The ''Mauritius'' was an early 17th century

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

wooden-

hulled Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

, documented as being in service to the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

between 1618 and 1622.

History

1618 Discoveries

On the 1618 voyage, the ship was commanded by

Supercargo A supercargo (from Spanish ''sobrecargo'') is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship. The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the merchand ...

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ), sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 16031611 and 16121616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of S ...

and captained by Lenaert Jacobszoon, when they sighted North West Cape in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

on 31 July 1618. On that occasion they had believed that the mainland peninsular west of the Exmouth Gulf, was an island. They went ashore there and it is written that they discovered human footprints, as follows.

Letter Of supercargo WILLEM JANSZ(OON) to the Managers of the Amsterdam Chamber, October 6, 1618. A. Worshipful Wise Provident Discreet Gentlemen, (Sailed 1000 miles to eastward in 38 degrees with notable success.) The present serves only to inform you that on the 8th of June last with the ship Mauritius we passed Cape de bon esperence, with strong westerly winds, so that we deemed it inadvisable to call at any land, after which we ran a thousand miles to eastward in 38 degrees Southern Latitude, though we should have wished to go still further east. On the 31st of July we discovered an island and landed on the same, where we found the marks of human footsteps--on the west-side it extends N.N.E. and S.S.W.; it measures 15 miles in length, and its northern extremity is in 22° S. Lat. It bears Eendracht S.S.E. and N.N.W. from the south-point of Sunda at 240 miles' distance; from there (EendrachtslandThis marginal note was made by an official of the East India Company, when the letter had reached its destination.) through God's grace we safely arrived before Bantam on the 22nd of August... Done on board the ship 't ''Wapen'' van Amsterdam, October 6, 1618.

1627 Chart of Eendrachtsland

The ''Mauritius'' is mentioned on the '' Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht'' ("Chart of the Land of Eendracht"), which is a 1627 chart by

Hessel Gerritsz Hessel Gerritsz ( – buried 4 September 1632) was a Dutch engraver, cartographer, and publisher. He was one of the notable figures in the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. Despite strong competition, he is considered by some "unques ...

and is one of the earliest charts that shows Australia.

Willems Rivier (1618) on the 1627 chart

On the 1618 voyage, the crew visited and partly mapped a river which was named Willems Rivier. This river was most likely named after the Commander of the ship ''Mauritius'', Supercargo, Willem Janszoon. Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht (detail showing Willems River)

Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht (detail showing Willems River)

The chart shows ''Willems revier, besocht by 't volck van 't Schip Mauritius in Iulius A° 1618'' ("Willem's River, visited by the crew of the ship ''Mauritius'' in July 1618").

Commander Willem Janszoon

The Commander of the ship ''Mauritius'', Supercargo, Willem Janszoon, was captain of the ''

Duyfken ''Duyfken'' (; Little Dove), also in the form ''Duifje'' or spelled ''Duifken'' or ''Duijfken'', was a small ship built in the Dutch Republic. She was a fast, lightly armed ship probably intended for shallow water, small valuable cargoes, bri ...

'' in 1605–1606, when part of the Gulf of Carpentaria was mapped, during that earliest documented visit to Australia by a vessel from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Willems RivierAshburton River

The 1618 named Willem's River is believed to be the Ashburton River. The detail of the river’s position on the chart backs up the claim that Willem's River is the Ashburton River, which, being at 21 degrees 40 minutes south and 114 degrees 56 east, is almost exactly the

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

shown on the chart and discussed in other writing.

Eendrachtsland (1616) - Australia

The chart was based on a number of voyages, beginning with the 1616 voyage of

Dirk Hartog Dirk Hartog (; baptised 30 October 1580 – buried 11 October 1621) was a 17th-century Dutch sailor and explorer. Dirk Hartog's expedition was the second European group to land in Australia and the first to leave behind an artefact to record his ...

. On that voyage Hartog named

Eendrachtsland Eendrachtsland or Eendraghtsland ( nl, het Landt van d'Eendracht and ) is an obsolete geographical name for an area centred on the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Between 1616 and 1644, during the European age of exploration, ''Eendraghtsl ...

after his ship, the meaning "Concord" or "Unity". The name Eendrachtsland appeared on subsequent charts.

''Mauritius'' reaches Bantam

The ship ''Mauritius'' reached its destination Bantam,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on 22 August 1618. ''Mauritius'' is mentioned in September 1622, as follows.

But in the meantime, in the years 1616, 1618, 1619 and 1622, the west coast of this great unknown south land from 35° to 22° S. latitude was discovered by outward bound ships, and among them by the ship Endraght endracht for the nearer discovery of which the governor-general, Jan Pietersz Coen (of worthy memory) in September, 1622, despatched the yachts De Haring and Harewind; but this voyage was rendered abortive by meeting the ship Mauritius, and searching after the ship Rotterdam.

References

{{Reflist 1610s ships Exploration of Western Australia Exploration ships of the Dutch Republic European exploration of Australia Ships of the Dutch East India Company