The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765 Part 13

In the morning of the 4th the wind was E.N.E. with good weather, course held N. in 7 fathom. we could just see the land; at noon we were in 15 12' Lat.; slightly to northward we saw a river to which we have given the name of Vereenichde revier: all through the night the wind was W., course held N.N.E. towards the land.

In the morning of the 5th the wind was E., course held N.; at noon we were in 14 5' Lat.; shortly after the wind went over to W., upon which we made for the land {Page 40} and cast anchor in 2 fathom; I went ash.o.r.e myself in the pinnace which was duly armed; the blacks here attacked us with their weapons, but afterwards took to flight; upon which we went landinward for some distance, and found divers of their weapons, such as a.s.sagays and callaways, leaning against the trees; we took care not to damage these weapons, but tied pieces of iron and strings of beads to some of them, in order to attract the blacks, who, however, seemed quite indifferent to these things, and repeatedly held up their s.h.i.+elds with great boldness and threw them at the muskets; these men are, like all the others we have lately seen, of tall stature and very lean to look at, but malignant and evil-natured.

In the morning of the 6th, the wind being East, we set sail on a N.

course along the land in 3 and 4 fathom; at noon when we were in 13 29'

Lat., the wind was W.; in the evening it went round to East, upon which we dropped anchor in 3 fathom.

In the morning of the 7th the wind was S.E. with fine weather; the skipper went ash.o.r.e with the pinnace, with strict orders to treat the blacks kindly, and try to attract them with pieces of iron and strings of beads; if practicable, also to capture one or more; when at noon the men returned they reported that on their landing more than 100 blacks had collected on the beach with their weapons, and had with the strong arm tried to prevent them from coming ash.o.r.e; in order to frighten them, a musket was accordingly fired, upon which the blacks fled and retreated into the wood, from where they tried every means in their power to surprise and attack our men; these natives resemble the others in shape and figure; they are quite black and stark naked, some of them having their faces painted red and others white, with feathers stuck through the lower part of the nose; at noon, the wind being E., we set sail on a N.

course along the land, being then in 13 26 Lat.; towards the evening the wind went round to W. and we dropped anchor in 3 fathom.

(The River Coen is 13 degrees 7 minutes Lat.)

In the morning of the 8th, the wind being E.S.E. with good weather, I went ash.o.r.e myself with 10 musketeers; we saw numerous footprints of men and dogs (running from south to north); we accordingly spent some time there, following the footprints aforesaid to a river, where we gathered excellent vegetables or pot-herbs; when we had got into the pinnace again, the blacks emerged with their arms from the wood at two different points; by showing them bits of iron and strings of beads we kept them on the beach, until we had come near them, upon which one of them who had lost his weapon, was by the skipper seized round the waist, while at the same time the quartermaster put a noose round his neck, by which he was dragged to the pinnace; the other blacks seeing this, tried to rescue their captured brother by furiously a.s.sailing us with their a.s.sagays; in defending ourselves we shot one of them, after which the others took to flight, upon which we returned on board without further delay; these natives resemble all the others in outward appearance; they are coal-black and stark naked with twisted nets round their heads; their weapons are a.s.sagays, callaways and s.h.i.+elds; we cannot, however, give any account of their customs and ceremonies, nor did we learn anything about the thickness of the population, since we had few or no opportunities for inquiring into these matters; meanwhile I hope that with G.o.d's help Your Wors.h.i.+ps will in time get information touching these points from the black we have captured, to whose utterances I would beg leave to refer you; the river aforesaid is in 13 7' Lat., and has in the new chart got name of Coen river, in the afternoon the wind being W., we set sail on a N. course along the land, and in the evening came to anchor in 3 fathom.

