The V. O 
AGES of Book I. 
examining the reft of the Prifoners, and in confronting 
them with thofe who efcaped from theMaffacre. 
On the 20th, they fent feverai Kinds of Refrefhments 
to IVeybhays* s Company, and carried a good Quantity of 
Water from the Me : There was fomething very fmgular 
in finding this Water * the People who were on fiiore 
there, had fubfifted near three Weeks on Rain-water, and 
what lodged in the Cliffs of the Rocks, without thinking* 
that the Water of two Wells, which were on the Ifiand, 
could be of any Ufe, becaufe they faw them conftantly rife 
and fall with the Tide ; from whence they fanned, they 
had a Communication with the Sea, and confequently, that 
the Water muft be brackifli : But, upon Trial, they found 
it to be very good * and fo did the Ship’s Company, who 
filled their Calks with it. 
On the 2 1 ft, the Tide was fo low* and an Eaft South- 
eaft Wind blew fo hard, that, during the whole Day, the 
Boat could not get out. On the 2 2d, they attempted to fifh 
upon the Wreck-, but the Weather was fo bad, that even 
thofe, who could fwim very well, durft not approach it. 
On the 25 th, the Matter, and the Pilot, the Weather being 
fair, went off asain to the Wreck and thofe who were 
left on fhore, oblerving that they wanted Hands to get any 
thing out of her, lent off feme to affift them. The Cap- 
tain went alfo himfelf, to encourage the Men 5 who foon 
weighed one Cheft of Silver, and fome time after another. 
As foon as thefe were fafe afhore, they returned to their 
Work-, but the. Weather grew fo bad, that they were 
quickly obliged to defift, tho’ fome of their Divers from 
Gwzarat allured them, that they had found fix more, which 
might eafily be weighed. On the 26th in the Afternoon, 
the Weather being fair, and the Tide low, the Matter re- 
turned to the Place where the Clefts lay, and weighed three 
of them, leaving an Anchor, with a Gun tied to it, and a 
Buoy, to mark the Place where the fourth lay -, which, not- 
withftanding thek utmoft Efforts, they were not able to 
recover. 
On the 27th, the South Wind blew very cold. On the 
28th, the fame Wind blew ftronger than the Day before 
and, as there was no Poflibility of fifhing on the Wreck for 
the prefent. Captain Pelfart called a Council, to confider 
what they fhould do with their Prifoners -, that is to fay, 
whether it would be beft to try them there upon the Spot, 
or to carry them to Batavia , in order to their being tried 
by the Company’s Officers. After mature Deliberation, 
reflecting on the Number of the Prifoners, and the Tempt- 
ation that might arife from the vaft Quantity of Silver on 
board the Frigate, they came at laft to a Refolution to try 
and execute them there -, which was accordingly done : And 
they embarqued immediately afterwards for Batavia. 
11. As this Voyage is, of itfelf, very fliort, I fhall not 
detain the Reader with many Remarks • but fhall confine 
myfelf to a very few Obfervations, in order to fhew the 
Confequences of the Difcovery made by Captain Pelfart. 
The Country, upon which he buffered Shipwreck, was New 
Holland , the Coaft of which had not, till then, been at all 
examined -, and it was doubtful how far it extended, There 
had, indeed, been fome Reports fpread with relation to the 
Inhabitants of this Country, which Captain PelfarP s Re- 
lation fhews to have been falfe -, for it had been reported, 
that, when the Dutch Eaft India Company fent fome Ships 
to make Difcoveries, their Landing was oppofed by a Race 
of gigantic People, wiki whom the Dutch could by no means 
contend. But our Author fays nothing of the extraordinary 
Size of the Savages, that were feen by Captain Pelfart'’ s 
People -, from whence it is reafonable to conclude, that this 
Story was circulated with no other View, than to prevent 
other Nations from venturing into thefe Seas. It is alfo re- 
markable, that this is the very Coaft furveyed by Captain 
Damper, whole Account agrees exaftly with that contained 
in this Voyage. Nov/, though it be true, that, from ail 
thefe Accounts, there is nothing faid, which is much to 
the Advantage, either of the Country, or the Inhabitants, 
yet we are to confider, that it is impolfible to reprefent 
either in a worfe Light, than that in which the Cape of 
Good Hope was placed, before the Dutch took Poffeffion of 
it, and plainly dernonftrated, that Induftry could make a 
Paradife of what was a perfect Purgatory, while in the 
Hands of Hottentots . If therefore the Climate cf this 
Country be good, and the Soil fruitful, both of which are 
affirmed in this Relation, there could not be a p'roperer 
Place for a Colony, than, fome Part of New Holland , or of 
the adjacent Country of Carpentaria. I fhall give my Rea- 
fons for afferting this, when I come to make my Remarks 
on the fucceeding Voyage. At prefent, I fhall confine my- 
felf to the Reafons, that have induced the Dutch Eaft India 
Company to leave all thefe Countries unfettled, after hav- 
ing firft fhewn fo ftrong an Inclination to difeover them * 
which will, oblige me to lay before the Reader fome Secrets., 
in Commerce, that have hitherto efcaped common Qbfer- 
vation, and which* whenever they are as throughly confi- 
dered as they deferve, will undoubtedly lead us to as great 
Difcoveries as thofe of Columbus or Magellan. 
