Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/193

 BOOK OF l^ISrATCHES. 45

and Tcnimber, and better to discover Nova Guinea and the south lands, when an alliance was made with the said islands and the south coast of Nova Guinea nearer discovered. The skipper, with eight of the crew of the yacht Ar?ihem, was treacherously murdered by the inhabitants ; and after a dis- covery of the great islands Arnhem and the Spult (by an untimely separation) this yacht, with very little success, came back to Amboina.

But the yacht Pera persisting in the voyage, sailed along the south coast of Nova Gunina to a flat cove on this coast, situated in 10° south latitude, and run along the west coast of this land to Cape Keer-Veer, from thence discovered the coast farther southward as far as 17"^ S. to Staten River (from this place what more of the land could be discerned seemed to stretch westward), and from thence returned to Amboina.

In this discovery were found everywhere shallow water and barren coast ; islands altogether thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal nations, and of very little use to the Company. The journal of this voyage is not now to be found ; but the discovered countries may be seen in the maps which were made of them.

Through the little success of this third voyage, but mostly because no ships could be spared, the discovery was again omitted until 1036 ; but in the interim, in the year 1627, the south coast of the great south laud was accidentally dis- covered by the ship the Guide Zeepard, outward bound from Fatherland,^ for the space of 250 miles (lOOOj ; and again accidentally in the year following, 1628, on the north- side, in the latitude of 21° S., by the ship Viatien, homeward bound from India ; when they coasted about 50 miles (200) without gaining any particular knowledge of this great coun- try, only observing a foul and barren shore, green fields,

^ The expressive epithet both of the Dutch and the Germans for their native country.