FIRST (EUROPEAN) EXPLORERS & SETTLERS

“This land is a barren arid plain, where no fruit trees grow, nor is there any growth fit for the use of man… The natives are barbaric and coal-black. They are utterly unacquainted with gold, silver, tin, iron, lead and copper, nor do they know anything…”

Jan Carstensz
Commander of the Dutch ship Arnhem.

Such was often the view of early European explorers as they skirted the coast of what was then just called the South Land. I wonder what they would say if they returned today.
 

The explorer Ernest Giles wrote of the early navigators:

'It is to be remembered that they came neither for pleasure nor for rest, but to discover the gulfs, bays, peninsulas, mountains, rivers and harbours, as well as to make acquaintance with the native races, the soils, and animal and vegetable products of the great new land, so as to diffuse the knowledge so gained for the benefit of others who might come after them. In cockle-shells of little ships what dangers did they not encounter from shipwreck on the sunken edges of coral ledges of the new and shallow seas, how many were those who were never heard of again; how many a little exploring bark with its adventurous crew have been sunk in Australia's seas, while those poor wretches who might, in times gone by, have landed upon the inhospitable shore would certainly have been killed by the wild and savage hordes of hostile aborigines, from whom there could be no escape!'

One of the problems in trying to work out which was the first nation to explore the coastline of Australia is that information on newly discovered lands was generally kept secret for fear of other nations involving themselves in the new lands. This was clearly evidenced by the fact that Torres discovered the straits named after him but for a long time afterward no other nation was aware that Australia and New Guinea were in fact separate.

Maps made in 1420 by the Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) are reported to show part of the west coast of Australia but records that far back are unable to confirm any landings. The Chinese are known to have travelled widely through out the Indian Ocean and had invented the stern rudder and compass that would have allowed them to travel great distances across the sea. It is thought by some historians that the Chinese may have discovered America well before the Europeans but it seems unlikely that proof will ever be found as all the logs of the Star Fleet were deliberately destroyed when China embarked on a course of isolationism. There is a 1763 map that is said to be a copy of the Cheng Ho map and if it turns out to be genuine it will leave no doubt that the Chinese discovered America 70 years before Columbus.

There is evidence that the Portuguese visited and mapped the Australian coast as early as 1522. Two Portuguese canons were found on Cannonade Island and were dated no later than 1525. A map, known as the Dauphin map (made in 1536) is thought to be a composite of maps made by Mendoca in 1522 and Sequeria in 1525. It shows part of the west coast north from Shark Bay and then (much more accurately) the Kimberley and Northern Territory coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Sections are also very similar to the Queensland coast. The land mass was called Jave la Grande by the Portuguese.

Early navigation was fraught with danger. It was difficult for early navigators to fix their latitude and longitude and their calculations were often out by as much as 300 miles. The Dutch pioneered a route from the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) to Batavia (Java) using the winds of the 'roaring forties'. This took ships well south and then east on what turned out to be a collision course with Australia for those ships that did not turn north early enough. If they chanced upon the Australian coast at night then they were very likely to run into a reef or to be smashed up on cliffs.

Dutch vessels, at the time, could not sail close to the wind and due to inefficient rudder systems they could not turn away quickly if danger was sighted ahead. Even with these problems they were great seafarers making an estimated 10,000 voyages to Indonesia.

In 1503-4 the French explorer Binot Paulmier De Gonneville was blown off course and landed on an unknown land. People have speculated that he landed in Australia but this has never been proven. He reported on natives living in huts which does not fit the lifestyle of the Australian Aborigines who generally had no fixed structures to live in.

In 1602 the Portuguese may have made the first European landing on Australian soil.

In 1605-6 the Dutch ship Duyfken (Dove or possibly Little Dove) - spelled Duyfhen in one source -  with Williem Jansz (or Janszoon) made the first confirmed sighting of Australia (Cape York) as they passed through the southern end of Torres Strait. Janszoon mistakenly believed Cape York was part of New Guinea. He named the place he turned back Keer-Weer, or Turn Again.

