- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
Such a great start to a first contact. Killing twenty men.
Lands of Red and Gold
- Thread starter Jared
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Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh dear.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
Eh, as first contact goes that seems sadly likely.
I wonder if that tablet will survive to the modern day? It would certainly be an unimaginably valuable historical document.
I wonder if that tablet will survive to the modern day? It would certainly be an unimaginably valuable historical document.
Unfortunate outcome, but first contacts are very easy to turn violent, especially with societies as different in perspective as these.
That said, as will be shown, the Dutch are fortunate in that the Atjuntja do not assume that one hostile act means that a people are uniformly hostile, because they believe that such behaviour might be due to the influence of the Lord (ie their evil deity).
The tablet won't survive because wax-covered tablets are the Atjuntja scribes' equivalent of etch-a-sketch - you can write draft notes on it, then smooth it out and rewrite.
However, the actual letters which were sent were on parchment, and that is at least capable of surviving for that length of time.
Gracias. I try to think through the perspective of whoever I'm writing about that the time. Though the Atjuntja are rather alien in their mindset.Dang, well that could have gone better, a very saddening case of misunderstandings in first contactVery vividly described and well written, kudos, a lot of world building and cultural perspective was conveyed very naturally.
Lands of Red and Gold #21: The Third World
Lands of Red and Gold #21: The Third World
"My intention is to demonstrate briefly and clearly that the Dutch – that is to say, the subjects of the United Netherlands – have the right to sail to the East Indies, as they are doing now, and to engage in trade with the people there. I shall base my argument on the following most specific and unimpeachable axiom of the Law of Nations, called a primary rule or first principle, the spirit which of which is self-evident and immutable, to wit: Every nation is free to travel to every other nation, and trade with it."
- Hugo Grotius, Mare liberum, 1609
--
To his exalted majesty's servant Namai Urdera, governor of the garrison-city of Archers Nest, from Birring Gabi, Chief Watcher of the West and Seventh Councillor [of Star Hill]: May the fortunate stars watch over you and the wanderers [planets] bring you joy and prosperity. May you know your path as it stretches out before you in this life, your lives past, and your lives yet to come.
Take heed and beware: on the night these raw-skinned strangers arrived, four stars were ripped from the Python [1] and descended to the earth. Know this to be true: four greater kuru have crossed over into the mortal realm. Consider and understand: this augurs a time of great consternation, of potent forces at work.
Answers may be found, if you contemplate the Python. Prey it finds, dangers it dispatches, not by poison or by swift strike, but by the slow embrace of the crushing death. If war the raw-skins offer, resolution will not be found in one swift strike. Measured, persistent, and unyielding action must be your response. If peace the raw-skins offer, likewise let the wisdom of the Python guide your steps, while considering always that even the pacifistic may cause harm through mischance or greed.
--
December 1619
Batavia Fort, Java
Rain poured onto the roof, a steady drumbeat of water which had started a month before and which would continue for several more months – the annual rhythm of the monsoons. This building, the new residence of the Governor-General of the East Indies, had been thrown up hastily, from the look of it. As Commander Frederik de Houtman walked in, with Councillor Jacob d'Edel at his side, he could only hope that the rapid construction had been enough to withstand the endless rains.
Of course, if he had had his way, he would have met with Governor-General Jan Coen months earlier, before the monsoon started. Alas, fortune had conspired against him. Earlier this year, Coen had moved the headquarters of the Company to Batavia from its old site of Ambon. De Houtman had not known that before he left the Netherlands, and so he had first taken his ships to Ambon, and then needed to resupply before he could come to Batavia.
"Have you met Coen before?" Jacob d'Edel asked, while they waited to be brought in to meet the Governor-General.
De Houtman shook his head. He had seen Coen occasionally, at meetings of the Lords Seventeen in Amsterdam and Middleburg, but had never spoken with him.
"From what I hear, he's sharp of both tongue and mind, and demands respect and strict obedience from all who serve him. Be careful what you say and do."
