SCHOUTEN AND LE MAIRE DISCOVER A NEW STRAIT
This is the story of a voyage to a country which did not exist. The men
who risked their capital in this expedition hoped to reach a territory
which we now call Australia. It was not exactly the Australia which we
know from our modern geography. It was a mysterious continent of which
there had been heard many rumors for more than half a century. What the
contemporary traveler really hoped to find we do not know, but we have
the details of an expedition to this new land called "Terra Australis
incognita" or "the unknown southern land," an expedition which left the
harbor of Hoorn on the fifteenth of June of the year 1615.
Hoorn is a little city on the Zuyder Zee, just such a little city as
Enkhuizen, from which Linschoten had set out upon his memorable voyage.
This voyage had a short preface which has little to do with navigation,
but much with provincial politics and commercial rivalry. The original
idea of allowing everybody to found his own little Indian trading
company after his own wishes had been a bad one from an economic
point of view. There was so much competition between the three dozen
little companies that all were threatened with bankruptcy. Therefore a
financial genius, the eminent leader of the province of Holland, John
of Barneveldt, took matters into his own capable hands and combined
all the little companies into one large East India Trading Company,
a commercial body which existed until the year 1795 and was a great
success from start to finish.
Among the original investors there had been a certain Jacques le Maire,
a native of the town of Antwerp who had fled when the Spaniards took
that city for the second time, and who now lived in Amsterdam with his
wife and his twenty-two children. He was respected for his ability,
and was chosen into the body of directors who managed the affairs of
the East India Company. But Le Maire was not the sort of man to stay
in the harness with others for a very long time. He complained that
the company cared only for dividends and immediate profits. He wanted
to see the ships of his adopted country make war upon the Spaniards,
besides trying to steal their colonies.
[Illustration]
After a few years Le Maire quarreled openly with several of the other
directors, and he planned to form an Indian company of his own. In
Amsterdam, however, he was so strongly opposed by his enemies, who were
still in the old company, that he was forced to leave the city. He
went to live in a small village near by and continued to work upon his
schemes. With Hendrik Hudson he discussed a plan of reaching the Indies
by way of the Northwestern Route--a route which was as yet untried. To
King Henry IV of France he made the offer of establishing a new French
company as a rival of the mighty Dutch institution. All these many
ideas came to nothing. Henry IV was murdered, and Hudson went into the
service of another employer.
Le Maire was obliged to invent something new. He was in a very
difficult position. The Estates General of the Dutch Republic had given
to their one East India Company a practical monopoly of the entire
Indian trade. They decided that no Dutch ships should be allowed to
travel to the Indies except through the Strait of Magellan or by way of
the Cape of Good Hope. That meant that the entrance to the Indian spice
islands was closed at both sides. It was of course easy enough to
sail through the strait or past the cape. There was nobody to prevent
one from doing so. But when one tried to trade in India on his own
account, the Dutch company sent their men-of-war after the intruder.
These wanted to know who he was and how he came within the domain of
the company. Since there were only two roads, he must have trespassed
in one way or the other upon the privileges of the company. Therefore
the company, which was the sovereign ruler of all the Indian islands,
had the right to confiscate his ships.
[Illustration]
If Le Maire could only find a new road to India, he would not interfere
with the strict rules of the Estates General. His ships could then
trade in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, and he would be the most
dangerous rival of the old company, which he had learned to hate since
the days when he had first invested sixty thousand guilders and had
been one of the directors. For a long time Le Maire studied books and
maps and atlases, and finally came to the conclusion that there must be
another way of getting from the Atlantic into the Pacific besides the
long and tortuous Strait of Magellan. And if there were a strait, there
must be land on the other side of it. If only this could be discovered,
Le Maire would be rich again, and could laugh at the pretentions of the
East India Company.
Le Maire did not go to Amsterdam to get the necessary funds for his
expedition. He interested the good people of the little town of Hoorn,
and with a fine prospectus about his "Unknown Southern Land" he soon
got all the money he needed. The Estates General were willing to give
him all the privileges he asked for provided he did not touch the
monopolies of their beloved East India Company. Even Prince Maurice
interested himself sufficiently in this voyage to a new continent to
give Le Maire a letter of introduction which put the expedition upon
more official footing.
Two small ships were bought, and eighty-seven men were engaged for two
years. On the largest ship of the two, called the _Eendracht_, there
were sixty-five men, and on the small yacht the _Hoorn_ there were
twenty-two. William Cornelisz Schouten was commander-in-chief. He had
made three trips to India by way of the cape. Two sons of Le Maire,
one called Jacques, the other Daniel, went with the expedition to keep
a watchful eye upon everything and to see to it that their father's
wishes were carefully executed. The ships were forbidden to enter the
Strait of Magellan. In case of need they might return by way of the
Cape, but they must be careful not to trade with any of the Indian
princes who now recognized the rule of the East India Company. The main
purpose of the expedition was to find the unknown continent in the
Pacific. For this main purpose they must sacrifice everything else. And
so they left Hoorn, and they sailed toward the south.
