232 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



at this coast. It is fully ten miles in length, lying in 

 28 46'." 



Houtman is describing the exceedingly dangerous 

 shoals, which still bear the name Houtman's Abrolhos. 

 Abrolhos is Portuguese for " Open your eyes."- Why 

 the Dutch used a Portuguese word I do not know ; but 

 its advice was very good. When King sailed that way 

 in 1829 the mast-head man for some time persisted that 

 the three low small islands were only the " shadows of 

 clouds." 1 



Gold ? Houtman got away as fast as possible from these in- 



visible dangers. But three days later, on the 2nd of 

 August, he saw a long stretch of land in 27 40'. The coast 

 was made of red mud, and it seemed to some, who no 

 doubt had read Marco Polo's account of Beach, that it 

 " might not unlikely prove to be gold-bearing, 2 a point 

 which might be cleared up in time." It was evident 

 that this coast in 27 was Hartog's Eendrachtsland ; 

 and it was further evident that the land, which Hartog 

 had seen in 22, 23, and 25, and which Houtman had 

 seen down to 33, was " one uninterrupted mainland 

 coast." Along this coast they sailed to Dirck Hartog's 

 island, and then made for Java. 



" A fixed Houtman agreed with his predecessor that the discovery 



:ourse. should be used to make " a fixed course from the Cape 

 to Java." You should leave the Cape, run Eastward 

 for four thousand miles, then North and North by East 

 to the South-land in 26 or 27, making sure that you 

 avoid the "shoal " in 28 46', and thence, by a course North 

 by West and North-North-West, you are sure to make 

 the Western extremity of Java. 



The voyage of Houtman is faithfully described in the 

 invaluable map made by Gerritz in 1627. He draws a 

 broken coast, with soundings, from about 33 to about 

 31. Behind the coast is written " dunes with trees and 



I. d'Edels underwood at top." Northward the coastline is broken; 

 and the shoals in 28 29' are indicated by two inscriptions ; 



1 King, vol. ii. p. 172. 



2 See Goos-Visscher's map, p. 233. 