The crew is said to have come ashore near the mouth of the Pennyfather River. Janszoon was on a mission to find the fabled Solomon's mines. The Duyfken was destroyed by a tidal wave in 1608. Janszoon was not aboard at the time but he died never knowing that he had landed on the Great South Land.

In the same year (1606) Louis Vaes De Torres sails through the straits that now bear his name. Torres may have actually seen the tip of Cape York but thought it was just another small island.

• Note on Dutch names in the 17 century: Second names (referred to as surnames these days) did not reflect a family name but instead related back to the first name of the father. For example Janszoon was effectively Jan's son. It was common to abbreviate the name in written form so Janszoon became Jansz, but in spoken form the full name was always used. It is correct therefore in modern English to write all Dutch names of this period in full as that is how they were used.

1611 Hendrik Brouwer pioneered a new route to the Dutch East Indies using the Roaring Forties by sailing further south. Because it was not possible at the time to accurately calculate longitude, many ships would come closer to the West Australian coast than they would have liked. (Note: One source says that Pelsaert's - see Batavia below - sister married Brouwer.)

1616 Dirk Hartog (more properly spelled Dirck Hatichs) made the first confirmed landing on the west coast on an island that now bears his name when sailing aboard the Eendragt. (sometimes spelled Eendracht). Hartog left an inscribed  pewter plate  fixed to a post. This plate was later found and taken away and another plate put in its place. This in turn was also removed and was only located many years later.

1618 Heinrich Claesz (Haevik Claeszoon) in the Zeewolf sighted North West Cape but thought it was an island.

The Dordrecht captained by Frederik de Houtman also visited the coast late that year. (Jacob d'Edel, in another VOC ship, Amsterdam, was also on the same expedition.) The ships almost came to grief on what are now called the Houtman Abrolhos islands. The expedition landed on the coast in the Shark Bay area.

Another visitor in 1618 was Lenaert Jacobszoon who sailed the ship Mauritius past the North West Cape and named two water ways. The Supercargo on the ship was none other than Willem Janszoon, former Master of the Duyfken.

1619 the Amsterdam joined Dordrecht sailing along the coast near Fremantle. The two ships turned south going as far as present day Bunbury and then turned out to sea before heading north. There are conflicting reports about whether they saw Rottnest with one source stating they did and another saying the opposite. As they got further north J. De Edel sighted the Abrolhos Islands off Geraldton. (One source quotes the origin of the islands name as the Dutch or perhaps Portuguese words 'Abros vos olhos' or keep your eyes open.)

1622 the Leeuwin (Lioness) sighted the southern cape that now bears the same name.

The Wapen van Hoorn captained by van Rosenbergh, almost went aground on an un-named part of the coast while sailing at night.

The Trial (also spelled Tryall in some sources) was wrecked (24th May 1622) between Barrow Island and the Monte Bellos at a site now known as Trial Rocks. Captain Brooks (or Brookes) abandoned the ship and most of its crew to their fate while he and 9 hand picked men sailed away to Java with the treasure the ship was carrying. Of the original crew of 143, only 46 escaped the sinking ship. Soon afterwards Brooks was at it again when the Moone foundered off the coast of England, but on that occasion the stolen treasure re-appeared after Brooks had been charged with the theft. (Another source says he was imprisoned for the 2 year duration of the trial but that the company ultimately dropped the case.)

The Trial (or Tryal) is the earliest ship known to have been wrecked in Australian waters. Its resting place was discovered in 1969 and the W.A. Museum investigated the site in 1971. Although there has been no conclusive proof that the wreck found is the Trial, it is generally accepted that the identification is correct.

1623 the Leyden (Leijden) captained by Claes Hermanszoon, sailed through the waters of Shark Bay.

In the same year the ships Arnhem and Pera with J. Carstenszoon and W. van Coolsteerdt followed where the Duyfken had gone before, but they became separated and the Arnhem was blown to the west and sailed along the shore of a land that today bears her name - Arnhem land. Several member of the crew of the Arnhem were killed by natives on this voyage.

