fact that, so far as is known up to now, the whole of the
Australian coast-line from Prince of Wales Island and York Peninsula and
along the Gulf of Carpentaria, the north- and north-west-coast of
Australia then following, the whole of the west-coast, and the
south-coast down to the islands of St. Francois and St. Pieter (133 deg. 30'
E. L. Greenwich) were in the 17th century discovered by vessels belonging
to the Netherlands [*].

[* It is true that Dampier touched at the north-west coast in 1688, but
at that time this coast had already been surveyed by Dutch skippers.]

We now come to the question of the object which the Dutch authorities had
in view in arranging for the expeditions that ultimately led to these
discoveries.

In answering this question we shall have to distinguish between two
different categories of voyages: among the voyages undertaken by
Netherlanders that have led to discoveries on the coasts of Australia,
there are some which were not begun with the express purpose of going in
search of unknown lands; but there are others also that were undertaken
expressly with this end in view. Of course the second class only can be
called exploratory expeditions in a more restricted sense--the voyages of
the first category became voyages of discovery through accidental
circumstances.

The discoveries on the west- and south-west coasts of Australia down to
Tasman's time all bore an accidental character. Eendrachtsland was
discovered by accident in the year 1616, and after that time a number of
Dutch ships unexpectedly touched at those shores, thus continually
shedding additional, though always imperfect light on the question of the
conformation of the coast-line. How was it, we may ask, that it was
especially after 1616 that this coast was so often touched at, whereas
there had never been question of this before that time? The question thus
put admits of avery positive answer.

When the Netherlanders set sail for India for the first time, they
naturally took the route which they knew to be followed by the
Portuguese. After doubling the Cape of Good Hope, they directly continued
their voyage on a north-eastern course, along the west-coast, or close by
the east-coast, of Madagascar, and then tried to reach India coming from
the west. To this route there were grave objections both as regards the
winds prevailing in those latitudes, the intense heat soon encountered,
the great number of "shallows or foul islands