Chapter XII: Part 12

Hamelin, Captain of the Naturaliste, finds the tin plate of Vlamingh on
Dirk Hartog’s island, lxxxiii

Hammond, Captain of the Antelope, 134

Harewind, yacht, dispatched for New Guinea, 44

Haring, yacht, dispatched for New Guinea, 44

Hartog, Dirk, discoveries, lxxxi

Hasagays, arms of the natives of New Guinea, 96

Heenhoven, ship, uncertainty about its destiny, 183

Hillegonde, ship, accident, 183

Holden, Horace, driven to the Isle of Tobi, xlix

Hondius, Jodocus, map, to illustrate the discoveries of Drake and
Cavendish, lxviii

Hoop, brigantine, sent to the wreck of the Zeewijk, 186

Houtman, Frederick, gives the name to the Houtman’s Abrolhos, lxxxvi

Houtman’s Abrolhos, discovery, lxxxvi;
the Houtman’s Abrolhos in 1727, by Leupe, 176

Instructions for the expedition for the discovery of New Guinea, 43

Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, agreement with Don John II, about the
line of demarcation, xxxviii

Jacobus, Dutch ship, sees the Trials, 188

Jan de Bremen, of Pelsart’s crew, confesses to have caused the
assassination of twenty-seven persons, 72

Jave, la Grande, on the old maps, supposed to be Australia, lii

John II, agreement with Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, about the line
of demarcation, xxxviii

John II buys the right to the Moluccas from Charles V, xli

Jonck, Aucke Pietersz, skipper of the Emeloort, account, 82

Judæis, C. de, Speculum Orbis, lxviii

Kangaroo, first described by Dampier, cx

Kart, Pieter _v._ Pita Ka’t

Kaijmans-hoek, eastern point of the third inlet on the coast of New
Holland, visited by the expedition in 1705, 171

Keer Weer, Cape, (turn again), furthest point reached on New Guinea, by
the Duyfhen in 1606, 44

Kondur, island, described by Marco Polo, xv

Kuijle Eijland, projecting point on the west side of New Holland, 168

Lacca-iha, New Guinea, particularly ugly people, 97

Lants Welvaren, carries drawings, etc., from the expedition of
Vlamingh, to the directors of the council, 113

Leeman, Abraham van Santwigh, upper steersman of the Vergulde Draeck,
82:
journal, 87

Leeuwin, ship, discovery, lxxxvi

Legaspi, Miguel Lopez de, established a Spanish colony at Zebu, lxx

Le Testu, Guillaume, map, xxxvi

Leupe, P. A., description of the Houtman’s Abrolhos in 1727, 176

Lima, track to Chili, discovered by J. Fernandez, 20

Limmen, yacht, destined for a nearer discovery of New Guinea, 43;
equipped for the expedition, 47

Lochac, described by Marco Polo, xv

Londe of Java, _v._ Jave

Lonton, promontory on the fifth inlet on the E. coast of New Holland,
visited by the Vossenbosch etc., in 1705, 172

Lopez de Legaspi, _v._ Legaspi

Lopez de Villalobos, Ruy, _v._ Villalobos

Lord North’s island, the island on which Sequeira was driven, xlviii;
description of the natives, xlii, xlix, l

Louisiade, Torres touching at, lxxiv;
description of the inhabitants, lxxv

Louwerens, Captain of the Jacobus, sees the Trials, 188

Lucach, _v._ Lochac

Luchtenberg, wreck on the Wielingen, 182

Macrobius, map of the world, tenth century, xiv

Magalhaens, Fernando, not the discoverer of Australia, xxi;
offers his services to Spain, sails in search of the Moluccas, xxxix

Magellan, F. _v._ Magalhaens

Malaiur, island, supposed to be the kingdom of the Malays, xvi

Maleto, _v._ Maletur

Maletur, misspelt for Maleto, xvii;
occurs on maps of the sixteenth century on or near the Terra
Australis, lxiv, 98

Manilius, mentions the southern continent, xii

Marco Polo, map, xiv;
account, supposed to refer to Australia, xv

Mare Lantchidol, misspelt for Laut Kìdol, or Chidol, “South Sea,” xvii

Maria, Santa, island, _v._ Santa Maria

Maria’s Land, point at the Delft Bay; inhabitants very stupid, 172

Martin, Dr., on the map of Dourado, xxiii

Martinez, Joan, Portolano, lxiii

Matanza island, discovered by Torres, 35

Mauritius, ship, discoveries, lxxxvi;
met by the expedition to New Guinea in 1622, 44

Meerlust, ship, 183

Mendaña de Meyra, Alvaro de, discoveries of New Guadalcanal, San
Christobal, etc., 17

Meneses, Jorge de, carried to New Guinea, lxiv

Mercator, Indications of Australia, lxvii

Metz, Frederic, refutes Dalrymple’s insinuations against Cook, xxxi

Metz, Gauthier de, _v._ Gauthier

Meyenberg, ship, brings the cargo of the Middenrack and Stabroeck over
to Batavia, 183

Mibais van Luyck, Gilles, first merchant of the Eendraght, lxxxi

Middenrack, wrecks against the Table Bay, 182

Milk-Sea, between Banda and the South Land, 97

Moluccas, dispute between the Portuguese and Spanish, xxxviii;
commission appointed to, xxxix;
right to them sold by Charles V to John II. xli