De Houtman nodded absently. He was more concerned with how long it had taken Coen to meet them at all, even after they reached Batavia. Apparently the Governor-General was more concerned with rebuilding the town, which had been burned in the fighting, and negotiating with the English, who were being more troublesome than usual [2].
Governor-General Coen rose to greet them as they entered his office. He dressed as a gentleman should, in a full coat topped by a broad white ruff. He had a narrow chin beard below a wider moustache, and his dark brown hair had been cut short to better suit the Indies' heat.
They exchanged perfunctory greetings, then Coen said, "So, Commander Houtman, you've found something you're proud of."
A blunt man, indeed, de Houtman thought. Still, Coen had the trust of the Seventeen Lords, so he was not a man to be crossed. And de Houtman suspected that Coen would also be prepared to put whatever effort was required to achieve something, if he decided that it needed to be done.
De Houtman said, "We have found a whole new world, as isolated behind its oceans and deserts as the Americas were before Columbus. The peoples who live there are as unknown to us as-"
Coen's chuckle cut him short. "And you consider yourself the next Columbus, no doubt. I know that you styled yourself as Captain-General on your voyage here, even though you were never granted that title."
De Houtman started to speak to defend himself, but Coen waved him to silence. The Governor-General continued, "You may have earned that rank, if this new land brings rewards worth the visiting."
"It does," d'Edel said.
"Indeed?" Coen steepled his fingers, and looked over them at the two men. "Tell me, or better yet show me: what does this land produce that is worth the Company sending more ships there? The reports from previous ships have not been encouraging."
De Houtman placed two bracelets on the table, one of gold, one of silver. He had taken those from the dead native leader. Along with a larger neck-ring made of two pieces of gold twisted together, but Coen did not need to know about that. The neck-ring would remain in de Houtman's personal possession, until he could present it to the most important people he could meet back in the Netherlands. For preference, to the Stadtholder, Maurits van Nassau, or at least to the assembled Lords Seventeen.
He said, "One of the natives' nobles wore these. The natives we brought back with us have confirmed that they mine gold and silver somewhere in their lands, although being peasants, they are too ignorant to tell us exactly where."
Coen smiled.
Well he might, too, de Houtman thought. Not only were gold and silver valuable in themselves, they were needed to buy the spices which the Company shipped back to Europe. Using bullion of silver or gold, Company traders could buy spices which were worth more than the metals themselves.
"Gold would indeed be excellent, if we can obtain it usefully. Is there anything else?"
"The natives have spices. We have not found out how many kinds, yet; we do not know enough of their language to understand the spices which the natives know of. Still, we can be sure of at least two."
De Houtman placed a small twig on the table. One of many samples; he had had his sailors cut down one of the sandalwood trees and bring it with them before they left d'Edels Land. "This is a kind of sandalwood. Not quite the same as that which comes from India, but still valuable, I dare say."
He waited while Coen found a tinderbox, lit the twig, and inhaled the smoke. The smile which lit the Governor-General's face was perhaps not as wide as the first one, but still, he clearly approved of the fragrance.
"And the other spice?"
De Houtman said, "Sadly, we could not bring any samples, but the natives know of tobacco. They recognised it when they saw our sailors smoking it, and begged to be allowed some themselves."
He shrugged. "They did not smoke it, though. They mixed it with ashes from the ship's ovens and chewed it. As far as our sailors can understand their language, they liked it, but said that it was inferior to what grew in their homeland."
This time, Coen's expression was one of calculation, at least as far as de Houtman could judge. Tobacco grew mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean islands, although sailors almost everywhere smoked it. A new source of tobacco could be promising indeed, especially if it truly was superior to that grown in the Americas. Or it might turn out to be useless; de Houtman did not know, but he wanted to find out.
"So, you have found a land of gold and spices. What of the natives themselves? A brief account only, if you please; if I want more details, I will ask for them."