{Page 41}

NOTE

That in all places where we landed, we have treated the blacks or savages with especial kindness, offering them pieces of iron, strings of beads and pieces of cloth, hoping by so doing to get their friends.h.i.+p and be allowed to penetrate to some considerable distance landinward, that we might be able to give a full account and description of the same; but in spite of all our kindness and our fair semblance [*] the blacks received us as enemies everywhere, so that in most places our landings were attended with great peril; on this account, and for various other reasons afterwards to be mentioned, we have not been able to learn anything about the population of Nova Guinea, and the nature of its inhabitants and its soil; nor did we get any information touching its towns and villages, about the division of the land, the religion of the natives, their policy, wars, rivers, vessels, or fisheries; what commodities they have, what manufactures, what minerals whether gold, silver, tin, iron, lead, copper or quicksilver. In the first place, in making further landings we should have been troubled by the rainy season, which might have seriously interfered with the use of our muskets, whereas it does no harm to the weapons of the savages; secondly, we should first have been obliged to seek practicable paths or roads of which we knew nothing; thirdly, we might easily have been surrounded by the crowds of blacks, and been cut off from the boats, which would entail serious peril to the sailors with whom we always effected the landings, and who are imperfectly versed in the use of muskets; if on the contrary we had had well-drilled and experienced soldiers (the men best fitted to undertake such expeditions), we might have done a good deal of useful work; still, in spite of all these difficulties and obstacles, we have shunned neither hard work, trouble, nor peril, to make a thorough examination of everything with the means at our disposal, and to do whatever our good name and our honour demanded; the result of our investigation being as follows:

[* A curiously subjective way of looking at things!]

The land between 13 and 17 8' is a barren and arid tract, without any fruit-trees, and producing nothing fit for the use of man; it is low-lying and flat without hills or mountains; in many places overgrown with brushwood and stunted wild trees; it has not much fresh water, and what little there is, has to be collected in pits dug for the purpose; there is an utter absence of bays or inlets, with the exception of a few bights not sheltered from the sea-wind; it extends mainly N. by E. and S.

by W., with shallows all along the coast, with a clayey and sandy bottom; it has numerous salt rivers extending into the interior, across which the natives drag their wives and children by means of dry sticks or boughs of trees. The natives are in general utter barbarians, all resembling each other in shape and features, coal-black, and with twisted nets wound round their heads and necks for keeping their food in; so far as we could make out, they chiefly live on certain ill-smelling roots which they dig out of the earth. We infer that during the eastern monsoon they live mainly on the beach, since we have there seen numerous small huts made of dry gra.s.s; we also saw great numbers of dogs, herons and curlews, and other wild fowl, together with plenty of excellent fish, easily caught with a seine-net; they are utterly unacquainted with gold, silver, tin, iron, lead and copper, nor do they know anything about nutmegs, cloves and pepper, all of which spices we repeatedly showed them without their evincing any signs of {Page 42} recognising or valuing the same; from all which together with the rest of our observations it may safely be concluded that they are poor and abject wretches, caring mainly for bits of iron and strings of beads. Their weapons are s.h.i.+elds, a.s.sagays, and callaways of the length of 1 fathom, made of light wood and cane, some with fish-bones and others with human bones fastened to their tops; they are very expert in throwing the said weapons by means of a piece of wood, half a fathom in length, with a small hook tied to it in front, which they place upon the top of the callaway or a.s.sagay.

(The Waterplaets is in 12 degrees 33 minutes Lat.)

In the morning of the 9th, the wind being E.S.E., with good weather, we set sail on a N.N.E. course along the land, and when we had run on for 2 miles, came to anchor in 9 fathom close insh.o.r.e; I went ash.o.r.e in person with ten musketeers, and found many footprints of men and of large dogs, going in a southerly direction., we also came upon fresh water flowing into the sea, and named the place de Waeterplaets. The land here is higher than what we have seen to southward, and there are numerous reefs close to the sandy beach; the place is in 12 33'; in the afternoon the wind was S.W., course held as before; from the Waterplaets aforesaid to a high cape there is a large bay, extending N.E. by N. and S.W. by S. for 7 miles; in the evening we dropped anchor in 4 fathom.