Monterey, Count of, vice-king of Peru, lxxii

Montbret, Coquebert, memoir in the “Bulletin de Sciences,” xxxiv

Montanus, Arias, Mappemonde, lxv

Necquebar, _v._ Nicobar

New Guadalcanal, discovered by Mendana, 17

New Hebrides, the Terra Australis of Quiros, lxxii

New Guinea, discovery, iv;
New Guinea and New Holland supposed to form parts of a southern
continent, xi;
made an island in Ortelius’s 1587 edition, lxvii;
expedition under Tasman, instructions, 43;
the inhabitants, 52;
description of the country and the natives, 91;
their weapons, manners, etc., 92;
the Ceramers, Papoos; further description of the country and its
inhabitants, 95 seqq.
New Guinea supposed to be divided from the South Land by a strait
terminating in the South Sea; New Guinea in the old maps, under
the name of Ceira (Ceram), 97

New Holland, _v._ Australia

Nibbens, Jan, communication about the Zeewijk, 179, 184

Nicobar, island, Dampier’s canoe upsetting, all papers lost, 109

Nieuwvliet, carries the cargo of the wrecked Middenrack and Stabroeck
to Batavia, 183

Nobbens, _v._ Nibbens

Nova Hollandia, patsjallang, discoveries, 165

Nuyts, land of, colony projected, cxv

Nuyts, Pieter, supposed commander of the Guide Zeepard; country called
after him, lxxxviii

Nijptang, hooker, under Captain Collaert, forms part of Vlamingh’s
expedition in 1696, 113

Obadiah; imputed prophecy concerning the conquest of the southern
hemisphere by Spain, 9

Oero-goba, in New Guinea; inhabitants particularly ugly, 97

Olyftack, sloop, sent to the wreck of the Zeewijk, 186

Oranjes, Hoek, point at the inlet of the coast of New Holland visited
by the expedition in 1705, 171

Os Papuos, _v._ New Guinea

Oyster bay, in Tasmania, lviii

Papoos, at New Guinea, 94

Parmentier, Jean, of Dieppe, voyage to Sumatra, lix

Paulmier de Gonneville, _v._ Gonneville

Pelsart, Francis, Captain of the Batavia, lxxxix;
shipwreck, 59

Pelsart’s group, off the Houtman’s Abrolhos, 178

Pentam, island, xv;
supposed to be Bintam, xvi

Pera, yacht, voyage to New Guinea, 44

Petan, occurring on the old maps on or near the Terra Australis, lxiv

Philip III memorial to, by Arias, 1

Philippine islands, settlements attempted by the Spanish, lxx

Pietersen Pieters, _v._ Pietersz

Pietersz, Pieter, super cargo, takes the command of the expedition to
New Guinea after Pool’s death, discovers the coast of Arnhem or Van
Diemen’s Land, xciii, 46

Pinzon, Vincent Yanez, discoveries on behalf of Spain, xxxviii

Pita Ka’t, gave the natives of Tobi island their form of religion, 1

Plancius, Peter, opens a school for the purpose of teaching the way to
India, lxxviii

Poel, Gerrit Tomaz, _v._ Pool

Polonia, Sta., _v._ Santa Polonia

Pool, Gerrit Tomaz, expedition to New Guinea, killed by the natives,
xcii, 46

Portuguese, conceal their discoveries, v, xlii;
discover Brazil, xxxviii;
their claim to the discovery of Australia, xxi, xxvi seqq.;
had establishments in the East Indian Islands before 1529, lxi

Portuguese kings, prohibit the exportation of marine charts, v, vi

Portuguese names on the old French maps of New Holland, lix

Pronck, Hendrich, opinion on the expedition to New Holland, 117

Purry, J. P. Mémoire sur le Pays des Caffres, etc.; project of founding
a colony in Nuyts-land, cxv

Quiros, Pedro Fernandez, chief pilot of Alvaro de Mendana, lxx;
memoirs to L. de Velasco, lxxi;
his Terra Australis is New Hebrides, lxxii;
separated from the other two ships, reaches Mexico, lxxiv;
addresses Philip II on account of further explorations, lxxvi;
discoveries, 18;
death, lxxvi, 19

Ramusio, on the secrecy of the Portuguese with respect to their
discoveries, v

Ridderschap van Holland, de, loss of, causes Vlamingh’s expedition in
1696, 112, 114

Rivière de beaucoup d’Iles, xxxii, lvii

Roebuck, Dampier’s expedition, cx

Roelandszoon, J. van Wijck, repudiates the charge of covetousness
against the Dutch, vii

Roggeveen, expedition, cxvi

Roggeween, Jakob, passenger of the Vaderland Getrouw, 187

Roseboom, Andries, of the Waijer, logbook, 167

Roseboom’s Bay, visited by the Vossenbosch, etc., 168

Rosemary Island, recently examined by Captain King, cxi;
name given by Dampier, 154

Rotterdam, ship, searched after, 44

Roty, Jean, _v._ Rotz

Rotz, Jean, maps, xxix

Rustenburg, point at the fourth inlet on the coast of New Holland,
visited by the expedition in 1705, 172

Saavedra, Don Alvaro de, lights on New Guinea, lxiv

Sadeur, Jacques (or Nicolas), “Avantures dans la découverte de la Terre
Australe,” cvi

Sago, biscuits made of, sold to the crew of Torres by Mahometans, 40

Sahul Bank, seen by P. Heywood, cxiv

Sambava, occurs on all the MS. maps of the Great Java, liv

San Christobal island, discovered, 17

Sandy Bay, 162

San Felipe y Santiago, showing signs of being the coast of a southern
continent, 23;
discovered, 37

