of henceforth prescribing this route in the
instructions for the commanders and skippers sailing for the Indies,
leaving them a certain scope certainly as regards the latitude in which
the said easterly course was to be followed, and the degree of longitude
up to which it was to be kept. As early as the beginning of 1613 such a
route was enjoined on the ships' captains by the Managers of the E.I.C.
The ship Eendracht also was directed to follow this course: she ran so
far to eastward as to come upon the west-coast of Australia, and the same
thing happened to subsequent vessels.
Although in the sense thus indicated we must here speak of _acczdental_
discoveries on the west-coast, yet the Dutch authorities were fully aware
of the importance of such discoveries. As early as 1618, the Managers of
the E.I.C. were considering the possibility of "discovering the Southern
Lands in passing," and in a letter of September 9, 1620, with reference
to "the discovery of a vast land, situated south of Java...by the ship
Eendracht", etc., they expressly enjoined the G.-G. and Counc. to
dispatch a ship for the purpose of "resuming this work with some hope of
success." The lands discovered were to be mapped out, and efforts made to
ascertain "the situation and condition of the country, its productions,
what commodities it yields, the character of the natives, their mode of
life, etc."
The Managers had not preached to deaf ears: the direction of the
Company's affairs in India was at that time in the hands of Jan
Pieternoon Coen, who, being himself strongly disposed in favour of
extending the Dutch connections with the East [*], eagerly embraced the
idea thus suggested, as is proved by the instructions, dated September
29, 1622, for the ships Haring and Hazewind, "destined for the discovery
of the South-land". [**] Thus we see that one of the projects
contemplated by the Dutch authorities certainly was the dispatching of
ships also to the west-coast of Australia for the purpose of further
discovery and of definitely ascertaining the real state of affairs there.
[* See below.]
[** See below, No. XIII, B (pp. 18 ff.)]
But not for the purpose of further discovery exclusively, although this
continued to be "the principal end in view." The instructions of
September 29, 1622, also point to other motives that led the
Netherlanders to reckon also with regions to be first discovered, in
carrying out their colonial policy. The commanders of this expedition
were "specially to inquire what minerals, such as gold, silver, tin,
iron, lead and copper, what precious stones, pearls, vegetables, animals
and fruits, these lands yield and produce";--the commercial interests of
the E.I.C.--and what was more natural in the case of a trading
corporation?--were to take a foremost place. Wherever possible, also
political connections were to be formed, and the countries discovered
"to be taken possession of". The authorities were even considering the
idea of at some future date "planting colonies" in some of the regions
eventually to be discovered.
Here we have the colonial policy of the E.I.C. of the period to its full
extent: commerce, increase of territory, colonies. And these ideas were
at the bottom of most of the voyages of discovery to the north-coast of
Australia before Tasman, and of Tasman's voyages themselves. The
celebrated voyage of the ship Duifken (1605-6) {Page xv} bears a
character of intentionality, and if we bear in mind that the same ship's
voyage of 1602 had for its professed object the extension of the
Company's mercantile connections, we need not be in doubt as to this
being equally the motive or one of the motives of the expedition on which
she was dispatched in 1605-6. We know, moreover, that New Guinea was then
reported "to yield abundance of gold." The three principles of colonial
policy just mentioned also underlay the voyage undertaken by Jan
Carstensz in 1623; for we know that this commander got the instructions
drawn up for the ships Haring and Hazewind, but not then carried into
effect, since these ships did not sail on their ordained expedition [*].
These principles are found set forth with more amplitude than anywhere
else in the instructions drawn up for Tasman and his coadjutors in 1642
and 1644 [**]. The voyages, then planned, were to be undertaken "for the
enlargement, increase and improvement of the Dutch East India Company's
standing and commerce in the East."
[* See below, p. 21, Note 1.]
[** See these instructions in my Life of Tasman, pp. 131 ff. and 147 ff.]
In the instructions for Tasman's voyage of 1644 the G.-G. and Counc.,
who drew them up, could still refer to "the express commands of the
'Heeren Maijoores" [*] to "attempt the discovery of Nova Guinea and other
unknown Eastern and Southern lands." And it is a fact certainly, that in
the first half of the seventeenth century the Governors-General who
planned these exploratory voyages were in their endeavours supported by
the Managers of the E.I.C. in the mother country [**]: it was especially
Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1619-1623 and 1627-1629), Hendrik Broulwer
(1632-1636) and Antonio van Diemen (1636-1645), who were most efficiently
backed in their efforts for this purpose by their principals at home.
Among these Governors-General Van Diemen holds the foremost place as
regards the furtherance of discoveries by Netherlanders in the Far East:
in the Pacific and on, "the mainland coasts of Australia." It is, with
complete justice, therefore, that a foreign author mentions the name of
Van Diemen as "a name which will ever rank among the greatest promotors
of maritime discovery".[***]
[* Meaning the Managers of the E.I.C.]
[** See also the instructions for the voyage of 1636, p. 64 _infra_.]
[*** BURNEY, Chronological History, III, p. 55. Speaking of Van Diemen,
we must not omit to call the reader's attention to sentiments such as the
following: "Whoever endeavours to discover unknown lands and tribes, had
need to be patient and long-suffering, noways quick to fly out, but
always bent on ingratiating himself" (p. 65 _infra_), a piece of advice
elsewhere taking the form of a command, e.g. p. 66: "You will not carry
off with you any natives against their will". And, sad to say, such
injunctions were often imperiously necessary!]
