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VAN ASSCHENS AND GONZAL

START FROM BATAVIA. SEPARATED BY STORM. "BUIJS" MAKES BANDA HARBOUR. HER VOYAGE RESUMED. SIGHTS PERA HEAD, WHICH IS MISTAKEN FOR THE "DUYFKEN'S" CAPE KEERWEER. COASTING NORTHWARD. TASMAN'S VLIEGEBAIJ (NOW ALBATROSS BAY) RECOGNISED. ASSCHEN'S HOEK NAMED (NOW DUYFKEN POINT). BATAVIA RIVER NAMED. VAN SPULT RIVER RECOGNISED. MAKES FOR THE "PERA'S" WATERING-PLACE. BOAT AND CREW LOST. "BUIJS" WAITS AND SEARCHES (WITHOUT LANDING TILL SHORTAGE OF WATER COMPELS THE SURVIVORS TO MAKE FOR TIMOR LAUT, TENIMBER ISLANDS. UNJUST CRITICISM BY THE CHIEF CARTOGRAPHER AT BATAVIA. "RUDER" REACHES FREDERICK HENRY ISLAND. PRINCE OF WALES AND BOOBY ISLANDS SIGHTED. LANDING ON PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND AND EXPLORATION OF PART OF ITS COAST. LANDING ON WEDNESDAY ISLAND. VOYAGE RESUMED. TOO FAR WEST. LAND SIGHTED SOUTH OF PENNEFATHER RIVER. VISITED BY NATIVES IN CANOES. LANDING. TWO DINGOES SEEN. NATIVES GUIDE PARTY TO WATER. THEN GIVE A CORROBORREE. ARRACK AND SUGAR GIVEN TO NATIVES. ANOTHER LANDING NEXT DAY WITH INTENTION OF KIDNAPPING NATIVES. UNSUCCESSFUL. LANDING NEXT DAY. NATIVES MADE DRUNK. ONE WOUNDED AND DRAGGED TO BOAT. GENERAL ENCOUNTER. "RUDER" ANCHORS IN VLIEGEBAIJ (ALBATROSS BAY), WHICH IS NAMED MOSSELBAAIJ. BOAT PARTY DISCOVERS WATER AT THE "PERA'S" WATERING-PLACE OF 9TH MAY, 1623, WHICH IS RENAMED RIJDER'S WATERING-PLACE. WOOD AND WATER TAKEN IN. SOUTHWARD VOYAGE RESUMED. RIJDER'S HOEK NAMED. LANDING. BRUSH WITH NATIVES. ONE CAPTURED. SAILS FOR ARNHEIM LAND. TIMOR REACHED.

We are indebted to Professor Heeres' Commemoration Volume The Part of the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia for the text of a Summary, forwarded by GERRIT DE HAAN, Chief Cartographer at Batavia, to the Governor and Council of the Netherlands East India Company, of the LOGS OF THE "RIJDER" AND "BUIJS," the former commanded by Lieutenant Jean Etienne Gonzal and the latter by "Stuurman" (first mate) LAVIENNE LUDOWIJK VAN ASSCHENS. The Dutch text is accompanied by an English translation by C. Stoffel, which, however, I have not always followed literally.

The two ships set out together from Batavia on 8th February, 1756, but parted company in a storm which was encountered off the Banda Islands. The "BUIJS" took refuge in the port of Banda and remained there till 1st April. The "RIJDER,"[1] having ridden out the gale, continued her voyage alone.

[1) Rijder, Ritter, Rider, person of equestrian rank, Knight.]

Emerging from the friendly harbour of Banda on 1st April, the "Buijs" barquentine sailed to the east, and on 23rd April, while in latitude 12° 58' S., "sighted the LAND OF CARPENTARIA, recognising what has been named CAPE KEERWEER." The anchor was dropped at sunset.

On 24th April, the noon latitude was 12° 54'. The anchor was dropped at sunset and bearings gave Cape Keerweer 8 1/3° N. and "the inner hook near the river," (inlet) ENE. (SEE MAP D.)

Assuming the correctness of the noon observation of 12° 54' (and there is no reason to doubt it), the point of land was not Cape Keerweer, which is in 13° 59', but either FALSE PERA HEAD or PERA HEAD itself—probably the former, the latter being the "inner hook." The reference to "the revier" (inlet) is obscure, but this may be the fault of the summary rather than of the log.

Under the mistaken impression that he had identified the Cape Keerweer of the "Duyfken's" voyage, Asschens resolved to steer to the north. In the forenoon of 25th April he cleared PERA HEAD. At noon he was in 12° 42' and he anchored at sunset.

