When, we may ask, did the ship ’t Wapen van Amsterdam survey the South-land?  There certainly was a ship of that name by the side of another vessel, named Amsterdam pur et simple.  According to the Register of departures of vessels of the E.I.C., preserved in the State Archives at the Hague, this ship set sail from the Netherlands on May 11, 1613.  I have found no reliable trace of later date of this vessel, and the documents know nothing of any exploration of the South-land by her.  I am inclined to think that Leupe is mistaken here.  The letter itself, which is contained in the copying-book of letters, preserved in the State Archives, has suffered much from theravages of time.  Between the words “Zeewolff” and “Amsterdam” the paper has suffered so much that nothing is left of the intervening letters.  L. C. D. Van Dijk, in his Mededeelingen uit het Oost-Indisch archief.  Amsterdam, Scheltema, 1859 p. 2, note 2, has also printed the letter in question.  He puts the words:  “’t Wapen van” in parentheses, in order to denote that they are merely conjectural.  Leupe may have inadvertently omitted these parentheses.  Perhaps the original text read:  “ende Amsterdam”.  In this case there would have been two times question of Dedel’s voyages:  once by a reference to the ship Amsterdam; and afterwards by mentioning Dedel’s name itself.  I must not however omit to make mention here of what the Instructions for Tasman’s second voyage, dated January 29, 1644, say about an unsuccessful expedition undertaken by the ship ’t Wapen van Amsterdam to the south coast of New Guinea in 1619.]

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XI.

(1619).  VOYAGE OF THE SHIPS DORDRECHT AND AMSTERDAM UNDER COMMANDER FREDERIK DE HOUTMAN, SUPERCARGO JACOB DEDEL, AND SKIPPERS REYER JANSZOON VAN BUIKSLOOT AND MAARTEN CORNELISZOON(?), FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO THE EAST-INDIES.—­FURTHER DISCOVERY OF THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA:  DEDELSLAND AND HOUTMAN’S ABROLHOS.

A.

Letter of Commander FREDERIK DE HUTMAN to Prince Alaurice, October 7, 1619.

Most Noble Highborn Prince,

Most Highborn Prince, my last letter to Your Princely Excellency was dated May the 20th last from the Taefelbay near Cabo de bonne esperance with the ship Anna from England...

Now as regards my subsequent progress I would inform Your Excellency that on the 8th of June we set sail from the Tafelbay with a fair wind with the ships Dordrecht and Amsterdam, add that on the 19th of July following we suddenly came upon the Southland of Beach [*] in 32 degrees 20 minutes.  We spent a few days there in order to get some knowledge of the same, but the inconvenience of being unable to make a landing, together with the heavy gales, prevented us from effecting our purpose, upon which shaping our course for Java, we got sight of the same on the 19th of August, and arrived safely before Jacatra on the 3rd of September...