Santa Cruz, discovered by Mendana de Meyra, 18

Santa Maria, discovered and named by Torres, 37

Santa Polonia, island, 32

Santarem, Vicomte de, “Essai sur l’histoire de la Cosmographie ... du
Moyen Age,” xiii

San Valerio, island, 32

Sardam, frigate, 71

Schildpads island, 172

Schiller, Andries, steward of Pool, 75;
killed by the Southlanders, 76

Sea snakes seen by Dampier, 151

Sea, turning white, twice a-year, between Banda and the South Land, 97

Sequeira, Gomez de, voyage, xlvi

Serpent, a divinity of the heathens of New Guinea and New Holland, 95

Serrano, Francisco, goes to Banda in 1511, lx

Silva, Fray Juan de, treatise on the southern hemisphere, 1;
extract, 2

Snip, patsjallang, sent to the wreck of the Zeewijck, 186

Solomon islands, discovered by Mendaña, lxx

Sondur island, xv

South Land, _v._ Australia

Southern continent, existence of, believed anterior to Portuguese
discoveries, xiii

Southern India, of Gonneville, being Madagascar, xxi

Spain, claim to the discovery of Australia, xxi

Spult, island, discovery, 45

St. Brandan, island, ii

St. Paul, island, Vlamingh’s expedition was to land there, 113

Sta. Maria, _v._ Santa Maria

Stabroeck, wreck, 182

Steyns, Jan, communication about the wreck of the Zeewijck, 179, 180;
indicted before the court, 181

Strabo, speaks of a southern continent, xiii

Struyck, Nicholas, tract, containing an account of Dampier’s voyage,
114

Swans, black, cviii, 114

Taomaco, island, 36

Tasman, Abel Janszen, discovers Tasmania, explores Torres Straits,
xciii;
his lost papers quoted by Witsen, xciv;
outlines of the coasts visited by him, represented on the floor of
the Stadhuis at Amsterdam, xcv;
maps, xcvi;
notes of his voyage by Witsen, xcviii;
instructions for the expedition to New Guinea, 43;
map found wrong by Dampier, 152

Temple, Sir William, on the secrecy of the Dutch about their
discoveries, vi

Ternate, on the Moluccas, fortified, xxxvii

Testu, Guillaume le, _v._ Le Testu

Themara, Francisco, Libro de las costumbres, lxiv

Theopompus, mentions an island beyond the then known world, ii

Thevet, “Cosmographie Universelle,” 1575, lxvi

Tierra baixa, lxviii

Tierra del Fuego, discovered by Magelhaens, xxvi;
mistaken for New Guinea, _ib._

Tin plate, with the names of Dirk Hartog and others of the Eendraght,
found by Vlamingh’s expedition, 130

Toppers-hoëtien, island, 68

Tomai, the chief of Taomaco, 36

Tobi island, _v._ Lord North’s island

Torres, Luis Vaez de, commander of the Almirante, lxxiii;
discoveries, 20;
relation of the discoveries of Quiros, 31

Torres’ Straits, name, lxxii;
passed by Tasman, xcii

Trial Rocks, opinions on, 186

Tristan d’Acunha, drawing of;
Vlamingh’s expedition was to land there, 113, 119

Turtledove, shoal, 177

Vaderland Getrouw, extract from the skipper’s journal, 187

Valerio, San, _v._ San Valerio

Vallard, Nicholas, MS. Atlas with his name, xxxv

Van Diemen, Antonio, on the Houtman’s Abrolhos, 187

Van Diemen’s Land, so named from the governor-general, xciii;
north-west corners explored by the Vossenbosch expedition, 166

Van Keulen, map, xcvi

Van Wijck Roelandszoon, _v._ Roelandszoon

Varckenshoek, west point of Rooseboom’s Bay, 168

Vaz Dourado, map, xxiii

Veerman, sent to the wreck of the Zeewijck, 186

Vergulde Draeck, expedition, cv;
wreck, 77

Vianen, ship, discovery, lxxxix, 45

Villalobos, Ruy Lopez de, attempting a settlement on the Philippine
islands, lxx

Vinck, flyboat, in search of the Vergulde Draeck, 79

Virgines, islands, 32

Visser, chief pilot with Tasman, instructions, 43

Vlamingh, Cornelis de, captain of the Weseltje, 113

Vlamingh, Willem de, voyage, cviii, 111;
inscription on the plate on Dirk Hartog’s island, lxxxi

Volckersen, Samuel, captain of the Waeckende Boey, account, 89

Vossenbosch Bay, on the coast of New Holland, 172

Vossenbosch, fluyt, discoveries, 165 seqq.