In the morning of the 10th the wind being E.S.E., with steady weather, we set sail on a W.N.W. course; at noon we were in 12 5'. I went ash.o.r.e myself with the skipper, and as before found many footprints of men and dogs, going to the south. The land here is high and hilly, with reefs near the sandy beach; as we were pulling back to the yacht, some armed savages showed themselves, upon which we landed again and threw out some pieces of iron to them, which they picked up, refusing, however, to come to parley with us; after which we took to the pinnace again.

In the morning of the 11th, the wind being E.S.E. with good weather, we set sail again on a N.N.E. course along the land; in the afternoon we sailed past a large river (which the men of the Duifken went up with a boat in 1606, and where one of them was killed by the arrows of the blacks); to this river, which is in 11 48' Lat., we have given the name of revier de Carpentier in the new chart.

[* Rivier Batavia in DE LEEUW'S chart.]

In the morning of the 12th the wind was E.S.E., with pleasant weather; I went ash.o.r.e myself with the skipper, and found upwards of 200 savages standing on the beach, making a violent noise, threatening to throw their arrows at us, and evidently full of suspicion; for, though we threw out to them pieces of iron and other things, they refused to come to parley, and used every possible means to wound one of our men and get him into their power; we were accordingly compelled to frighten them by firing one or two shots at them, by which one of the blacks was. .h.i.t in the breast and carried to the pinnace by our men, upon which all the others retired to the hills or dunes; in their wretched huts on the beach we found nothing but a square-cut a.s.sagay, two or three small pebbles, and some human bones, which they use in constructing their weapons and sc.r.a.ping the same; we also found a quant.i.ty of black resin and a piece of metal, which the wounded man had in his net, and which he had most probably got from the men of the Duyfken; since there was nothing further to be done here, we rowed back to the yacht, the wounded man dying before we had reached her; at noon we set sail with a S.W. wind on a N.N.E. course along the land, and as it fell calm, came to anchor after having run on for 2 miles.

{Page 43}

In the morning of the 13th, the wind being S.E. with good weather, we set sail on a N.E. by N. course in upwards Of 7 fathom about 2 miles from the land; at noon we were in 11 16' Lat., the wind being E.; in the evening we came to anchor in 2 fathom near a river, which we have named Revier van Spult in the chart.

(The Waterplaets in 10 degrees 50 minutes Lat.)

On the 14th we made sail again before daybreak, with a S.E. wind and steady weather; from the 9th of this month up to now we have found the land of Nova Guinea to extend N.N.E. and S.S.W., and from this point continuing N. and S. I went ash.o.r.e here myself with the skipper and 10 musketeers and found a large number of footprints of men and dogs going south; we also came upon a very fine fresh-water river, flowing into the sea, whence fresh water can easily be obtained by means of boats or pinnaces; the river is in 10 50', and is marked Waterplaets in the chart. The land here is high, hilly, and reefy near the sandy beach; seeing that nothing profitable could be effected here, we returned to the yacht, which was lying-by under small sail; towards the evening we were at about 1 mile's distance from three islets, of which the southernmost was the largest; five miles by estimation farther to northward we saw a mountainous country, but the shallows rendered (or render) it impossible for us to get near it; in almost every direction in which soundings were taken, we found very shallow water, so that we sailed for a long time in 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1 fathom and even less, so that at last we were forced to drop anchor in 1 fathom, without knowing where to look for greater or less depths; after sunset we therefore sent out the pinnace to take soundings, which found deeper water a long way S.W. of the pinnace, viz.

2, 3, and 4 fathom; we were very glad to sail thither with the yacht, and cast anchor in 8 fathom, fervently thanking G.o.d Almighty for his inexpressible mercy and clemency, shown us in this emergency as in all others.

