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of the crew. The results of Torres' voyage not being known at the time, the captain considered that the whole coast traversed was a portion of New Guinea.
The second voyage, according to the "Book of Despatches," was that made in a yacht from Batavia by order of the Fiscal d'Edel in 1617. Of this, however, nothing certain is known, as the journals and remarks could not be found.
No further attempts at discovery were made from Batavia until 1623, but in the meantime outward-bound ships touched at various portions of the coast in 1616, 1618, 1619, and 1622. Of these voyages but little information is now available. The most important of them all, from a romantic as well as from an historic point of view, is that of Dirk Hartog in 1616, commanding the ship "Eendraght," of some 360 tons burden. To this navigator we owe the discovery of Dirk Hartog Island, Doore Island (named after the chief pilot), and the roads leading to Shark Bay, so named at a later period by Dampier. The coast of the mainland adjacent to these islands was also named Eendraght Land, after the vessel. On the north end of the island bearing his name Hartog left a tin-plate as witness to his visit. This was nailed to a post and remained in position for nearly a century before being again seen by the eye of civilized man. It bore the following inscription:—
"On the 25th of October, 1616, arrived here the ship 'Eendraght,' of Amsterdam: The first merchant, Gilles Mibais van Luyck; captain, Dirk Hartog, of Amsterdam; the 27th ditto set sail for Bantam; under merchant, Jan Steyn; upper steersman, Pieter Dockes, from Bil; a.d. 1616."
To continue the history of this plate it may be said that when Van Vlaming, captain of the "Geelvinck" (of whose voyage it will be necessary to speak later), visited the island in 1697—the first visit, so far as we know, after the erection of the plate—he took the original plate away to Batavia, replacing it by a new one, on which the old inscription was copied and the following new one added:—
"On the 4th of February, 1697, arrived here the ship 'Geelvinck,' of Amsterdam: Captain commandant, Wilhelm van Vlaming, of Vlielandt; assistant, Jan van Bremen, of Copenhagen; first pilot, Micheel Bloem van Estight, of Bremen; the hooker 'Myptangh': Captain, Gerrit Collaert, of Amsterdam; assistant, Theodorus Heermans, of the same place; first pilot, Gerrit Gerritz, of Bremen; then the galliot 'Weseltje': Commander, Cornelius van Vlaming, of Vlielandt; pilot, Coert Gerritz, of Bremen. Sailed from here with our fleet on the 12th to explore the South Land and afterwards bound for Batavia."
Still another century later —in 1801 —during the French voyage of discovery made by Baudin in the "Géographe" and "Naturaliste," Van Vlamings plate was seen. The two vessels had become separated, and Captain Hamelin, of the "Naturaliste," sent three men on to Dirk Hartog Island for the purpose of signalling the other ship. The boatswain on his return from the island brought back the tin-plate, which he had found on the north point half buried in sand and close to an oaken post to which originally it seemed to have been attached. Hamelin copied the inscription and then replaced it in position on a new post. He also placed on the north-east of the island a new plate giving the name of his ship and the date of arrival. The old plate remained for a while longer, but was not to be found when King made a careful search for it in 1822. It afterwards transpired that Freycinet had removed it in 1818 and had deposited it for safekeeping in the Museum of the French Institute at Paris. This fact is recorded in the Minutes of the Institute for 1821, but apparently it was too safely deposited, as every effort since made to discover it has been futile. The same fate was believed to have befallen the original plate of Dirk Hartog, which had been carried to Batavia. Fortunately, however, it was found in 1902 in the State Museum at Amsterdam by Mr. J. F. L, de Balbian.
Reverting now to the historical narrative, it would appear that in July, 1618, the outward-bound ship "Mauritius" made some discoveries on the west coast, more particularly of Willem's River (probably the Ashburton) near the North-West Cape. As the journals and remarks were lost no further particulars of this voyage are available. In the following year, 1619, a fleet of eleven vessels under the command of Frederik Houtman, in the "Dordrecht," claims to have discovered a series of reefs lying off the west coast, to which the name Frederik Iloutman's Abrolhos was given. These consist of a cluster of rocky islets with surrounding reefs, and are situated west and north-west of Champion Bay. The term "abrolhos" is a contraction of the Portuguese abri rossos ollios ("keep your eyes open")—a most necessary precaution—and a term applied by them to outlying coastal dangers. It is very doubtful whether this was really the first discovery of these islands. It will be remembered that on at least one Portuguese map of the sixteenth century they are vaguely defined and the term "Abrolhos" given them. That may have been merely a generic term applied to some obstruction to navigation about that latitude, but the Portuguese certainly claim, with some show of reason, that the honour of their discovery belongs to Don Jorge de Meneses in 1527, and though we may not consider the arguments in favour of that contention completely convincing, there seems very little doubt that the Portuguese were aware of the, existence of the islands before 1542. Mr. Major is of opinion that there is no evidence that Hout-