400 years Netherlands-Australia: Explorers: Voyages: The Eendracht (1616)

The pewter plate that Dirk Hartogs left behind in 1616.

The Eendracht (1616)

One of the ships that left Texel for the East in the spring of 1616 was the Eendracht, in the service of the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC, commanded by Captain Dirk Hartogs, with Gillis Mibas as the Company’s senior representative on board. Near the Cape of Good Hope the Eendracht lost sight of the fleet and sailed on alone. Hartogs turned north too late and ended up at the Australian coast, at approximately 25º S. His log states that on 25 October he spotted ‘various islands, uninhabited’ and behind them an extensive mainland. He anchored off the islands and explored them for two days, with disappointing results. Before continuing the voyage to Bantam, he had a stake driven into the ground bearing a pewter plate, on which an inscription was etched with a sharp pin:

1616

the vessel Eendracht of Amsterdam arrived here on the 25 October

senior merchant Gillis Mibas of Liège

master Dirk Hertogh of Amsterdam

on the 27 of the same set sail for Bantam

junior merchant Jan Stins

first mate Pieter Doekes van Bil

1616

In 1697, Willem de Vlamingh found this plate on his expedition and took it back with him to the Netherlands. Like Hartogs in 1616, De Vlamingh too beat a pewter plate flat and left it with an inscription on a pole in the same place.

Dirk Hartogs gave his own name to the roadstead where the Eendracht lay anchored for two days and to the island where he went ashore. Both names are still in use. On 27 October 1616 the crew of the Eendracht weighed anchor and sailed north along the coast, which they charted to the best of their ability. They called the region Eendrachtsland after the ship, and that stretch of coast bore that name for many years.

Ten years passed between the expedition of the Duyfken and that of the Eendracht, but after that expeditions followed more frequently, so that new Dutch names appeared on the map at regular intervals.

In December 1618, two vessels, the Dordrecht and the Amsterdam, left the Texel roadstead with nine other ships. The fleet was under the command of Frederik de Houtman, the younger brother of Cornelis, the first Dutchman to sail to the East Indies. De Houtman was on the Dordrecht, while the Amsterdam carried Jacob Dedel, a member of the Council of the Indies. In 1619, the two ships reached the Australian coast, farther south than their predecessors. They turned north along the coast and came to ‘the land discovered by the Eendracht’. Charting the coastline they had found, they named it Dedelsland. And several low-lying islands surrounded by coral reefs were given the name De Houtman’s Abrolhos. (Abrolhos is the Portuguese word for reef, and literally means ‘open your eyes’.) It was on these islands, now called Houtman’s Rocks, that the tragedy of the Batavia took place some years later.

On 20 April 1621 the VOC ship Leeuwin set sail from Texel for Batavia. The voyage took over a year, mainly because of poor navigation. The Leeuwin arrived off the coast of Australia at 35º S, farther south than any European ship had ever been. Following some exploration the area was christened Leeuwin Land or Cape Leeuwin, the name which still appears on modern maps.

More exploration followed after 1621, the high point being the voyages of Abel Tasman from 1642 to 1644.

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	The pewter plate that Dirk Hartogs left behind in 1616. The Eendracht (1616) One of the ships that left Texel for the East in the spring of 1616 was the Eendracht, in the service of the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC, commanded by Captain Dirk Hartogs, with Gillis Mibas as the Company’s senior representative on board. Near the Cape of Good Hope the Eendracht lost sight of the fleet and sailed on alone. Hartogs turned north too late and ended up at the Australian coast, at approximately 25º S. His log states that on 25 October he spotted ‘various islands, uninhabited’ and behind them an extensive mainland. He anchored off the islands and explored them for two days, with disappointing results. Before continuing the voyage to Bantam, he had a stake driven into the ground bearing a pewter plate, on which an inscription was etched with a sharp pin: 1616 the vessel Eendracht of Amsterdam arrived here on the 25 October senior merchant Gillis Mibas of Liège master Dirk Hertogh of Amsterdam on the 27 of the same set sail for Bantam junior merchant Jan Stins first mate Pieter Doekes van Bil 1616 In 1697, Willem de Vlamingh found this plate on his expedition and took it back with him to the Netherlands. Like Hartogs in 1616, De Vlamingh too beat a pewter plate flat and left it with an inscription on a pole in the same place. Dirk Hartogs gave his own name to the roadstead where the Eendracht lay anchored for two days and to the island where he went ashore. Both names are still in use. On 27 October 1616 the crew of the Eendracht weighed anchor and sailed north along the coast, which they charted to the best of their ability. They called the region Eendrachtsland after the ship, and that stretch of coast bore that name for many years. Ten years passed between the expedition of the Duyfken and that of the Eendracht, but after that expeditions followed more frequently, so that new Dutch names appeared on the map at regular intervals. In December 1618, two vessels, the Dordrecht and the Amsterdam, left the Texel roadstead with nine other ships. The fleet was under the command of Frederik de Houtman, the younger brother of Cornelis, the first Dutchman to sail to the East Indies. De Houtman was on the Dordrecht, while the Amsterdam carried Jacob Dedel, a member of the Council of the Indies. In 1619, the two ships reached the Australian coast, farther south than their predecessors. They turned north along the coast and came to ‘the land discovered by the Eendracht’. Charting the coastline they had found, they named it Dedelsland. And several low-lying islands surrounded by coral reefs were given the name De Houtman’s Abrolhos. (Abrolhos is the Portuguese word for reef, and literally means ‘open your eyes’.) It was on these islands, now called Houtman’s Rocks, that the tragedy of the Batavia took place some years later. On 20 April 1621 the VOC ship Leeuwin set sail from Texel for Batavia. The voyage took over a year, mainly because of poor navigation. The Leeuwin arrived off the coast of Australia at 35º S, farther south than any European ship had ever been. Following some exploration the area was christened Leeuwin Land or Cape Leeuwin, the name which still appears on modern maps. More exploration followed after 1621, the high point being the voyages of Abel Tasman from 1642 to 1644.



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