Moreover the General and Council recount, in their general letter of the 14th of December, 1658, that the fly-boat _Elburg_, when on its way hence, had come upon the Southland in 31½° latitude, and had been obliged, on account of wind and the heavy sea, to anchor about two miles and a half off the coast in twenty-two fathoms water, not without great danger. Twelve days afterwards they again got into open sea, and in latitude 33° 14´ found a commodious anchorage under a projecting corner of the island in twenty fathoms water. The skipper, steersman, with the sergeant and six soldiers went ashore, and found three black men round a fire, dressed in skins, like the natives of the Cape of Good Hope. They could not, however, get to speak to them. Three small hammers were also found there, with wooden handles and heads of hard stone, fastened to the stem by a sort of gum-lack, strong enough to break a man’s skull. A little further inland stood some huts, but no more men were seen. In several places they found fresh water, and here and there a great quantity of this gum. The small hammer brought here was found, when rubbed, to be of an agreeable odour and of a reddish colour. Lastly, we have to notice, that, according to certain printed accounts, the ship _Batavia_, having sailed hence to Batavia, ran very unexpectedly, on the 4th of June of the following year, 1659, in the morning hours, latitude 28⅓°, on the dangerous shoals of the Abrolhos, commonly called with us Frederick Houtman’s Cliffs, and was wrecked. The crew, however, reached in safety some small islands which lay near. No fresh water was found there, but the boat with some men having left the island, saw, in 24° latitude, smoke rising, and observed black men on the shore. DESCRIPTION OF THE WEST COAST OF THE SOUTH LAND, BY THE CAPTAIN SAMUEL VOLKERSEN, OF THE PINK, “WAECKENDE BOEY,” WHICH SAILED FROM BATAVIA ON THE FIRST OF JANUARY, 1658, AND RETURNED ON THE 19TH OF APRIL OF THE SAME YEAR. _Translated from a Dutch MS. in the Royal Archives at the Hague._