And this same eminent manager of the Company's interests in India lived
to see at the end of his official career far narrower views about
colonial policy not only take root in the mother-country (where isolated
opinions that way had found utterance long before), but even get the
upper hand in the Company's councils. Van Diemen's policy came ultimately
to be condemned in the Netherlands, whatever homage might there be paid
to his eminent talents, whatever acknowledgment vouchsafed to his great
merits! It may almost be called a matter of course that great differences
of opinions were bound surely, if slowly, to crop up between the Managers
on one hand, and able Governors-General on the other, touching the line
of conduct to be followed by the Netherlanders in the East. The Managers
were in the first place the directors of a trading company: they hardly
looked beyond the requirements of a purely mercantile policy. Eminent
Governors-General on the contrary were conscious {Page xvi} of being more
than this: they were not only the representatives of a body of merchants,
they were also the rulers of a colonial empire which in the East was
looked up to with dread, with hatred also sometimes, to be sure, but at
the same time with respect and awe! There lay the ultimate cause of the
fundamental difference of opinion respecting the colonial policy to be
followed [*]. Van Diemen dreamt a bold dream of Dutch supremacy in the
East and of the East India Company's mastery "of the opulent Indian
trade." To this end he deemed necessary: "harassing of the enemy [**],
continuation and extension of trade, together with the discovering or new
lands." But if he had lived to read the missive [***], his grand projects
would have received an effectual damper as he perused the letter
addressed to him by the Lords Managers, on September 9, 1645, and
containing the passage following: "[We] see that Your Worships have again
taken up the further exploration of the coast of Nova Guinea in hopes of
discovering silver- and gold-mines there. We do not expect great things
of the continuation of such explorations, which more and more burden the
Company's resources, since they require increase of yachts and of
sailors. Enough has been discovered for the Company to carry on trade,
provided the latter be attended with success. We do not consider it part
of our task to seek out gold- and silver-mines for the Company, and
having found such, to try to derive profit from the same; such things
involve a good deal more, demanding excessive expenditure and large
numbers of hands...These plans of Your Worships somewhat aim beyond our
mark. The gold- and silver-mines that will best serve the Company's turn,
have already been found, which we deem to be our trade over the whole of
India..."
[* I have dealt at some length with this subject in Vol. III
('s-Gravenhage, NIJHOFF, 1895) of my _Bouwstoffen voor de geschiedenis
der Nederlanders in den Maleiscken Arckipel_, pp. LVI ff.]
[** The eighty years' war was still going on]
[*** Van Diemen died April 19, 1645.]
Is it wonderful that, where the supreme authorities of the E.I.C.
regarded matters in this light, there was no longer question of
exploratory voyages of any importance? The period of the great voyages of
discovery undertaken by Netherlanders, accordingly terminates with Van
Diemen's death. It is true that occasionally voyages of this nature were
planned [*]; that Australia--not to go further afield--was also visited
now and then in later times, but such visits either bore an incidental
character, or formed part of expeditions undertaken for other purposes
[**], the occasion being then used to "obtain once for all some full and
reliable information touching the situation and coast-lines" of lands
previously discovered.
[* See p. 72 and Note below: 1645 and 1646.]
[** Now, for instance (No. XXVIII, 1648), for the purpose of seeking
another route than the customary one from Batavia to Banda, at another
time (No. XXIX, 1656-1658) to inquire into the fate of a shipwrecked
crew; or to prevent the voyages of William Dampier from entailing
unpleasant consequences for the Dutch E.I.C. (1705, No. XXXIII).--Thus,
in 1718, a Swiss of the name of J. P. Purry submitted to the Managers of
the E.I.C. proposals for the further discovery of Nuytsland. The proposal
was duly reported on, but ultimately laid aside _(Resolutions of the
"Heeren XVII", Oclober 3, 1718, and March 11 1719; Resolution of the
Amsterdam Chamber, April 17, 1719)_.]
Still, we must not omit to mention that at the close of the seventeenth
century a desire to contribute to the enlargement of geographical
knowledge for a moment got a voice in the question of equipping vessels
for expeditions sent out for this purpose. And this scientific impulse
originated in the mother-country [*]. The impulse was undoubtedly given
by the well-known burgomaster of Amsterdam and Manager of the E. I. C.,
_Nicolaas Corneliszoon Witsen, LL D_, author of the work entitled {Page
xvii} _Noord en Oost Tartarije_. He took a diligent part in the
preparations for the voyage of skipper De Vlamingh: "We are having the
vessels manned mainly with unmarried and resolute sailors; I have
directed a draughtsman to join the expedition that whatever strange or
rare things they meet with, may be accurately depicted". And Witsen
anxiously awaited the outcome of De Vlamingh's expedition. He was
disappointed by the results: the commander had indeed "surveyed and made
soundings on the coasts, but had made few landings." At the same time
Manager Witsen mentions not without some satisfaction the results of this
voyage, meagre though they may be in his eyes, in letters to friends both
at home and abroad, imparting to them what he has learned on the subject
[**]. A few years later, however, he bitterly complains of the
indifference of many of his countrymen in those days: "What does Your
Worship care about curious learning from India," he grumbles in a letter
to one of his friends [***] "no, sir, it is money only, not learned
knowledge that our people go out to seek over there, the which is sorely
to be regretted."
[* _Resolution of the "Heeren XVII", August 25, 1692; see also p. 60
infra._]
[** As regards this see J F GEBHARD _Het leven van Witsen_ I., pp. 480 f.:
II. pp. 260 f. (Letter of Witsen to "Dr. Martin Lister, fellow of the
Colledge of Physicians and R. S., concerning some late observations in
Nova Hollandia" October 3, 1698), pp. 299 f. (Letter to Gijsbert Cuper at
Deventer, 1698?) pp. 407, 414, 416]
[*** 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.
* * * * *
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