1626 Daniel Cock sails the Leijden along the coast from Zuytdorp Cliffs to Dirck Hartog Island but does not land.

1627 the ship Gulden Zeepaerdt (Golden Seahorse) with Francois Thijssen (Frans Thijsz) and Pieter Nuyts,  sailed south of Cape Leeuwin across the Great Australian Bight almost as far as Spencer Gulf. The charts made during this voyage were still in use 175 years later.

The same year Galias, Utrecht and Texel are almost wrecked on the Albrohos reefs.

J. van Roosenburgh (Wapen Van Hoorn ) re-maps the coast near Shark Bay.

1628 the ship Vyanen (De Wit) sights the north west coast.

1629 the Batavia is wrecked (see more below).

1631 Willem Perregens in the Grootenbroeck sails between the Abrolhos Islands and the mainland finding a safe passage. The passage is recommended as an alternate route but is never used.

1635 Wijbrandt Geleynszoon in Amsterdam charts part of the west coast.

1636 Gerrit Thomasz Pool led an expedition to the south land but Pool died early in the proceedings and the journey was abandoned shortly after making contact with Melville Island.

Pieter Pieterszoon with the ships Cleen Amsterdam and Wesell.

1642 Abel Jansen Tasman's first voyage takes place. This is the voyage he is best known for as he encountered Tasmania (or Van Diemen's Land as he named it after the Governor of Batavia) and New Zealand but he made a second voyage. (The ships used on this voyage were the Heemskerck and Zeehan.)

1644 Tasman,  with the ships Limmen Zeemeeuw (or Zeemew) and Brak (or Bracq), sails from Cape York right along the northern coast of Australia down to Shark Bay before turning back to Batavia. Tasman seems to have made little attempt to describe or map the coast he passed and so this voyage is largely overlooked by historians. Had Tasman taken greater care with his observations it would have been the first great exploration of the northern coastline.
 

1648 Jan Janszoon in Leeuwerik maps part of the west coast.

1656 Vergulde Draeck wrecked. (see more below).

1657 Vinck, captained by van Riebeeck sails from the Abrolhos to N.W. Cape.

1658 Samuel Volckersen with Waekende Boey (Wakende Boei?) and Emmeloort (Emeloord?) go in search of the De Vergulde Draeck and land on Rottnest.  Abraham Leeman and thirteen other crewmen get separated from the ship and have to make their way back to Batavia. (See Leeman for more details.)

Jacob Pieterszoon in the Elburgh visits the Geographe Bay area and sees evidence of Aboriginal settlements.

An expedition by Peereboom is reported but we have no further details at this time.

1678 Jan van der Wall in the Vliegende Zwaan charts the area from North West Cape to Roebuck Bay.

1681 Captain Daniel in the London sails around the northern part of the Abrolhos Islands and the first English language description of this area is made.

1687 Captain Duquesne-Guitton in the L'Oiseau sights the west coast and sails near to the Swan River. This is the first recorded French contact with W.A.

1688 The first Englishman known to have landed on Australian soil was William Dampier aboard the Cygnet. Poor Captain Read is ignored by history.

1694 Ridderschap van Holland goes missing and is thought to be wrecked on the west coast. 326 people lost.

1696 Willem De Vlamingh with the ships Geelvinck, Nijptang and Weseltje charts the Perth region. Travels up the Swan River then goes north to Dirk Hartog Island and De Vlamingh replaces Hartog's pewter plate.

1699 William Dampier returns in the HMS Roebuck.

1712 The Zuytdorp (Captain Marinus Wijsvliet) is wrecked south of Shark Bay. (see more below).

1704 Maarten Van Delft, Andries Rooseboom, and Pieter Hendrikszoon in the Nieuw Holland, the Waijer, and the Vosschenbosch (Vissenbosch?), chart the coast of Arnhem Land and have numerous contacts with Aborigines.

1727 Zeewijk (Steyns) is wrecked on the Abrolhos Islands. (see more below).

1756 Jean Etienne Gonzal and L. L. van Asschens in the Rijder and Buijs sail around the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Keer Weer. They have a number of contacts with the Aborigines. This appears to be the last Dutch expedition to Australia.

Lavienne Lodewijk van Assehens' voyage.