De Houtman gave a short account of the inlet in d'Edels Land, the strange plants, and their skirmish with the natives. He continued, "We brought the natives back to the ships with us. There were four, but one of them decided to jump off the ship and drown herself in the open sea rather than come with us." Actually, he suspected that the native woman had been raped by sailors, despite his strict orders to the contrary. He could not prove that, though, and even if he could, he would not have admitted the failure here.
"A few sailors have learned something of their language, and we've started to teach them Dutch. Their knowledge is still limited, so we don't know much what their country is like. They do know nothing of the Indies, though, or anywhere else in the world other than their own southern land. They have some sort of king or lord at a place they call the White City, but we need to know more of their language to find out much about that city."
Coen said, "Would they be interested in trade? Especially for gold."
De Houtman glanced over at d'Edel. Being a Councillor of the Indies, d'Edel was in a better position to deliver ambiguous news. "We don't know, yet," d'Edel said. "The natives we have are peasants, from what I can gather. They babble about traders who visit somewhere to the south, but not the whys and wherefores. To know more about the potential for trade, we'd need to find some natives of good standing."
"We'll have to find out, then," Coen said. "If they are unwilling to trade, can gold be easily seized?"
De Houtman said, "Difficult to say. They know nothing whatsoever of muskets, nor of horses. The natives were horrified when they first saw horses in Ambon. But we don't know how large their armies are. Their fighting spirit is not to be despised; they killed two of my sailors, one immediately and a second who died of his wounds."
Coen said, "I will think more on this. Please send me a full written account of your meeting with these natives and everything which you have learned from them. Thank you, Councillor, Commander; we will speak more of this soon."
--
To his exalted majesty's servant Namai Urdera, governor of the garrison-city of Archers Nest, from his exalted majesty's servant Lerunna Mundi, chamberlain of the palace: May the Lord turn his eyes away from you. May you know friendship and honour all the days of your life.
His exalted majesty Kepiuc Tjaanuc has heard your words and has instructed me to reply in his name. Your vigilance is noted; your dedication is to be praised. The death of your noble kinsman is to be mourned; may the Incarnator guide his spirit to a suitable rebirth. His exalted majesty's soldiers have died in his service, and deserve to be honoured. Send to me a full list of their names and kin, that their names can be revered at the next equinox parade along the Walk of Kings, and that their kin may be rewarded from his exalted majesty's storehouses.
His exalted majesty is pleased that all of the Middle Country recognises his supremacy, thanks to the Lady's blessing and the Lord's assent. Always must this supremacy be preserved, whether from treachery or from rebellion or wanderers from the treeless lands or Islander mutterers [ie priests] or wind-blown visitors from the west. You are instructed to keep watch, and respond to these strangers as you see fit if they return, provided that you always honour and uphold his exalted majesty's supremacy.
--
Instructions for the yachts Hasewint, Assendelft and Wesel [3] having destination jointly to discover and explore the South-Land, 23 April 1620
Inasmuch as Our Masters [i.e. the Seventeen Lords] earnestly enjoin us to dispatch hence certain yachts for the purpose of making discovery of the South-Land; and since moreover experience has taught by great perils incurred by sundry of our ships - the urgent necessity of obtaining a full and accurate knowledge of the true bearing and conformation of the said land, that accidents may henceforth be prevented as much as possible [4]; besides this, seeing the late reports and accounts of the last ships to explore the said coast, it is highly desirable that an investigation should be made to ascertain which parts of these regions are inhabited, and whether any trade might with them be established [5].
Therefore, for the purpose before mentioned, we have resolved to fit out the yachts Hasewint, Assendelft and Wesel for undertaking the said voyage, and for ascertaining as much of the situation and nature of these regions as God Almighty shall vouchsafe to allow them.
You will accordingly set sail from here together, run out of Sunda Strait, and steer your course for the South-Land from the western extremity of Java, keeping as close to the wind as you will find at all possible, that by so doing you may avoid being driven too far westward by the south-easterly winds which generally blow in those waters. You may therefore run on as far as the 32nd or 33rd degree, if you do not fall in with land before that latitude; having got so far without seeing land, you may conclude that you have fallen off too far to westward, for sundry ships coming from the Netherlands have accidentally come upon the South-Land in this latitude; you will in this case have to turn your course to eastward, and run on in this direction until you sight land.
