That in all places where we landed, we have treated the blacks or savages
with especial kindness, offering them pieces of iron, strings of beads
and pieces of cloth, hoping by so doing to get their friendship and be
allowed to penetrate to some considerable distance landinward, that we
might be able to give a full account and description of the same; but in
spite of all our kindness and our fair semblance [*] the blacks received
us as enemies everywhere, so that in most places our landings were
attended with great peril; on this account, and for various other reasons
afterwards to be mentioned, we have not been able to learn anything about
the population of Nova Guinea, and the nature of its inhabitants and its
soil; nor did we get any information touching its towns and villages,
about the division of the land, the religion of the natives, their
policy, wars, rivers, vessels, or fisheries; what commodities they have,
what manufactures, what minerals whether gold, silver, tin, iron, lead,
copper or quicksilver. In the first place, in making further landings we
should have been troubled by the rainy season, which might have seriously
interfered with the use of our muskets, whereas it does no harm to the
weapons of the savages; secondly, we should first have been obliged to
seek practicable paths or roads of which we knew nothing; thirdly, we
might easily have been surrounded by the crowds of blacks, and been cut
off from the boats, which would entail serious peril to the sailors with
whom we always effected the landings, and who are imperfectly versed in
the use of muskets; if on the contrary we had had well-drilled and
experienced soldiers (the men best fitted to undertake such expeditions),
we might have done a good deal of useful work; still, in spite of all
these difficulties and obstacles, we have shunned neither hard work,
trouble, nor peril, to make a thorough examination of everything with the
means at our disposal, and to do whatever our good name and our honour
demanded; the result of our investigation being as follows:
[* A curiously subjective way of looking at things!]
The land between 13° and 17° 8' is a barren and arid tract, without any
fruit-trees, and producing nothing fit for the use of man; it is
low-lying and flat without hills or mountains; in many places overgrown
with brushwood and stunted wild trees; it has not much fresh water, and
what little there is, has to be collected in pits dug for the purpose;
there is an utter absence of bays or inlets, with the exception of a few
bights not sheltered from the sea-wind; it extends mainly N. by E. and S.
by W., with shallows all along the coast, with a clayey and sandy bottom;
it has numerous salt rivers extending into the interior, across which the
natives drag their wives and children by means of dry sticks or boughs of
trees. The natives are in general utter barbarians, all resembling each
other in shape and features, coal-black, and with twisted nets wound
round their heads and necks for keeping their food in; so far as we could
make out, they chiefly live on certain ill-smelling roots which they dig
out of the earth. We infer that during the eastern monsoon they live
mainly on the beach, since we have there seen numerous small huts made of
dry grass; we also saw great numbers of dogs, herons and curlews, and
other wild fowl, together with plenty of excellent fish, easily caught
with a seine-net; they are utterly unacquainted with gold, silver, tin,
iron, lead and copper, nor do they know anything about nutmegs, cloves
and pepper, all of which spices we repeatedly showed them without their
evincing any signs of {Page 42} recognising or valuing the same; from all
which together with the rest of our observations it may safely be
concluded that they are poor and abject wretches, caring mainly for bits
of iron and strings of beads. Their weapons are shields, assagays, and
callaways of the length of 1Ω fathom, made of light wood and cane, some
with fish-bones and others with human bones fastened to their tops; they
are very expert in throwing the said weapons by means of a piece of wood,
half a fathom in length, with a small hook tied to it in front, which
they place upon the top of the callaway or assagay.
* * *
(The Waterplaets is in 12 degrees 33 minutes Lat.)
In the morning of the 9th, the wind being E.S.E., with good weather, we
set sail on a N.N.E. course along the land, and when we had run on for 2
miles, came to anchor in 9 fathom close inshore; I went ashore in person
with ten musketeers, and found many footprints of men and of large dogs,
going in a southerly direction., we also came upon fresh water flowing
into the sea, and named the place de Waeterplaets. The land here is
higher than what we have seen to southward, and there are numerous reefs
close to the sandy beach; the place is in 12° 33'; in the afternoon the
wind was S.W., course held as before; from the Waterplaets aforesaid to a
high cape there is a large bay, extending N.E. by N. and S.W. by S. for 7
miles; in the evening we dropped anchor in 4Ω fathom.
