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
...By our previous letters we informed Your Worships that on the first of
January last we dispatched from here to the...Southland the galiots De
Waeckende Boeij and Emeloort, for the purpose of making search for the
crew of the lost ship de Vergulden Draecq, and of ascertaining whether
they were still alive. The said ships returned to this place on the 19th
of April following, after exploring the coast about the place of the
disaster each of them for herself, since they had got separated; having
in different places sent manned boats ashore, and fired many cannon shots
time after time both by day and night, without, however, discovering any
Netherlanders or any traces of the wreck, excepting a few planks
[etc.]...which must undoubtedly be looked upon as remnants of the said
ship...We herewith hand you the journals of the galiots [*]
aforesaid...together with the small charts of the coast drawn up on board
each of them[**]...
[* See D and H _infra_]
[* See E, F and I _infra_.]
Written in Your Worships' Castle of Batavia, December 14, 1658.
* * *
JOAN MAETSUYKER, CAREL HARTSINCK, A.D. V. v. OULDTSHOORN, N. VERBURCH, D.
STEUR, PIETER STERTHEMIUS.
{Page 77}
D.
_Daily Journal kept by skipper SAMUEL VOLKERSENN on board the flute de
Waeckende Boeij, sailing in the same from Battavia to the Southland. A.D.
1658 [*]._
[* On December 21, 1657 the G-G. and Counc. resolved to dispatch to the
South-land the ships de Wakende Boei and Emeloord, for the purpose of
making another attempt at rescuing what might still be rescued of the
men, the cargo, etc. of the Vergulde Draak; "and also to get perfect
knowledge, once for all, of the situation and trend of the said coast,
with its shoals, reefs and shallows." The journals of the skippers of
both vessels are preserved in the Hague State Archives. After mature
consideration I have deemed it needless to print the said journals here,
seeing that MAJOR, Terra Australis, refers to them on pp. 77-90, and
gives the substance of the information contained in them (LEUPE,
Zuidland, pp. 105 ff. has printed certain parts of the two journals). But
above all, the charts made on this expedition, which are here carefully
reproduced, give a more convenient survey of the results of it than could
be done by the journals themselves, which for the rest contain little
that is of interest for our present purpose.]
E.
_Chart of Eendrachisland_, 1658, on a small scale.
[Map No. 8. Kaart van (Chart of) Eendrachtsland, 1658]
{Page 78}
F.
_Chart of Eendrachisland_, 1658, on a larger scale.
[Map No. 9. Kaart van (Chart of) Eendrachtsland, 1658]
{Page 79}
G.
_A brief account of the west-coast of the South-land._
The South-land has sandy dunes forming many points on the sea-side; the
dunes all consist of loose sand overgrown with grass into which a man
will sink up to his ankles, and leave deep footprints on withdrawing his
feet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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