• Le Maire: Eendracht (and Hoorn) Find New Route from Atlantic to Pacific (1616)
• Tasman: Two Voyages

Duyfken: First to Make Landfall

Sailing east from Bantam in 1605, the ship Duyfken poked about the southern side of New Guinea in search of sources of gold. Reaching eastward to the western side of what is now Torres Strait (separating Australia from New Guinea), the Duyfken turned south and sailed along the western side of Australia's Cape York Peninsula. Finding little of interest and finding no watering places along this coast, the ship turned toward home, calling the cape where the ship turned northward Keer-Weer, or Turn Again. The Duyfken returned to Bantam in 1606, two months before Torres sailed through and proved the Strait bearing his name.

East Across the Indian Ocean, then North

In 1611 the Dutch sea-captain, Brouwer, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, maintained an easterly run for 4000 miles. This enabled his sailing ship to benefit from following winds and currents for most of the crossing of the Indian Ocean. Only after passing this distance did he turn north to Batavia, further benefiting from the counter-clockwise Indian Ocean currents.

Previous to Brouwer's route, Dutch sailers had traced the traditional routes of the Portuguese. Following a passage of the southern tip of Africa, ships turned north to pass either east or west of Madagascar and then northeasterly with the southwest monsoonal winds. However, the monsoons are very seasonal, whereas the more southerly winds in the 40 degree lattitudes are generally constant. Later tests demonstrated the significant reduction of sailing time when the southern route was followed. Whereas, outward bound ships typically used 16 to 18 months to reach Java, the southern route could be completed in six months.

Hartog Encounters a Western Shore

In 1616 the ship Eendracht, captained by Dirk Hartog, was the second Dutch vessel to make landfall on the continent (the Duyfken was first).

Using the southern route proven by Brouwer, Hartog traveled further east than Brouwer and found himself amidst an island group on the coast of west Australia. The largest of these islands is known today as Dirk Hartog's Island. Hartog spent three days examining these islands and when he left, he fixed a pewter plate to a post. On the plate he had etched a record of his visit to the islands. Except for the pewter plate, there is no known written record of his visit. Subsequent maps indicate a coastal region in the vicinity of Dirk Hartog's Island as Eendrachtsland.

Zeewulf Captain Makes Navigational Recommendation

Two years after Hartog's discovery, the Zeewulf (1618), made landfall somewhat north of Eendrachtsland. The captain recommended that following ships, outbound to Java, travel east until reaching the southern land mass. This recommendation was accepted and used subsequently, but ships seemed to seldom find the same piece of coast before turning northward. Thus, piece by piece an image of the coastline, and its dangers, was assembled.

Open Your Eyes!

In 1619 Frederick de Houtman command two ships bound for Batavia. Houtman made landfall considerably south of the tracks made by the Eedracht and Zeewulf. In fact, Houtman first made land contact somewhat south of present-day Perth, but was unable to make shore due to heavy seas and fully-laden ships with expensive goods.

After nine days attempting to land, Houtman turned north toward Java and stood off (and out of sight of) the coast. Suddenly, in the middle of the night 29 July 1619, his ships came upon low-lying, dangerous shoals, which were subsequently called (and continue to be called) Houtman's Abrolhos. The word Abrolhos is taken from the Portuguese word for Open Your Eyes! The reference is one of warning. Pay Attention! Look Out!

Following successful navigation of the Abrolhos, Houtman made landfall in the region Hartog had encountered, known then as Eendrachtsland. Houtman correctly calculated there was an unbroken coastline from his southern contact, northward to the regions previously reported by Hartog and the Zeewulf.

Leeuwin Lands Further South

Three years later (March 1622) company of the ship Leeuwin made land contact further south than had Houtman. They described the land they found as low-lying, sandy dunes and called it Leeuwin Land. This is the most southwestern prominance on the continent of Australia.

Trial Rocks

In the southern winter of 1622 a British ship, Trial, ran aground and broke up. The exact location of the wreck is not known, but it has been suggested the wreck occurred in the Monte Bello Island group, about 10 degrees east of its reported position.

In July of that year two small boats carrying survivors of the wreck made their way into Batavia. The sailors related the story of running hard aground during the night in the longitude of the western edge of Java and at 20 degrees 10 minutes south latitude.

Subsequent maps charted rocks in that locale, but such rocks have never been found there.

The incident served to support action already underway by the Directors of the Dutch East Indies Company. It was advisable to survey the coast of this southland for two reasons.

• to chart the dangers to ships
• to seek trading material and peoples

Pera and Arnhem

Following events of the Trial, changing leadership in the Dutch East Indies were agreed on the need for expanded exploration of the great southland continent. The outcome of this position was to commission two ships (Arnhem and Pera) under the command of Jan Carstenz.

These two ships were to expand on the reports from the Duyfken (1605 and 1606), again sailing the southern coast of New Guinea and the region of the west coast of Cape York (uncertainly believed to be a continuance of New Guinea). Furthermore, Carstenz was directed to carry out the broad instructions of an earlier, non-starting Dutch exploration to the area, to ascertain as much of the situation and nature of these regions as God Almighty shall vouchsafe to allow them.

In January 1623 these ships sailed from Amboyna and to the coast of New Guinea at latitude 4 degrees 45 minutes. Coasting easterly, Carstenz was not able to make good report of the area's fruits and minerals, but did note the natives were belligerent and cannibalistic. At one point the captain and several of the crew of the Arnhem were killed by natives.

Carstenz proceeded to the region of Torres Strait and concluded that this maze of reefs and shallows (as he moved east) could be nothing but a westward opening bay, even though a chart he was carrying indicated the high possibility of an opening to the greater Pacific. He retracked to the west, then south along the west coast of Cape York, similar to the Duyfken travel. Carstenz continued past Cape Keer-Weer, the turning point of the Duyfken, but at the Staaten River his concern of being trapped against a southern bay by a north breeze caused him to turn north again.