1768 Louis Antoine de Bougainville in the Boudeuse is stopped 100 kilometres from the Australian mainland by the Great Barrier Reef.

1770 Captain James Cook 'discoverers' Australia and sails along the east coast from Point Hicks (also called Point Everard) to Cape York. Cook never even sights the west coast.

1771 Marion-Dufresne's voyage to Tasmania and New Zealand. While on the north island of New Zealand Dufresne and 25 of his crew were killed and eaten by Maoris.

Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec leaves France with the Berryer and sails to Mauritius where he exchanged the ship for the smaller vessels Fortune and Gros Venture. The expedition's second in command (Saint Aloüarn) was given command of the Gross Venture. Bad weather separated the ships and the Fortune returned to France. Kerguelen started making all sorts of wild claims about his discoveries. He had in fact not landed on any of his claimed new lands and was greatly discredited when the Gros Ventre eventually turned up having completed their task of charting and landing on the new land they had found.

1772 Louis François Marie Aleno de Saint Aloüarn in the Gros Venture lands on Dirk Hartog Island and claims the land for France when he visits Shark Bay (March 31st). Allouran had sailed north from Cape Leeuwin right along the west coast before reaching Melville Island. Allouran died not long after returning to Mauritius (one source says he died in Timor).  The ship Fortune commanded by Kerguelen had originally accompanied Allouarn but the ships were separated in a storm and the Fortune sailed back to the Isle of France.

1788, just 5 days after the first fleet arrived at Sydney Cove, Jean-Francois de Galaup La Pérouse arrived with a group of scientists aboard La Boussole and L'Astrolabe. Perouse then set sail for the Friendly Islands but was never seen again. The remains of one of the French ships was found by Peter Dillon in 1827 on Vanikoro Island (Santa Cruz group of islands). Evidence was found that a vessel of some sort had been manufactured from the wreck and had sailed away but none of the survivors were ever seen again.

One item of particular note about this expedition was the application to join it by one Napoleon Bonaparte. His application was refused and the rest is history.

1791 George Vancouver discovers King George Sound on his way to the Americas. Claims the land on behalf of Britain.

1792 Antonie D Entrecasteaux's voyage with Recherche (Research) and Esperance (Hope) in search of La Perouse. The expedition came within only 70 miles of the wreck site. Just 2 months later D Entrecasteaux was dead from scurvy.

1795 Mathew Flinders came out to Port Jackson aboard the Reliance with George Bass.

1801-3 Flinders and Baudin's voyages.

1818 De Freycinet's expedition. (13 February 1820 L'Uranie was wrecked on the Falkland Islands)

P.P. King begins his voyages of exploration.

1824 Louis Isidore Duperrey.

1825 Hyacinthe de Bouganville (Louis Antoine de Bougainville's son). Hyacinthe had 'most secret' orders from the French Government to report of defensive installations (Ie. to spy). This he did and sent a report that gave information about Sydney, Parramatta, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Moreton Bay and Melville Island.

1826 Jules Sebastian Cesar Dumont d'Urville. (Served as Executive Officer on the 1824 Duperey expedition.) d'Urville's ship L'Astrolabe bore the same name as La Pérouse's ill fated ship.

While the arrival of the first English settlers is well documented there were a number of rather unwilling settlers that arrived a long time before the English decided to settle W.A.

1629: Sardam

Five crew members helping to search for the survivors of the Batavia are lost in a boat near the Abrolhos Islands.

1629: Batavia

The story of the Batavia is quite well known but as one of the landmark events in the history of Western Australia we feel bound to include it in this guide.

The Batavia with the Dordrecht and Assendelft were sailing for the East Indies when they became separated. The Batavia sailed too far east and on the morning of June 4th 1629 struck Morning Reef near the Abrolhos Islands. The passengers, crew and some cargo was landed on two islands some distance from the ship. The Skipper (Ariaen Jacobsz) was responsible for the navigation of the ship but the man in charge of the cargo (the single most important thing on Dutch ships) was Francois Pelsaert, so he was technically in charge of the expedition.
 

