382 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TEAVEL 
probably nearly as far as Astrolabe Bay. The natives 
were at that time known both to the Spaniards and 
Portuguese as “ Papuas,” a name given them by the 
people of the Moluccas, Galvao tells us, “ because they 
are black, with frizzled hair.” Another Spaniard, Ynigo 
Ortiz de Petes, in the ship San Juan , also sailed along 
the north coast in 1546, anchored in several harbours, 
and was the first to give the country the name of Hew 
Guinea, from the resemblance of the people to negroes. 
In 1606 Luis Yaz de Torres passed through the straits 
which still bear his name, and sailed along the south 
coast, taking possession of it in the name of the king of 
Spain. In the same year the Dutch began their explora¬ 
tions in these seas, visited the Aru and Ive islands, and 
sailed along the west and south coasts of Hew Guinea; 
and from that time, for more than two centuries, almost 
all the exploration of the coasts was made by this 
nation; and we find their voyages commemorated in 
numerous Dutch names, as Geelvink Bay, Schouten’s 
Islands, and MacCluer’s Inlet. In 1700 our country¬ 
man Dampier sailed along the north coast, touching at 
many points, naming many capes and islands, and dis¬ 
covering the strait which bears his name. Thus a con¬ 
siderable knowledge of the coast was obtained, but not a 
single attempt was made to penetrate the interior. In 
1827 a small Dutch settlement was attempted at Triton 
Bay, on the south-west coast, but it was soon given up, 
and no attempt at exploration appears to have been 
made. Mr. Wallace was informed by a Dutch gentle¬ 
man at Makassar that the officer in charge of this settle¬ 
ment, finding the life there insufferably monotonous, 
killed the cattle and other live stock, and reported that 
they had died, and that the place was unhealthy and the 
natives intractable. Had a naturalist been chosen for 
