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I. THE SAILING ORDERS

MINUTE SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS DISCOVERIES AND FAILURES. INSTRUCTIONS TO EXPLORE AND SURVEY THE COAST OF THE SOUTH LAND AND INQUIRE INTO ITS COMMERCIAL RESOURCES. To MAKE TREATIES WITH NATIVE KINGS. To TAKE POSSESSION OF ANY LAND OF SUFFICIENT VALUE. To CAPTURE SOME NATIVES, WHO MAY IN TIME GIVE USEFUL INFORMATION.

Reports having reached Batavia of the loss of the English ship "Triall" and the perilous experiences of three Dutch ships, the "Wapen van Hoorn," "Amsterdam" and "Dordrecht," on the north-western coast of Australia, the Governor and Council of the East India Company at Batavia resolved to dispatch an expedition for further explorations of the Southern Land. Instructions were accordingly made out for the yachts "Haring" and "Hasewint." Unforeseen circumstances having, however, prevented these yachts carrying out the orders, they were taken over by the "Pera" and "Aernem."

The full text of the instructions is given by PROFESSOR HEERES in his Commemoration Volume, The Part borne by the Dutch, together with an English translation by Mr. C. Stoffel. The latter is followed hereunder, except that I have occasionally employed an English word or two which appeared "more agreeable to the text" than the expression selected by the translator.

"INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE YACHTS 'HARINGH' AND 'HASEWINT,' SELECTED FOR THE JOINT EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHERN LAND."

INASMUCH as our Superiors earnestly enjoin us to despatch hence some yachts, with the object of making discoveries in the Southern Land; and since, moreover, experience has taught, through great perils incurred by several of our ships, and still more through the destruction of the English ship 'Triall' on the said coast, how necessary it is to have full and accurate knowledge of the true position of this land, so that further misfortunes may henceforth be prevented as much as is possible; and as, moreover, it is desirable that this land, or any inhabited portion thereof, should be explored, so as to ascertain whether any trade with them might be worth while;

"THEREFORE, for the purpose before mentioned, we have resolved to fit out the yachts 'Haringh' [herring] and 'Hasewint' to undertake the voyage and to discover as much regarding the resources of these regions as God Almighty shall permit.]

"You will accordingly set sail from here together, run out of Sunda Strait, and steer your course from the western extremity of Java to the South Land, keeping as

close to the wind as ever you can, so as not to be driven too far west by the southeasterly winds which generally prevail in these waters. You may therefore run on as far as the thirty-second or thirty-third degree if you do not before that fall in with the land. If you should have sailed so far, and yet have seen no land, you may conclude[1] that you have fallen off too far westward, for sundry ships coming from the fatherland have accidentally come upon the South Land before these latitudes. In this case, you will have to shape your course eastward and run on in that direction until you sight land. "In running over to the South Land aforesaid, you will have to keep a careful lookout, as soon as you get in 14° or 15°, seeing that the said English ship Triall,' when in 20° 10' S. lat., got on certain sunken rocks, which, according to the observation of the English pilot, extend for 7 miles north-east and south-west, although no dry land was visible. Nevertheless, the men who saved themselves in the pinnace and boat and arrived here stated that about 13° or 14° they had seen masses of reeds, wood and other drift floating about in the sea, from which they concluded that there must be land or islands somewhere in the neighbourhood. The aforesaid sunken rocks on which the Triall' was wrecked ought, according to the report of the Englishmen, to be due south of the west cape of Java. "Having reached the South Land in the said latitude or near it, you will then sail along the same as far as lat. 50°, in case the land extends so far south, but if the land should come to an end before you have oversailed the said latitude, and should be found to trend eastward, you may follow it in that direction for a little, but if you find no further southward extension possible, you had better turn back. You will do the same if the land should turn westward. On the return voyage you will run along the coast as far as it extends to the north, and next eastward or otherwise as the land goes, and thus follow the land as close and as far as possible and as you judge your provisions will suffice for the return home, even if, in so doing, you should sail round the whole land and emerge to southward. "The main object for which you are dispatched on this occasion is that from 45 or 50 degrees, or from the furthest point to which the said land shall be found to extend southward between these latitudes, up to the northmost end of the South Land, you are to discover and survey all capes, forelands, bays, lands, islands, rocks, reefs, sandbanks, deeps, shallows, roadsteads, winds, currents and whatever else appertains to the same, so that they may be charted and noted, with their true latitudes, longitudes, bearings and conditions. You will moreover land in various places and carefully observe whether they are inhabited, and what sort of people and country there are, what towns and villages there are, their government, their religion, their policy, their war-equipment, their waters, their vessels, their fisheries, and their commodities and manufactures, and more especially what minerals they have, such as gold, silver, tin, iron, lead and copper, as well as precious stones and pearls, and what vegetables, animals and fruits these lands afford. "To all of which particulars and whatever else may be worth noting you will pay diligent attention, keeping a careful record or journal with reference thereto, that we may get full information of all your doings and experiences and the Company may obtain due and perfect knowledge of the natural resources of these lands in return for their heavy outlay. "To all the places which you touch at, you will give appropriate names, choosing for the same either the names of the United Provinces or of the towns therein, or any other dignified names. Of all which places, lands and islands, the Commander and Officers of the said yachts will, by order and pursuant to the Commission of The Honourable the Governor-General, Jan Peterszoon Coen, sent out there [i.e., to the East Indies] by their High Mightinesses the States General of the United Netherlands, together with Messieurs the Directors of the General Chartered United East India Company in these parts, by solemn declaration signed by the Ships' Councils, take formal possession, and in token thereof, besides, erect a stone column in such places as

