THE DUTCH DISCOVER AUSTRALIA 243 



and callaways of the length of one and a half fathoms, 

 made of light wood and cane, some with fishbones, and 

 others with human bones fastened to their tops ; they 

 are very expert in throwing the said weapons by means 

 of a piece of wood half a fathom in length with a small 

 hook tied to it in front, which they place upon the callaway 

 or assegay." 



Elsewhere Carstenz uses language even stronger in its 

 comprehensive condemnation. The land " is very dry 

 and barren. We have not seen one fruit-bearing tree, The worst 

 nor anything that man can make use of. There are no ^^j 111 

 mountains nor even hills, so that it may be safely concluded 

 that the land contains no metals, nor yields precious woods. 

 In our judgement this is the most arid and barren region 

 that could be found anywhere on the earth. The in- 

 habitants, too, are the most wretched and the poorest 

 creatures that I have ever seen." The best he can say 

 for the Australian blacks is that they " seem to be less 

 cunning, bold, and ill-natured " than the blacks of Papua. 

 Great quantities of human bones seemed to prove them 

 to be man-eaters. 



Carstenz in the Pera reached Amboyna on the 8th of June 

 without news of the Arnhem, which had deserted him with 

 malice prepense, intending, as he suspected, to make for 

 Aru and have a good time. The Aruese, however, told The voyage 

 him that they "had not seen the said yacht." It f the 

 turned out that the Arnhem had arrived at Banda 

 three weeks before the Pera. " They have done nothing 

 worth mentioning," wrote the Governor of Banda to the 

 new Governor-General Carpentier, who had just arrived 

 to take the place of Coen. Yet, though no journal of the 

 Arnhem' 's voyage has been preserved, there is proof that 

 on its way home an important discovery was made. In 

 1636 Commander Pool was instructed to sail to " Arnhems 

 and Speultsland, situated between 9 and 13 degrees, dis- 

 covered A.D. 1623. They are vast lands." On the return 

 of Pool's ships it was reported that they had " discovered 

 vast lands to which they gave the names of Van Diemen's 

 and Maria land, and which we suspect to be Arnhem's 



