234 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



1622." On its Western side is "low land submerged"; 

 on the South East " low land with dunes." 



It was becoming evident that there were good reasons 

 for a systematic exploration of the " South-lands behind 

 Java." Ships sailing on the new route were almost bound 

 to see the coast, and were in great danger of running into it. 

 On the other hand, it might be used as a convenient land- 

 Reasons mark, and might eventually become the much-needed 

 exploration P^ ace f refreshment for ships sailing from the Cape to 

 Batavia. Houtman had described the land from 31 

 to 33 as very good land. Dedel had suggested that 

 the "red muddy coast," seen in 27, "might not unlikely 

 prove to be gold-bearing." Both Houtman and Dedel 

 had declared that further investigation was required in 

 more suitable ships, and in a more leisurely time. And 

 then there was the long and still unknown coastline be- 

 tween the new discoveries and Nova Guinea, still imagined 

 in the light of Marco Polo information. 1 And once more, 

 there was the elbow to the East that had been observed 

 at Cape Leeuwin, with suggestions that deserved 

 exploration. 



But what made exploration urgent was the constant 



danger of shipwreck on broken coasts and invisible islands. 



Several Dutch ships found themselves in great peril ; arid, 



The wreck of in July 1622, an event took place that seemed to demand 



. . rr>. j >J J * 



1622. na ' immediate action. On the 5th of July, there came to 

 Batavia a boat with ten men, and three days later came 

 another boat with thirty-six. They were what remained of 

 the crew of an English ship named the Trial. "They state," 

 wrote Governor-General Coen, " that they have lost 

 and abandoned their ship with ninety-seven men, and 

 the cargo she had taken in, on certain rocks situated 

 in Latitude 20 10', in the Longitude of the Western 

 extremity of Java. These rocks are near a number of 

 broken islands lying very far apart, South- East and North- 

 West, at thirty miles distance North-West of a certain 

 island which in our charts is laid down in 20. The said 



1 See maps, pp. 233, 241. Note the disappearance of Beach in 

 Keppler's map, p. 245. 



