Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia: / A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

by Richard Henry Major

Instructions for the commodore, Captain Abel Jansz Tasman, the skipper chief-pilot, Franz Jacobsz Visser, and the counsel of the yachts Limmen and Zeemeuw, and the tender De Brak, destined for a nearer discovery of Nova Guinea, and the unknown coasts of the discovered east and south lands, together with the channels and the islands supposed to be situated between and near them.

The several successive administrations of India, in order to enlarge and extend the trade of the Dutch East India Company, have zealously endeavoured to make an early discovery of the great land of Nova Guinea, and other unknown east and southerly countries, as you know by several discourses, and maps, journals, and papers communicated to you. But hitherto with little success, although several voyages have been undertaken.

1st. By order of the president, John Williamsson Verschoor, who at that time directed the company’s trade at Bantam, which was in the year 1606, with the yacht the Duyfhen, who in their passage sailed by the islands Key and Aroum, and discovered the south and west coast of Nova Guinea, for about 220 miles (880) from 5° to 13¾° south latitude: and found this extensive country, for the greatest part desert, but in some places inhabited by wild, cruel, black savages, by whom some of the crew were murdered; for which reason they could not learn anything of the land or waters, as had been desired of them, and, by want of provisions and other necessaries, they were obliged to leave the discovery unfinished: the furthest point of the land was called in their map Cape Keer-Weer,[^[14]] situated in 13¾° S.

The second voyage was undertaken with a yacht, in the year 1617, by order of the Fiscal D’Edel, with little success, of which adventures and discoveries, through the loss of their journals and remarks, nothing certain is to be found.

From this time the further discoveries of the unknown east and south countries were postponed until the year 1623, on account of there being no ships to spare; but in the interim, in the year 1619, a ship, named the Arms of Amsterdam, destined to Banda, drove past that place and touched at the south coast of Nova Guinea, where some of the crew were murdered by the savage inhabitants, wherefore they acquired no certain knowledge of the country.

But in the meantime, in the years 1616, 1618, 1619, and 1622, the west coast of this great unknown south land, from 35° to 22° S. latitude, was discovered by outward bound ships, and among them by the ship Endraght; for the nearer discovery of which the governor-general, Jan Pietersz Coen (of worthy memory), in September 1622, dispatched the yachts De Haring and Harewind; but this voyage was rendered abortive by meeting the ship Mauritius, and searching after the ship Rotterdam.

In consequence of which, by order of His Excellency, the third voyage was undertaken in the month of January 1623, with the yachts Pera and Arnhem, out of Amboina, under the command of Jan Carstens; with order to make a nearer friendship with the inhabitants of the islands Key, Aroum, and Tenimber, and better to discover Nova Guinea and the south lands, when an alliance was made with the said islands and the south coast of Nova Guinea nearer discovered. The skipper, with eight of the crew of the yacht Arnhem, was treacherously murdered by the inhabitants; and after a discovery of the great islands Arnhem and the Spult (by an untimely separation) this yacht, with very little success, came back to Amboina.

But the yacht Pera persisting in the voyage, sailed along the south coast of Nova Guinea to a flat cove on this coast, situated in 10° south latitude, and ran along the west coast of this land to Cape Keer-Weer, from thence discovered the coast farther southward as far as 17° S. to Staten River (from this place what more of the land could be discerned seemed to stretch westward), and from thence returned to Amboina.

In this discovery were found everywhere shallow water and barren coast; islands altogether thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal nations, and of very little use to the Company. The journal of this voyage is not now to be found; but the discovered countries may be seen in the maps which were made of them.

Through the little success of this third voyage, but mostly because no ships could be spared, the discovery was again omitted until 1636; but in the interim, in the year 1627, the south coast of the great south land was accidentally discovered by the ship the Gulde Zeepard, outward bound from Fatherland,[^[15]] for the space of 250 miles (1000); and again accidentally in the year following, 1628, on the north-side, in the latitude of 21° S., by the ship Vianen, homeward bound from India; when they coasted about 50 miles (200) without gaining any particular knowledge of this great country, only observing a foul and barren shore, green fields, and very wild, black, barbarous inhabitants; all which, by the loss of the ship Batavia, and the cruelties and miseries which followed from that, is fully proved, and was experienced by the crew of the yacht Sardam, in their course along this coast.