VOYAGE OF THE " DUYFKEN " 27 



other Parts of India, by PAULUS VAN SOLT, in the Tears 1605, 1606, 

 1607, 1608 : 



" On the 4th of March, 1607, through God's mercy, arrived before the Castle [of 

 Victoria, Amboyna]. . . . Here we found the yacht ' Duyfken ' which had come 

 from Nova Guinea [was van Nova Guinea gekommen]." 1 



When van Solt arrived at Amboyna, only nine months had 

 elapsed since the " Duyfken " had put in to Banda on her return 

 from her famous voyage. She might very well have made another 

 voyage to New Guinea in that time, but on the other hand, she may 

 only have been pointed out to van Solt as the vessel which had 

 made the adventurous and disastrous voyage, the fame of which had 

 not yet been forgotten. 



At the time when Torres made his way through the strait 

 between New Guinea and Australia a strait which had probably 

 been known to others before him and when Janszoon sailed past 

 the western opening of the passage and coasted Australia for 250 

 miles to the south, never doubting that he was following the coast- 

 line of New Guinea, Queen Elizabeth was not long dead and William 

 Shakespeare was still a living force. The events occurring in the 

 Cape York Peninsula some three centuries later were contempor- 

 aneous with the gay adventure of Germany in setting forth, 

 carrying " sword and fire, red ruin and the breaking up of realms," 

 for the acquisition of " world-domination," her title being that she 

 was strong enough to take whatever she coveted, and found instead 

 the " downfall " which had been ironically alluded to in her 

 boasting as the absurd and wholly unimaginable alternative. 



Through the first three centuries of Australian history, con- 

 temporary events in Europe affected more or less the course of 

 exploration. The reader will be apt to reflect, as an example, on 

 the bearing of the Napoleonic wars on the career of Flinders, and I 

 venture to assert that Australian history is no isolated phenomenon, 

 but will be best understood by a reader who can picture to himself 

 what, at any given date, was happening in other portions of the 

 globe. 



1 Heeres, p. 6. 