Waeckende Boey, sent in search of the wreck of the Vergulde Draeck, cv,
80;
loses boat, schuyt, and fourteen men, 84

Water serpents, seen by Dampier, 148

Wesel, yacht, expedition to New Guinea, 46

Weseltje, galiot, unsuccessful expedition to the island of Mony, 116

Weasel, shallop, 75

Weybehays, fighting against Cornelis, 70;
takes him prisoner, 71

Wielingen, the, on the Zeeland Bank, 182

Witsen, Burgomaster, his notes the only account of Tasman’s voyage,
xcviii;
extract from his “Noord en Oost Tartarye,” 91

Witte Valck, sent to the rescue of the men and specie of the Vergulde
Draeck, 78

Wytfliet, Cornelius, on “Australis Terra,” lxix

Wijck J. Roelandszoon, van, _v._ Roelandszoon

Zeachen, (ship Zeehaen), supposed native of Arnheim made discoverer of
Arnheim’s Land, lxxxv

Zebu, Spanish colony founded at, lxx

Zeehaen, ship, lxxxv

Zeemeuw, yacht, destined for the discovery of New Guinea, 43, 47

Zeewijck, wreck, 176;
remains found, 179;
communication respecting the wreck, 179

Zeewijk, channel, 179

Zuysdorp, wreck, 178

T. RICHARDS, 37, GREAT QUEEN STREET.

Outline Chart
of
TERRA AUSTRALIS
or
AUSTRALIA.
]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ON THE
DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA BY THE PORTUGUESE IN 1601.

BY

R. H. MAJOR, ESQ., F.S.A.

BEING

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE VOLUME OF “EARLY VOYAGES TO TERRA AUSTRALIS.”

_Extract from a letter addressed to_ SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., “_On the
Discovery of Australia by the Portuguese in 1601, five years before
the earliest discovery hitherto recorded; communicated to the
Society of Antiquaries, by_ RICHARD HENRY MAJOR, ESQ., F.S.A.,” _now
distributed to the Members of the Hakluyt Society for insertion as a
Supplement to the Volume of “Early Voyages to Terra Australis,” by
the same author_.

_From the_ ARCHÆOLOGIA. VOL. XXXVIII.

Discovery of Australia by the Portuguese
IN 1601.

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H.

_British Museum,
March 1st, 1861._

MY DEAR SIR HENRY,

* * * * *

Of the discoveries made by the Dutch on the coasts of Australia, our ancestors of a hundred years ago, and even the Dutch themselves, knew but little. That which was known was preserved in the “Relations de divers Voyages Curieux” of Melchisedech Thevenot (Paris, 1663–72, fol.); in the “Noord en Oost Tartarye” of Nicholas Witsen, (Amst. 1692–1705, fol.); in Valentyn’s “Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien” (Amst. 1724–26, fol.); and in the “Inleiding tot de algemeen Geographie” of Nicolas Struyk, (Amst. 1740, 4to.). We have, however, since gained a variety of information, through a document which fell into the possession of Sir Joseph Banks, and was published by Alexander Dalrymple (at that time hydrographer to the Admiralty and the East India Company), in his collection concerning Papua. This curious and interesting document is a copy of the instructions to Commodore Abel Jansz Tasman for his second voyage of discovery. That distinguished commander had already, in 1642, discovered not only the island now named after him Tasmania, but New Zealand also; and, passing round the east side of Australia, but without seeing it, sailed on his return voyage along the northern shores of New Guinea. In January, 1644, he was despatched on his second voyage; and his instructions, signed by Governor-General Antonio Van Diemen and the members of the council, are prefaced by a recital, in chronological order, of the previous discoveries of the Dutch.

From this recital, combined with a passage from Saris, given in Purchas, vol. i, p. 385, we learn that, “On the 18th of November, 1605, the Dutch yacht, the Duyfhen (the Dove), was despatched from Bantam to explore the island of New Guinea, and that she sailed along what was thought to be the west side of that country, to 19¾ degrees of south latitude.” This extensive country was found, for the greatest part, desert; but in some places inhabited by wild, cruel, black savages, by whom some of the crew were murdered; for which reason they could not learn anything of the land or waters, as had been desired of them; and for want of provisions, and other necessaries, they were obliged to leave the discovery unfinished. The furthest point of the land, in their maps, was called Cape Keer Weer, or “Turn again.” As Flinders observes, “The course of the Duyfhen from New Guinea was southward, along the islands on the west side of Torres Strait, to that part of Terra Australis a little to the west and south of Cape York. But all these lands were thought to be connected, and to form the west coast of New Guinea.” Thus, without being conscious of it, the commander of the Duyfhen made the first authenticated discovery of any part of the great Southern Land about the month of March, 1606; for it appears that he had returned to Banda in or before the beginning of June of that year.

The honour of that first authenticated discovery, as hitherto accepted in history, I am now prepared to dispute. Within the last few days I have discovered a MS. Mappemonde in the British Museum, in which on the north-west corner of a country, which I shall presently show beyond all question to be Australia, occurs the following legend: “Nuca antara foi descuberta o anno 1601 por mano (_sic_) el godhino de Evedia (_sic_) por mandado de (_sic_) Vico Rey Aives (_sic_) de Saldaha,” (_sic_) which I scarcely need translate, “Nuca Antara was discovered in the year 1601, by Manoel Godinho de Eredia, by command of the Viceroy Ayres de Saldanha.”

The misfortune is that this map is only a copy, but I think I shall be able to answer from internal evidence any doubt that might be thrown upon the authenticity of the information which it contains. The original was made about 1620, after the discovery of Eendraght’s Land, on the west coast of Australia, by the Dutch in 1616, but before the discovery of the south coast by Pieter Nuyts in 1627. So far from its author suspecting the existence of a south coast, he continues the old error which had obtained throughout the sixteenth century, of representing the Terra Australis as one vast continent, of which the parts that had been really discovered were made to protrude to the north as far as the parallel in which these discoveries respectively lay. Thus in this map we have Australia, as already described, on the right side of the map; and the _Island of Santa Cruz_ in the New Hebrides, there called Nova Jerusalem, discovered by Quiros, on the left side; but both connected and forming part of the one great Southern Continent.