[1) It will be observed that no direct observation for longitude is suggested.]

shall be taken possession of, on which should be recorded in bold, legible characters the year, the month, the day of the week and the date, the person by whom, and when such possession has been taken on behalf of the States General above mentioned. You will likewise endeavour to enter into friendly relations and make covenants with as such kings and nations as you shall happen to fall in with, and prevail upon them to place themselves under the protection of the States of the United Netherlands; of which covenants and treaties you will likewise cause proper documents to be exchanged with the other parties.

"All lands, islands, places, etc., which you shall take possession of, as aforesaid, you will duly mark in the chart, with their true latitude, longitude and bearings, together with the names newly conferred on the same.

"According to the oath of allegiance which each of you, jointly and severally has sworn to the Lords States General, His Princely Excellency and Messieurs the Directors, none of you shall be allowed to secrete, or by underhand means to retain any written documents, journals, drawings or observations touching the expedition but every one of you shall be bound on his return here faithfully to deliver up the same without exception.

"According to the writings of Jan Van Huygen [van Linschoten] and the opinion of several others, some parts of this South Land are likely to yield gold, a point in which you should inquire as carefully as possible.

"We also give you, for an experiment, divers ironwares, cloths, 'coast' dress [Heeres explains, in a footnote, 'from the coast of Coromandel'] and linen stuff which you will show and try to dispose of to such people as you may meet with, always carefully noting what articles are found to be most in demand, what quantities might be disposed of, and what might be obtained in exchange for them. We also send samples of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and pearls, that you may inquire whether these articles are known to the inhabitants and might be obtained there in any reasonable quantity.

"In landing anywhere you will exercise extreme caution, and never go ashore inland unless well armed, trusting no one, however simple the people may appear be, or how plausible, but be always ready to stand on the defensive, so that no disaster may overtake you, such as, God knows, has often happened in like cases. Should people come out to you from the land, you will take the like care that they suffer no harm from our men.

"Coming to the northern extremity and east side of the South Land, you will diligently enquire whether any sandalwood, nutmegs, cloves, or other aromatic fruits grow there. Item, if there are any good harbours or conveniently situated or fruitful lands, where colonies might be planted which might be amply self-supporting. In a word, let nothing pass you unobserved, and whatever you find bring us a full and particular report of it, by which you will do the States of the United Netherlands service and lay up special honour for yourselves.

"In places where you meet with people, you will, by dexterity [behendlicheyt] or otherwise, get hold of some adults, or, still better, young lads or girls, to the end that they should be brought up here, and later, when opportunity offers, be broken in at the said quarters.

"The command of these two yachts is given to JAN Vos, who, during the voyage will carry the flag, convene the Council and preside therein, by virtue of Our Special Commission granted to the above-named Vos for that purpose.

"Given in Fort Jacatra the 29th September, Ao. 1622."

No better instructions could have been drawn up to serve the guidance of sailors setting out on a voyage of discovery with the object of acquiring geographical and commercial knowledge (although some clauses indicating what was expected, such as the references to kings and nations and treaties of alliance, may bring

a smile on the faces of those who have come to know what was the actual condition of affairs. In other parts, the language employed is intentionally and diplomatically ambiguous. A notable instance

is the instruction regarding the CAPTURE OF SLAVES. The word "behendlicheyt" meaning literally "hardihood," might be rendered as dexterity, adroitness, ingenuity, strategy, smartness, trickery or treachery, and the addition of "or otherwise" left no room for delicate scruples. The sailors made no mistake in interpreting their orders to mean that they were to capture slaves, with a minimum of friction, if possible, but in any case to capture them somehow. It is not so written, but it is easy to understand that the voyagers were expected, by the capture of "adults, or, still better, young lads or girls," to do something substantial towards recouping the expenses of the expedition. Ample evidence will be found in the log of the "Pera," which carried out the instructions originally drawn up for the "Haring" and "Hasewint," that this was the true meaning of the instructions. One hundred and thirty-three years later, the Dutch ship "Rijder" was carrying on the same tactics as were employed by the "Pera," and on the same western shore of the Cape York Peninsula. Even while the "Pera" was at sea, Torres was at work on the same lines, for his Spanish masters, on the southern shores of New Guinea; only he was more successful, as he records with satisfaction that in the course of the voyage he had captured twenty persons.

Early in the seventeenth century, the idea that there was anything reprehensible in slavery had barely suggested itself to the European mind, and I desire to point out that the Dutch were neither better nor worse than their contemporaries. If their proceedings appear simply abominable to readers in the twentieth century, there can be no doubt that those of their contemporary rivals were dictated by the same principles and carried out by the same methods.

At the present day we are confronted by the spectacle of savage populations dying out wherever they come in contact with comparatively civilised men. Belated Christianity, benevolence, philanthropy, charity or fair dealing seem alike powerless to arrest the working of what appears to be a natural law. In these circumstances, it is open to argument that for savage races a probationary period of SERVITUDE is preferable to its only alternative, EXTINCTION.