Voyages of the Dutch brig of war Dourga : $b through the southern and little-known parts of the Moluccan Archipelago, and along the previously unknown southern coast of New Guinea, performed during the years 1825 & 1826Kolff, D. H. (Dirk Hendrik)
History
Voyages of the Dutch brig of war Dourga : $b through the southern and little-known parts of the Moluccan Archipelago, and along the previously unknown southern coast of New Guinea, performed during the years 1825 & 1826
Kolff, D. H. (Dirk Hendrik)
Dourga (Brig); Maluku (Indonesia) -- Description and travel; New Guinea -- Description and travel
Having given my reader a circumstantial account of my voyage to the
South-west, South-east and Arru Islands, I will now proceed with the
narrative of a voyage undertaken by me, by order of the Government,
to examine the coasts of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, the
objects being similar to those which gave rise to the former voyage. I
received, on this occasion, a resolution of the Government, from which
I give the following extract:--
"1st.--The acts of M.D.H. Kolff, Lieutenant in the Navy of the First
Class, during his voyage to the South-west, South-east and Arru
Islands, are approved of on the whole, with thanks for the perfectly
satisfactory manner in which he has carried his orders into effect.
"2nd.--The appointment of the chiefs made by M. Kalff are to stand
good, and certificates of the same are to be drawn up.
"3rd.--The Captain in the Navy, Commandant of the Division, is to send
H.M. brig _Dourga_, under command of Lieutenant Kolff, on another
voyage in the Banda Seas as far as the coast of New Guinea, in order
to make an examination of the same, &c., according to a letter of
instructions hereafter to be drawn up. Extracts from this to be
furnished to Lieutenant Kolff for his information and direction.
"True copy from the Register.
"Signed (W.G.) Paape."
For the sake of brevity, I will refrain from inserting other
resolutions of the Government, approving of the distribution I had made
of the presents, together with the new instructions with which I was
provided for the present voyage.
Having obtained these documents, and all other necessary articles,
I was speedily prepared for the task that had been imposed upon me.
I will now offer the reader an account of my discoveries, and the
remarkable occurrences which took place, pursuing the same method of
simple narrative with that adopted in the former part of the work, and
endeavouring to avoid all useless particulars.
I had brought with me from the Bay of Boni, a large boat belonging
to the Harbour Department, and as it was evident that I should
occasionally have to send out boat expeditions, for which the four
belonging to the _Dourga_ were unfit, I was permitted to take it with
me. This boat, which was thirty-six feet long, and armed with an
eighteen-pounder gun, was too heavy to be carried on the deck of the
brig; but as I had before proved her to be a good sea-boat, I did not
hesitate to let her sail in company. I received on board a party of
military, but, to my regret, some of my former companions remained
behind from sickness, among whom was the surgeon, M. Gayser, Officer of
Health of the 2nd Class, M. Pierson coming in his stead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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