(1658). THE SHIP ELBURG, COMMANDED BY JACOB PIETERSZOON PEEREBOOM,
TOUCHES AT THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OF AUSTRALIA AND AT CAPE LEEUWIN, ON HER
VOYAGE FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO BATAVIA [*].
[* The ship Elburg arrived at Batavia on July 16, 1658.]
_Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E.I.C., December
14, 1658._
...The flute Elburgh, Jacob Pietersz. Peereboom master, in coming hither
struck the South-land in 31Ω degrees S.L., and the estimated longitude of
117°, where, at about 2Ω miles' distance from the land, she was by the
strong wind and the hollow sea forced to come to anchor in 22 fathom, not
without great peril of being lost; but after 12 days' hard trying they at
length got off again and into the open, for which God's name be praised.
Meanwhile, in 33° 14' S.L., round a projecting point, they have found a
good anchoring-place, where they have been at anchor in 20 fathom, and
where the skipper, together with one of the steersmen, the sergeant and 6
soldiers landed round Leeuwinnen cape, finding there three black men,
hung with skins like those at Cape de Bonne Esperance, with whom,
however, they could not come to parley.
On the spot where the blacks had been sitting, our men found a burning
fire, near which there lay a number of assagays, together with three
small hammers, consisting of a wooden handle to one end of which a hard
pebble was fastened by means of a kind of wax or gum, the whole strong
and heavy enough to knock out a man's brains.
A little farther inward they came upon a number of huts, without any
persons in them, and in various spots they found rills of fresh water,
and here and there large quantities of the wax or gum aforesaid, of which
we beg leave to hand you a small sample herewith, together with one of
the said hammers, the wax or gum being of a red colour, and emitting an
agreeable smell after being rubbed for some time...
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