e my Life of Tasman, pp. 115-118, and especially chart No. I of the
Tasman Folio. Much information may also be gathered from chart No. 14 of
the present work, since it registers almost the whole amount of Dutch
knowledge about Australia circa 1700.]

The entire coastline enclosing the Gulf of Carpentaria had accordingly
now been skirted and mapped out. The value of Tasman's discoveries in
this part of Australia directly appears, if we lay side by side, for
instance, the chart of the upper-steersman De Leeuw [*], who formed part
of the voyage of 1623, or Keppler's map of 1630 [**]; and Tasman's chart
of 1644 [***], or Isaac De Graaff's made about 1700 [****], which last
gives a pretty satisfactory survey of the results of Tasman's voyage of
1644 so far as the Gulf of Carpentaria is concerned. Although Tasman's
expedition of 1644 did not yield complete information respecting the
coast-line of the Gulf, and although it is easy to point out
inaccuracies, the additions made by this voyage to our knowledge on this
point are so considerable that we may say with complete justice that
while the discovery of the east-coast of the Gulf is due to Jansz. (1606)
and Carstensz. (1623), it was Tasman who made known the south-coast and
the greater part of the west-coast.

[* No. 7 on p. 46.]

[** No. 6 on p. 10.]

[*** Chart No. I in the Tasman Folio.]

[**** No. 14 below.]

More than a century was to elapse before Dutch explorers again were to
visit the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1756 the east- and west-coast of it
were visited first by Jean Etienne Gonzal and next by Lavienne Lodewijk
van Assehens [*]. The expedition is of little interest as regards the
surveying of the coast-line, but these explorers got into more frequent
contact with the natives than any of their predecessors--what especially
Gonzal reports on this subject, is certainly worth noting. Gonzal also
first touched at the south-west coast of New Guinea, and next, again
without becoming aware of the real character of Torres Strait, sailed to
the east-coast of the Gulf, skirting the same up to about 13 deg. S. Lat.,
after which he crossed to the west-coast. What he did there is of little
interest. Van Asschen's experiences are of even less importance for our
present purpose. One remark of his, however, is worth noting: he states
namely that he found the east-coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria [**] to be
"fully 12 miles more to eastward" than the charts at his disposal had