Pelsaert and the Skipper had a major falling out while the ship was at Cape Town and trouble had been brewing ever since. Most of the problems concerned a woman - Lucretia Jansz - who Jacobsz had tried to force his attentions on. When he was unsuccessful, he took up with Lucretia's maid and (on 14 May 1629) during a drunken rampage on board Lucretia was assaulted. Pelsaert was apparently too ill at the time to intervene.

There was no immediate danger of the ship breaking up when she struck the reef but some 180 passengers and crew were taken off and deposited on two islands. About 70 men remained aboard for some time until the ship seemed to be in grave danger and they were then taken off (along with much of the valuable cargo) to an island.

The immediate concern was the lack of water as little was brought off the ship and none was found on the islands.

Captain Pelsaert took the ships boat and a number of survivors along the coast searching for water but found little enough for the party’s immediate needs. As the party stopped overnight near Point Cloates, it is thought that this may have been the first time that any European spent the night on the mainland of the west coast - most explorers returning to their ships at night. They continued north to Batavia (Jakarta) arriving on the 5th of July.
 

Almost as soon as Pelsaert had left the island Jocobsz, Jeronymus Cornelisz (the supercargo captain) and their supporters started a reign of terror and murder that was to claim the lives of 125 men, women and children. The mutineers planned to take over the rescue ship when it arrived and become pirates.
 

Some of the survivors of the wreck (led by a soldier called Webbye Hayes) had gone to another island in search of water and were temporarily safe from attack. When survivors of the attacks by Jacobz and Cornelisz reached their safe haven and warned Hayes of the danger, he organised a defensive structure to be erected. It was the first known European structure built in W.A.

Hayes and his men outnumbered and outgunned, beat off no less than 4 attacks and even managed to capture Cornelisz in the process.

When Pelsaert returned (August 17th) there was a race between Hayes and the mutineers to reach him first (the mutineers to kill him and Hayes to warn him). Hayes won and as the mutineers approached the ship they were faced with a line of primed muskets.

Pelsaert dealt out swift and bloody justice to the murderers - chopping off the hands of some before hanging them - but two men were spared.

After 3 months of terror on the Abrolhos Islands Wauter Loos nan Mastricht and Jan Pillegran De Bye van Brommel were marooned near the Hutt River mouth and although they had been party to the murders on the islands off shore, they were well provisioned and even left a boat. Although nothing more was ever heard from them there are indications that they may have survived and been taken in by local Aboriginal tribes.

Years later there were persistent reports of Aborigines in the area with blue eyes and fair hair so it is at least possible that the first unwilling settlers had in fact survived.

(Note: Pelsaert signed his name as 'Franco Pelsartt'.)

1656: Vergulde Draek (Gilt Dragon )

After their ship is wrecked on April 28th near Pt. Leschenault, 7 crew sail for Java in a long boat while 68 survivors (of a total compliment of 193) remain on shore. When rescuers return no sign is found of the 68. The wreck was less than 100 miles north of what would become the colony at Swan River but for whatever reason the 68 people left on shore seem to have vanished. We have only recently heard a report that a settlement may have existed in the south west before the British colonists arrived but apart from the rumour there is no proof as yet that such a settlement ever existed.

Some sources quote that Abraham Leeman was one of those who sailed to Java but other sources make no mention of this. See Leeman for more details.

After the wreck site was located it was damaged and looted. This led to the Museum Amendment Act 1964 being passed to stop any further damage or theft from wreck sites. Despite the looting of this site subsequent expeditions have recovered a number of valuable artifacts.

1656: Geode Hoop (Good Hope)

3 sailors are lost in bush land while looking for the survivors from the Gilt Dragon and 8 more crew are dispatched from the ship to find them but their boat is overturned in the surf. Although no bodies are recovered no search is mounted and they are left to their fate.

1712: Zuytdorp

Between 40 and 200 people may have survived the ship wreck along the Zuytdorp Cliffs. Later exploration finds significant numbers of artifacts from the ship that had been brought up on to the top of the cliffs.