Now, it may be objected that this map, being only a copy made at the beginning of the present or close of the last century, the statement which forms the subject of the present paper may have been fraudulently inserted. But to give such a suggestion weight, a motive must be shown, the most reasonable one being that of assigning the honour of the first authenticated discovery to Portugal instead of to Holland. For this purpose we must suppose the falsifier to have been a Portuguese. To this I reply, that while all the writing of the map is in Portuguese, the copy was made by a person who was not only not a Portuguese himself, but who was ignorant of the Portuguese language. For example, the very legend in question, short as it is, contains no less than five blunders, all showing ignorance of the language: thus, the words “por Manoel” are written “por mano el,” “Eredia” is written “Evedia,” “do” is written “de,” “Ayres” is written “Aives,” “Saldanha” is written “Saldaha” without the circumflex to imply an abbreviation.

But further, if we attribute to such supposed falsification, the ulterior object of claiming for the Portuguese the honour of a prior discovery, whence comes it that that object has never been carried out? It is not till now that the fact is made known, and those most interested in the ancient glory of the Portuguese nation are ignorant of the discovery which this map declares to have been made. That it never became matter of history, may be explained by the comparatively little importance which would at the time be attached to such a discovery, and also by the fact that the Portuguese, being then no longer in the fulness of their prosperity, were not keeping the subject before their attention by repeated expeditions to that country, as the Dutch shortly afterwards really began to do.

Again, the speculation might be hazarded that, as this map is a copy, the date of the discovery may have been carelessly transcribed; as, for example, 1601 may easily have been written in the original 1610 and erroneously copied. Fortunately, the correctness of the date can be proved beyond dispute. It is distinctly stated that the voyage was made by order of the Viceroy Ayres de Saldanha, the period of whose viceroyalty extended only from 1600 to 1604, thus precluding the possibility of the error suggested, and terminating before the period of the earliest of the Dutch discoveries.

But yet, again, it may be objected that a country so vaguely and incorrectly laid down may not have been Australia. The answer is equally as indisputable as that which fixes the date. Immediately below the legend in question is another to the following effect: “Terra descuberta pelos Holandeses a que chamaraō, Enduacht, (_sic_) au Cōcordia” (land discovered by the Dutch, which they called Endracht or Concord). Eendraghtsland, as we all know, was the name given to a large tract on the western coast of Australia, discovered by the Dutch ship the Eendraght, in 1616.

Moreover, if the legend in question were not a genuine copy from a genuine ancient map, how came the modern falsifier to be acquainted with the name of a real cosmographer who lived at Goa at a period which tallies with the state of geographical discovery represented on the map, but none of whose manuscript productions had been put into print at the time when the supposed fictitious map was made or the legend fictitiously inserted?

I think these arguments are conclusive in establishing the legitimacy of the modern copy from the ancient map. As regards the discoverer, Manoel Godinho de Eredia (or rather Heredia, as written by Barbosa Machado and by Figaniere), I find the following work by him; “Historia do Martyrio de Luiz Monteiro Coutinho que padeceo por ordem do Rey Achem Raiamancor no anno de 1588, e dedicada ao illustrissimo D. Aleixo de Menezes, Arcebispo de Braga;” which dedication was dated Goa, 11th of November, 1615; fol. MS. with various illustrations.

Barbosa Machado calls him a distinguished mathematician; and Figaniere, a cosmographer resident at Goa. It follows as a most likely consequence that the original map was made by himself. The copy came from Madrid, and was purchased by the British Museum in 1848, from the Señor de Michelena y Roxas. It will be matter of interest to discover at some future day the existence of the original map, but whether that be in the library at Madrid, or elsewhere, must be a subject for future inquiry.

In a scarce pamphlet entitled “Informacāo de Aurea Chersoneso, ou Peninsula e das Ilhas Auriferas, Carbunculas e Aromaticas, ordenada por Manoel Godinho de Eredia, Cosmographo,” translated from an ancient MS. and edited by Antonio Lourenço Caminha, in a reprint of the “Ordenacōes da India, do Senhor Rei D. Manoel,” Lisbon, Royal Press, 1807, 8vo., occurs a passage which may be translated as follows:—

“_Island of Gold._ While the fishermen of Lamakera in the Island of Solor[45] were engaged in their fishing, there arose so great a tempest that they were utterly unable to return to the shore, and thus they yielded to the force of the storm, which was such, that, in five days, it took them to the Island of Gold, which lies in the sea on the opposite coast, or coast outside of Timor, which properly is called the Southern Coast. When the fishermen reached the Land of Gold, not having eaten during those days of the tempest, they set about seeking for provisions. Such happy and successful good fortune had they, that, while they were searching the country for yams and batatas, they lighted on so much gold, that they loaded their boat so that they could carry no more. After taking in water and the necessary supplies for returning to their native country, they experienced another storm, which took them to the Island of Great Ende;[46] there they landed all their gold, which excited great jealousy amongst the Endes. These same Endes therefore proposed, like the Lamacheres fishermen, to repeat the voyage; and, when they were all ready to start, both the Endes and Lamacheres, there came upon them so great a trepidation that they did not dare, on account of their ignorance, to cross that Sea of Gold.