[Illustration]
It was more than twenty years since the first expedition had sailed
for India. The route across the Atlantic was well known by this time.
There is nothing particular to narrate about the dull trip of three
months enlivened only by the attack of a large monster, a sort of
unicorn, which stuck his horn into the ship with such violence that he
perished and left behind the horn, which was found when the ships were
overhauled near the island of Porto Deseado, where Van Noort, too, had
made ready for his trip through the strait many years before.
The cleaning of the smaller of the two vessels, however, was done so
carelessly that it caught fire. Since it had been placed on a high bank
at high tide and the water had ebbed, there was no water with which to
extinguish the conflagration. Except for the guns, the entire ship and
its contents were lost.
The sailors were taken on board the _Eendracht_, and on the thirteenth
of January of the year 1616 the ship passed by the entrance of the
Strait of Magellan and began to search for a new thoroughfare into
the Pacific farther toward the South. On the twenty-third of January
the most eastern promontory of Tierra del Fuego was seen. The next
day the high mountains of another little island further toward the
east appeared in the distance. Evidently Le Maire had been right in
his calculations. There was another strait, and the _Eendracht_ had
discovered it. Such big events are usually very simple affairs. The
southernmost point of Tierra del Fuego was easily reached and was
called Cape Hoorn, after the town which had equipped the expedition.
The _Eendracht_ now sailed further westward, and in less than two
weeks found herself in the Pacific Ocean. On the twelfth of February
the great discovery was celebrated with a party for the benefit of the
sailors. They had been the first to pass through the Strait of Jacques
le Maire and the dangerous route discovered by Magellan ninety-five
years before could now be given up for the safer and shorter passage
through Strait le Maire and the open water south of Tierra del Fuego.
[Illustration: T'eylandt van Guan Fernando]
The ship had an easy voyage until it dropped its anchors before Juan
Fernandez, the famous island of Robinson Crusoe. It was found to be
the little paradise which De Foe afterward painted in his entertaining
novel. Fresh water was taken on board, and the voyage was continued.
After a month of rapid progress, with a good eastern wind, land was
seen. It was a small coral island, probably one of the Paomuta group.
Some men swam ashore, for it was impossible to use the boat on account
of the heavy surf. They saw nothing but a flat, naked island and three
strange dogs that did not bark. They found some fresh fruit, which
they brought back to the ship for the sick people. Of course there
were sick people. That was a part of every voyage. But the illness was
not serious. Four days later they discovered a second island somewhat
larger. This was inhabited. A canoe with painted savages came out
to the Dutch ship. Since the savages spoke neither Dutch, Spanish,
Portuguese, nor Malay, and the Dutch sailors did not know the Papua
dialect, it was impossible to have conversation with these ignorant
people who refused to come on board. Captain Schouten was not in need
of anything, and he went on his way to try his luck at the next island.
The natives had now discovered that there was no harm in this strange,
large floating object. They came climbing over all the sides of the
ship. They stole brass nails and small metal objects, hid them in their
wooly and long hair, and then jumped overboard. Everywhere the same
thing happened. Schouten sailed from one island to the next, but of any
new continent, however, he found no sign. When you look at the map you
will notice that this part of the Pacific is thickly dotted with small
islands. Their inhabitants are great mariners, and in their little
boats travel long distances. Schouten with his big ship caused great
consternation among these simple fishermen, who hastily fled whenever
they saw this strange big devil bearing down upon them.
The trip was very pleasant, but it grew tiresome to discover nothing
but little islands. At last, however, on the tenth of May, a big one
with high mountains and forests was reached. It was called Cocos Island
because there were many cocoanut-trees near the shore. The inhabitants
of the island, being unfamiliar with white people, were very hospitable
and were willing to trade fresh cocoanuts and other eatable things for
a few gifts of trinkets and perhaps a small pocket-knife. But jealousy
was not unknown even in this distant part of the South Seas. Soon
there was a quarrel between those canoes nearest to the ship which had
obtained presents and others too far away to receive anything. Also
there was a good deal of annoyance caused by the fact that the natives
insisted upon stealing everything they could find on the ship. Finally
Schouten was obliged to appoint a temporary police of Hollanders armed
with heavy canes to keep the natives in their proper place. Otherwise
they might have stolen the ship itself, just as they had once tried to
make away with all the boats. Upon that occasion they had made their
first acquaintance of fire-arms. When they saw what a little bullet
could do they respected the mysterious lead pipes which made a sudden
loud noise and killed a man at a hundred yards. Near Cocos Island there
appeared to be more mountainous land, and Schouten decided to visit it.
