Part 16

In the morning of the 18th the wind was E.N.E., course held S. by W. along the land; about noon, as we saw persons on the beach, we cast anchor in 3Ω fathom clayey bottom; the skipper of the Pera got orders to row to land with the two pinnaces, duly provided for defence; in the afternoon when the pinnaces returned, we were informed by the skipper that as soon as he had landed with his men, a large number of blacks, some of them armed and others unarmed, had made up to them; these blacks showed no fear and were so bold, as to touch the muskets of our men and to try to take the same off their shoulders, while they wanted to have whatever they could make use of; our men accordingly diverted their attention by showing them iron and beads, and espying vantage, seized one of the blacks by a string which he wore round his neck, and carried him off to the pinnace; the blacks who remained on the beach, set up dreadful howls and made violent gestures, but the others who kept concealed in the wood remained there. These natives are coal-black, with lean bodies and stark naked, having twisted baskets or nets round their heads; in hair and figure they are like the blacks of the Coromandel coast, but they seem to be less cunning, bold and evil-natured than the blacks at the western extremity of Nova Guinea; their weapons, of which we bring specimens along with us, are less deadly than those we have seen used by other blacks; the weapons in use with them are assagays, shields, clubs and sticks about half a fathom in length; as regards their customs and policy and the nature of the country, Your Worships will in time be able to get information from the black man we have got hold of, to whom I would beg leave to refer you...

On the 19th, the wind being S.E., we remained at anchor, and since the yachts were very poorly provided with firewood, the skipper of the Pera went ashore with the two pinnaces duly manned and armed; when the men were engaged in cutting wood, {Page 37} a large number of blacks upwards of 200 came upon them, and tried every means to surprise and overcome them, so that our men were compelled to fire two shots, upon which the blacks fled, one of their number having been hit and having fallen; our men then proceeded somewhat farther up the country, where they found several weapons, of which they took some along with them by way of curiosities. During their march they observed in various places great quantities of divers human bones, from which it may be safely concluded that the blacks along the coast of Nova Guinea are man-eaters who do not spare each other when driven by hunger.

On the 20th, the wind being S.E., we set sail on a S.S.W. course; at noon we came to anchor with the ebb-tide running from the South, in 3Ω fathom clayey bottom, and ordered the skipper to go ashore with the two pinnaces, duly provided for defence, and diligently inquire into the state of things on shore, so far as time and place should allow; when he returned in the evening, he informed us that the surf had prevented them from getting near the strand, so that there could be not question of landing.

In the morning of the 21st, the wind being S.E., we set sail; course held S.S.W. along the land; at noon we were in 15° 38'; in the evening we came to anchor with the ebb in 3Ω fathom.

In the morning of the 22nd the wind was E.N.E., course held South; at noon we were in 16° 4'; the wind being W. by N. we dropped anchor towards the evening in 2Ω fathom, about one mile from the land.

On the 23rd the wind was N.N.E., with a stiff breeze, so that we set sail on a S.S.W. course along the land in 3Ω, 3, 2Ω and 2 fathom, clayey bottom; at noon we were in 16° 32'; for the rest of the day we tried to get south with variable winds, and towards the evening came to anchor in 3 fathom close inshore.

On the 24th the wind was E. by S., course held S.S.W. along the land in 2Ω, 3Ω and 4Ω fathom, clayey bottom; at noon we were in 17° 8'. This same day the council having been convened, I submitted to them the question whether it would be advisable to run further south, and after various opinions had been expressed, it was agreed that this would involve divers difficulties, and that the idea had better be given up: we might get into a vast bay, and it is evident that in these regions in the east-monsoon north-winds prevail, just as north (?) of the equator south-winds prevail in the said monsoon: we should thus fall on a lee-shore; for all which reasons, and in order to act for the best advantage of the Lords Managers, it has been resolved and determined to turn back, and follow the coast of Nova Guinea so long to northward as shall be found practicable; to touch at divers places which shall be examined with the utmost care, and finally to turn our course from there to Aru and Quey...it was furthermore proposed by me and ultimately approved of by the council, to give 10 pieces of eight to the boatmen for every black they shall get hold of on shore, and carry off to the yachts, to the end that the men may use greater care and diligence in this matter, and Our Masters may reap benefit from the capture of the blacks, which may afterwards redound to certain advantage.

