the northern Van Diemen's Land; but it is evident from Tasman's instructions, that the part between De Witt's Land and Cape Van Diemen was unknown to the Dutch government at Batavia in 1644. And since there is no account of its having been seen during the intermediate nineteen years, it may be concluded that the North-west Coast was first explored by him; and Dampier says (Vol. III. p. 96), that he had Tasman's chart of it; though none bearing his name can now be found.*
[* The French editor of the Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes, published in 1807, Vol. I. p. 128, attributes the formation of the North-west Coast in the common charts to the expedition of the three Dutch vessels sent from Timor in 1705. But this is a mistake. It is the chart of Thevenot, his countryman, published forty-two years previously to that expedition, which has been mostly followed by succeeding geographers.]
The notes of burgomaster Witsen show, that the North-west Coast was visited by Tasman; and as they give the earliest information of the inhabitants, and are curious in themselves, they are here transcribed from Mr. Dalrymple's Papua.
"In lat. 13° 8' S. lon. 146° 18'" (probably about 129½° east of Greenwich), "the coast is barren. The people are bad and wicked, shooting at the Dutch with arrows, without provocation, when they were coming on shore: It is here very populous."
"In 14° 58' S. lon. 138° 59' (about 125° east), the people are savage, and go naked: none can understand them."
"In HOLLANDIA NOVA,* in 17° 12' S. (lon. 121° or 122° east) Tasman found a naked, black people, with curly hair; malicious and cruel, using for arms, bows and arrows, hazeygaeys and kalawaeys. They once came to the number of fifty, double armed, dividing themselves into two parties, intending to have surprised the Dutch, who had landed twenty-five men; but the firing of guns frightened them so that they fled. Their prows are made of the bark of trees: their coast is dangerous: there are few vegetables: the people use no houses."
[* This expression indicates, that the before-mentioned places were not then included under the term NEW HOLLAND by Witsen: he wrote in 1705.]
"In 19° 35' S. long. 134° (about 120°, apparently), the inhabitants are very numerous, and threw stones at the boats sent by the Dutch to the shore. They made fires and smoke all along the coast, which, it was conjectured, they did to give notice to their neighbours of strangers being upon the coast. They appear to live very poorly; go naked; eat yams and other roots."
DAMPIER. 1688.
The buccaneers with whom our celebrated navigator, WILLIAM DAMPIER, made a voyage round the world, came upon the north-west coast of Terra Australis, for the purposes of careening their vessel, and procuring refreshments. They made the land in the latitude of 16° 50', due south from a shoal whose longitude is now known to be 122¼° east. From thence, they ran along the shore, N. E. by E. twelve leagues, to a bay or opening, where a convenient place was found for their purpose. Dampier's description of the country and inhabitants of the place, where he remained from Jan. 5. to March 12., is contained in the account of his voyages, Vol. I. page 462 to 470; and renders it unnecessary to do more than to mark its coincidence or disagreement with what is said, in the above note from Tasman, of the inhabitants and country near the same part of the coast.
Dampier agrees in the natives being "a naked, black people, with curly hair," like that of the negroes; but he says they have "a piece of the rind of a tree tied like a girdle about their waists, and a handful of long grass, or three or four green boughs full of leaves, thrust under their girdle, to cover their nakedness." Also, "that the two fore teeth of the upper jaw are wanting in all of them, men and women, old and young: neither have they any beards;" which circumstances are not mentioned in the note from Tasman. Dampier did not see either bows or arrows amongst them; but says, "the men, at our first coming ashore, threatened us with their lances and swords; but they were frightened by firing one gun, which we did purposely to scar them." Of "their prows made of the bark of trees," he saw nothing. On the contrary, he "espied a drove of these men swimming from one island to another; for they have no boats, canoes, or bark logs." The English navigator is silent as to any dangers upon the twelve leagues of coast seen by him; but fully agrees in the scarcity of the vegetable productions, and in the circumstance of the natives using no houses.
VLAMING. 1696.
The relation of Willem DE VLAMING'S voyage to New Holland was published at Amsterdam in 1701; but not having been fortunate enough to procure it, I have had recourse to Valentyn, who, in his Description of Banda, has given what appears to be an abridgment of the relation. What follows is conformable to the sense of the translation which Dr. L. Tiarks had the goodness to make for me; and the reasons for entering more into the particulars of this voyage than usual are, the apparent correctness of the observations, and that no account of them seems to have been published in the English language.*
[* The Abbé Prévost in his Hist. gen. des Voyages, Tome XVI. (à la Haye) p. 79-81, has given some account of Vlaming's voyage in French; but the observations on the coast between Shark's Bay and Willem's River are there wholly omitted.]
A Dutch ship, called the Ridderschap, having been missing from the time she had left the Cape of Good Hope, in 1684 or 1685, it was thought probable she might have been wrecked upon the GREAT SOUTH LAND, and that some of the crew might (in 1696) be still living. Accordingly, the commodore Willem de Vlaming, who was going out to India with the Geelvink, Nyptang, and Wezel, was ordered to make a search for them.
On Dec. 28, the ships got soundings in 48 fathoms, coral bottom; in latitude 31° 53', and longitude 133° 44' (east, apparently, from the Peak of Teneriffe, 16° 45' to the west of Greenwich); where the variation was observed to be 10° 28' west: they afterwards had 25 fathoms, on better ground. On the 29th, they anchored under the island Rottenest, which lies in lat. 31° 50', long. 134° 25';* and next day, a piece of wood, which had some time been fixed to the deck of a ship, was found upon the shore; but the nails were then rusted away. Fire wood was abundant here.
[* The account in Van Keulen is somewhat different. He says "we steered for the Land of Endragt: and on Dec. 28, got soundings in 63 fathoms, sandy bottom. The ensuing day we had 30 fathoms, and the coast was then in sight. The Island Rottenest, in 32° south latitude, was the land we steered for; and we had from 30 to 10 fathoms, in which last we anchored on a sandy bottom."]
VLAMING. 1697.
Jan. 5. Vlaming went on shore (to the main coast), with eighty-eight armed men, and walked inland to the eastward. There were a few large, and some small trees, from which dropped a kind of gum-lac; but they found nothing which could be used as food: the birds were small cockatoos and green parrots, and both were very shy. At the end of three hours walk they came to a piece of water, which was salt, and upon the beach were footsteps of full-grown persons and of children. No men were seen, but they observed many smokes; and found three deserted huts, so low and ill-constructed as to be inferior to those of the Hottentots.
On the 6th, they divided themselves into three parties: one took to the north, another to the south, and the third went four miles east, more into the interior; but, except one or two decayed huts, they met with nothing. Being returned to the salt lake without finding fresh water, they dug a pit near the side of it, and obtained wherewith to relieve their thirst. The lake had fallen a foot, which showed it to have a communication with the sea; and they afterwards found the outlet, a little to the southward. No noxious animal of any kind was seen; and after remaining on shore all night, they returned on board on the 7th. The ships were then anchored nearer to the land, with the entrance of the lake or river bearing S. E. by E. The commodore afterwards went up this river, to the distance of fourteen or sixteen leagues, and caught some smelts, as also several black swans, of which two were taken alive to Batavia.*
[* This appears to be the first mention made of the black