When you shall have come upon the South-land in the said latitude or near it, you will skirt the coast of the same as far as latitude 50 degrees, in case the land should extend so far southward; but if the land should fall off before you have reached the said latitude, and should be found to trend eastward, you will follow its eastern extension for some time, and finding no further extension to southward, you will not proceed farther east, but turn back. You will do the same if you should find the land to turn to westward. In returning you will run along the coast as far as it extends to northward, next proceeding on an eastern course or in such wise as you shall find the land to extend: in which manner you will follow the coast as close inshore and as long as you shall find practicable, and as you deem your victuals and provisions to be sufficient for the return voyage, even if in so doing you should sail round the whole land and emerge to southward.
The main object for which you are dispatched on this occasion, is, that from 45 or 50 degrees, or from the farthest point to which the land shall be found to extend southward within these latitudes, up to the northernmost extremity of the South-Land, you will have to discover and survey all capes, forelands, bights, lands, islands, rocks, reefs, sandbanks, depths, shallows, roads, winds, currents and all that appertains to the same, so as to be able to map out and duly mark everything in its true latitude, longitude, bearings and conformation. You will moreover go ashore in various places and diligently examine the coast in order to ascertain the nature of the land and the people, their towns and inhabited villages, the divisions of their kingdoms, their religion and policy, their wars, their rivers, the shape of their vessels, their fisheries, commodities and manufactures, but specially to inform yourselves what minerals, such as gold, silver, tin, iron, lead, and copper, what precious stones, pearls, vegetables, animals and fruits, these lands yield and produce. In all of these regions, you will diligently inquire whether they yield anywhere sandal-wood, nutmegs, cloves, tobacco or other spices; likewise whether they have any good harbours and fertile tracts, where it would be possible to establish settlements, which might be expected to yield satisfactory returns.
To all of which particulars and whatever else may be worth noting, you will pay diligent attention, keeping a careful record or daily journal of the same, that we may get full information of all your doings and experiences, and the Company obtain due and perfect knowledge of the situation and natural features of these regions, in return for the heavy expenses to which she is put by this expedition.
To all the places which you shall touch at, you will give appropriate names such as in each instance the case shall seem to require, choosing for the same either the names of the United Provinces or of the towns situated therein, or any other appellations that you may deem fitting and worthy. Of all which places, lands and islands, the commander and officers of these yachts, by order and pursuant to the commission of the Worshipful Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, sent out to India by their High Mightinesses the States-General of the United Netherlands, and by the Lords Managers of the General Chartered United East India Company established in the same, will, by solemn declaration signed by the ships' councils, take formal possession, and in sign thereof, besides, erect a stone column in such places as shall be taken possession of; the said column recording in bold, legible characters the year, the month, the day of the week and the date, the persons by whom and the hour of the day when such possession has been taken on behalf of the States-General above mentioned. You will likewise endeavour to enter into friendly relations and make covenants with all such kings and nations as you shall happen to fall in with, and try to prevail upon them to place themselves under the protection of the States of the United Netherlands, of which covenants and alliances you will likewise cause proper documents to be drawn up and signed.
Any lands, islands, places, etc., which you shall take possession of, as aforesaid, you will duly mark in the chart, with their true latitude, longitude and bearings, together with the names newly conferred on the same.
According to the oath of allegiance which each of you, jointly and severally, has sworn to the Lords States General, His Princely Excellency and Lords Managers, none of you shall be allowed to secrete, or by underhand means to retain, any written documents, journals, drawings or observations touching the expedition, but every one of you shall be bound on his return here faithfully to deliver up the same without exception.
