326 
First Discovery 
according to the international law of Europe, in the name of til# 
Stadtholder Frederick Henry of Holland, grandfather of our 
King William III. The ship’s carpenter swam on shore from the 
boat: he set up a post, and left the prince’s flag flying upon it. 
This was nigh to four remarkable trees which were standing in 
the form of a crescent; and the Dutch commander observes that 
though none of the natives were visible, they were doubtless the 
concealed eye and ear witnesses of his formal act and proclama¬ 
tion. However this may have been, the four noble trees with the 
flag staff have long since perished in the bush fires, but the strik¬ 
ing characteristics of the scenery still remain the same. The same 
romantic little bay, with its fringe of grey ironstone shingle, still 
shelters itself under the castellated cliffs of trap rock on its north¬ 
ern and southern horns, embosomed in its innermost recesses by 
a noble forest whose green shades encroach upon the verge of the 
ocean. It is less than half a mile across, and nearer its northern 
than its southern extremity the sea has cast up a key of large 
grey rounded ironstones, which interrupts the ecpial curve of the 
beach, and doubtless marks the very spot where the ship’s car¬ 
penter swam ashore, and ascending some twenty feet to where 
the fern-clad bank adjoins the shingle, planted the Stadtholder’s 
flag and took formal possession of our island. When the car¬ 
penter had planted the post with the flag, he swam back through 
the surf to the boat in which Tasman was, and the party re¬ 
turned on board. In the evening 3° N.E. variation was observed 
in the compass, and the anchorage was computed to lie in S. lat. 
43° and E. (of Ferro) long. 167° 30', being eight miles to the 
south of his position as laid down in the Admiralty charts, and 
about four miles to the south of his true position. The unac¬ 
countable error in the longitude, of 1° 16* E., of his position as 
laid down in the Admiralty charts, has already been alluded to; 
but fortunately his sketch of the coast line, and his verbal descrip¬ 
tions enable us to fix the spot where he anchored with the utmost 
accuracy. 
The 4tli of December he coasted up to St. Patrick’s Head, 
which he sighted that evening, eight (German) miles to the 
N.N.W.; but he gives no particular description of this coast, 