Next morning the northerly course was resumed, and in the forenoon "a red point" was seen to form the northern horn of "a deep bay or bight" (now ALBATROSS BAY) on which the "Buijs" had entered after clearing Pera Head. (SEE MAP B.) The bay was recognised as that which Tasman had designated VLIEGE BAIJ. The Point, which now bears the name of the "DUYFKEN," was charted as ASSCHENS' HOEK, and by right of priority should be so called. The error, however, has so long been condoned by usage as to have become unalterable.

Leaving this point and keeping close to the land, the "Buijs" was in 12° 16' at noon. Smoke was observed.on land, and even what appeared to be men and huts. The anchor was dropped at sunset in a position which may be conjectured to have been about 12° 2' S., a little south of the mouth Of JANIE CREEK, between the PENNEFATHER RIVER (which Tasman had already named the PRINCE REVIER) and MAPOON MISSION STATION.

Setting sail again at daybreak on 27th April, the land was found to fall away to the east. As a matter of fact, in coming from the south, the direction of the coast-line changes, about 7 minutes short of Mapoon, from N. by E. to NE. Before midday, Asschens was abreast of "a revier (inlet) with an island lying off its mouth." The inlet (which had been seen by Tasman) was designated by Asschens the BATAVIA, and by this name the largest river of the Peninsula, ending in Port Musgrave estuary in 11° 56' S., is now known. It is true that the name of Batavia had already figured for some time on Dutch maps, but it was improperly applied (following de Leeuw) to the inlet which

Carstenszoon had named the Carpentier River in 1623, and which is now known as the Skardon River.

The "Duyfken" had passed this inlet in 1606, and the "Aernem" (once) and the "Pera" (twice) in 1623, without observing it. The records of the "Duyfken's" voyage have been lost, and it may be conjectured that the "Buijs" either sailed closer to the land, or approached it in a better light, than the "Pera" or the "Aernem." The supposed island was, no doubt, a sandbank visible at low tide, 3 miles off the mouth of Port Musgrave.[1]

Without landing at the new river, the "Buijs" sailed on to the north. At noon on the 27th, the latitude was roughly estimated at 11° 38'. Smoke was observed on the land, and apparently the mouth of Carstenszoon's CARPENTIER RIVER was not seen. The "Buijs" anchored in the afternoon. At noon on the 28th she was in 11° 29'. At noon on the 29th she was in 11° 3'. (SEE MAP A.) Two hours later, the anchor was dropped in 8 fathoms, the navigators believing themselves to be close to the VAN SPULT RIVER named by Carstenszoon in 1623. In this belief they were quite correct, the solar observation at noon on the 30th giving 10° 56'. They were, in fact, on the Inskip Banks or the "extensive sandy shoals" south of the Banks which are indicated by modern charts.

It had become necessary to take in water and firewood, both of which were running short. The charted Watering-place at the Van Spult River naturally suggested itself to Asschens, but the uncharted shoals called for prudent action. Accordingly, on 30th April, a boat with eight men was sent out to take soundings towards the land. The BOAT was lost sight of before nightfall and was NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF AGAIN. Whether it was wrecked among the shoals or the crew fell into the hands of the natives must remain a mystery. The "Buijs" waited for the boat till 12th May, when the scarcity of water and firewood compelled her to sail westward for TIMOR LAUT,[2] which was reached on 20th May. No attempt appears to have been made to search the land for the boat's crew, and it may have been that there were too few men left on the "Buijs" to furnish a landing party and risk its loss.

From the cartographer's covering letter, it appears that the sailing orders of the "Rijder" and "Buijs" enjoined some exploration of the interior, and Asschens probably intended to carry out this instruction when the overwhelming disaster overtook him.

[1) Mr. J. T. Embley, who has sailed frequently along this coast, and seen it from probably the same distance as the "Buijs," writes me under date 18th July, 1916: "The Batavia has a little island about three miles out from the mouth, but it is only a high sandbank covered at high tide...The mouth of the Batavia is plainly visible to any boat travelling from the north at a distance of 15 or 20 miles before you come to it. No boat could pass it in the daytime without seeing it."]

[2) The largest island of the Tenimber group, and now known as Yamdena.]

The cartographer's comment on Asschens is most severe, and, I think, unjust:—

"Of the proceedings of 'Stuurman' Lavienne Lodewijk Asschens (who had command of the barquentine 'Buijs'), the Undersigned can give no account deserving of consideration, while his reports or notes are so misleading that it is clear at the first glance that he can never have had any first-hand knowledge or ocular view of the matters referred to by him, seeing that he has hardly ever been nearer to the land than 3 miles off, at which distance, however, he pretends to have seen a river with an island before its mouth, as well as men, huts, etc.: all which seems to the Undersigned impossible on a flat land, such as this is. Nor has he made any landing on the said coast, although, contrary to Your Worships' orders, he had sailed along it from S. to N. for 40 miles before the misfortune of the loss of the boat befel, as Your Worships may gather from the annexed rough sketch of the coast sent in by him."[1]