The Arnhem proved to be difficult for Carstenz and soon after turning at the Staaten River, the mutinous Arnhem departed Carstenz and the Pera (25 April). The Pera continued gathering what information it could about the peoples and the potential trading commodities along the coast, but none of the information was optomistic to the trading interests of the Company.

Carstenz returned to Amboyna (June 6), expecting the Arnhem had abandoned the mission and made for pleasurous ports. This apparently was not true. Following separation from the Pera, the Arnhem was blown west, across the unproven bay, making land on the east-facing shore of the opposite side. From there, she explored north and west across the top of the region called then (and still known now as) Arnhemland before returning to home.

Gulden Zeepaert Sails Far Along South Coast (1627)

Skippered by Francois Thijssen, on its outbound journey, the Gulden Zeepaert sailed a southern route in a latitude higher (more southerly) than the Leeuwin. In addition, the eastern track was far longer than any European ship before it. As a result the crew of this ship traced a great portion of the southern coast of the continent.

The charts which resulted from this cruise were excellent and served explorers 175 years later. However, the view of the continent on the southern side was not encouraging to the traders of the Dutch community in the Indo-Pacific. High cliffs bound the sea and a desolate interior. On board the Gulden Zeepaert was Pieter Nuyts, an esteemed councillor of India and the name given to this portion of the continent was Pieter Nuyts Land.

Thijssen sailed east to the islands of St Francis and St Peter in the eastern reaches of what is now called the Great Australian Bight before turning back to reach Batavia. These islands were as uninteresting to the traders as the rest of the coastline followed.

De Witsland and the Vyanen

In 1628 the ship Vyanen ran in on the northwest coast in the lattitude of about 21 degrees. To save herself the ship was lightened of casks of pepper and quantities of copper. After standing off the rocky coast, the Vyanen followed it for 200 miles, but there was nothing which caused the ship's company to record promise. The region followed was called G.F. de Witsland.

Pelsaert and the Wreck and Mutiny of the Batavia

The Dutch had pieced together the features of nearly all the continent's coastline westward from Cape York, around to the south of St Peter and St Francis islands. But much of the treacherous coast was inaccurately and incompletely charted. One of the most treacherous locations was very near to the recommended continental contact point before turning north, Houtman's Abrolhos.

In the night of 4 June 1629 Batavia stuck fast on a reef of the Abrolhos. Attempts to lighten the ship and escape the reef were thwarted by rising wind and rain and tangles of incompletely cut away rigging. The ship was doomed and a hurried attempt to find land for its load of women and children and sailors was incompletely successful. Two small rocky islets were clear at high tide, and further distant appeared a more substantial island and many persons were discharged on the islets, but seventy people remained aboard the disintegrating Batavia.

An undisciplined and drunken crew was less than completely successful in off-loading all the water and persons of the ship. On these islands there was very small amount of water and it was decided Pelsaert should take the ship's small boat with sail and make a search for water. Pelsaert was able to make the coast of the continent, but in his northward search, he was unable to find fresh water. A rising northeast wind in latitude 22 degrees 17 minutes caused Pelsaert to be unable to continue along the coast.

He decided to make for Batavia, which he reached in early July.

In Batavia Pelsaert was given a large ship in order to return to recover his marooned charges, and with relief on his approach to the locale, he observed smoke rising from the small islets. He was soon treated to a story of mutinous intrigue that was continuing to play out as he arrived. A small boat quickly approached Pelsaert as the rescuer approached the small islet. One of the small boat's party was a man named Weybehays, who relayed the story of the previous three months.

Jerome Cornelis had been one of the seventy persons left on board the Batavia, as she broke up. He managed to survive, landed on the larger of the two islets, and resumed conspiracy planning of piracy which began in distant waters off the coast of Africa. Cornelis established a group of co-conspirators and set about removing the honest men who disagreed with him and his band.

In the meantime, Weybehays had been sent to a third island to search for water, a search in which he was successful after 20 days. From that island Weybehays signaled others to come. The signal was not observed by Cornelis and most of the members of the small islet were able to transfer to Weybehays' third island.

Those men that did not migrate were few and were killed by Cornelis. The women and children remaining on the small islet were assigned by Cornelis and his men as part of the booty.

Two attempts to subdue Weybehays and his party were repulsed by the band of 45 men. Guile and buy-off of Weybehays' men also failed for Cornelis. During an attack the following day, some of Cornelis' men were killed and Weybehays managed to capture Cornelis. It was at this point that Pelsaert arrived.

Surely, as Weybehays had described, Cornelis men came in small boats, armed, alongside Pelsaert's ship and requested to board. Pelsaert demanded the pirates lose their weapons and as they were brought on board, each was placed in irons.

Most of the jewels and silver from the wrecked Batavia were recovered, and Cornelis and his men were condemned. They were hung and Pelsaert left the Abrolhos. Further north, upon the coast Pelsaert condemned two criminals to be marooned, in the hope they may be rescued alive in the future and thus gain some knowledge of the area.

Pool's Expedition Ends Prematurely

The Dutch had pieced together much of the picture of a continental south-land, but the spotty discoveries created many questions about the geography and the potential trading value of the regions below the Indo-West Pacific archipeligo. An ambitious plan for exploration of the great lands was set forth and command given to Gerrit Pool in 1636. Early in the expedition, Pool was killed and the effort quit, though not before the troop contacted the region west of the Arnhem discoveries in and around the region of currently named Melville Island.

This record of the south-land coast was the last significant discovery of the Dutch period, except that of Abel Tasman.