In the morning of the 10th the wind being E.S.E., with steady weather, we
set sail on a W.N.W. course; at noon we were in 12° 5'. I went ashore
myself with the skipper, and as before found many footprints of men and
dogs, going to the south. The land here is high and hilly, with reefs
near the sandy beach; as we were pulling back to the yacht, some armed
savages showed themselves, upon which we landed again and threw out some
pieces of iron to them, which they picked up, refusing, however, to come
to parley with us; after which we took to the pinnace again.
In the morning of the 11th, the wind being E.S.E. with good weather, we
set sail again on a N.N.E. course along the land; in the afternoon we
sailed past a large river (which the men of the Duifken went up with a
boat in 1606, and where one of them was killed by the arrows of the
blacks); to this river, which is in 11° 48' Lat., we have given the name
of revier de Carpentier in the new chart.
[* Rivier Batavia in DE LEEUW'S chart.]
In the morning of the 12th the wind was E.S.E., with pleasant weather; I
went ashore myself with the skipper, and found upwards of 200 savages
standing on the beach, making a violent noise, threatening to throw their
arrows at us, and evidently full of suspicion; for, though we threw out
to them pieces of iron and other things, they refused to come to parley,
and used every possible means to wound one of our men and get him into
their power; we were accordingly compelled to frighten them by firing one
or two shots at them, by which one of the blacks was hit in the breast
and carried to the pinnace by our men, upon which all the others retired
to the hills or dunes; in their wretched huts on the beach we found
nothing but a square-cut assagay, two or three small pebbles, and some
human bones, which they use in constructing their weapons and scraping
the same; we also found a quantity of black resin and a piece of metal,
which the wounded man had in his net, and which he had most probably got
from the men of the Duyfken; since there was nothing further to be done
here, we rowed back to the yacht, the wounded man dying before we had
reached her; at noon we set sail with a S.W. wind on a N.N.E. course
along the land, and as it fell calm, came to anchor after having run on
for 2 miles.
{Page 43}
In the morning of the 13th, the wind being S.E. with good weather, we set
sail on a N.E. by N. course in upwards Of 7 fathom about 2 miles from the
land; at noon we were in 11° 16' Lat., the wind being E.; in the evening
we came to anchor in 2 fathom near a river, which we have named Revier
van Spult in the chart.
(The Waterplaets in 10 degrees 50 minutes Lat.)
On the 14th we made sail again before daybreak, with a S.E. wind and
steady weather; from the 9th of this month up to now we have found the
land of Nova Guinea to extend N.N.E. and S.S.W., and from this point
continuing N. and S. I went ashore here myself with the skipper and 10
musketeers and found a large number of footprints of men and dogs going
south; we also came upon a very fine fresh-water river, flowing into the
sea, whence fresh water can easily be obtained by means of boats or
pinnaces; the river is in 10° 50', and is marked Waterplaets in the
chart. The land here is high, hilly, and reefy near the sandy beach;
seeing that nothing profitable could be effected here, we returned to the
yacht, which was lying-by under small sail; towards the evening we were
at about 1 mile's distance from three islets, of which the southernmost
was the largest; five miles by estimation farther to northward we saw a
mountainous country, but the shallows rendered (or render) it impossible
for us to get near it; in almost every direction in which soundings were
taken, we found very shallow water, so that we sailed for a long time in
5, 4, 3, 2Ω, 2, 1Ω fathom and even less, so that at last we were forced
to drop anchor in 1Ω fathom, without knowing where to look for greater or
less depths; after sunset we therefore sent out the pinnace to take
soundings, which found deeper water a long way S.W. of the pinnace, viz.
2, 3, and 4Ω fathom; we were very glad to sail thither with the yacht,
and cast anchor in 8Ω fathom, fervently thanking God Almighty for his
inexpressible mercy and clemency, shown us in this emergency as in all
others.
In the morning of the 15th, the wind being S.E. with good weather, we set
sail on a W. course, which took us into shallower water of 2, 2Ω and 3
fathom; we therefore went over to S.W., when we came into 3Ω, 4, 5, 6
fathom and upwards; we had lost sight of the land here, and found it
impossible to touch at it or follow it any longer, owing to the shallows,
reefs and sandbanks and also to the E. winds blowing here; on which
account it was resolved and determined--in order to avoid such imminent
perils as might ultimately arise if we continued to coast along the land
any longer--to turn back and hold our course first for the Vleermuijs
Eijlant; we therefore stood out to sea on a W. course in 9Ω fathom and
upwards, having sailed 17 miles in 24 hours, kept west, and finding no
bottom in 27 fathom.
* * *