TASMAN'S VOYAGE OF 1644 69 



informs me that there is such a water-course in 13 4' S. lat. 

 Tasman was mistaken in his identification of the inlet in 13 27'- 

 13 30' with Carstenszoon's Coen, which is in 13 4'. Tasman's 

 inlet is, in fact, in lat. 13 2O / -I3 21', and is the mouth of the 

 important river named the ARCHER by Jardine in 1865. Some 

 70 miles from its mouth, the Archer splits into two branches, 

 and the southern and shorter has borne the name of the COEN 

 since 1876, for the reason that the discoverers of a GOLDFIELD on its 

 upper reaches believed it to be the head of the " P era's " (i.e., 

 Carstenszoon's) Coen. The Lands Department maps now call the 

 river of the goldfield the " SOUTH COEN." Tasman's erroneous 

 identification was probably due to the imperfection of the charts 

 with which he had been supplied. 



It would not surprise me if direct investigation were to prove 

 the inlet in 13 27' 30' which Tasman mistook for the Coen to 

 be a mouth of the Archer. Considering the " habit " of rivers 

 on this coast, I should expect a river like the Archer to have several 

 mouths. In fact, a sketch-map recently made by the Rev. A. 

 Richter, and certified by the Rev. N. Hey, shows a mouth named 

 the DUGALLY RIVER in 13 33'. There are probably other inlets 

 or mouths of the Archer between 13 33' and 13 20', where the 

 only charted mouth is located, and in this case we need not even 

 suppose an error of a few minutes of latitude on Tasman's part. 



Next in order, in Tasman's 1664 chart, is VISSCHER'S REVIER, 

 in 13 42'. Here, again, no inlet appears on the most recent 

 Admiralty charts or on the maps of the Lands Department. On 

 the latter, the whole of the coast-line from the mouth of the 

 Archer River to Cape Keerweer is a blank ; but my charting (not 

 very far to the east) of Jardine's route of the last days of 1864, 

 from his camp numbered 55 to that numbered 57, shows that 

 a group of considerable streams must find their way to the sea 

 somewhere on this stretch of coast, unless they all go to feed the 

 Archer River. It is, however, equally probable that, assuming 

 Tasman's latitude to be correct, the inlet which he named in com- 

 pliment to his Assistant- Skipper was a mouth of the Archer itself. 

 So far, there is no reason for suspecting any serious error in Tasman's 

 latitudes. The fact that he named what he believed to be a new 

 " revier " in 13 42' is strong evidence that he actually landed in 

 or near that latitude. 



The next locality noted on Tasman's chart is CAPE KEERWEER 

 (where the " Duyjken " turned back), which he places in 14 36'. 

 In that latitude nothing like a cape appears in modern official sea 

 charts or land maps. I suggest that his course here was too far out 

 at sea to enable him to lay down this not very prominent cape 

 from his own observation and that he copied it from the defective 

 chart which he carried. (SEE MAP F.) 



South of the real (13 58') and the imaginary (14 36") Cape 



