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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.Major, Richard Henry

History

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.

Name: 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.
Author: Major, Richard Henry

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

A WRITTEN DETAIL OF THE DISCOVERIES AND NOTICEABLE OCCURRENCES IN THE
    VOYAGE OF THE FLUYT “VOSSENBOSCH,” THE SLOOP “D’WAIJER,” AND THE
                     PATSJALLANG “NOVA HOLLANDIA,”
DESPATCHED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, Aº. 1705, FROM BATAVIA BY WAY OF
TIMOR TO NEW HOLLAND; COMPILED AS WELL FROM THE WRITTEN JOURNALS AS FROM
      THE VERBAL RECITALS OF THE RETURNED OFFICERS, BY THE COUNCIL
      EXTRAORDINARY, HENDRICK SWAARDECRON AND CORNELIS CHASTELIJN,
     COMMISSIONED FOR THAT PURPOSE, AND FORMING THEIR REPORT TO HIS
EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL, JAN VAN HORN AND THE COUNCIL OF INDIA.


My Lords.—Before entering into a detail of matters of note occurring on
the abovementioned voyage, it may not perhaps be superfluous to offer a
few preliminary observations, in order to throw a clearer light upon the
subject; briefly these:—that the above mentioned vessels having, in
accordance with the instructions delivered to their crew by your
excellency, on the twentieth of January of this year, weighed anchor
from the port of Batavia on the 23rd of the same month, heard on their
way, at Rembang on the east coast of Java, how the sloop _Doriados_,
which had been destined for this voyage instead of the _Waijer_, had
been disabled, but has been helped on its way by friendly vessels to
Timor, and thence to New Holland.

They arrived on the twelfth of February before Copang, on the island of
Timor, where they were obliged, by bad weather, to remain for twenty
days, until the second of March. A month later, namely, on the second of
April, they explored the north-west corner of Van Diemen’s land, without
having so far observed anything remarkable on this voyage, except that
for fifty or sixty miles straight north and south from this point, the
land is elevated, and along the whole of this coast there was
continually found from fifty to twenty, and fewer fathoms’ water;
besides, that on the passage from Timor, the compasses were on the sixth
of March affected by the thunder and lightning to such a degree, that
the north-end of the needle pointed due south, and was brought home in
that position.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

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.

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

A WRITTEN DETAIL OF THE DISCOVERIES AND NOTICEABLE OCCURRENCES IN THE
    VOYAGE OF THE FLUYT “VOSSENBOSCH,” THE SLOOP “D’WAIJER,” AND THE
                     PATSJALLANG “NOVA HOLLANDIA,”
DESPATCHED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, Aº. 1705, FROM BATAVIA BY WAY OF
TIMOR TO NEW HOLLAND; COMPILED AS WELL FROM THE WRITTEN JOURNALS AS FROM
      THE VERBAL RECITALS OF THE RETURNED OFFICERS, BY THE COUNCIL
      EXTRAORDINARY, HENDRICK SWAARDECRON AND CORNELIS CHASTELIJN,
     COMMISSIONED FOR THAT PURPOSE, AND FORMING THEIR REPORT TO HIS
EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL, JAN VAN HORN AND THE COUNCIL OF INDIA.


My Lords.—Before entering into a detail of matters of note occurring on
the abovementioned voyage, it may not perhaps be superfluous to offer a
few preliminary observations, in order to throw a clearer light upon the
subject; briefly these:—that the above mentioned vessels having, in
accordance with the instructions delivered to their crew by your
excellency, on the twentieth of January of this year, weighed anchor
from the port of Batavia on the 23rd of the same month, heard on their
way, at Rembang on the east coast of Java, how the sloop _Doriados_,
which had been destined for this voyage instead of the _Waijer_, had
been disabled, but has been helped on its way by friendly vessels to
Timor, and thence to New Holland.

They arrived on the twelfth of February before Copang, on the island of
Timor, where they were obliged, by bad weather, to remain for twenty
days, until the second of March. A month later, namely, on the second of
April, they explored the north-west corner of Van Diemen’s land, without
having so far observed anything remarkable on this voyage, except that
for fifty or sixty miles straight north and south from this point, the
land is elevated, and along the whole of this coast there was
continually found from fifty to twenty, and fewer fathoms’ water;
besides, that on the passage from Timor, the compasses were on the sixth
of March affected by the thunder and lightning to such a degree, that
the north-end of the needle pointed due south, and was brought home in
that position.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

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.

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.

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