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Cornelisz'; the italics are our own.) They then proceeded to murder all those on the island with the exception of thirty men and four boys, so that the name of the island as set down in the contract—Batavia's graveyard—was both sinister and significant.

Meanwhile Webbye Hays and party, who were away looking for water, were after twenty days successful in finding it, and made three fires as a signal. As this happened to be on the day of the general murder Cornelisz and his friends were probably too busy to notice it. Some who escaped the carnage managed to get across to Hays on rafts and take him the dreadful news. Having with these reinforcements some forty-five men under him, he resolved to place himself in a position of defence from attack. Those on the remaining island, either not being aware of what had transpired or being too weak to defend themselves, were attacked by a party of Cornelisz' ruffians, and all but seven boys and six women were murdered. The chests of merchandise were then opened and the worthy band attired themselves gaudily in scarlet cloth, with gold and silver embroidery.

The ringleader, however, recognized that there could be no safety for him until Webbye Hays and party were put out of the way. Consequently, having assumed the title and authority of "Captain-General," he sent an expedition of twenty-two armed men against them. These were successfully repulsed by the practically defenceless band. Cornelisz then had recourse to strategy, and by letter secretly offered some of the men large rewards in return for treachery. These letters were shown to Hays, and a trap was accordingly laid. Cornelisz was induced to come to the island to settle the terms, and on arrival he himself was taken prisoner and some of his men killed.

At this stage, September 13, the "Sardam" with Pelsart arrived at the Abrolhos. the commodore being pleased to find from the presence of smoke that some at least of his people were still alive. Before he could land, Webbye Hays and three others came on board and gave him an account of the whole tragedy, further informing him that the ruffians were already on their way to surprise and seize the ship. These when they arrived were captured, a fate that also quickly befell the remainder of the band. An examination into the whole circumstances was then and there made, and as carrying the miscreants back to Batavia would have meant crowding the frigate too much, Cornelisz and those closely associated with him were put to death on Seal Island after being subjected to the refinements of what one almost feels compelled to admit was well-merited torture. Among them they had murdered no fewer than 125 innocent people. The frigate then returned to Batavia, stopping on her course to maroon two of the conspirators on the coast near Champion Bay. These two villains were the first white inhabitants of the continent so far as is known. It is curious that the first white settlement in Australia also consisted of persons largely of the same class.

During the years following, particularly in 1629, 1632, and 1635, various places on the west coast were either touched at or sighted by Dutch ships, but these did not contribute anything new in the way of information. The next important voyage was that of Abel Janssen Tasman (who had discovered Van Diemen Land in 1642) and Franz Visscher with the yachts "Limmen," "Zeemeeuw," and "De Brak." It was for this voyage, which took place in 1644, that the Dutch "Book of Despatches" previously referred to, and from which much of our knowledge of the voyages of the Dutch East India Company is derived, was compiled. The object of the expedition was to explore the north-west and north coasts of the new continent, and to proceed eastward, despite adverse winds, to determine whether New Guinea was a separate island or part of the mainland. Tasman's Journals have unfortunately been lost, so that such information as we possess about the voyage is rather meagre, and is taken from a work published in 1705 by Burgomaster Witsen, who quotes Tasman as the authority for his statements. These refer chiefly to the natives, who are described as "possessing rude canoes made of the bark of trees, but no houses; to live poorly, go naked, and eat yams and other roots."

From the map published by Thevenot in 1663, which it is said was originally taken from that done in inlaid work on the pavement of the new Stadt Haus in Amsterdam, we may get a fair idea of his route. He certainly did not ascertain whether New Guinea was separated from the mainland, but he examined the northern coastline from Arnhem Land to Exmouth Gulf, taking in De Witt Land and part of Eendraght Land, and embracing the districts now known as the Kimberleys and the North-West. He also appears to have landed in what we call Carnôt and Roebuck Bays. To him we owe the name "New Holland," which was applied by the Dutch only to that portion of the continent lying west of a meridian line drawn north and south through Arnhem Land and the islands of St. Francis and St. Peter. The part east of that line was still denominated the Terra Australis. New Holland, which included the whole of the present State of Western Australia, was according to the Dutch "The Great Known South Land," as distinguished from the rest of Australia, which remained "The Unknown Land."

From this time to the end of the century the interest of the Dutch in coastal exploration seems to have flagged. The sterile nature of the country promised but little in the way of wealth, and though the territory was still included in the lands of the Dutch East India Company it was left undisturbed to the occupation of