How decision-making came about

On August 23, 1695, Willem de Vlamingh returned from his trip to Java. In the spring of 1696 he was sent on his famous journey to the Great Unknown Southland. Naturally, there was a lot that preceded such a voyage of discovery.

Why a trip to this unkown land in the South?

For centuries it was suspected there had to be one or more countries somewhere on the southern hemisphere, big lands that were not yet discovered. The famous Greek philosopher and scholar Pythagoras - whose name most of us probably remember from math class - already argued in the sixth century BC: there were so many countries in the northern hemisphere, only a large country near the South Pole could keep the earth in balance. Scholars at that time all spoke Latin to each other, so they were talking about Terra Australis Incognita. Terra means land, incognita means unknown and Australis literally means: in the south. The later word Australia is derived from this.

Portuguese skippers were the first to report seeing an unknown coast in the distance, but according to tradition, the Dutchman Willem Janszoon with his ship the Duyfken was in 1605 the very first to actually set foot ashore. Another Dutch skipper, Dirk Hartog with his ship the Eendracht, even left a pewter dish with an inscription in 1616. But these encounters with the Southland had always been unintentional and very short-lived.

It was not until the 1740s that the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was sent to the South by the VOC to explore the area. He stumbled upon two unknown new countries and named them: New Zealand and Van Diemensland (which was later named Tasmania after its discoverer).

Nonetheless, with these two islands not yet the entire Southland had been discovered. This became apparent when the VOC kept losing ships on their way to the East. These probably crashed on a coast that was still unknown. Not only did this fact cost a lot of lives and trade... each of those ships also had trunks full of money for the VOC's headquarters in Batavia.

When the frigate Ridderschap van Holland did not return from her journey, the VOC had had enough. The Ridderschap had left Vlissingen in the summer of 1693 with more than 350 people on board. After they visited the refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope and left for Batavia in February 1694, the ship or its crew were never heard from again. It was suspected this ship had also run aground on the coast of a hitherto unknown Southland.

You may wonder how it is possible ships from the Netherlands that had Batavia as their destination ended up at the coast of Australia? This was not the case at the beginning of the VOC era. Then the sailing ships all followed the coast of Africa and went east from Madagascar to the Indian archipelago. So close to the equator it is often very warm and there is little wind though. This caused many diseases and spoiled the food spoiled.

Clever sailors discovered it was more efficient - after stocking up on refreshments at the Cape of Good Hope - to lower the ships to a latitude of 40 degrees. There it is much cooler and you also have a strong wind! So even though you made more nautical miles, the journey went faster and you also avoided enemy ships. However, due to the inadequate means of navigation, it was difficult to determine the right moment to turn the stern to the north again. Whoever transited too far, completely unexpectedly crashed on a low coast that just appeared out of nowhere. The coast of the Southland.

The decision is made

The board of directors of the VOC, the so-called “Heren Zeventien” (Seventeen Lords) consisting of seventeen men, decided something had to be done about this situation. On November 10, 1695 they wrote a letter from Amsterdam to the governor-general in Batavia (1). The Amsterdammers begin their letter by mourning the fate of the Ridderschap van Holland, of which no sign of life has been heard for a year and a half. It is suspected this ship may also have been shipwrecked on the coast of an unknown Southland.

On the existing maps there had been drawn a line on the place they roughly calculated the coast of the undiscovered country approximate could be, but several skippers claimed the land was way more westerly than these maps indicated. According to those experienced sailors, the existing charts were wrong by at least 50 miles. This meant ships crashed long before they expected to land. Moreover, the coastal strip was poorly visible because it involved reefs and low dunes. Not always distinguishable from the waves and the surf, with all its terrible consequences for the ships and its people!

In their letter, the board of the VOC therefore proposes to undertake a voyage from Batavia to the unknown Southland. With a good ship of a hundred feet large, well manned and well equiped, and with two small other vessels. The intention was to search for the Ridderschap and also to thoroughly investigate and map the dangerous coast of that new country. The crew has to go into the unkown land (fully armed) to investigate everything. The VOC not only wanted to know whether there were ports and fresh drinking water in this Southland, but also whether it was possible to trade with the local inhabitants.

It is especially important this trip is made in the right season when the weather conditions were good. For this seemed to have failed in previous rescue operations in search of lost ships. The journals of skippers who previously returned without succes showed they all sailed out at the wrong season and their attempts to recover castaways were therefore fruitless. In fact, these rescue missions turned out te be very dangerous and al lot of rescuers died themselves. To be on the safe side, the Heren XVII enclosed some copies of these old logs with the letter in case the documents in Batavia had been eaten by the white ants or had otherwise become illegible.

