VOYAGE OF THE "PERA" AND " AERNEM" 47 



named by the Dutch navigators, a wholesale RENAMING of the 

 rivers would be IMPRACTICABLE at the present day. The names 

 of the inland rivers have been irrevocably fixed by the fact that 

 they have entered into history, into literature, into official maps, 

 proclamations and other documents, and even into title deeds. 

 In the circumstances, all that can now be done is to distinguish 

 between the inlets named by the Dutch (de jure) and the water- 

 courses to which the Dutch names have been erroneously applied 

 in the first place, to be afterwards sanctioned by usage (dejactd). 

 It must, however, be clearly understood that the de Jacto names 

 are not names conferred by the Dutch navigators, but names 

 given in compliment to them. R. L. J.j 



" In the morning of the 30^, the wind SE., steady weather, course NNE., in 

 3 fathoms, along the land. At noon, latitude 15 39', and anchored in 2\ fathoms, and 

 here, as before, LANDED with the boat to look for fresh water and try to fall in with 

 natives, and after diligently digging several pits found nothing. Then set sail again 

 and in the evening anchored in 2^ fathoms [say, 15 30' S. R. L. J.]. [SEE MAP F.] 



" May. In the morning of the ist y the wind E., and the skipper again went 

 ashore with the boat, and in three holes which were dug found fresh water (which 

 forced its way through the sand), and we did our best to take in a supply. About 

 400 paces north of the outermost hole sunk was a little lake (lagoon) with fresh water, 

 but the water collected in the pits was thought to be better. 



" In the morning of the 2nd, the wind ENE., and later in the day SW., continued 

 taking in water. 



" On the yd, continued taking in water as before, the wind NE., and about midday 

 SW., and I LANDED personally with 10 musketeers and went a good way into the thick 

 bush, without meeting any human beings. The land here is low and flat, the same as 

 hitherto, and continues so as far as 15 20' , x but very dry and barren, for during all the 

 time we have been ashore here and have explored the same and examined it to the 

 best of our ability, we did not see a single fruit-bearing tree nor anything thatm an 

 could make use of. There are no mountains or heights, so that it may safely be pre- 

 sumed that there are no metals, nor any valuable timbers, such as sandalwood, aloe or 

 calumba, and in our judgment this is the dryest and barrenest region that could be 

 found in the world. And even the men are more miserable and unsightly than any 

 I have seen in my age and time. Here they use no implements, large or small, which 

 results from the scarcity of large trees, of which there is not one on the whole coast. 8 

 This is near the place we were at 3 on the voyage out on Easter Day, i6th April, and we 

 have, in the newly made chart, called it the WATERPLAETS (Watering-place). At this 

 place, in the more sheltered localities, are fine and good-looking sandy beaches, with 

 delicate fish." [A marginal note reads : " De Waterplaats leijdt op de hoochte van 

 15 gr., 30 minuten." Van Dijk and Heeres agree in this.] 



[EDITORIAL NOTE. In the marginal note, the verb is evidently 

 " liegen," " to lie." Writers of the early seventeenth century 



1 " Leijt op de hoochte van 15 gr. 20 min." Here the verb employed is obviously 

 " leiden," " to lead to." R. L. J. 



2 This sentence is obscurely expressed in the original, but I think I have got the 

 drift of it. Mr. Stoffel translates it : " As there are no large trees anywhere on this coast, 

 they have no boats or canoes, whether large or small." R. L. J. 



3 They did not land on the i6th, but on the following day, after a few hours' run in 

 the afternoon, the anchor was dropped, on the failing of the wind, " towards evening," 

 and Carstenszoon went ashore, and remarked on the flat, good-looking land, with few 

 trees. The probability is that, writing on 3rd May, he inadvertently referred to the 

 landing as having taken place on the i6th instead of the iyth April. R. L. J. 