Asschens certainly began by mistaking Pera Head for Cape Keerweer, but, with the exception of this mistake, his description can easily be followed on, and agrees with, accurate modern charts. It must be remembered that his description is only known to us from a paraphrase of it made by a very unfavourably impressed (shall we say, prejudiced?) official. He correctly identified Tasman's Vliege Baij (Albatross Bay) and gave the name of Asschen's Hoek to what is now called Duyfken Point. He noted the estuary now called Port Musgrave, which he named the BATAVIA REVIER.[2] Lastly, he correctly located himself abreast of the VAN SPULT RIVER before leaving Australia.

THE "RIJDER" (GONZAL)

After losing sight of her consort, the "Buijs," off Banda, on 26th March, 1756, and unaware that she had found shelter, the "RUDER," having weathered the storm, continued her voyage, and reached FALSE CAPE, the westmost point of Frederick Henry Island, Papua, on 4th April. (SEE MAP A.) "The HIGH LAND OF CARPENTARIA, known by the name of HOOG EIJLAND," was sighted on 10th April. This high land" was, no doubt, HAMMOND and PRINCE OF WALES ISLANDS. A reef (the Gerard and Larpent Banks) was observed to extend from the high land nearly to a hitherto uncharted island, which was named RIJDER'S ISLAND, and which must have been BOOBY ISLAND. Possibly the ship's course lay between the reef and the island. In making cautiously for the coast, the "Rijder" apparently approached PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND near its north-western corner, where a first LANDING was made on 17th April. Only one NATIVE was seen, and he fled on the approach of the boat's crew, who noted bark huts, a bark canoe,

[1) Heeres says: "I have not met with this chart."]

[2) Tasman, who was probably misled by the "specially prepared" chart with which he was provided, had named it the Staeten Revier, under the impression that it was the Staten Revier of Carstenszoon.]

fishing-lines, claws of animals used for fish-hooks, and spears barbed with bone. The description of the country could not possibly apply to any portion of the adjacent Cape York Peninsula. There were very rich soil, tall grasses, long straight timber and fine valleys with rills of fresh water. Several landings were subsequently made for the purpose of taking in water and firewood before the "Rijder" put out to sea again on 26th April. Her next recorded course was ENE., "following the trend of the coast," in 5, 6 or 7 fathoms. The coast-line of Prince of Wales Island, it is true, takes this direction from the north-western point of the island, but modern charts show that it would have been impossible to carry the depth of water indicated for any distance on an ENE. course. The presumption is that after an unsuccessful attempt on this impossible coast-line, the ship stood out to sea until she had cleared the Gerard and Larpent Banks and then followed the Prince of Wales Channel east-north-eastward, passing the north sides of GOOD and HAMMOND ISLANDS. The anchor was dropped on 28th April in 10° 30' S. The only land in this latitude is WEDNESDAY ISLAND. Here a party LANDED, but found only bark huts inhabited by NATIVES, who fled into the woods. The ship's boat was beached and repaired. The "Rijder" herself lay at anchor till 13th May, to give the "Buijs" a chance of rejoining her.

Had Gonzal taken the "Rijder" east of Wednesday Island, he would have had a clear way into the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean, but he turned back on 13th May with the intention of following the coast to the south. He kept well out from the land, and, in fact, overdid it in his natural desire for sea-room, and it was not until 24th May that he again sighted LAND (south of the Pennefather River—Tasman's Prince Revier), in 12° 18' S. (SEE MAP B.) Drawing closer to the shore, he anchored on 25th May in 12° 26' S. (9 miles north of Duyfken Point).

"As they lay at anchor at about 1 or 1½ miles distance from the shore, they saw two of the previously described canoes paddling up to the ship, each containing two men, who, when they had got near the ship, by signs and cries began to signify to our men that they wished them to come ashore. The following day, being the 26th of May, our men went ashore at daybreak, and on landing found several persons there, who, however, all took to flight directly. They also saw two dogs,style="color:#603000">[1] not unlike Bengal jackals. The persons who had fled shortly afterwards returned to them, when they found them armed with the assegays above described. They were accompanied by a number of womenfolk who were clothed with a sort of mat. The natives then all of them sat down on the beach near our men, who made signs to them that they were seeking fresh water, upon which the natives rose and signified their willingness to point out the places where water was obtainable. And so it happened that our men were taken along the beach for a short distance and conducted to a beautiful valley with fine trees. This seemed to be the home of the natives, as there were more women and children and also some places where they lived, consisting merely of shelters beneath the trees covered in with bark. The water which was found here welled up through artificial openings. They walked round and inspected the

[1) They were thus the first white men to record having seen the DINGO.]