“Indeed it seems to be a providential act of Almighty God, that Manoel Godinho de Eredia, the cosmographer, has received commission from the Lord Count-Admiral, the Viceroy of India within and beyond the Ganges, that the said Eredia may be a means of adding new patrimonies to the Crown of Portugal, and of enriching the said Lord Count and the Portuguese nation. And therefore all, and especially the said Lord, ought to recognise with gratitude this signal service, which, if successful, will deserve to be regarded as one of the most happy and fortunate events in the world for the glory of Portugal. In any case, therefore, the discoverer ought for many reasons to be well provided for the gold enterprize. First, On account of the first possession of the gold by the crown of Portugal. Secondly, For the facility of discovering the gold. Thirdly, Because of the gold mines being the greatest in the world. Fourthly, Because the discoverer is a learned cosmographer. Fifthly, That he may at the same time verify the descriptions of the Southern Islands. Sixthly, On account of the new Christianity. Seventhly, Because the discoverer is a skilful captain who proposes to render very great services to the King of Portugal, and to the most happy Dom Francisco de Gama, Count of Vidigueira, Admiral and Viceroy of the Indies within and beyond the Ganges, and possessor of the gold, carbuncle, and spices of the Eastern Sea belonging to Portugal.”

Short of an actual narrative of the voyage in which the discovery, which is the main subject of this paper, was made, we could scarcely ask for fuller confirmation of the truth of that discovery than that which is supplied by the above extract. Manoel Godinho de Eredia is there described as a learned cosmographer and skilful captain, who had received a special commission to make explorations for gold mines, and at the same time to verify the descriptions of the Southern Islands. The Island of Gold itself is described “as on the opposite coast, or coast outside of Timor, which properly is called the Southern Coast.” It is highly probable from this description that it is the very Nuca Antara of our MS. map, which does lie on the southern coast opposite to Timor. It is still further most remarkable that, by the mere force of facts, the period of the commission here given to Eredia is brought into proximity with the date of his asserted discovery of Australia. The viceroy Francisco de Gama, who gave that commission, was the immediate predecessor of Ayres de Saldanha. His viceroyalty extended only from 1597 to 1600, and the asserted discovery was made in 1601, though we know not in what month. A more happy confirmation of a discovery, unrecorded except in a probably unique map, could scarcely have been hoped for.

In laying this letter before a Society of Antiquaries, who venerate the past, I would not close without one word of reverent tribute to the ancient glories of a once mighty nation. The true heroes of the world are the initiators of great exploits, the pioneers of great discoveries. Such were the Portuguese in days when the world was as yet but a half known and puny thing. To Portugal, in truth, we owe not only a De Gama, but, by example, a Columbus, without whom the majestic empire of her on whose dominions the sun never sets might now have been a dream, instead of a reality. England whose hardy mariners have made a thoroughfare of every sea, knows best how to do justice to the fearlessness of their noble predecessors, who, in frail caravels and through an unmeasured wilderness of ocean, could cleave a pathway, not only to the glory of their own nation but to the civilization and the prosperity of the entire world.

I remain,
My dear Sir Henry,
Yours very truly,
R. H. MAJOR.

TO SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H.
&c. &c. &c.

-----

Footnote 1:

Reference is here made, 1stly, to that most remarkable and often
quoted passage from the _Medea_ of Seneca:

“Venient annis
Sæcula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos
Detegat Orbes, nec sit terris
Ultima Thule.”

2ndly, to the island of Atlantis, described by Plato, in the Timæus,
as lying in the Atlantic, opposite the Pillars of Hercules, and
exceeding in size the whole of Africa and Asia.

And 3rdly, to the imaginary island of St. Brandan, seen at intervals
far out in the Atlantic by the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.

It may not be unacceptable here to mention that there is one passage
among the writings of the ancients far more minute and affirmative in
its description than any of the foregoing, which has been thought by
various learned commentators to refer to America, but which the editor
has not found hitherto quoted, in that light, by any English author.
In a fragment of the works of Theopompus, preserved by Ælian, is the
account of a conversation between Silenus and Midas, king of Phrygia,
in which the former says that Europe, Asia, and Africa, were lands
surrounded by the sea; but that beyond this known world was another
island, of immense extent, of which he gives a description. The
account of this conversation, which is too lengthy here to give in
full, was written three centuries and a half before the Christian era.
Not to trouble the reader with Greek, we give an extract from the
English version by Abraham Fleming, printed in 1576, in the amusingly
quaint but vivid language of the time.

“THE THIRDE BOOKE OF ÆLIANUS. PAGE 37.

¶ Of the familiaritie of Midas the Phrigian, and Selenus, and of
certaine circumstances which he incredibly reported.

“Theopompus declareth that Midas the Phrygian and Selenus were knit in
familiaritie and acquaintance. This Selenus was the sonne of a nymphe
inferiour to the gods in condition and degree, but superiour to men
concerning mortalytie and death. These twaine mingled communication of
sundrye thinges. At length, in processe of talke, Selenus tolde Midas
of certaine ilandes, named Europia, Asia, and Libia, which the ocean
sea circumscribeth and compasseth round about; and that without this
worlde there is a continent or percell of dry lande, which in
greatnesse (as hee reported) was infinite and unmeasurable; that it
nourished and maintained, by the benefite of the greene medowes and
pasture plots, sundrye bigge and mighty beastes; that the men which
inhabite the same climats exceede the stature of us twise, and yet the
length of there life is not equall to ours; that there be many and
diuers great citties, manyfold orders and trades of living; that their
lawes, statutes, and ordinaunces, are different, or rather clean
contrary to ours. Such and lyke thinges dyd he rehearce.”

