Brief account of the principal events on the voyage of the frigate the Geelvink to the Southland (Australia), 20 March 1697
FROM : DAILY JOURNALS OF BATAVIA CASTLE, 20 MARCH 1697 [BEGINNING WITH FOL. 231-]
Translation
Around midday on the 17th of this month, the frigate the Geelvink arrived here in the roads [of Batavia] from our beloved fatherland. On 3 May of the previous year 1696, she had set sail with the hooker the Nijptangh and the galliot the Weseltje, under the auspices of the Amsterdam Chamber, under the command of Commander Willem de Vlamingh and his second-in command / First Mate Joannes Bremer, with a crew of 101 sailors and thirty-three soldiers. Noted here in brief are the principal events which came to pass on this voyage, from the log kept by the aforesaid Commander De Vlamingh. On the following 17 August they arrived at the island group of Tristan de Cuñha, situated at 37 degrees 14 minutes South Latitude, composed of various islands separated from each other by approximately a mile of sea. They were unable to reach the two largest because of the pounding surf, but they did visit one of the smallest which was covered with long grass, supplied with good drinking water and many penguins. The sea there teems with fish, a reason which would make it worthwhile to visit the islands only in the summer as this would be less dangerous and could be done more easily than at the time of their afore-ementioned attempt, because they had to brave severe cold and rough weather.
They left there on the 21st of the same month and appeared off the Cape of Good Hope on 7 September and sailed again from there on 27 October.
At that time, on the other ships also, embarked six sailors and one soldier (who had been there on land). But those who joined us were five sailors, one soldier and three natives, the last-mentioned could be useful as interpreters in meetings with people in the Southland. Then on 29 November they reached the islands of St Paul and Amsterdam situated at 38 degrees and 31 minutes South Latitude. They sailed around the last-mentioned but at the aforementioned there was a suitable roadstead or anchorage like that in Table Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. These islands are rich in shrubs and trees as thick as a man’s waist, which would make it possible to supply a great many ships with firewood. Also on these same islands various fresh water springs can be found, not to mention a well of water surging up from the ground so hot that it is possible to cook fish caught in inland waters or pools properly in it.
They departed from there again on 5 December to sail for the Southland, and made landfall at 31 degrees 17 minutes on 29th of the same month. Then sailing up to 21 degrees, they meticulously explored and investigated as far as this was possible and anchored first at Misteyland (Fog/Rottnest Island), mainly covered with trees growing wild but pleasantly scented. Reaching the mainland, they sailed along a river in a small craft going at least 10 miles inland, but saw nothing of interest, other than an old plank, closely resembling a plank from the double inner skin of a ship’s hull, and in the far distance two black people and a few tiny huts covered with thatch, but ramshackle and unlived in.
Then, while sailing along the coast whenever the opportunity presented itself, they landed and marched hither and thither five or six miles, coming across some fires but nobody in the vicinity. However, at 25 degrees 10 minutes ten black people were seen on the beach. They were of medium build and stark naked and unarmed, but as the surf prevented any landing and they were unable to go ashore there, so the [black people] could not be followed and they were also extremely timid and fled away at the first opportunity.
They then reached Dirk Hartog’s Roads (Cape Inscription on Dirk Hartog Island off Shark Bay) at 25 degrees 37 minutes, a very suitable harbour in which ships could anchor. When they landed they found on a hill or mound a fallen stake on which was a pewter plate, which according to what was engraved on it had been erected there by the officers of the ship the Eendraght on her outward-bound voyage in 1616. In the place of the one which had been brought there, they set up another pewter plate with an appropriate inscription and a note about the significance of the said ship the Eendragt and of the voyage of these three small vessels, to wit, their names and their officers, the dates of their arrival and departure. Furthermore, apart from those mentioned on the coast no apparent trace, in particular of people, signs or wreckage of the missing ship De Ridderschap, was found.
The main concern of the voyage dispatched by the Gentlemen Seventeen was the country itself, which as far as could be discerned was deserted, sandy and not very fertile. Some resinous and lacquer-bearing trees were observed and samples of these were brought back, but were not found to be of any [commercial] significance or value. A certain swan with brown plumage was discovered as were cassowaries and tigers [sic!]. The latter two are only assumptions as only their pug marks were seen, not they themselves.
Having set course from the Southland to the island of Java at 21 degrees on 21 February this same year, after what is mentioned above, on 5th of this month, at 10 degrees 57 minutes they came across the island of Moni, where they put in and found that it was covered with forest. Some trees were judged suitable for masts. There were also plenty of palm trees, but [they are] not as important as the aforementioned sort, without noting anything special about their height, thickness, nature and the characteristics of their wood, which should permit men to judge their suitability for the use for the aforesaid masts. During the voyage on this small vessel eleven sailors died, and hence eighty-nine crew members, thirty-three soldiers and three natives, or 125 souls in all landed here.