place and then returned to the strand, where they found the two canoes in which the natives had first visited the ship. While they sat on the beach, 19 natives came up to them, having their bodies all besmeared with red, and held a frolic with a kind of song.[1] Then they were treated to some arrack with sugar, and shortly afterwards they retired satisfied into the wood. "In the morning of the 27th, our men landed again, to see if they could not capture a man or two, but they did not succeed in doing so that day, because they were too late to entice the natives to the beach. Early in the morning of the 28th they landed again in order to execute their plan. On their arrival the natives came dancing and singing, sat down beside them and laid aside their so-called assegais or weapons and again indulged in drinking, under the influence of which two of them were seized, whereupon the others jumped up and set upon our people with their assegais, without, however, wounding anyone; but the ship's clerk, who was trying to get hold of one of the savages, was slightly wounded by him in the hand. Then a shot was fired and one of the natives was wounded and the others fled into the bush. Our people then tried to drag to the boat the two men they had got hold of, but while they were being tied up one of them, by superhuman biting and tearing, managed to break loose and took to flight. Immediately thereafter, upwards of 50 natives came up, preparing to throw assegais, but a single volley put them to flight. Then our men took their one captive on board."

On 29th May, the "Rijder" dropped anchor at noon in 12° 31' S., i.e., about 4 (English) miles north Of DUYFKEN POINT. She lay at anchor all the next day, and two canoes paddled out and inspected her from a distance of half a mile (Dutch). On the 31st, she cleared DUYFKEN POINT, and at noon was in lat. 12° 44' S. (SEE MAP D.) After contending with a contrary current, she anchored at sunset in ALBATROSS BAY, which Gonzal named MOSSELBAAIJ. Asschens had recognised it five weeks earlier as Tasman's VLIEGE BAIJ.

On 1st June, only a short distance was sailed in the forenoon, and an anchor was dropped in 12° 51' S. A boat was sent out the following day, and reported abundant water at or near the "Pera's" WATERING-PLACE of 9th May, 1623, where "the chart showed a fresh-water river." The "Rijder" moved oh, on 3rd June, to the position indicated, which was in 12° 57' S., between PERA HEAD and FALSE PERA HEAD, and dropped her anchor. A stay of ten days was made here while water and firewood were taken in and the boat was repaired. "Water came rushing down the rocks, and there was also a fine pool where many birds of different sorts were seen." The place was named RIJDER'S WATERPLAETS. The above description is not unlike that of the "Pera's" Waterplaets, but the two may be distinct, although they cannot be far apart. No natives were seen.

The voyage was resumed on 13th June. At noon the latitude was 13° 2' S. (the narrative gives 12° 2' S., evidently a clerical error). On the 14th, it was 13° 8' at noon. "At the first glass of the dog-watch," the anchor was dropped, slightly to the south of the RIJDER'S HOEK. To this prominence, in 13° 10', modern

[1) This is the first record of white men having been entertained with a CORROBORREE.]

charts give no name. The latitude of the anchorage was made out to be 13° S. at noon on the following day. I can only conclude that this was a faulty observation, as it is contradicted by the observations of the two preceding days, which agree with the contour of the coast-line. In the morning of the same day, a boat's crew landed, after having been met by two men in a canoe, who invited them to come ashore. Eleven men and five women met them on the beach, the men being armed with spears. The NATIVES tried to take off the hats of the visitors, which the latter resisted whereupon the natives threatened with their spears. A shot was fired and the crowd fled, with the exception of one youth, who was carried on board.

The sailors found a large pond of fresh water, and judged that the country, if cultivated, would prove fertile. It was remarked that the natives subsisted mainly on roots of trees, and wild fruits such as batatas or oubis, with a little fish, and that they seemed to have some knowledge of gold when some lumps of the metal were shown them. It is not stated on what occasion these observations were made. It cannot have been on the single interview above referred to.

On 16th June, the course was set westward for AERNEM'S LAND. On the 24th, the "MAINLAND OF NEW HOLLAND was sighted, and the home journey was concluded via Timor and Rotti.

Inasmuch as her crew effected landings on Prince of 'Wales Island and at three different localities on the mainland, the "Rijder" added more to our knowledge of the interior and its inhabitants than the "Buijs," whose men were defeated on their only attempt at landing. The "Rijder" was the first (except, perhaps, the "Duyfken") to land a party in the neighbourhood of DUYFKEN POINT and to explore the southern shore of ALBATROSS BAY. The landing south of PERA HEAD confirmed the existence of the "Pera's" watering-place. The last landing on the Peninsula, at RIJDER'S HOEK, was made in a locality till then unvisited. After this landing, probably no white footprint marked the soil until, fourteen years later, Captain Cook landed on the eastern coast of the Peninsula.