t 42S 3

VOYAGE OF FRANCIS PELSART TO AUSTRALASIA.*

1628 1 T T ^ 3S a PP eare< ^ ver y Grange to I° me very able judges of voyages, that the■-* A Dutch Ihould make fo great account of the fouthern countries as to caufethe map of them to be laid down in the pavement of the Stadt-houfe at Amfterdam,and yet publilh no defcriptions of them. This myftery was a good deal heightened byone of the {hips that firft touched on Carpenter’s land, bringing home a confiderablequantity of gold, fpices, and other rich goods ; in order to clear up whith it was faid,that thefe were not the product of the country, but were fifhed out of the wreck ofa large {hip that had been loft upon the coaft. But this ftory did not fatisfy the inqui-fitive, becaufe not attended with circumftances neceffary to eftablilh its credit; andtherefore they fuggefted, that inftead of taking away the obfcurity by relating thetruth, this tale was invented in order to hide it more effectually. This fufpicion gainedground the more, when it was known that the Dutch Eaft-India Company from Ba-tavia had made fome attempts to conquer a part of the fouthern continent, and hadbeen repulfed with lofs, of which, however, we have no diftinCt or perfect relation,and all that hath hitherto been collected in reference to this fubjeCt, may be reduced totwo voyages. All that we know concerning the following piece, is, that it was collectedfrom the Dutch journal of the voyage. And, having faid thus much by way of introduc-tion, we now proceed to the translation of this fhort hiftory.

The directors of the Eaft India Company, animated by the return of five {hips,under General Carpenter, richly laden, caufed, the very fame year, 1628, eleven veffelsto be equipped for the fame voyage; amongft which, there was one {hip calledthe Batavia, commanded by Captain Francis Pelfart. They failed out of the Texelon the 28th of October 1628; and as it would be tedious and troublefome to thereader to fet down a long account of things perfectly well known, I {hall fay nothingof the occurrences that happened in their paffage to the Cape of Good Hope ; butcontent myfelf with obferving, that on the 4th of June, in the following year 1629,this veffel, the Batavia, being feparated from the fleet in a ftorm, was driven on theAbrollos or {hoals, which lie in the latitude of 28 degrees fouth, and which havebeen fince called by the Dutch , the Abrollos of Frederic Houtman. Captain Pelfart,who was fick in bed when this accident happened, perceiving that his {hip had ftruck,ran immediately upon deck. It was night indeed; but the weather was fair, andthe moon {hone very bright; the fails were up; the courfe they fleered was north-eaft by north, and the fea appeared as far as they could behold it covered with awhite froth. The captain called up the mafter, and charged him with the lofs of the{hip, who excufed himfelf by faying he had taken all the care he could; and that

* From Callander’s Tranflation of De BrolTes.

having