Voyages of the Dutch brig of war Dourga

by D. H. Kolff

Having given my reader a circumstantial account of my voyage to the South-west, South-east and Arru Islands, I will now proceed with the narrative of a voyage undertaken by me, by order of the Government, to examine the coasts of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, the objects being similar to those which gave rise to the former voyage. I received, on this occasion, a resolution of the Government, from which I give the following extract:—

"1st.—The acts of M.D.H. Kolff, Lieutenant in the Navy of the First Class, during his voyage to the South-west, South-east and Arru Islands, are approved of on the whole, with thanks for the perfectly satisfactory manner in which he has carried his orders into effect.

"2nd.—The appointment of the chiefs made by M. Kalff are to stand good, and certificates of the same are to be drawn up.

"3rd.—The Captain in the Navy, Commandant of the Division, is to send H.M. brig Dourga, under command of Lieutenant Kolff, on another voyage in the Banda Seas as far as the coast of New Guinea, in order to make an examination of the same, &c., according to a letter of instructions hereafter to be drawn up. Extracts from this to be furnished to Lieutenant Kolff for his information and direction.

"True copy from the Register.
"Signed (W.G.) Paape."

For the sake of brevity, I will refrain from inserting other resolutions of the Government, approving of the distribution I had made of the presents, together with the new instructions with which I was provided for the present voyage.

Having obtained these documents, and all other necessary articles, I was speedily prepared for the task that had been imposed upon me. I will now offer the reader an account of my discoveries, and the remarkable occurrences which took place, pursuing the same method of simple narrative with that adopted in the former part of the work, and endeavouring to avoid all useless particulars.

I had brought with me from the Bay of Boni, a large boat belonging to the Harbour Department, and as it was evident that I should occasionally have to send out boat expeditions, for which the four belonging to the Dourga were unfit, I was permitted to take it with me. This boat, which was thirty-six feet long, and armed with an eighteen-pounder gun, was too heavy to be carried on the deck of the brig; but as I had before proved her to be a good sea-boat, I did not hesitate to let her sail in company. I received on board a party of military, but, to my regret, some of my former companions remained behind from sickness, among whom was the surgeon, M. Gayser, Officer of Health of the 2nd Class, M. Pierson coming in his stead.

We left Amboyna on the 26th of March, but continued calms prevented our reaching the picturesque island of Banda until the 1st of April. According to my instructions, I was to obtain here the advice of the Resident, with pilots and interpreters for New Guinea; but as none of the latter were to be met with here, I judged it best to proceed to the Ceram-Laut Islands, where I should be likely to obtain them. The Resident informed me that a war existed between the people of Kilwari and Keffing, and that the interposition of the Government had been requested by several of the tribes. The Commandant Kaltaay, who resided in Kilwari, had come with several others to Banda for this purpose, and had furnished the Resident with the particulars of the affair. His declaration was placed in my hands, with the request that, as I should probably visit these islands, I would endeavour to make peace between the hostile parties, since their wars had greatly injured the native trade, and thereby caused a great want of provisions at Banda. The Commandant Kaltaay had three jonkos with him, which followed the brig, while he, with three of his retinue, took passage with us.

On the 5th of April we left the Roads of Banda, with our little flotilla in company, and were again detained on our voyage by calms, being unable to reach the channel between Keffing and Ghissa until the 8th. We passed along the edge of the reefs which front the north coast of the latter island, and came to anchor in the mouth of the channel which separates it from the Ceram-Laut Islands.