CHAPTER IV 



THE VOYAGE OF THE " PERA " AND " AERNEM " (1623) 

 I. THE SAILING ORDERS 



MINUTE SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS DISCOVERIES AND FAILURES. INSTRUCTIONS TO EXPLORE 

 AND SURVEY THE COAST OF THE SOUTH LAND AND INQUIRE INTO ITS COMMERCIAL 

 RESOURCES. To MAKE TREATIES WITH NATIVE KINGS. To TAKE POSSESSION OF 

 ANY LAND OF SUFFICIENT VALUE. To CAPTURE SOME NATIVES, WHO MAY IN TIME 

 GIVE USEFUL INFORMATION. 



EPORTS having reached Batavia of the loss of the English 

 ship " Triall " and the perilous experiences of three 

 Dutch ships, the " Wafen van Hoorn" "Amsterdam" 

 and " Dordrecht" on the north-western coast of Australia, 

 the Governor and Council of the East India Company at Batavia 

 resolved to dispatch an expedition for further explorations of the 

 Southern Land. Instructions were accordingly made out for the 

 yachts " Raring " and " Hasewint" Unforeseen circumstances 

 having, however, prevented these yachts carrying out the orders, 

 they were taken over by the " Per a " and " Aernem" 



The full text of the instructions is given by PROFESSOR HEERES 

 in his Commemoration Volume, The Part borne by the Dutch, 

 together with an English translation by Mr. C. Stoflel. The 

 latter is followed hereunder, except that I have occasionally 

 employed an English word or two which appeared " more agreeable 

 to the text " than the expression selected by the translator. 



" INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE YACHTS HARINGH ' AND < HASEWINT,* 

 SELECTED FOR THE JOINT EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHERN 

 LAND. 



" INASMUCH as our Superiors earnestly enjoin us to despatch hence some yachts, 

 with the object of making discoveries in the Southern Land ; and since, moreover, 

 experience has taught, through great perils incurred by several of our ships, and still 

 more through the destruction of the English ship ' Triall ' on the said coast, how 

 necessary it is to have full and accurate knowledge of the true position of this land, 

 so that further misfortunes may henceforth be prevented as much as is possible ; 

 and as, moreover, it is desirable that this land, or any inhabited portion thereof, 

 should be explored, so as to ascertain whether any trade with them might be worth 

 while ; 



" THEREFORE, for the purpose before mentioned, we have resolved to fit out the 

 yachts ' Haringh ' [herring] and ' Hasewint ' to undertake the voyage and to discover 

 as much regarding the resources of these regions as God Almighty shall permit. 



" You will accordingly set sail from here together, run out of Sunda Strait, and 

 steer your course from the western extremity of Java to the South Land, keeping as 



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