Part 28

(1648). EXPLORATORY VOYAGE TO THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA ROUND BY THE SOUTH OF JAVA, BY THE SHIP LEEUWERIK, COMMANDED BY JAN JANSZOON ZEEUW.

Instructions for the officers of the Yacht den Leeuwerik...June 27, 1648.

Having learned by the ships last arrived here from Banda, what poor rice-crops they had in those quarters last year, so that, had not they received some timely supplies of this grain from Amboyna, they would have been put to exceeding inconvenience; and having besides seen from the letter of Governor Cornelis Willemse van Outhoorn that also this year they are under serious apprehensions of the like scarcity, in case supplies from Batavia should be long in coming.

Therefore we have lately resolved in our Council to make an express shipment thither at this time of year...chiefly and principally that, if this voyage should have the expected success, which may the Almighty grant in His mercy, we may in future be sure that such voyage could be made every year after the arrival of the first ships from there, and the said important Government be by us duly assisted...as regards rice and other necessaries.

This Yacht, which we consider to be of strong build and a good sailer, having by us been assigned for this purpose...you will weigh anchor in the name of God early to-morrow, set sail, and use your utmost endeavours to get clear of Sunda Strait as soon as possible, and thus gain the open...

As soon as you shall have got clear of the Prince islands...you will from there shape your course directly to the south, straight across the sea, thus sailing by the wind without looking right or left, until you shall have come to 32 or 33 degrees S.L., where with the help of God you will meet with the westerly trade-winds; and when you are quite sure of having got the same, without the least doubt on your part, you will direct your course to the South-land, trying to make it and get it alongside in 25 or 26 degrees Southern Latitude, where the coast is generally of easy access, the land being of moderate height and somewhat resembling the coast of England.

Having reached the South-land in such fashion as we have just indicated, you will keep the coast alongside, and not leave the same, but use your best endeavours to skirt it, not parting with it until you have weathered the Vuylen hoecq (Foul Point); after which you may leave the coast, and cross over from there, next using the easterly and south-easterly winds which you will meet with in those waters, for running in sight of the islands of Arou, Tenember and Damme or any of these, and then making straight for Banda with the utmost expedition, which port you will with God's help conveniently reach in the manner hereinbefore described.

As we have already said, the accomplishment of this voyage at this season of the year (in which only strong headwinds are blowing along the ordinary route to Banda and other quarters nearer home) is of very great importance to the Honourable Company...

We herewith hand you a new chart of the South-land, which you may avail yourselves of in due time, and we noways doubt you will find the same of great use to {Page 74} you, of which we hope afterwards to receive your report. Seeing that the waters you are going to navigate are for the greater part little known as yet, and that accordingly many noteworthy things are not unlikely to occur in your voyage, we hereby likewise earnestly enjoin you, not only to keep a complete and elaborate journal of this voyage, but also to make due observation of the direction of the winds, the trend of the coasts, the situation of bays, inlets and capes, and properly to note and make drawings of the same, that on your return you may be able to hand us a full and perfect report of the whole undertaking, thus furnishing fresh material for the correction of the charts now in use, and perhaps also of the courses to be kept...

Given in the Castle of Batavia, June 27, A.D. 1648.

(Signed) CORNELIS VAN DER LIJN, FRAN«OIS CARON, CAREL RENIERSZ, JOCHUM R. VAN DEUTECOM, and GERARD DEMMER.

Letter of the G.-G. and Councillors to the Managers of the E.I.C., January 18, 1649.

...[We have dispatched to Banda] the yacht den Leeuwerck on the 28th of June of last year...through Sunda Strait, in order, if possible, to make the voyage to Banda along this route north of the South-land. Which undertaking has succeeded to our complete satisfaction but especially to the great joy of our Banda people, for which the Almighty be praised...since this success is undoubtedly of great advantage to the General Company, and makes it quite sure that in cases of shipwreck or other accidents we shall always be able to send succour and supplies to Banda and the quarters on this side of it along this newly discovered route...which, on receipt of the first advices in May next, may be done by the route abovementioned along the South-land. How this voyage was undertaken and successfully accomplished as far as Banda in the space of two months and 23 days, your Worships may be pleased to gather from the annexed daily journal and Chart [*] of Skipper Jan Jansz Zeeuw.

