Page:History of West Australia.djvu/16

 8 have been chosen, as more than one navigator has found to his cost. When the Dutch first discovered the Abrolhos they allowed the Portuguese name to remain. Some authorities contend that the Dutch sighted the group in 1597, and placed them in the chart as Frederick Houtman's Abrolhos. In 1595 Houtman is said to have accompanied a Dutch fleet to the East Indies as commercial chief, but it is not proved that he even came within hail of the Australian coast. He is also described as a well-known navigator of that period, and after suffering imprisonment under the Inquisition, offered to lead an expedition to the East Indies. It was then that he is reported to have discovered the Abrolhos. Flinders gives the discovery as much later, and states that Edel, or some ship of his squadron, probably observed the islets in 1619 while off the coast of Edels Land, on the mainland. Mr. Major also prefers to place the date as about 1619, but does not think Houtman visited them. Houtman's Abrolhos form a cluster of rocky islets round which is a long shoal of sunken rock. The insidious coral are here at work, and in stormy weather mariners have to be exceedingly careful in approaching too close to them. Some of the islands are made the homes of Australian sea-fowl, and their nests and eggs are without number, and the birds themselves, when by any means startled and on the wing, provide an almost impenetrable shield from the sun's rays. These islands are about 45 miles west-north-west of Champion Bay.

The outward-bound Dutch vessel Mauritius seems to have made discoveries on the west coast in July, 1618, more particularly Wilhelms River, while the navigator Jean Van Edel, in July, 1619, discovered that part of Western Australia which was known on all old maps as Edels Land. The coastal country he visited extended on one chart from 29° northward to 26½° to the land of Endracht, and in another to 32° 20', or from Sharks Bay south-wards to near Cape Leschenault. Then, in 1622, the navigator of the ship Leeuwin (the Lioness) discovered the land which obtained its name from the ship, running from Cape Leeuwin to near Swan River. In September of the same year two vessels, the De Haring and the Harewind, were sent by the Dutch on a voyage of discovery to Australia, and to search for a missing vessel, but, meeting the returning Mauritius, put back to the East Indies. Following these ships were several others in subsequent years, but their voyages present little of general interest to Australian navigation, and, indeed, the records of them are meagre. The Dutch Governor despatched Jan Carstens in the yachts Pera and Arnhem from Amboina, in January, 1623. At New Guinea Carstens and eight of the Arnhem's crew were murdered by natives, but, notwithstanding, the second in command persisted in prosecuting the voyage, and found Arnhem Land—the Northern Territory of South Australia. The ships then became separated. The Arnhem went back to Amboina, but the Pera coasted down the Gulf of Carpentaria to Cape Keer-Weer and Staten River. The mariners were not impressed with what they saw, and described the water as shallow, the coast barren, and the natives poor, cruel, and brutal.

The voyage of the Gulde Zeepard (Golden Sea Horse) in 1627 was more important so far as Western Australia is concerned. In that year the Gulde Zeepard sailed from the fatherland and accidentally discovered the south coast of Terra Australis, near Cape Leeuwin. The journal was probably lost, but other sources state that the navigators examined the coast for about 1000 miles to the eastward, as far as the islands of St. Francis and St. Peter's, or Nuyts Archipelago, in the Great Australian Bight. It is generally supposed that Pieter Nuyts either commanded the Gulde Zeepard or was chief merchant on board, for all that coastal country thenceforward was known on charts and maps as Nuyts Land. In 1628 the Vianen, a Dutch ship, charted 200 miles of the coast, but, as with the Gulde Zeepard, the captain’s name is not authenticated. From the evidence of charts it was probably De Witt, as the country was named De Witt Land. This lies between Nickol Bay and Cape Londonderry, and according to reports of the voyage, nothing was observed but "a foul and barren shore, green fields, and very wild, black, barbarous inhabitants."

Next comes the adventurous voyage of Captain Pelsart, and for the first time, so far as history can tell, we read of tales of bloodshed, and the presence of conflicting passions—of murder, envy, vanity, and lust—on Australian coasts. It is one of those grim sea stories of wreck and mutiny and murder and suffering so common two hundred years ago. When, in 1628, General Carpenter returned to the fatherland from the East Indies with several vessels heavily laden with merchandise, the delighted Dutch equipped in the same year eleven vessels to trade further with the East Indies. Among them was the Batavia, in charge of Captain Pelsart, a man of courage, with a strong sense of duty. On the 28th October, 1628, the eleven vessels sailed from Texel, and rounded the Cape of Good Hope in safety. But on the 4th June, 1629, a severe storm separated the Batavia from the fleet. What became of the other ten vessels is not related, but the stress of the storm carried the Batavia near to the Australian coast, and finally she struck on the sunken rocks of Houtman's Abrolhos. It was night, a bright moonlight night, and Captain Pelsart was sick in his cabin. The vessel at the time had all sails set, and was steering a north-east by north course, and the sea so glistened in the moonlight that the pilot noticed not the white froth which covered it as far as the eye could reach. The shock of the impact roused the captain, who rushed on deck, and observing the foam ordered the cannon to be thrown overboard and dropped the anchor. Meanwhile, a storm of wind and rain arose and their position became all the more trying. The vessel continued striking, and Pelsart had the mainmast cut away, but the only effect from this was an increase in the shock. In the dim light three islands, two very small, were described about three leagues away, and bare rocks nearer by. The master was sent to examine these islands, and about nine in the morning returned and reported a rocky coast so full of shoals that it would be difficult to land. All this while the women and children of the company disturbed the men by their cries of fear, and a shallop and skiff put off carrying them and the sick to one of the islands. At ten in the morning the ship began to break up, and the crew used every effort to get the provisions on deck, but hardly troubled to remove the fresh water, thinking there would be plenty on land. The sailors broached the wine to such an extent that the situation of the company was rendered more perilous by their "brutal behaviour," Because of this and a strong gale only three trips were made to the islands that day, and on the following days storms and restless seas made it difficult and almost impossible to get to and from the fast breaking vessel. On the first day 180 persons, 20 barrels of bread, and some small casks of water were landed, but, notwithstanding their distressful condition, the company on hand wasted the provisions. Valuable merchandise and treasure were landed on the following day, and eventually the captain and master who endeavoured to return from the land were beaten back by heavy seas. The carpenter thereupon threw himself into the water from the ship and swam to Pelsart, informing him that those on board were in imminent danger, but the weather becoming still more turgid the captain was powerless, "leaving, with the utmost grief, his lieutenant and 70 men on the very point of perishing on board