On the 25th, in the latitude of 4 degrees 35
minutes south, and in the longitude of 175 degrees 10 minutes, we found the
variation 9 degrees 30 minutes east. We were then in the height of the islands
of Mark, which were discovered by William Schovten and James le Maire. They are
fourteen or fifteen in number, inhabited by savages, with black hair, dressed
and trimmed in the same manner as those we saw before at the Bay of Murderers in
New Zealand. On the 29th we passed the Green Islands, and on the 30th that of
St. John, which were likewise discovered by Schovten and Le Maire. This island
they found to be of a considerable extent, and judged it to lie at the distance
of one thousand eight hundred and forty leagues from the coast of Peru. It
appeared to them well inhabited and well cultivated, abounding with flesh, fowl,
fish, fruit, and other refreshments. The inhabitants made use of canoes of all
sizes, were armed with slings, darts, and wooden swords, wore necklaces and
bracelets of pearl, and rings in their noses. They were, however, very
intractable, notwithstanding all the pains that could be taken to engage them in
a fair correspondence, so that Captain Schovten was at last obliged to fire upon
them to prevent them from making themselves masters of his vessel, which they
attacked with a great deal of vigor; and very probably this was the reason that
Captain Tasman did not attempt to land or make any farther discovery. On April
1st, we were in the latitude of 4 degrees 30 minutes south, and in the longitude
of 171 degrees 2 minutes, the variation being 8 degrees 45 minutes to the east,
having now sight of the coast of New Guinea; and endeavoring to double the cape
which the Spaniards call Cobo Santa Maria, we continued to sail along the coast
which lies north-west. We afterwards passed the islands of Antony Caens,
Gardeners Island, and Fishers Island, advancing towards the promontory called
Struis Hoek, where the coast runs south and south-east. We resolved to pursue
the same route, and to continue steering south till we should either discover
land or a passage on that side.
It is necessary to observe, that all this time they continued on the coast, not
of New Guinea but of New Britain, for that cape which the Spaniards called Santa
Maria is the very same that Captain Dampier called Cape St. George, and Caens,
Gardeners, and Fishers Islands all lie upon the same coast. They had been
discovered by Schovten and Le Maire, who found them to be well inhabited, but by
a very base and treacherous people, who, after making signs of peace, attempted
to surprise their ships; and these islanders managed their slings with such
force and dexterity, as to drive the Dutch sailors from their decks; which
account of Le Maire’s agree perfectly well with what Captain Dampier tells us of
the same people. As for the continent of New Guinea, it lies quite behind the
island of New Britain, and was therefore laid down in all the charts before
Dampier’s discovery, at least four degrees more to the east than it should have
been.
Early Australian Voyages, 1886, John Pinkerton |
