The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765 Part 26

On the 27 th of April the wind was E. by S.E. in the morning and forenoon with a fresh topsail breeze, a covered sky and dry weather. At daybreak they weighed anchor and set sail on a N.N.E. course over depths between 12 and 14 fathom good anchoring-ground. The land here begins to fall off to eastward. They here saw a {Page 99} river with an island lying off its mouth, the river being known as Batavia River, and the island as Buys Eijland. At noon they took the approximate lat.i.tude of 11 38' South.

They repeatedly saw columns of smoke rising up from the land; in the afternoon they came to anchor in 11 fathom coa.r.s.e sand, about 4 miles Off the sh.o.r.e.

On the 28th of April the wind was E. and E.S.E. in the morning and forenoon; they weighed anchor and set sail on a N.E. course. At noon they took the lat.i.tude of 11 29' South, being then 3 miles off sh.o.r.e, and having pa.s.sed depths of 11 and 10 fathom, coa.r.s.e sand and good anchoring-ground. In the afternoon the wind blew from the E.S.E., S.E., S., S.S.W., with a moderate top-gallant gale and fine weather; course held N.E. by E. and N.E.% point N.; they still kept sailing along low-lying land only.

On the 29th of April the wind was S.S.E. and S.E. in the morning and forenoon, with a fresh topsail breeze; at daybreak they weighed anchor and set sail on courses between N.N.E. and N.N.W. over depths of 10, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 8, 9 fathom, hard foul bottom; they estimated themselves to be at 3 miles' distance off the land. At noon their estimated lat.i.tude was 11 3' South; in the afternoon the wind blew from the S.E. with a fresh topsail breeze. At 2 o'clock they came to anchor, since they estimated themselves to be close to Van Spults river; at 3 miles' distance from the land they were in 8 fathom.

On the 30th of April the wind was S.E. by E. and S.E. in the morning and forenoon, with a fresh breeze. They got the boat ready for the purpose of taking soundings ahead. At noon their estimated lat.i.tude was 10 56'; at 4 o'clock they had nearly lost sight of the boat, and fired a gun charged with ball in order to recall the same, but the boat not returning, they kept a light burning at the top-mast, and during the night fired a gun now and then. In this way they waited for the boat until the 12th of May, when they finally resolved to depart from there, since their stock of water and firewood would not allow of their waiting longer. On board the missing boat were two steersmen, to wit, Hendrick Snijders and Pieter van der Meulen, one quartermaster and five common sailors.

On the 12th of May the wind was E.S.E. and S.E. in the morning and forenoon, with a moderate top-gallant gale and good weather. At daybreak they weighed anchor and set sail on a western course from the shallows, pa.s.sing over depths of 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 fathom fine grey sand. At noon their estimated lat.i.tude was 10 55' South. In the afternoon and during the night they had good weather with occasional showers of rain; next running W.N.W., they sighted the island of Timoor Laudt on the 20th of May.

...From the above Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps will gather that Lieutenant Jean Etienne Gonzal, in command of the small bark de Rijder, has executed Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps' honoured orders, so far as the sh.o.r.es of the Land of Carpentaria are concerned; but that no exploration of the interior has been undertaken as enjoined by Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps'

instructions [*] and no landing has been effected on the coast of Nova Hollandia, because they had only one anchor left, so that such landing was judged too hazardous to be undertaken. Of the part borne in this expedition by the first mate Lavienne Lodewijk Aschens who was in command of the small bark de Buys, the undersigned can make Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps no report worth any serious consideration, since his statements and annotations are so misleading that it is evident {Page 100} at first sight that he can never have had any first-hand knowledge or ocular view of the matters referred to by him, seeing that he has hardly ever been nearer to the land than 3 miles off it, at which distance, however, he pretends to have seen a river with a small island before its mouth, together with natives, cabins, etc.; all which seems impossible to the undersigned on a level coast such as this, nor has he made any landing on the said coast, although, contrary to Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps' orders, he has sailed along it from the south to the north a distance Of 40 miles, before the mishap of the loss of the boat came to pa.s.s, as Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps may further gather from the annexed rough sketch of a chart [**] of the coast sent in by him...

[* I have not printed these instructions, as they are not of sufficient interest for our purpose.]

[* I have not found this chart.]

[At foot:]

Your Honourable Wors.h.i.+ps' Obedient Servant [signed]

W. G. DE HAAN.

[in margine:] Batavia, September 30, 1756.

[Map No. 5. Uitslaande Kaart van het Zuidland door HESSEL GERRITSZ (Folding chart of the Southland).]