All in all it is quite a long letter, because the members of the board of the VOC also point out to the governor-general of Batavia that in those previous voyages there had been a lack of water on board of these rescue ships. As a result, the skippers were forced to refuel with fresh water at unsafe places. This not only costed precious time, but sometimes costed lives too (for crew members got killed). So this time the board members of the VOC wanted to prepare everything well and therefore they now recommended bringing instruments for making fresh water on board.

Resolutions of the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC

The VOC consisted of seven chambers. One of them was the Chamber of Amsterdam. All chambers sent out a total of seventeen delegates, who together formed the seventeen directors of the VOC, or the aforementioned Heren Zeventien.

In the minutes of the Chamber of Amsterdam we read on November 21, 1695 (2) they were informed of the plans of the board to send ships to find the Southland and to hire skipper Willem de Vlamingh whom is believed to be a suitable person for that mission, and therefore send in service of the Company to Batavia.

To further develop this idea, the Chamber of Amsterdam is setting up a special committee, consisting of their own members Nicolaes Witsen, Joan Geelvinck and Van Collen (plus two lawyers from the Company). These gentlemen will decide whether it was wise to have the expedition members on their way from the Cape to Batavia also land on the islands of St. Paul and St. Peter (3). In addition, it is noted between brackets: which were said to be on their way. In short the men think: the expedition ships pass by anyway and it is best to investigate whether the ship the Ridderschap could not have accidentally wrecked on one of those islands.

A few meetings later (4) the special committee is already coming up with its conclusions. They consulted two experienced seamen - in addition to the expertise of Commander Hendrik Pronk, they also listened to skipper Willem de Vlamingh himself - and included the thoughts and considerations of these men in their decision-making. Based on this, the committee members now propose the expedition will not depart from Batavia, but from the Cape of Good Hope, because such a journey could be made much more adequately, shorter and more cost-effectively from the Cape than from Batavia (5). In the opinion of the two sailors, the new departure point was apparently not only significantly better and faster, but also cheaper, so the VOC agreed.

In addition the committee members decided that the fleet should consist of a good frigate and two galliots. A frigate is a warship, so the expedition will go on the trip heavily armed, so they can protect themselves against all possible dangers on their way and in the distant foreign land.

The frigate will also be equipped with a Greenland sloop, because it functions better when going ashore than the regular sloops the VOC usually uses. In these words we hear the voice and advice of Willem de Vlamingh, who, as a whaler on Greenland, will have worked with these sloops for years!

If it is up to the committee, the three ships will be under the authority and leadership of Willem de Vlamingh. Although, as skipper, he will of course receive clear instructions on what to do and what is expected of him. And the committee is considering to order both Commander Pronk as well as skipper Vlamingh to survey the islands of Paulus and Petrus whenever they will sail (separately) from the Cape to Batavia.

Hendrik Pronk is appointed commander of the now departing fleet that is ready to sail and will leave for Batavia on December 19 (6). Pronk was indeed given the explicit instruction to visit the islands of Saint Peter and Paul after the refreshment station at the Cape in search of survivors (7).

The Heren Zeventien (and thus the highest board of the VOC) fully agree with everything the Chamber of Amsterdam has proposed. They even copy word for word the recommendations made by the committee (8). The journey to the Southland under the leadership of Willem de Vlamingh will definitely continue. So all was arranged within a month!

In this meeting, most agreements are neatly listed and tightened by the VOC board. It appears it has been decided to have a new frigate built especially for this mission, which will bear the name Geelvinck after one of the men in the committee: Joan Geelvinck (9). Suddenly they now suggest if Willem de Vlamingh has time to spare, he might be able to visit the islands of Tristan d'Acunha on this side of the Cape too. This addition is quite an extra assignment, because this group of islands was definitely not on their pathway, like the other islands mentioned. For Tristan Da Cunha, one had to circumnavigate at least 1000 kilometers, there and back!

All the time the VOC members mention an instruction which Willem must strictly adhere to and which will be drawn up by the Chamber of Amsterdam. Or rather: by one of the MPs, Mr. Nicolaes Witsen. Years earlier  this man had arranged for Willem de Vlamingh to work for the VOC and now he was the driving force behind the entire expedition. As mayor of Amsterdam and board member of the VOC, Nicolaes Witsen was not only the perfect person for this, the trip also touched on many of his passions: cartography, discovering new countries, trading and, moreover, he was exceptionally fond of flora and fauna.

