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.
Major, Richard Henry
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels
With the voyage of Dampier terminates the information gained of the
western coasts previously to the present century, which does not lie
within the range of our inquiries.
In 1705 another and last voyage was made by the Dutch for the discovery
of the north coast. The expedition consisted of three vessels, the
_Vossenbosch_, the _Wayer_, and the _Nova Hollandia_. The commander was
Martin van Delft. The journals appear to have been lost. At all events
they have not hitherto been found, but a report to the Governor-General
and Council of the discoveries and notable occurrences in the
expedition, was drawn from the written journals and verbal recitals of
the officers on their return, by the Councillors Extraordinary, Hendrick
Swaardecroon and Cornelis Chastelijn. This report is given for the first
time in English in the present collection, from which it appears that
the part of the coast visited was carefully explored, and that the Dutch
had intercourse with the natives, a result in which De Vlaming’s
expedition had entirely failed. In the miscellaneous tracts of Nicholas
Struyck, printed at Amsterdam, 1753, is also given an imperfect account
of this voyage as follows: “March 1st, 1705. Three Dutch vessels were
sent from Timor with order to explore the north coast of New Holland,
better than it had before been done. They carefully examined the coasts,
sand banks, and reefs. In their route to it, they did not meet with any
land, but only some rocks above water, in 11 degrees, 52 minutes south
latitude” (probably, says Flinders, the south part of the great Sahul
Bank, which, according to Captain Peter Heywood, who saw it in 1801,
lies in 11 degrees 40 minutes). “They saw the west coast of New Holland,
four degrees to the eastward of the east point of Timor. From thence
they continued their route towards the north, and passed a point, off
which lies a bank of sand above water, in length more than five German
miles of fifteen to a degree. After which they made sail to the east,
along the coast of New Holland; observing everything with care, until
they came to a gulf, the head of which they did not quite reach. I
(Struyck) have seen a chart made of these parts.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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