(1635). [*] FURTHER SURVEYINGS OF THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA BY THE
SHIP AMSTERDAM UNDER COMMANDER WOLLEBRAND GELEYNSZOON DE JONGH AND
SKIPPER PIETER DIRCKSZ, ON HER VOYAGE FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO THE EAST
INDIES.
[* In 1629 the west-coast of Australia in the neighbourhood of Dirk
Hartogsz Roads was touched at by Dutch vessels, and in 1632 the Trialls
were passed by Dutch ships on the outward voyage. What we know about
these two points is of no interest as regards our subject.]
_Journal of Commander WOLLEBRAND GELEYNSZOON DE JONGH._ [*]
[* I know this journal only from what LEUPE extracts from it in his
"Zuidland", pp. 62 ff. (the passages in question being given above), and
from certain written notes from Leupe's hand. From the latter I have
learned _inter alia_, the name of the skipper, the date of departure from
the Texel (December 26, 1634), and the date of arrival at Batavia (June
24, 1635).]
...[May 25] Last night when two glasses of the first watch were out, we
got a slight breeze from the N.W., which gradually stiffened, so that
there was a fair breeze at the latter end of this watch, which kept
blowing through the night till the following forenoon, when the wind
turned to W. by N. and W.N.W. with a squall of rain, it blowing a strong
top-gallant gale until the evening, course kept E. by N. until one hour
after daybreak when we sighted the South-land.
We went over to port directly, keeping a N.E. and N.E. by E. course until
noon, when we stood out to sea from the land, on a W. and W. by S. course
with a top-gallant gale. We took the latitude, which we found to be 25°
16' South, but of {Page 63} this we are not quite sure; we were not able
to take the sun's azimuth, either in the morning or in the evening; we
sailed 20 miles until we saw the land, from which we were at 4 or 4Ω
miles' distance by estimation, on an E. by N. course, and on various
courses during the day, course N.N.E. for 6 or 7 miles.
We had made this land in 4 months and 20 days. We saw a good deal of
rock-weed floating past our ship, and also a small Saturn-gull, and not
above 6 or 7 other gulls; the swell ran strongly from the south-west and
afterwards more from the south; along the land the sea was tolerably
smooth.
We adjusted our compasses at 4° north-westerly variation. In the morning
of the same day about two hours after sunrise, when prayers were over, we
saw the south-land straight ahead to the great joy of all of us; it was
east of us, at about 3 or 5 miles' distance by estimation, when we got
sight of it; it was a low-lying coast extending mainly N.N.E. and S.S.W.
as given in the chart, so far as we could see. We immediately began to
sail close-hauled to port on a N.E. and N.E. by E. course, sometimes a
little higher and at other times a little lower, until three glasses in
the afternoon had run out, when we got a squall of rain with the wind
going over to W.N.W., upon which we ran north again, since at noon owing
to the nearly contrary wind we had gone over to W. in order to keep off
the land. We now shaped our course to north, at times to N. by W. nearly
as high as we could sail and the wind would allow us.
The land which we saw, and from which at noon we were at no more than 1Ω
or two miles' distance by estimation, we judged to be the land of
d'Eendracht, and the land which we were near to at noon Dirck
Hartochsz-Roads, for we had before us a large bay or bight between two
capes. In the bay we could see no land from the main-topmast, but so far
as we could discern the surf ran through the whole bay from the one cape
to the other.
The land shows various white plots near the seaside, and in many places
rises very steeply so far as we could see.
The breakers on the coast were very strong, but there were no rocks or
shallows near the coast on which we could see the surf break, except at
the cape north of Dirck Hartochs Roads, off which there seemed to be a
small shoal or rock on which the surf broke, but it may as well have been
a landspit running southward out to sea from the cape.
As soon as we got sight of the land, we cast the lead, and took soundings
in 90 fathom whitish sandy bottom with small shells, at about 4Ω or 5
miles' distance from the land; in the middle of the forenoon we cast the
lead again and touched the bottom in 75 fathom coarse and fine sand,
mixed with small shells, at a little under 3 miles' distance from the
land; we saw a good deal of rock-weed float alongside.
At noon we sounded in 55 fathom, at about two miles' distance from the
shore, straight in front of Dirck Hartochsz Roads, greyish sand.
{Page 64}
About 2 o'clock in the afternoon we sounded in 50 fathom white, clean
sand-bottom, with very small, thin shells, at about iΩ mile's distance by
estimation from the northern extremity of Dirck Hartochsz. Roads, and two
miles from the southern extremity of the road-stead just mentioned.
Towards the evening after supper, we cast the lead and sounded in 50
fathom grayish sand-bottom, at about 2Ω miles' distance by estimation
from the land, and about 3 miles to northward of Dirck Hartochsz Roads.
At night when 4 glasses of the first watch were out, we cast the lead and
sounded in 50 fathom grayish sand with small shells, estimating ourselves
to be about 3 miles off the land, and about 7 miles to northward of Dirck
Hartochsz. Roads.
At the latter end of the first watch when seven glasses were out, we cast
the lead and touched the bottom in 48 fathom, but could not make out how
far we were from the land (since it was night, and we could not see the
coast), except from our course, by which we estimated the distance to be
4 miles.
In the second watch when three glasses had run out, we cast the lead
again and sounded in 47 fathom sandy bottom as before; we kept sounding
every two or three glasses during the whole night until sunrise and found
80 fathom sandy bottom; we saw no land, but from our course and rate of
progress we deemed ourselves to be at 9Ω miles' distance from the nearest
land, estimating our latitude, from the observation we took on the 26th
do. at noon, and from our rate of progress, to be 24° South. But we did
not see any land again throughout the day, and left off sounding, since
our skippers and steersmen, judging from their estimations and from the
course we kept (being north, and two points off the land according to the
trend of the coast), were of opinion that we could get no bottom, so that
we thought it needless to go on sounding...
* * * * *