The king came out in state in his canoe to greet the Dutch captain. He
was entertained royally with a concert. To show how much he appreciated
the lovely music which he had just heard the king yelled and shrieked
as loudly as he could. It was very funny, and everybody was happy. But
this pleasant relation did not last long, for when the Hollanders were
about to reciprocate the visit their ship was attacked, and several
volleys from the large cannon were necessary to drive the natives away.
These islands were called the Islands of the Traitors, because the king
had tried to kill the people whom he had invited as his guests, and
they are known to-day as the Ladrones.
[Illustration]
The _Eendracht_ was now sixteen hundred miles to the west of Peru, and
as yet the unknown Southern continent had not been discovered. The
wind continued to blow from the east. In a council of the officers of
the ship it was decided to keep a more northern course until it could
be ascertained with precision where they were in this vast expanse of
pacific water and small coral islands. It was an unfortunate decision.
The ship was then very near the coast of Australia. Sailing from one
group of islands to the next it had followed a course parallel to the
northern coast of the continent for which the men were searching with
great industry. After a while they were obliged to land on another
island for fresh water. They were again entertained by the king of
the island. He gave a dinner and a dance in their honor, and they had
a chance to admire the graceful motions of the young girls of the
villages. They must have been among the Fiji Islands. Farther westward,
however, they discovered that the attitude of the natives toward them
began to change. Evidently they were reaching a region where the white
man was not unknown and was accordingly distrusted. Chinese and
Japanese objects, here and there a knife or a gun of European origin,
were found among the natives who came paddling out to the Dutch ship.
Their map told them that they were approaching the domains of the East
India Company. It had not been their intention to do this, but the
reputed Southern continent seemed to be a myth. It was time for them
to try and reach home and report their adventures to the owners of the
ship.
[Illustration]
Sailing along the coast of New Guinea, they at last reached the port
of Ternate on the seventeenth of September. Here they found a large
Dutch fleet which had just reached the Indies by way of the Strait of
Magellan. This fleet was under command of Admiral van Spilbergen, who
was much surprised to hear that the _Eendracht_ had reached the Pacific
through a new strait. He showed that he did not believe the story which
Schouten told of his new discoveries. If there were such a strait, then
why had it taken the _Eendracht_ such a long time to reach Ternate?
etc. The admiral suspected that this ship was a mere interloper sent
by Le Maire to trade in a region where, according to the instructions
of the East Indian Company, no other ships than those of the company
were allowed to engage in commerce.
This suspicion was very unpleasant for the brave Schouten, but there
were other things to worry him. Before the expedition started old Le
Maire, a shrewd trader, had thought of the possibility that his ships
might not be able to find this unknown continent. In that case he did
not want them to come home without some profit to himself, and he had
invented a scheme by which he might perhaps beat the company at her
own game. The governor-general of the Dutch colonies at that time
was a certain Gerard Reynst, who was known to be an avaricious and
dishonest official. Le Maire counted upon this, and to his eldest son
he had given secret instructions which told him what to do in such
circumstances. The idea was very simple. Young Le Maire must bribe
Reynst with an offer of money or whatever would be most acceptable to
the governor. In return for this Reynst would not be too particular
if the _Eendracht_ went to some out-of-the-way island and bought a few
hundred thousand pounds worth of spices.
It was a very happy idea, and it undoubtedly would have worked.
Unfortunately Reynst had just died. His successor was no one less than
Jan Pietersz Coen, the man of iron who was to hammer the few isolated
settlements into one strong colonial empire. Coen could not be bribed.
To him the law was the law. The _Eendracht_ did not belong to the East
India Company; therefore, it had no right to be in India according
to Coen's positive instructions. The ship was confiscated. The men
were allowed to return to Holland. And the owners were told that
they could start a lawsuit in the Dutch courts to decide whether the
governor-general had acted within his rights or not.
Young Le Maire sailed for Holland very much dejected. He had lost his
father's ship, and nobody would believe him when he told of his great
discovery of the new and short connection between the Pacific and the
Atlantic. He died on the way home, died of disappointment. His hopes
had been so great. He had done his task faithfully, and he and Schouten
had found a large number of new islands and had added many thousands
of miles of geographical information to that part of the map which
was still covered with the ominous letters of _terra incognita_. Yet
through an ordinance which many people did not recognize as just he
was deprived of the glory which ought to have come to him. His younger
brother reached Holland on the second of July of the year 1617, and a
week later he appeared in the meeting of the Estates General. This time
the story which he told was believed by his hearers. The idea of an old
man being the chief mover in equipping such a wonderful enterprise with
the help of his sons and only a small capital against all sorts of odds
assured Le Maire the sympathy of the man in the street. For a while
Governor-General Coen was highly unpopular.
Old Le Maire started a suit for the recovery of his ship and its
contents. After two years of pleading he won his case. The East India
Company was ordered to pay back the value of the ship and the goods
confiscated. All his official papers were returned to Le Maire. His
name and that of the little town of Hoorn, given to the most southern
point of the American continent and to the shortest route from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, tell of this great voyage of the year 1618.