The remainder of this curious conversation, however apparently
fabulous, deserves attention from the thoughtful reader.

Footnote 2:

With respect to the essay for which the learned society referred to
(the Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen of Utrecht) had offered
a prize, it was published in that society’s _Transactions_ in 1827,
under the title of “Bennet and Van Wijck’s Verhandeling over de
Nederlandsche Ontdekkingen.” The editor, who has examined this work
carefully, can state that it supplies no information in addition to
that which we had already possessed.

Footnote 3:

See Aratus, Phœnom., 537; Strabo, l. 7, p. 130, and l. 17; Crates apud
Geminum, Elementa Astronomica, c. lxiii, in the Uranologia, p. 31.

Footnote 4:

This apparently Gallicized Portuguese name is here referred to by
Dr. Martin in allusion to its occurrence on certain early French
maps to be treated of hereafter.

Footnote 5:

Since the reading of this memoir at the Institute, M. Correa da
Serra, to whom I had previously read it, has had the goodness to
inform me of some researches which he has made upon this subject.
He discovered that Don Miguel de Sylva left the kingdom of
Portugal in 1542, that he only arrived in Italy in 1543 to receive
the cardinal’s hat, and he thinks that he could only have reached
that country by passing through France, where he had formerly
studied, and that he doubtless there left the originals from which
our charts were copied.

Footnote 6:

This name, from the Dutch form which it bears, might suggest the
idea that the visitor was a Dutchman; but it must be remembered
that the Dutch were not in those seas till the end of the
sixteenth century, and that the Synod of Dort was held in the
years 1618 and 1619, which renders the suggestion at the close of
the paragraph as to “the images to represent their divinity”
unreasonable as coming from a native of that country. It is more
probable that, from the lapse of time, a mistake was made in the
repetition of the name by a savage, and that a Portuguese, and not
a Dutchman, suggested the use of images to represent a divinity.

Footnote 7:

For the account of this voyage see a letter from Quiros to Don Antonio
de Morga, cap. vi, p. 29, of De Morga’s _Sucesos en las Islas
Filipinas_, Mexico, 1609, 4to.; and Figueroa’s _Hechos de Don Garcia
Hurtado de Mendoza, quarto Marques de Cañete_, Madrid, 1613, 4to., l.
6, p. 238.

Footnote 8:

In the collective volume in the British Museum which contains the
original of the present memorial, are several memorials to the king
from the Fray Juan de Silva, advocating the same cause on general
religious and political grounds; but the editor has been unable to
find the treatise here referred to as dedicated to the Infant Don
Ferdinand, nor is any mention made of it by Nicolas Antonio or Leon
Pinelo, both of whom speak of the memorials addressed to the king.

Footnote 9:

Dalrymple, in quoting this passage, thinks that the word “Aislada”,
here translated according to its general meaning, “encompassed with
water”, in this place rather signifies “separated into islands”. This
suggestion is, however, entirely arbitrary, and even in contradiction
to the context, which states the supposed circuit of the island. Even
in maps anterior to the voyage of Torres, as, for example, Hondius’s
Mappemonde, showing Drake’s track round the world, published in the
Hakluyt Society’s edition of Drake’s _World Encompassed_, New Guinea
is laid down as an island, although it is true that in much later maps
the point is spoken of as doubtful. Meanwhile, the editor sees no
reason to deviate from the recognized rendering of the word “Aislada”.

Footnote 10:

It is from this sentence that Dalrymple observed the passage of Torres
through these dangerous straits, and consequently gave to them the
name of that navigator.

Footnote 11:

Printed in the original thus, “Bandalaizavas”, probably misprinted for
Banda, las Zavas, or Javas.

Footnote 12:

We presume that the eccentric argument here advanced, is based upon
the inference deduced by the writer at the commencement of this
memorial, from the peculiar use in sacred writ of the word “Sepharat,”
rendered in Latin “Bosphorus,” the especial meaning is there
discussed. See page 10.

Footnote 13:

This includes the time Torres remained in the bay after the separation
from Quiros.

Footnote 14:

Cape Turn-again.

Footnote 15:

The expressive epithet both of the Dutch and the Germans for their
native country.

Footnote 16:

The word “laut” means south, but is erroneously spelt in the original
translation “landt.” A similar blunder has been abundantly repeated on
the maps of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the name of
“Laut Chidol,” the Southern Sea, there spelt constantly Lantchidol.

Footnote 17:

New Zealand.

Footnote 18:

At that time the governor-general, in instructions or issuing orders,
styled all the other governors, _vice-governors_.

Footnote 19:

Or 24–pounder. (Note in Dalrymple.)

Footnote 20:

Zinc.

Footnote 21:

Jurjansz signifies George’s son, as Jansz signifies John’s son;
Cornelisz, Cornelius’s son, etc.

Footnote 22:

“Dwaers-inden-wegh,” signifies the island which lies across the path,
_i.e._, Thwart-the-way Island.

Footnote 23:

From another extract from these MS. logbooks at the Hague, which was
made at the editor’s request, there was an additional observation of
importance which is here omitted. Three times Captain Jonck speaks of
a southern current running along the coast, which struck his attention
in these seas. Among other passages he speaks of it in these terms:
“We had deviated from our course fifteen minutes to the south, and
this we attributed to a southern current, which we have observed
several times on this coast, which is a strange thing, the being drawn
by the current in spite of the wind and the waves.” Elsewhere he
estimates the force of this current at ten miles in the twenty-four
hours.

