Part 24

On the 15th do. the wind was still equally strong, but towards noon it got somewhat calmer, so that we could get in our anchor. At noon we were in 27° 54' S. Lat. We kept tacking the whole day with a S.S.E. wind, in order to gain the south, and at night found we had gained two miles. When it got dark, we again came to anchor in 30 fathom fine bottom.

On the 16th do. at daybreak we again weighed anchor; the wind being W.S.W., we went over nearly to southward. At noon we were in Latitude...degrees...minutes [*]. The wind then turned first to the west and afterwards to the north, so that we could sail on a south-west course; towards the evening we saw the rocks on which our good ship Batavia had miscarried, and I was sure I saw the high Island, but our steersmen contended that it was other land. Two hours after sunset we again came to anchor in 26 fathom fine sandy bottom.

On the 17th do. at daybreak we again weighed anchor with a northerly wind; we were now still about 2 miles from the high island and made for it. When at noon we had got near the island we saw smoke rising up from a long island, two miles to westward of the wreck, and also from another islet [*], close to the wreck, at which we were all of us greatly rejoiced, hoping to find the greater part [**] or almost all the people alive. Therefore, when we had come to anchor, I went in a boat to the highest island, which was quite close to us, taking with me a cask of water, a cask of bread, and a small keg of wine; when I had got there I did not see any one, at which we were greatly astonished. I sprang ashore...

On the 15th [of November, 1629] the wind was S.S.W., with seemingly fine weather. Therefore, in the name of God, we weighed anchor and set sail from these luckless Abrolhos for the mainland on an East-north-east course, for the purpose of seeking there the skipper and four other men, who on the 14th last were with their boat cut off from ship by a storm, after which we had resolved to continue our return-voyage to Batavia with the utmost expedition. The spot where the ship or wreck lies, is in 28° 36' or 40', and the place near the high Island where we have been at anchor with the Yacht, in 30 or 32 minutes, north-north-west of the wreck. But after the shipwreck the steersmen had in one of the islands taken the latitude Of 28 degrees 8 minutes, and 28 degrees 20 minutes, which mistake has caused no little loss of time and misunderstanding on our part in seeking out these places...

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The sea abounds in fish in these parts; they are mainly of three kinds, but very different in shape and taste from those caught on other coasts. All the islands about here are low-lying atolls or coral-islets and rocks, except two or three large islands, in one of which, a long time before we came here, they had found two pits filled with water, but during the time we were here, the water in these pits became very brackish or salt, so as to be unfit for human consumption. In the other island, near which the Yacht lay at anchor, after burning away the brushwood or thicket, we also came upon two pits filled with water, which were discovered quite by accident...since they had only a small hole at top, that would admit a man's arm, but below we found a large cistern or water-tank under the earth; after which with mattocks and sledge-hammers we widened the hole so as to be able to take out the water conveniently. Besides, we found in these islands large numbers of a species of cats, which are very strange creatures; they are about the size of a hare, their head resembling the head of a civet-cat; the forepaws are very short, about the length of a finger, on which the animal has five small nails or fingers, resembling those of a monkey's forepaw. Its two hind-legs, on the contrary, are upwards of half an ell in length, and it walks on these only, on the flat of the heavy part of the leg, so that it does not run fast. Its tail is very long, like that of a long-tailed monkey; if it eats, it sits on its hind-legs, and clutches its food with its forepaws, just like a squirrel or monkey. Their manner of generation or procreation is exceedingly strange and highly worth observing. Below the belly the female carries a pouch, into which you may put your hand; inside this pouch are her nipples, and we have found that the young ones grow up in this pouch with the nipples in their mouths. We have seen some young ones lying there, which were only the size of a bean, though at the same time perfectly proportioned, so that it seems certain that they grow there out of the nipples of the mammae, from which they draw their food, until they are grown up and are able to walk. Still, they keep creeping into the pouch even when they have become very large, and the dam runs off with them, when they are hunted.

In these two islands we also found a number of grey turtle-doves, but no other animals. Nor is there any vegetation beyond brushwood, and little or no grass. This and what has hereinbefore been related is all that we have experienced and met with about these Abrolhos.

We shall therefore now shape our course for the mainland of the Southland, to which we are navigating. About noon we were close inshore, running along the coast with small sail at about half a mile's distance from it, in order to see if we could not descry any men or signs of men, until the afternoon, when we saw a small column of smoke rise up from the higher land, but it soon vanished. Nevertheless we anchored there in 21 fathom fine sandy bottom, in order to look for the skipper with his men, but the smoke did not appear again, and no one showed on the beach, from which we concluded that the smoke had been made by the natives, who now did not venture to show themselves. As it blew very hard, we remained at anchor here for the night.

On the 16th do. in the morning we weighed anchor again with a S.S.E. wind and a top-gallant gale. We again ran close along the land with small sail at about a howitzer's shot's distance from the surf. Towards noon we sighted the inlet which we had meant to run into on the 8th of June last, when we were seeking water with the pinnace, and {Page 62} where we were befallen by a storm from the north-west, which would certainly have sent us to destruction, if God had not miraculously saved us. Here we saw divers smoke-clouds rising up, which gladdened us all with the hope that our men might be there. I therefore sent the pinnace ashore directly for the purpose of getting certain information regarding the place and the clouds of smoke we had seen; the men in her, after rounding a steep point, where we had suspected the presence of water, discovered a running streamlet, of which the water was brackish near the sea, but quite fresh higher up; they also found a great many human footprints and continuous footpaths leading to the mountains, and saw numerous clouds of smoke, but the blacks kept themselves in concealment, and no human being was seen.