On the 25th the skipper of the Pera got orders to go ashore with the two pinnaces well-manned and armed, in order to make special search for fresh water, with which we are very poorly provided by this time; about noon the skipper having returned, informed us that he had caused pits to be dug in various places on the coast, but had found no fresh water. Item that on the strand they had seen 7 small huts made of dry hay, and also 7 or 8 blacks, who refused to hold parley with them. In the afternoon I went up a salt river for the space of about half a mile with the two pinnaces; {Page 38} we then marched a considerable distance into the interior, which we found to be submerged in many places, thus somewhat resembling Waterland in Holland, from which it may be concluded that there must be large lakes farther inland; we also saw divers footprints of men and of large dogs, running from the south to the north; and since by resolution it has been determined to begin the return-voyage at this point, we have, in default of stone caused a wooden tablet to be nailed to a tree, the said tablet having the following words carved into it: "Anno 1623 den 24n April sijn hier aen gecomen twee jachten wegen de Hooge Mogende Heeren Staten Genl."

On the 26th, seeing that there was no fresh water here, of which we stood in great need, that we could hold no parley with the natives, and that nothing of importance could be effected, we set sail again, the wind being E.N.E., with a stiff breeze, course held N. along the land; at noon we were in Lat. 16° 44'; at night we came to anchor in 4 fathom close inshore.

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NOTE

That the yacht Aernem, owing to bad sailing, and to the small liking and desire which the skipper and the steersman have shown towards the voyage, has on various occasions and at different times been the cause of serious delay, seeing that the Pera (which had sprung a bad leak and had to be kept above water by more than 8000 strokes of the pump every 24 hours) was every day obliged to seek and follow the Aernem for one, two or even more miles to leeward.

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(The yacht Aernem left the Pera.)

On the 27th, the wind being E. by S. with good weather, the skipper of the Pera rowed ashore with the two pinnaces duly provided for defence, in order to seek fresh water, but when he had caused several pits to be dug, no water was found; we therefore set sail forthwith, holding a S.E. by E. course along the land; at noon we were in Lat. 16° 30', and with a W. by N. wind made for the land, sailing with our foresail only fully two hours before sunset, in order to wait for the Aernem which was a howitzer's shot astern of us; in the evening, having come to anchor in 3Ω fathom 1Ω mile from the land, we hung out a lantern, that the Aernem might keep clear of us in dropping anchor, but this proved to be useless, for on purpose and with malice prepense she away from us against her instructions and our resolution, and seems to have set her course for Aru (to have a good time of it there), but we shall learn in time whether she has managed to reach it.

In the morning of the 28th the wind was E. by S. and the weather very fine; the skipper once more went ashore with the pinnace in order to seek water, but when several pits had been dug in the sand, they found none; we therefore set sail again on a N.E. by N. course along the land in 2, 3, 4 and 5 fathom, but when we had run a distance Of 2Ω Miles, a violent landwind drove us off the land, so that we had to drop anchor in 3 fathom, the blacks on shore sending up such huge clouds of smoke from their fires that the land was hardly visible; at night in the first watch we set sail again and after running N.N.E. for 3Ω miles, we came to anchor in 2 fathom.

In the morning of the 29th the wind was S.E., with good weather; course held N.E. by E. along the land in 2Ω and 3 fathom; when we had run 1Ω mile we came {Page 39} to anchor in 2 fathom, and landed here as before in order to seek freshwater; we had some pits dug a long way from the strand, but found no fresh water; the blacks showed themselves from afar, but refused to come to parley, nor did we succeed in luring any towards us by stratagem; at noon we were in 16° 10' near a river which in the chart is marked Nassauw revier: when we saw that we could do nothing profitable here, we set sail with an E. wind on a N.N.E. course along the land, and came to anchor in the evening in 2Ω fathom. (The Nassauw revier is in 16 degrees 10 minutes Lat.)