In the morning of the 15th, the wind being S.E. with good weather, we set sail on a W. course, which took us into shallower water of 2, 2 and 3 fathom; we therefore went over to S.W., when we came into 3, 4, 5, 6 fathom and upwards; we had lost sight of the land here, and found it impossible to touch at it or follow it any longer, owing to the shallows, reefs and sandbanks and also to the E. winds blowing here; on which account it was resolved and determined--in order to avoid such imminent perils as might ultimately arise if we continued to coast along the land any longer--to turn back and hold our course first for the Vleermuijs Eijlant; we therefore stood out to sea on a W. course in 9 fathom and upwards, having sailed 17 miles in 24 hours, kept west, and finding no bottom in 27 fathom.

NOTE

That in our landings between 13 and 11 we have but two times seen black men or savages, who received us much more hostilely than those more to southward; they are also acquainted with muskets, of which they would seem to have experienced the fatal effect when in 1606 the men of the Duyffken made a landing here.

In the morning of the 16th, the wind was E.S.E. with good weather, the Eastern monsoon having set in; course held N.N.W., at noon we were in 10 27', having sailed 30 miles in 24 hours.

{Page 44}

In the morning of the 17th the weather was good with a strong wind; course held as before; at noon we were in 8 43'; towards the evening, in 18 and 19 fathom, we saw from the main-topmast land N.E. of us, when we were in 8 19'; towards daybreak we pa.s.sed a shallow Of 4 and 4 fathom, on which we changed our course to S.W., having sailed 30 miles in 24 hours.

In the morning of the 18th, sailing in 5 fathom, we saw land, being the western extremity of Nova Guinea; course held W., with a strong wind; at noon lat.i.tude as before; during the night we sailed with small sail along the land on the course aforesaid, having run 27 miles in 24 hours.

On the 19th, the wind as before, course held N.; at noon we were in 7 57' Lat.; we ran on the same course for the rest of the day and night.

In the morning of the 20th there was a strong wind; we were in 18 fathom and by estimation in 7 Lat., we therefore ran on a W. course towards the islands which are said to lie in this lat.i.tude; sailed 24 miles in 24 hours.

On the 21st the wind was as before, and since we saw no land or signs of land, which by the s.h.i.+ps' reckoning and by estimation we ought to have seen, if there had been any here, we changed our course to northward, in order to run to the lat.i.tude of 5, in which Aru is situated.

In the morning of the 22nd we were in 5 38' Lat., with the wind as before, and since we estimated ourselves to be in the lat.i.tude of Aru, we turned our course westward; about noon we saw the island of Aru ahead of us...without seeing any signs of the yacht Aernem, which on the 17th of April last, in 17, near the coast of Nova Guinea, had with malice prepense sailed away from the Pera, while the Aruese, who came forthwith alongside with their prows, also declared not to have seen the said yacht...

JUNE.

In the evening of the 8th we came to anchor before the castle of Amboyna, having therewith brought our voyage to a safe conclusion by the merciful protection of G.o.d Almighty, who may vouchsafe to grant prosperity and success in all their good undertakings to their High Mightinesses the States-General, to his Excellency the Prince of Orange etc., to the Lords Managers of the United East India Company and to the Wors.h.i.+pful Lord General and his Governors.

Continuing for ever Their High Mightinesses' etc. obedient and affectionate servant (signed) JAN CARSTENSZOON.

{Page 45}

C.

A SUMMARY ABSTRACT [*] OF THE JOURNAL OF THE MAIN INCIDENTS BEFALLEN IN THE VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY TO EASTWARD WITH THE YACHTS PERA AND AERNEM.

BEGUN THIS 21ST OF JANUARY A.D. 1623.

[* In a great number of pa.s.sages this abstract merely copies the authentic journal verbatim; I accordingly transcribe such parts only as would seem to have a certain supplementary value.]

A.D. 1623.

_In the name of G.o.d Amen._

JANUARY.

In the morning of Sat.u.r.day the 21st we weighed anchor before Amboyna and set sail with the western monsoon together with the yacht Arnem...