Page:A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 1.djvu/73

Edel.
1619.

to Thevenot, should rather have been the discovery of the ship Leeuwin.

The great reef lying off the coast of Edel, called Houtman's Abrolhos, was discovered at the same time; probably by Edel, or by some ship in the same squadron.

 

The Leeuwin.
1622.I do not find it any where said who commanded the Leeuwin, or Lioness; but it should appear, that this was also one of the outward-bound ships which fell in with the West Coast. In Thevenot's chart, Leeuwin's Land comprehends about ninety leagues of the south-west extremity of New Holland; and, from the latitude of 35°, extends northward to about 31°; but in later publications, it has been much restricted in its northern limit, apparently, upon the authority of Van Keulen.

 

The Vianen.
1628.The next discovery upon the Western Coasts was that of the ship Vianen, one of the seven which returned to Europe under the command of the governor-general Carpenter. The Dutch recital speaks of this discovery in the following terms. The coast was seen "again accidentally in the year 1628, on the north side, in the latitude 21° south, by the ship Vianen, homeward bound from India; when they coasted two-hundred miles, without gaining any knowledge of this Great Country; only observing a foul and barren shore, green fields, and very wild, black, barbarous inhabitants."

This was the part called De Witt's Land; but whether the name were applied by the captain of the Vianen does not appear in the recital. De Brosses says, "William de Witt gave his own name to the country which he saw in 1628, to the north of Remessen's River; and which Viane, a Dutch captain, had, to his misfortune, discovered in the month of January in the same year; when he was driven upon this coast of De Witt, in 21° of latitude, and lost all his riches." The confusion that reigns in the