Footnote 24:

In another place Witsen says this happened in 1658, and that eighty
persons were so left behind, evidently from the crew of the _Waeckende
Boey_, see _ante_, p. 81.

Footnote 25:

So in the Dutch. The editor has been unable to identify this plant.

Footnote 26:

Clearly a mistake. The word means Ceram.

Footnote 27:

Nicobar. The circumstance of their canoe upsetting off this island,
and their books and drafts being all wetted and some of them lost, is
also mentioned in the printed editions of Dampier’s voyage.

Footnote 28:

This exceedingly scarce printed narrative, which had been zealously
sought for by the editor for several years, and had eluded the search
of previous writers, reached his hands at the very critical moment to
admit of its being translated and inserted in its proper place in the
volume, the next in sequence to the present paper. Although of no
great interest except as an original account of the voyage, it is
important to know of what it consists, and it is the editor’s grateful
duty to state that it is solely to the zeal, intelligence, and
kindness of Mr. Frederick Müller, of Amsterdam, that he is indebted
for the good fortune of procuring the use of the document.

Footnote 29:

Appendix I and II.

Footnote 30:

“Further: ‘1697, February 4th. Arrived here the ship _Geelvinck_, of
Amsterdam: captain commandant, Wilhem van Vlaming, of Vlielandt;
assistant, Jan van Bremen, of Copenhagen; first pilot, Michéel Bloem
van Estight, of Bremen; the hooker the _Nyptangh_: captain Gerrit
Collaert, of Amsterdam; assistant, Theodorus Heermans, of the same
place; first pilot, Gerrit Gerritz, of Bremen; then the galliot
_Weseltje_: commander, Cornelis van Vlaming, of Vlielandt; pilot,
Coert Gerritzs, of Bremen. Sailed from here with our fleet on the
12th, to explore the south land, and afterwards bound for Batavia.’”

Footnote 31:

This word, which is perhaps misspelt, does not occur in Nemnick’s
polyglot _Lexicon der Naturgeschichte_.

Footnote 32:

It has not been deemed necessary for the present purpose to reproduce
these plates.

Footnote 33:

In Dr. Brown’s _Prodromus Floræ Novæ Hollandiæ et Insulæ Van Diemen_,
occurs the following under the family of Goodenoviæ: “Genus Scævolæ et
Diaspasi propinquum, sed ab iisdem sat distinctum, dixi in memoriam
Gulielmi Dampier, navarchi et peregrinatoris celeberrimi, in variis
suis itineribus naturæ semper assidui observatoris, nec botanicem
negligentis, qui oram occidentalem Novæ Hollandiæ bis visitavit, cujus
regionis plantæ aliquæ depictæ in relatione itineris extant, et inter
ineditas secum reportatas (quarum plures nunc in Museo Oxoniensi
asservantur) _Dampiera incana_ fuit.”

Footnote 34:

Trachydosaurus rugosus. Family of lizards Scincidæ.

Footnote 35:

Appendix V.

Footnote 36:

Given in the Assembly of the Seventeen, on the 7th December, 1619.

Footnote 37:

Appendix IV.

Footnote 38:

The western limit of these dangerous shoals, in long. 113° 20´ E., and
the south-easternmost patch called Turtle Dove, is in lat. 29° 10´,
long. 113° 57´. _Horsburgh_, London, 1838.

Footnote 39:

_Sic_ in original. The editor does not find this name in the English
navy. There is, in all probability, a mistake in the transcript of the
word given as Pako. The passage quoted is stated in a note to have
occurred in a letter dated March 31st, 1853, addressed to Captain
Wipff of the Dutch navy, then commanding the corvette _Sumatra_ off
Sydney.

Footnote 40:

Appendix I and III.

Footnote 41:

Appendix II.

Footnote 42:

These papers have not been sent over.

Footnote 43:

On board of this ship, Mr. Jacob Roggeveen was a passenger, who, a few
years later, became celebrated by his voyage round the world, and was
afterwards made a Counsel of Justice at Batavia.

Footnote 44:

The Zeeland ship _Vaderland Getrouw_, sailed from Rammekens on the 6th
of January, 1707, arrived on the 5th of May at the Cape, left Table
Bay on the 31st of the same month, and came to anchor before Batavia
on the 5th of August.—_U. S. Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal_,
1856, No. 4.

Footnote 45:

The inhabitants of the coast of Solor are specially mentioned as
fishermen by Crawfurd, in his “Dictionary of the Indian Islands.”

Footnote 46:

This is the Island of Flores. In a “List of the principal gold mines
obtained by the explorations (curiosidade) of Manoel Godinho de
Heredea, Indian cosmographer, resident in Malaca for twenty years and
more,” also published with the “Ordenaçōes da India,” Lisbon, 1807,
the same story is told, but the Island Ende is there called Ilha do
Conde.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. P. liv, changed “comparatively and light” to “comparatively light”. 2. Pp. lxxviii and 3, changed “Inleidning” to “Inleiding”. 3. P. lxxxi, changed “den Oppercoopmen Gilles Mibais van Amsterdam, den” to “den Oppercoopmen Gilles Mibais Van Luyck, Kapitein Dirk Hartog, van Amsterdam, den” to agree with English translation. 4. Silently corrected variations in spelling in the contents and index. 5. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 6. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the book. 7. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.