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II. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE EXPEDITION AND ON THE "PERA" NARRATIVE

SAILING ORDERS FOR THE SHIPS, WITH A "COVERING LETTER" CONTAINING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. JOURNAL OF JAN CARSTENSZOON, COMMODORE, KEPT ON THE "PERA." ENGLISH TRANSLATION. THE COMMAND OF THE SHIPS AND THE "FULL COUNCIL." CAPTAIN OF THE "AERNEM" AND NINE OTHERS KILLED BY NATIVES OF NEW GUINEA PROPER. EXPEDITION PASSED "TORRES STRAIT" SATISFIED THAT IT WAS ONLY A SHALLOW BIGHT AND THAT THE CAPE YORK PENINSULA FORMED PART OF NEW GUINEA.

THE history of the voyages of the "Pera" and "Aernem" in 1623 may be studied in the original records of the Dutch East India Company by those who have the opportunity. They consist, in the first place, of a "covering letter," dated 3rd January, 1624, from the Governor-General and Council to the Directors of the Company, and secondly, what is entitled Journal kept by Jan Carstensz.(oon) on his Voyage to Nova Guinea.

The letter states that, in January, 1623, Governor VAN SPEULT dispatched from AMBOINA the yachts "Pera" and "Arnhem" for the purpose of cultivating friendly relations with the inhabitants of Queij, Aroe and Tenimber and of exploring the land of Nova Guinea. The above-named islanders, it is further stated, had of their own free will placed themselves under the rule and protection of the States of the United Netherlands and promised to come and trade with the fortresses of Banda and Amboina. For the remaining portion of the voyage, along the land of Nova GUINEA (which was described as a barren country, inhabited by absolutely barbarous, cruel savages), the Directors were referred to the enclosure itself.

The second document, the JOURNAL, was printed in full by L. C. D. Van Dijk, in 1859, in Mededlingen Oost-Indisch Archief: No. 1, Twee Togten naar de Golf van Carpentaria. The portions relating to Australia were subsequently printed by Professor Heeres (Leiden, E. J. Brill, London, Luzac and Co.) in his work The Part of the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia, 1606-1765, issued by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society on its twenty-fifth anniversary, in 1899, together with an English translation by Mr. C. Stoflel. The Journal itself is bald and businesslike, makes no pretensions to literary form, and is even careless as to grammatical

accuracy. Stoffel's translation, on the other hand, is a dainty piece of work. It is as if he had rewritten a plain tale with the object of suiting it for acceptance by a high-class magazine. He has, indeed, while taking no serious liberties with the facts, presented the tale in the garb of early seventeenth-century English, the trick of which he has caught admirably. The only fault to be found with the translation is that it is better than the original. In the following pages, I have ventured, while freely acknowledging my indebtedness to the Dutch translator, to present an almost literally translated English version which, in my opinion, more nearly reflects the rough-hewn story of the author.

The Report is in the form of a DIARY kept on board the "Pera," and is probably in the main a transcription of the ship's log, and is signed by JAN CARSTENSZOON, the COMMODORE of the Expedition. It is headed "Journal kept by Jan Carstensz," that being the contraction in common use at a time when surnames denoted only that the person known by a certain Christian name was the son (zoon) of somebody else.

Although the "Pera" and "Aernem" took over the orders originally drawn up for the "Haringh" and "Hasewint," the SKIPPER of the "Pera," JAN SLUIJS, was not in the position which was to have been occupied by Jan Vos, who, presumably, was the skipper of one of the two vessels. Vos, it was intended, should carry the flag, convene the Council and preside therein." In short, he was not only to command his own ship but to be commodore of the expedition as well. The SKIPPERS of the "Pera" (Sums) and "Aernem" (MELISZOON) had no higher status than that of SAILING MASTERS, and although most of the hard work was assigned to them, they were evidently of less importance than the merchants or traders (kooplieden), as witness the order of precedence observed in the Aru and Queij inscriptions.

A democratic institution, viz., a "FULL COUNCIL" of the assembled officers of both ships,[1] seems to a modern lay reader to have been well calculated to destroy all order and discipline, and yet there is no evidence that on these two ships any serious trouble resulted.

From a reference in the log to a resolution of the Council on a certain date, which resolution is not mentioned in the log of that date, there is reason to suppose that the proceedings of the Council were recorded in a separate minute book, which has been lost, or lost sight of.

It would be interesting to know the names of all the adventurers who set out in 1623 and who lighted upon the Cape York Peninsula, but no list is given in the log, only a few names being mentioned incidentally, while a few more can be gathered from other documents.

[1) The composition of the Full Council is explained in Tasman's instructions.]

JAN CARSTENSZOON, "Opper Coopman" (Upper merchant, or trader or SUPERCARGO) on the "Pera," acted as COMMODORE of the expedition. The ASSISTANT SUPERCARGO Of the "Pera" was PIETER LINGTES Or LINTIENS. The SKIPPER was JAN SLUIJS. The UPPER STEERSMAN (Chief Mate)was AREND MARTENSZOON DE LEEUW, and the UNDER STEERSMAN (Second Mate) was WILLEM JOOSTEN VAN COOLSTEERDT, who was made skipper of the "Aernem" on the death of Meliszoon, the original master (10th February, 1623). The number of the crew is nowhere stated, but at any rate it was large enough to furnish a boat's crew of thirteen men on occasion. A CARPENTER and an "ASSISTANT" are referred to, but it is not clear whether the latter was the carpenter's apprentice or a midshipman. A CORPORAL and TEN MUSKETEERS are mentioned, but it is doubtful whether these were marines or sailors armed for the occasion. There was also a BARBER-SURGEON, and a "JUREBASS," who was an expert swimmer and who died of liver complaint or of the operation performed by the barber. Stoffel is unable to give an English equivalent for "jurebass" and no more can I, nor can any Dutchman whom I have had an opportunity of consulting. We must, therefore, for the present be content to define a Jurebass as "a person who performs jurebassial functions." My conjecture wavers between a slave, prisoner, convict or hostage on the one hand and a lent or temporarily impressed local pilot on the other.

The "Aernem" set out on the voyage under command of DIRK MELISZOON, assisted by an unnamed FIRST MATE and a SECOND MATE named JAN JANSZOON. On 10th February, 1623, Meliszoon was killed by natives of New Guinea, together with an "assistant." (midshipman?) named JAN WILLEMSZOON VAN DEN BRIEL and eight others. After this disaster, VAN COOLSTEERDT, second mate of the "Perez," was given command of the "Aernem," and JANSZOON, the "Aernem's" second mate, was made FIRST MATE.

It is beyond the scope of this study to follow the fortunes of the expedition except in so far as they are connected with the Cape York Peninsula, but it may be mentioned that the "Pera's" officers completed their voyage under the mistaken impression that they had demonstrated the CONTINUITY OF CERAM AND NEW GUINEA, although pre-existing maps showed this stretch of land to be divided into a chain of islands. When DE LEEUW—evidently some time after the voyage—drew his famous sketch-chart, he must have been satisfied of the error of this conclusion, as he showed the islands. The expedition abandoned the search for the alleged opening now known as TORRES STRAIT, believing that it DID NOT EXIST, and coasted Australia for eight degrees southward, having failed to realise that New Guinea was a distinct island. On the other hand, they furnished the earliest account of a portion of Australia and added materially to the knowledge of New Guinea.