52 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



musketeers, and found numerous FOOTPRINTS OF MEN AND TRACKS OF LARGE DOGS, 

 going in a SOUTHERLY direction. We also found FRESH WATER FLOWING INTO THE SEA, 

 and named this the WATERPLAETS. The land is higher here than what we have seen 

 to the south, and in front of the strand there are reefs, which are in 12 33'." 



[EDITORIAL NOTE. The latitude of 12 33' is, not 2, but Si- 

 Dutch miles north of the anchorage at the Coen, de jure. It is 

 evident from what follows that the midday ANCHORAGE of 

 9th May was still SOUTH of ALBATROSS BAY, and the distance named 

 (2 Dutch miles) would bring the " Pera " to what is now known 

 as PERA HEAD, which is in 12 55', according to the modern Lands 

 Department map. In deciphering the manuscript, some tran- 

 scriber, no doubt, mistook the figures 55 for 33. 



The latest issue (1908) of the 4- mile Sheet 2oD of the Depart- 

 ment of Lands shows a small creek falling into the Gulf in 12 59' 

 S. lat. In this position, says MR. N. HEY (in a letter dated 

 5th February, 1919), there is only, in wet weather, a SMALL RUNNEL 

 OF FRESH WATER, which could not be called a creek. It is, I have 

 no doubt, the " WATERPLAETS " of 9th May, 1623, regarding 

 which MR. J. T. EMBLEY has given me the following additional 

 particulars, in a letter dated loth August, 1916 : " The Water- 

 plaets is at Pera Head. These headlands are about 80 feet high 

 and consist of soft reddish and whitish sandstone. The red is 

 most conspicuous, as being uppermost, and gives rise to the 

 expression * low reddish cliffs ' as in the sea chart and land maps. 

 After the wet season April and May small SOAKAGES OF FRESH 

 WATER may be noticed oozing out from the base, and it is this 

 which must have given rise to the ( WATERPLAETS.' "] 



" In the afternoon," continues Carstenszoon, " wind SW., course as before. From 

 the aforesaid watering-place to a high hook, or cape [DUYFKEN POINT. R. L. J.], is a 

 great bight [ALBATROSS BAY. R. L. J.] extending NE. by N. and SW. by S., 7 miles 

 [28 minutes]. Anchored in the evening in 4^ fathoms." 



[EDITORIAL NOTE. This night anchorage was in ALBATROSS 

 BAY, and, judging by the course on which next day's journey had 

 to be begun, so as to clear Duyfken Point, outside of the shoals 

 which guard the mouths of the Embley and Mission Rivers. It 

 is singular that Carstenszoon gave no name to the bay, nor to its 

 two " horns," Pera Head and Duyfken Point. On 26th April, 

 1756, Lavienne Lodowijk van Asschens, in charge of the " Buijs" 

 recognised the bay as that which TASMAN, in 1644, had named 

 VLIEGEBAAIJ, and on 3ist May, 1756, Lieut. Jean Etienne Gonzal, 

 commanding the " Rijder" called it MOSSELBAAIJ. The name now 

 current was that of the Queensland Government's steamer " Alba- 

 tross" which used to patrol Torres Strait during the administra- 

 tion of the Hon. John Douglas. R. L. J.] [SEE MAP B.] 



" In the morning of the loth, wind ESE., steady weather, set sail, course WNW. 

 [to clear Duyfken Point, after which the course, off the shore, would be N. by E. 

 R. L. J.] At midday, the latitude 12 5' [10 miles north of the Pennefather River. 