The aforementioned instruction written by Nicolaes Witsen was finally adopted by the VOC on April 23, 1696. The only still existing copy can be found in the archives of Cape Town. We have taken the liberty of using the transcription Günter Schilder printed in his book (11).

This instruction clearly states Willem de Vlamingh should only sail via the Tristan de Cunha archipelago if the condition of the ship's and the health of the crew allow it. He can spend a few days searching for an anchorage and to see if fresh water, firewood, vegetables, animals or fish can be found on the islands.

The lords of the VOC are also interested in everything that can be traded, such as minerals, rocks, amber, earth or tree crops and the like. Not only should the explorers register fully everything they find, the instruction demands they have to bring back a sample of anything of any value. Once again, the expedition members are urged not to stay too long on these islands and not to moor if this is humanly impossible without danger to ships or people.

At the end of September or at the latest at the beginning of October, the small fleet (if feasible) should move on again, in accordance with the instructions provided. Wind and weather permitting, Willem de Vlamingh is requested to explore the islands of Saint Paul and Peter and to approach as close to the coast as seamanship allows. In the vicinity of land, a cannon shot should be fired from the ships every half hour to see if survivors report themselves. Everyone on board is requested to keep a close eye out for all sorts of signs of life, such as smoke, fire or wreckage along the coast of every land they explore. Survivors found must of course be helped as much as possible and taken on board in order to return to civilization. If necessary - if they have found many people - according to the instruction given to Willem de Vlamingh the trip to the Southland can be stopped for this!

In the unlikely event the three ships lose each other en route, they will wait for the others for 10 to 12 days off the coast of the Southland at about the 32nd degree of latitude. Once everyone has arrived safely, the two most important assignments of the entire journey will take their turn. First, whether there are people or remnants of the Ridderschap or the Vergulde Draak or any other ship. Second: a close inspection of the coast and the interior of this unknown land. The expedition members are supposed to search for ports, anchorages and rivers, and then map everything as well as possible.

Since, according to various reports, this coast is inhabited by very savage, barbaric and cruel men (sometimes even described as giants), those who set foot must exercise extreme caution not to be murdered, as has happened many times before.

The coast of the unknown country is to be explored from latitude 32 to 21 south, after which the expedition members will return to Batavia via the Sunda Strait, where they will hopefully arrive before the end of April 1697. After the trip Willem de Vlamingh and the other skippers have to report extensively - orally and in writing - about this journey to the governor-general and the councils in Batavia.

Shortly after the departure of the three ships, Nicolaes Witsen quickly said a little prayer: if God grants them a safe journey and lets us live, we will certainly learn many details. Patience was already a virtue even then, because mayor Witsen wrote this desire on April 7, 1696 in a letter to a colleague and friend. They would both have to wait another two years for all their questions to be answered…

While mayor Witsen was drawing up the instructions for the trip, three new ships were being built at a shipyard in Amsterdam. For in the missive of the Heren XVII it is stated they had both the frigate yacht the Geelvinck and the other two ships especially built for this purpose (12).

The other two boats were a three-master (in Dutch called a hooker, but we will try to avoid this word which has too much of a strange connotation in English). Both ships have strange names, namely the Nijptangh (like the tool "pinchers") and the galliot is called 't Weseltje (this means waesel). The latter was the smallest of the three. The ship was built round with swords on the sides and a tiller that turned overboard (13). It had only two masts: a large one in front and one half as small behind. 't Weseltje therefore looked very characteristic.

In addition to the skipper, there were also a chief mate, second mate and third watch on board to navigate the ships. Not a superfluous luxury, given the high number of deaths along the way. Without skilled helmsmen, a sailing ship will never reach a safe haven.

Carpenters were on board for maintenance. Also a cook, a barber and someone who made barrels (vessels to transport water and food). The surgeon knew everything about plants and herbs, medicines to make sick sailors better.

We suspect Willem, as commander, was allowed to appoint a number of crew members himself, because on the muster rolls we again encounter the name of Michiel Bloem from Bremen, the mate who had also served under Willem on the Merestein.

However, part of the crew was recruited by so-called soul sellers, special recruiters for the VOC. These intermediaries had convinced the sailors they would only go to warm areas this time and therefore only provided them with cheap linen clothes instead of warm woolen clothes. Several sailors who, in a drunken state, had agreed to this poor equipment all got sick from sailing in wind, fog and cold!

The crew members not only came from Amsterdam or other Dutch ports. There were also many Germans and Scandinavians among them.

On 't Weseltje you probably litteraly had to hang your ass overboard to do your needs (or on a barrel and then throw it away). However, the Geelvinck had a real "toilet" on board, a wooden plank with holes that discharged directly into the sea.