THE "RIJDER" (GONZAL) 81 



charts g-ive no name. The latitude of the anchorage was made out 

 to be 13 S. at noon on the following day. I can only conclude 

 that this was a faulty observation, as it is contradicted by the obser- 

 vations of the two preceding days, which agree with the contour of 

 the coast-line. In the morning of the same day, a boat's crew 

 landed, after having been met by two men in a canoe, who invited 

 them to come ashore. Eleven men and five women met them on 

 the beach, the men being armed with spears. The NATIVES tried 

 to take off the hats of the visitors, which the latter resisted ; where- 

 upon the natives threatened with their spears. A shot was fired 

 and the crowd fled, with the exception of one youth, who was 

 carried on board. 



The sailors found a large pond of fresh water, and judged that 

 the country, if cultivated, would prove fertile. It was remarked 

 that the natives subsisted mainly on roots of trees, and wild fruits 

 such as batatas or oubis, with a little fish, and that they seemed 

 to have some knowledge of gold when some lumps of the metal were 

 shown them. It is not stated on what occasion these observations 

 were made. It cannot have been on the single interview above 

 referred to. 



On 1 6th June, the course was set westward for AERNEM'S LAND. 

 On the 24^, the " MAINLAND OF NEW HOLLAND " was sighted, and 

 the home journey was concluded via Timor and Rotti. 



Inasmuch as her crew effected landings on Prince of Wales 

 Island and at three different localities on the mainland, the "Rijder " 

 added more to our knowledge of the interior and its inhabitants 

 than the " Buijs" whose men were defeated on their only attempt 

 at landing. The " Rijder " was the first (except, perhaps, the 

 " Duyjken ") to land a party in the neighbourhood of DUYFKEN 

 POINT and to explore the southern shore of ALBATROSS BAY. The 

 landing south of PERA HEAD confirmed the existence of the " Pera's " 

 watering-place. The last landing on the Peninsula, at RIJDER'S 

 HOEK, was made in a locality till then unvisited. After this landing, 

 probably no white footprint marked the soil until, fourteen years 

 later, Captain Cook landed on the eastern coast of the Peninsula. 