In order to make myfelf perfectly underftood, I muft ob- 
ferve* that it was the finding out of the Moluccas , or Spice 
Elands, by the Portuguefte , that railed that Spirit of Difco- 
Very* which produced Columbus'’ s Voyage, which ended in 
finding in America , tho’, in faff, Columbus intended rather 
to have reached this Country of New Holland. The Afier- 
tion is bold, and, at firft Sight* may appear improbable % 
but a little Attention will make it fo plain, that the Reader 
muft be convinced of the Truth of what I fay. The Pro- 
pofition made by Columbus to the State of Genoa , the Kings 
of Portugal , Spain , England , and France , was this* that he 
could difeover a new Route to the Eaft Indies % that is to 
fay* Without going round the Cape of Good Hope. Pie 
grounded this Propofitioh oh the fpherical Figure of the 
Earth* from whence he thought it felf-evident, that any 
given Point might be failed to through the great Ocean, 
either by fteering Eaft or Weft. In his Attempt to go to 
the Eaft Indies by a Weft Courfe, he met with the Elands 
and Continent of America • and, finding Gold and cither 
Commodities, which, till then, had never been brought 
from the Indies , he really thought* that this was the Weft 
Coaft of that Country, to which the Portuguefte failed by 
the Cape of Good Hope * and hence came the Name of the 
Weft Indies. Magellan , who followed his Steps, and was 
the only Difcoverer who reafoned fyftematically* and knew 
what he v/as doing, propofed to the Emperor Charles V. to 
complete what Columbus had begun, and to find a Paffage 
to the Moluccas by the Weft ; which, to his immortal Ho- 
nour, he accomplifhed. 
When the Dutch made their firft Voyages to the Eaft 
Indies , which was not many Years before Captain Pelfart’ s 
Shipwreck on the Coaft of New Holland * for their firft 
Fleet arrived in the Eaft Indies in 1-596, and Pelfart loft his 
Ship in 1629 * I fay, when the Dutch firft undertook the 
Eaft India Trade, they had the Spice Elands in View -, and, 
as they are a Nation juftly famous for the fteady Purfuit of 
whatever they take in hand* it is notorious, that they never 
loft Sight of their Defign, till they had accomplilfied it, 
and made themfelves intirely Makers of thefe Iflands, of 
which they ftill continue in Poffeffion. When this was done, 
and they had effectually driven out the Englijh , who were 
likewife fettled in them, they fixed the Seat of their Go- 
vernment in the Ifiand of Amboyna , which lay very conve- 
nient for the Difcovery of the Southern Countries-, which 
therefore they profecuted with great Diligence, from the 
Year 1619, to the Time of Captain Pelfart 1 s Shipwreck - s 
that is, for the Space of twenty Years. 
But, after they removed the Seat of their Government 
from Amboyna, to Batavia , they turned their Views another 
Way, and never made any Voyage exprefly for Difcoveries 
on that Side, except the Tingle one of Captain Taftman ; of 
which we are to fpeak in the next SeCbon. It was from 
this Period of Time that they began to take new Meafures ; 
and, having made their excellent Settlement at the Cape 
of Good Hope , refolved to govern their Trade to the Eaft 
Indies by thefe two capital Maxims : I. To extend their 
Trade over all the Indies , and to fix themfelves fo effectu- 
ally in the richeft Countries, as to keep all, or, at leaft, the 
beft and moft profitable Parc or their Commerce to them-' 
felves. II, To make the Moluccas , and the Elands depend- 
ent on them, their Frontier -, and to omit nothing that 
fhould appear neceffary to prevent Strangers, or even Dutch 
Ships, not belonging to the Company, from ever navigat- 
ing thofe Seas, and confequently from ever being acquainted 
with the Countries, that lie in them. How well they have 
pro- 