Tom Pepper, a stockman working in the area, had found coins and other items at a campsite near the cliffs and years later (1954) when geologist, Phillip Playford visited the region, Pepper told him about the site he had found in 1927. Tom Brady and the Cramer brothers from Geraldton went diving in the sea where it was thought the ship may have struck and they found the remains of the ship. The sight they discovered was littered with silver coins. When the museum found out about the find they installed a watchman in a caravan at the top of the cliffs but one day when he was away picking up supplies the caravan was fire bombed and the Museum decided to withdraw the watchman. This was just what looters were waiting for and the carpet of silver coins soon vanished.

1727: Zeewick

At about 7:30pm the Zeewick (commanded by Jan Steyns) struck Half Moon Reef off the Abrolhos Islands on its way to Batavia. Initially the seas were too rough to launch the longboats but when they had calmed somewhat a camp was set up on a nearby island (Gun Island).

After the initial wreck 12 men set off for Batavia but are never seen again. Those that survived 9 long months on an island close to the wreck site built a boat from the remains of the ship and sailed to safety (although 6 more men died on the way north). The Zeewick was the last VOC ship to be lost on the West Australian coast. The wreck was discovered in 1952 and ten years later a cannon was raised and is now on display in Geraldton (Chapman Road.)

These are just some of the known survivors of ship wrecks along the West Australian coast. Most of these happened on a stretch of coast between Geraldton and Shark Bay.

In this area the Nanda people lived. The Nanda are unusual among all Aboriginal tribes. When British settlers arrived they found a tribe that was lighter skinned than other Aboriginies, where blue eyes were found in the population, blonde hair in adults was much more common as was baldness. This tribe was also taller than was the norm and their language differed considerably from that of surrounding tribes. There was also a tradition of building more permanent dwellings and of re-planting food plants. The tribe was much less concerned with the ‘hunter-gatherer’ style of living that other Aboriginal tribes.

George Grey wrote of the Aboriginal settlements he found near the entrance to the Murchison River:

'...two native villages or, as the men called them, towns. - the huts of which they were composed differed from those in southern districts, in being much larger, more strongly built, and very nicely plastered over the outside with clay, and clods of turf, so although now uninhabited, they were evidently intended for fixed places of residence. This again showed a marked difference between the habits of natives in this part of Australian and the south-western portions of the continent; for these superior huts, well-marked roads, deeply sunk wells, and extensive warran grounds, all spoke of a large and comparatively speaking, resident population.'

In 1848 Augustus Gregory was exploring the same general region and remarked after an encounter with local tribes that he was sure that they descended from mixed Aboriginal and European parentage.

All this points to the fact that survivors of shipwrecks did integrate with Aboriginal people and in effect,, became the first white settles not only on the West coast, but possibly in all of Australia.

Discoveries of European artifacts that pre-date British settlement, have been made up to 50 kilometres inland and there are persistent rumours of a Dutch village that was found, then lost somewhere in the outback.

The lost Dutch Village

In 1834 a letter appeared in the Leeds Mercury (25/Jan/1834) and an abridged version appeared in the South African Commercial Advertiser in July of the same year.

The author spoke of an expedition undertaken by Lt. Nixon who travelled inland from Raffles Bay and chanced across a fortified village of white skinned people who spoke Dutch (May 15th 1832). Their leader was named as van Baerle and the villagers are supposed to have been the descendants of shipwrecked passengers some 170 years before Nixon found the village.

The location was given as 18 degrees 30 minutes 14 seconds south and 132 degrees 25 minutes 30 seconds east. The location was some 300 miles from Raffles Bay. This puts the settlement somewhere in the Tanami Desert, south east of Lake Woods.

Despite attempts to verify this site no signs of a village have been found, but the question remains, why would anyone lie about it?

First Chinese immigrant: Moon Chow - 1828 - if true he was here BEFORE Stirling's settlers. (Another source states he arrived in 1829 which seems more likely.)

First Italian immigrant: Dr. Louis Giustiniani - 1836

First Italian fisherman: Giuseppi Marselli - 1863

First Greek immigrants: 1898

Multi-cultural Australia is thought to be a modern development after the demise of the 'white Australia' policy but the 1901 census shows multi-culturalism was alive and well early on in our history: