286 



THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



The voyage 

 of 1644. 



The 



" Instruc- 

 tions." 



(i) Is the 

 Shallow 

 Bight a 

 strait ? 



(2) Is there 

 a channel 

 between 

 West and 

 East ? 



in September or October 1644, and " this time arms in 

 hands." They are certain, they write, that " something 

 profitable will ultimately turn up in Chili." By this 

 time they had thought more wisely of the industry and 

 inquisitiveness of Tasman and Visscher. They had formed 

 the opinion that the voyage of 1642 was " a remarkable 

 voyage, in the course of which the great unknown Staten 

 and Van Diemen's Land were discovered, and a long-desired 

 passage into the South Sea was found." So Tasman 

 and Visscher were again to take command. And mean- 

 while, " in order to prevent their being idle in the interim," 

 it was decided to send them in February 1644 on a pre- 

 liminary voyage which should seek to clear up once for 

 all the great doubtful questions of the South-land, and 

 above all the question whether there was or was not a 

 passage through it, that would enable ships to take a short 

 cut for the new route to Chili. 



The " Instructions " 1 directed Tasman to sail in command 

 of three ships the yachts Limmen and Zeemeeuw, and 

 the galiot Bracq. He was to leave Banda at the close 

 of February with the Western monsoon, and was to follow 

 the coast of Nova Guinea to 9. He was " cautiously 

 to cross the Shallow Bay situated there " (i.e. Torres 

 Strait), and to bring the yachts to anchor on the South 

 side. Here he was to " reconnoitre the situation of the 

 land, sending in the meantime the Bracq into the Bay 

 for two or three days to ascertain whether in this large 

 Bay there is any passage to the South Sea, a question 

 which may be in a short time investigated, either in this 

 way, or by the direction of the current." 



Having settled this question, Tasman was to " skirt 

 the West coast of Nova Guinea " (i.e. Cape York Peninsula), 

 as far as the farthest point discovered in 17, and then 

 to follow its line Westward or Southward, " that it may 

 be decided once for all whether this land is separated 

 from the unknown South-land ; a fact which might easily 

 be ascertained from the heavy and slow swell of the seas." 

 In case a channel was found, separating Nova Guinea (Cape 



1 Heeres' Tasman, p. 147. 



