THE DUTCH DISCOVER AUSTRALIA 239 



Ten miles inland they noted a very high mountain range, 

 white with snow, which they thought a very singular 

 sight, being so near the equator. As seen from afar, 

 the land seemed to have numerous pleasant valleys and 

 running fresh-water rivers. " But we are unable to give 

 any information as to what fruits, metals, and animals 

 it contains, and as to the manner of its cultivation, since 

 the natives, whom we found to be savages and man-eaters, 

 refused to hold parley with us, and fell upon our men, 

 who suffered grievous damage." The skipper of the 

 Anthem and nine of his men were slain, " partly owing 

 to their own negligence." A vivid picture is drawn of the 

 Papuan savage, coal-black like the Caffirs, stark naked, 

 hole in midst of nose pierced by bones protruding at least 

 three fingers' breadth on either side, "so that in appear- 

 ance they are more like monsters than human beings." 



They worked their way down the coast till in 9 6' " A shallow 

 they found themselves entrapped by sandbanks, reefs bl & ht - 

 and shallows on every side. They were using a chart, 

 presumably made in the Duyfhen, which showed an open 

 passage. The ship's boats were sent forth to sound in 

 all directions, but returned reporting shallows everywhere. 

 It was " clearly impossible any longer to follow the coast 

 line which we had so long skirted in an Eastward direction." 

 The ships were " caught in the shallows as in a trap," 

 and the best plan possible was to get -out of the trap by 

 the way they got in. This they managed to do with 

 " extreme difficulty and great peril " ; " for which happy 

 deliverence God x be praised!" It seemed to them that 

 the tangle of reefs from which they had escaped was not 

 a strait but a bay ; "to which on account of its shallows 

 we have by resolution given the name of Drooge Bocht 

 (shallow bight) in the new chart."' They determined 

 to call New Guinea " the West End of Nova Guinea." 

 The land to the South (Cape York peninsula) they called 

 Nova Guinea. 



Making South, writes Carstenz, "we saw the land Voyage 

 of Nova Guinea showing itself a low-lying coast without 

 hills or mountains." One hundred and eighty years River, 17 8' 



