(Boreels) we named in honor of the council of India, as you may see by
the little map we made." Next day they lost sight of land. They fixed
the longitude 163 deg. 50', and gave orders to the master of the _Zeehaan_
to adopt that reckoning. On the 28th land reappeared, and in the evening
they came near three small islands, one of which they thought like the
head of a lion (Mewstone, of Furneaux). On the following morning they
passed two cliffs, one (the Swilly, of Furneaux) like the Pedra Branca,
near the coast of China; the other, the eastern cliff, resembling a high
misshapen tower (the Eddystone, of Cook). Between the cliff and the main
land they passed, until they came almost to Storm Bay, where they found
it impossible to anchor, and were driven by the wind to sea--so far,
that land could scarcely be sighted in the morning. In the afternoon of
the 1st December, they anchored in a good port (marked Frederick Hendrik
Bay in the chart), with twenty-two fathoms water, and bottom of fine
light grey sand.
On the following morning the boats were despatched to the shore: on
their return, the steersman informed them that they had heard the sound
of voices, and of a little gong; but saw no one. They remarked two
trees, sixty feet from the ground to the branches, and two and a-half in
circumference: the bark taken off with flint stones, and steps cut to
climb for birds' nests, full five feet from each other, and indicative
of a very tall people. They saw marks, such as are left by the claws of
a tiger, and brought on board the excrements of some quadruped; gum lac,
which dropped from trees, and greens "which might be used in place of
wormwood." They saw people at the east corner of the bay:[3] they found
no fish, except mussels: many trees were burned hollow near the ground;
they were widely separated, and admitted an extensive view.
On the 3rd, they went to a little bay, south-west from their ships, in
search of water: the surf prevented their landing, but the carpenter
swam on shore; and near four remarkable trees, standing in the form of a
crescent, he erected a post, on which a compass was carved, and left the
Prince's flag flying upon it.[4] "When the said carpenter had done this
in the sight of me, Abel Jans Tasman, of the master Jerit Zanzoon, and
under merchant Abraham Coomans, we went in the shallop as near as
possible, and the said carpenter swam back through the surf. We then
returned on board, and left this memorial to the posterity of the
inhabitants. They did not show themselves, and we suspected some to be
not far from thence, and watching carefully our doings." The last object
they noticed was a large round mountain (St. Patrick's Head), on the
eastern coast, of which they lost sight on the 5th December.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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