The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765Heeres, J. E. (Jan Ernst)
History
The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765
Heeres, J. E. (Jan Ernst)
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Dutch -- Australia
On the 6th of June [they came to anchor] before the native village of
Taranga at the south-western extremity of Arouw, in order...to provide
themselves with certain necessaries...
On the 9th of June, being duly revictualled, he had set sail again from
the said native village of Taranga, shaping his course to southward in
order to endeavour to get to eastward by some means or other, so as to
accomplish his ordained voyage; but when he had got to southward as far
as the 11th degree of latitude, he had not only found and met with the
east- and south-east-winds blowing constantly with great vehemence and
hollow seas, but had also come upon a new land; in such fashion that,
seeing no chance of getting to eastward for the accomplishment of his
voyage, since such voyage will have to take place in the beginning of the
western monsoon, he resolved with his council to give up further
investigations to eastward, to explore and survey the situation of the
newly discovered Van Diemensland, also called Arnhems or Speultsland,
and, having gathered the required information, to run northward again for
the purpose of obtaining perfect knowledge of the islands of Timor and
Tenember; and all this having been duly effected, to return to Banda etc.
In conformity with this resolution the said Pieter Pietersen has surveyed
the newly discovered land for the space Of 20 miles from East to West; he
has seen many fires and frequent clouds of smoke, but no natives, houses,
prows or fruit-trees, although he has paddled close along the shore with
an orangbay, and gone ashore in sundry places, finding the land wild and
barren; wherefore, not having been able to come to parley with any of the
inhabitants, on the 20th of June, as previously resolved upon, he ran to
the north from a certain Red point jutting out into the sea to northward,
where the land falls off abruptly to the west, for the purpose of making
the islands of Timor and Tenember...
{Page 68}
C.
_Journal of the voyage to Nova Guinea, 1636._
...In the early morning of Friday [June 6]...we arrived before the native
village of Taranga...
On Monday the 9th do. At daybreak the wind was S.E...we set sail from
Taranga...shaping our course to the S.S.W.
We could take no latitude at noon...
In the first watch we sailed S.S.W. the space of about 3 glasses; the
wind was S.E. with a fair breeze, and afterwards E.S.E.; we sailed to
southward for the time of 12 glasses; at the beginning of the day-watch
the wind was E.N.E. with a fresh breeze; we sailed S.E. for about eight
glasses...
On Tuesday the 10th do. In the morning about breakfast-time the wind blew
from the E.N.E. as before...
We estimated ourselves to have sailed 9Ω miles on a generally Southern
course from last night to the present night.
On Wednesday the 11th do. Course held S.S.E...We had sailed on a Southern
and S. by E. course about 11 miles by estimation during the last 24
hours...
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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