In the morning of the 30th the wind was S.E. with steady weather; course held N.N.E. along the land in 3 fathom; at noon we were in 15° 39', and came to anchor in 2Ω fathom; we landed also here as before with the pinnace in order to look for water, and to see if we could meet with any natives; after digging a number of pits we found no water, so that we set sail again and came to anchor in the evening in 2Ω fathom.

MAY.

In the morning of the 1st the wind was E.; the skipper once more rowed ashore with the pinnace, and having caused three pits to be dug he at last found fresh water forcing its way through the sand; we used our best endeavours to take in a stock of the same; about 400 paces north of the farthest of the pits that had been dug, they also found a small fresh-water lake, but the water that collected in the pits was found to be a good deal better.

In the morning of the 2nd the wind was E.N.E., and went round to S.W. later in the day; we continued taking in water.

On the 3rd we went on taking in water as before; the wind was N.E., and about noon turned to S.W.. I went ashore myself with 10 musketeers, and we advanced a long way into the wood without seeing any human beings; the land here is low-lying and without hills as before, in Lat. 15° 20' it is very dry and barren, for during all the time we have searched and examined this part of the coast to our best ability, we have not seen one fruit-bearing tree, nor anything that man could make use of; there are no mountains or even hills, so that it may be safely concluded that the land contains no metals, nor yields any precious woods, such as sandal-wood, aloes or columba; in our judgment this is the most arid and barren region that could be found anywhere on the earth; the inhabitants, too, are the most wretched and poorest creatures that I have ever seen in my age or time; as there are no large trees anywhere on this coast, they have no boats or canoes whether large or small; this is near the place which we touched at on the voyage out on Easter-day, April the 16th; in the new chart we gave given to this spot the name of Waterplaets [*]; at his place the beach is very fine, with excellent gravelly sand and plenty of delicious fish.(Waterplaats is in 15 degrees 13 minutes Lat.)

(Vereenichde revier.)

In the morning of the 4th the wind was E.N.E. with good weather, course held N. in 7Ω fathom. we could just see the land; at noon we were in 15° 12' Lat.; slightly to northward we saw a river to which we have given the name of Vereenichde revier: all through the night the wind was W., course held N.N.E. towards the land.

In the morning of the 5th the wind was E., course held N.; at noon we were in 14° 5' Lat.; shortly after the wind went over to W., upon which we made for the land {Page 40} and cast anchor in 2 fathom; I went ashore myself in the pinnace which was duly armed; the blacks here attacked us with their weapons, but afterwards took to flight; upon which we went landinward for some distance, and found divers of their weapons, such as assagays and callaways, leaning against the trees; we took care not to damage these weapons, but tied pieces of iron and strings of beads to some of them, in order to attract the blacks, who, however, seemed quite indifferent to these things, and repeatedly held up their shields with great boldness and threw them at the muskets; these men are, like all the others we have lately seen, of tall stature and very lean to look at, but malignant and evil-natured.

In the morning of the 6th, the wind being East, we set sail on a N. course along the land in 3 and 4 fathom; at noon when we were in 13° 29' Lat., the wind was W.; in the evening it went round to East, upon which we dropped anchor in 3 fathom.

In the morning of the 7th the wind was S.E. with fine weather; the skipper went ashore with the pinnace, with strict orders to treat the blacks kindly, and try to attract them with pieces of iron and strings of beads; if practicable, also to capture one or more; when at noon the men returned they reported that on their landing more than 100 blacks had collected on the beach with their weapons, and had with the strong arm tried to prevent them from coming ashore; in order to frighten them, a musket was accordingly fired, upon which the blacks fled and retreated into the wood, from where they tried every means in their power to surprise and attack our men; these natives resemble the others in shape and figure; they are quite black and stark naked, some of them having their faces painted red and others white, with feathers stuck through the lower part of the nose; at noon, the wind being E., we set sail on a N. course along the land, being then in 13° 26 Lat.; towards the evening the wind went round to W. and we dropped anchor in 3Ω fathom.

(The River Coen is 13 degrees 7 minutes Lat.)