Formerly, when we were sailing about here with the pinnace, we had also been close inshore, but did not then see any men or smoke-clouds at this place. Thinking this a fitting opportunity, I have here sent on shore the two condemned delinquents [*] Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom de By, of Bemmel, in a sampan provided with all necessaries. God grant that this punishment may ultimately redound to the service of the Company, and that the two delinquents may come off with their lives, so as to be able to give trustworthy information about these parts. This inlet is in 27° 51'. In the afternoon, seeing there was no hope or chance of finding the skipper, we made sail and shaped our course to north-west, two points off the land, because it began to blow hard, and in the evening we turned to west-north-west...[**].

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XXIV.

(1635). [*] FURTHER SURVEYINGS OF THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA BY THE SHIP AMSTERDAM UNDER COMMANDER WOLLEBRAND GELEYNSZOON DE JONGH AND SKIPPER PIETER DIRCKSZ, ON HER VOYAGE FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO THE EAST INDIES.

Journal of Commander WOLLEBRAND GELEYNSZOON DE JONGH. [*]

...[May 25] Last night when two glasses of the first watch were out, we got a slight breeze from the N.W., which gradually stiffened, so that there was a fair breeze at the latter end of this watch, which kept blowing through the night till the following forenoon, when the wind turned to W. by N. and W.N.W. with a squall of rain, it blowing a strong top-gallant gale until the evening, course kept E. by N. until one hour after daybreak when we sighted the South-land.

We went over to port directly, keeping a N.E. and N.E. by E. course until noon, when we stood out to sea from the land, on a W. and W. by S. course with a top-gallant gale. We took the latitude, which we found to be 25° 16' South, but of {Page 63} this we are not quite sure; we were not able to take the sun's azimuth, either in the morning or in the evening; we sailed 20 miles until we saw the land, from which we were at 4 or 4Ω miles' distance by estimation, on an E. by N. course, and on various courses during the day, course N.N.E. for 6 or 7 miles.

We had made this land in 4 months and 20 days. We saw a good deal of rock-weed floating past our ship, and also a small Saturn-gull, and not above 6 or 7 other gulls; the swell ran strongly from the south-west and afterwards more from the south; along the land the sea was tolerably smooth.

We adjusted our compasses at 4° north-westerly variation. In the morning of the same day about two hours after sunrise, when prayers were over, we saw the south-land straight ahead to the great joy of all of us; it was east of us, at about 3 or 5 miles' distance by estimation, when we got sight of it; it was a low-lying coast extending mainly N.N.E. and S.S.W. as given in the chart, so far as we could see. We immediately began to sail close-hauled to port on a N.E. and N.E. by E. course, sometimes a little higher and at other times a little lower, until three glasses in the afternoon had run out, when we got a squall of rain with the wind going over to W.N.W., upon which we ran north again, since at noon owing to the nearly contrary wind we had gone over to W. in order to keep off the land. We now shaped our course to north, at times to N. by W. nearly as high as we could sail and the wind would allow us.

The land which we saw, and from which at noon we were at no more than 1Ω or two miles' distance by estimation, we judged to be the land of d'Eendracht, and the land which we were near to at noon Dirck Hartochsz-Roads, for we had before us a large bay or bight between two capes. In the bay we could see no land from the main-topmast, but so far as we could discern the surf ran through the whole bay from the one cape to the other.

The land shows various white plots near the seaside, and in many places rises very steeply so far as we could see.

The breakers on the coast were very strong, but there were no rocks or shallows near the coast on which we could see the surf break, except at the cape north of Dirck Hartochs Roads, off which there seemed to be a small shoal or rock on which the surf broke, but it may as well have been a landspit running southward out to sea from the cape.

As soon as we got sight of the land, we cast the lead, and took soundings in 90 fathom whitish sandy bottom with small shells, at about 4Ω or 5 miles' distance from the land; in the middle of the forenoon we cast the lead again and touched the bottom in 75 fathom coarse and fine sand, mixed with small shells, at a little under 3 miles' distance from the land; we saw a good deal of rock-weed float alongside.

At noon we sounded in 55 fathom, at about two miles' distance from the shore, straight in front of Dirck Hartochsz Roads, greyish sand.

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About 2 o'clock in the afternoon we sounded in 50 fathom white, clean sand-bottom, with very small, thin shells, at about iΩ mile's distance by estimation from the northern extremity of Dirck Hartochsz. Roads, and two miles from the southern extremity of the road-stead just mentioned.

Towards the evening after supper, we cast the lead and sounded in 50 fathom grayish sand-bottom, at about 2Ω miles' distance by estimation from the land, and about 3 miles to northward of Dirck Hartochsz Roads.

At night when 4 glasses of the first watch were out, we cast the lead and sounded in 50 fathom grayish sand with small shells, estimating ourselves to be about 3 miles off the land, and about 7 miles to northward of Dirck Hartochsz. Roads.

At the latter end of the first watch when seven glasses were out, we cast the lead and touched the bottom in 48 fathom, but could not make out how far we were from the land (since it was night, and we could not see the coast), except from our course, by which we estimated the distance to be 4 miles.