Written in Your Worships' Castle of Batavia, this 18th of January, A.D. 1649.

Your Worships' faithful servants the Governor-General and Councillors of India:

CORNELIS VAN DER LIJN, F. CARON, CAREL REINIERS, J. P. VAN DUTECUM, GERARD DEMMER.

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XXIX.

(1656-1658). SHIPWRECK OF THE GULDEN OR VERGULDEN DRAAK ON THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA, 1656.--ATTEMPTS TO RESCUE THE SURVIVORS, 1656-1658.--FURTHER SURVEYINGS OF THE WEST-COAST BY THE SHIP DE WAKENDE BOEI, COMMANDED BY SAMUEL VOLCKERTS(ZOON), AND BY THE SHIP EMELOORD, COMMANDED BY AUCKE PIETERSZOON JONCK, 1658.

Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E.I.C, December 4, 1656.

...On the 7th June there arrived here...from the South-land the cock-boat of the yacht den Vergulden Draeck with 7 men, to our great regret reporting that the said yacht had run aground on the said South-land in 30 2/3 degrees, on April the 28th, that besides the loss of her cargo, of which nothing was saved, 118 men of her crew had perished, and that 69 men who had succeeded in getting ashore, were still left there. For the purpose of rescuing these men, and of attempting to get back by divers or other means any part of the money or the merchandises that might still be recoverable, we dispatched thither on the said errand on the 8th of the said month of June [*], the flute de Witte Valeq, together with the yacht de Goede Hoop, which after staying away for some time were by violent storms forced to return without having effected anything, and without having seen any men or any signs of the wreck, although the said Goede Hoop has been on the very spot where the ship was said to have miscarried...[**]

In the Castle of Batavia, December 4, A.D. 1656. Your Worships' Obedt. Servts. the Governor-General and Councillors of India JOAN MAETSUYKER, CAREL HARTZINCK, JOAN CUNAEUS, NICOLAES VERBURCH, D. STEUR.

Daily Register of Batavia, 1657.

the 8th. Late in the evening there arrived in the road-stead here, and came to anchor, the small flute de Vinck of the Zealand Chamber, which had sailed [from the Netherlands] on December 24, 1656...she came hither via the Cape of Good Hope and the South-land...

The skipper further reports that, according to the order and instructions handed him by Commander [*] Riebeeck, he had touched at the South-land, but it being the bad monsoon on the said coast, they had found it impossible to sail along the coast so far {Page 76} as to look after the wreck and the men of the lost ship den Draeck; for in the night of June 8 (having the previous day seen all signs of land, and the weather being very favourable) they had come to anchor in 29° 7' S.L., and the estimated Longitude of 130° 43', in 25 fathom coarse sandy bottom mixed with coral; the following morning at daybreak they saw the breakers on the reef at the end of which they were lying at anchor, and on one side ahead of them, the South-land, which there showed as a low-lying coast with dunes; upon which they weighed anchor and continued sailing along the coast in order to keep near the land, which was still in sight the day following; but the weather began to become so much worse and the breakers on the coast were so violent, that it was a fearful sight to behold, upon which they shaped their course a little more to seaward. On the 10th and 11th they kept sailing along the coast in 40 or 50 fathom, but seeing their chances of touching at the coast this time get less and less, and the weather continuing very unruly with violent storms of thunder and lightning, they resolved to keep off the coast, and drifted on without sail. On the 12th they made small sail, the wind continuing to blow from the S. and S.S.W., and also from the S.S.E., and shaped their course for Batavia...

Letter of the G.-G. and Counc. to the Managers of the E. I. C., December 14, 1658.

...By our previous letters we informed Your Worships that on the first of January last we dispatched from here to the...Southland the galiots De Waeckende Boeij and Emeloort, for the purpose of making search for the crew of the lost ship de Vergulden Draecq, and of ascertaining whether they were still alive. The said ships returned to this place on the 19th of April following, after exploring the coast about the place of the disaster each of them for herself, since they had got separated; having in different places sent manned boats ashore, and fired many cannon shots time after time both by day and night, without, however, discovering any Netherlanders or any traces of the wreck, excepting a few planks [etc.]...which must undoubtedly be looked upon as remnants of the said ship...We herewith hand you the journals of the galiots [*] aforesaid...together with the small charts of the coast drawn up on board each of them[**]...