For the purpose of making a trial we have given orders for various articles to be put on board your ships, such as diverse ironmongery, cloths, coast-stuffs [from Coromandel in India] and linens; which you will show and try to dispose of to such natives as you may meet with, always diligently noting what articles are found to be most in demand, what quantities might be disposed of, and what might be obtained in exchange for them; we furthermore hand you samples of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, pearls, sandal-wood, tobacco, nutmeg and cloves, that you may inquire whether these articles are known to the natives, and might be obtained there in any considerable quantity.
In landing anywhere you will use extreme caution, and never go ashore or into the interior unless well-armed, trusting no one, however innocent the natives may be in appearance, and with whatever kindness they may seem to receive you, being always ready to stand on the defensive, in order to prevent sudden traitorous surprises, the like of which, sad to say, have but too often been met with in similar cases, specially in the late landing of the ship Amsterdam. And if any natives should come near your ships, you will likewise take due care that they suffer no molestation from our men.
In a word, you will suffer nothing to escape your notice, but carefully scrutinise whatever you find, and give us a full and proper report on your return, by doing which you will render good service to the United Netherlands and reap special honour for yourselves.
In places where you meet with natives, you will either by dexterity or by other means endeavour to get hold of a number of full-grown persons, or better still, of boys and girls, to the end that the latter may be brought up here and be turned to useful purpose in the said quarters when occasion shall serve.
The command of the three yachts has been entrusted to Frederik de Houtman, who during the voyage will carry the flag, convene the council and take the chair in the same, in virtue of our special commission granted to the said de Houtman for the purpose.
Given in the Fortress of Batavia, this 23rd of April, A.D. 1620. [6]
--
[1] The Python is more or less the constellation of Scorpio, although it includes a couple of stars in its "tail" from Sagittarius.
[2] Anglo-Dutch relations in the East Indies at this point were sometimes hostile, sometimes cooperative. In the following year, diplomatic agreements between Amsterdam and London would allow closer cooperation. In the historical East Indies, this cooperation broke down in 1623 with the Dutch executing some Englishmen (and others) accused of treason. Things may change in the allohistorical East Indies, though, since both countries will soon have other things to worry about.
[3] Yachts were the preferred vessels for exploration since they had very shallow drafts and thus could explore much closer to shore than larger transport ships. Dutch yachts of this era still had substantial crews; usually over a hundred men.
[4] By 1620, Dutch ships had actually been touching parts of the western coast for several years, and had prepared charts showing parts of the coast. These charts were not always accurate, however; a regular complaint from Dutch captains in this period was that they were striking land in places other than where their charts indicated that this should be. In historical Australia, this would largely be corrected by voyages in the late 1620s and early 1630s. In allohistorical Aururia, de Houtman's report of 1619 inspires earlier charting.
[5] While Governor-General Coen does not entirely disbelieve de Houtman's account, he does suspect a certain amount of exaggeration. This is because other Dutch ships which had been visiting parts of Aururia during the last four or five years had universally reported that the coast was barren and the natives were savages, when they found inhabitants at all. Coen is unaware that the previous Dutch ships made landfall in the north-western parts of Aururia, which are quite hostile country and inhabited only by hunter-gatherers. De Houtman's expedition was the first one to make landfall far enough south to contact the farming peoples of the south-western corner of the continent.
[6] In historical Australia, similar instructions were given in 1622 to the captains of two Dutch yachts, the Haringh and Hasewint. (A translation of these instructions has been adapted into these allohistorical instructions, suitably modified given the changed circumstances of de Houtman's encounter.) Their expedition did not go further than the Sunda Strait, since they were diverted to join the search for a missing ship (the Rotterdam).
--
Thoughts?
"My intention is to demonstrate briefly and clearly that the Dutch – that is to say, the subjects of the United Netherlands – have the right to sail to the East Indies, as they are doing now, and to engage in trade with the people there. I shall base my argument on the following most specific and unimpeachable axiom of the Law of Nations, called a primary rule or first principle, the spirit which of which is self-evident and immutable, to wit: Every nation is free to travel to every other nation, and trade with it."
- Hugo Grotius, Mare liberum, 1609
--
To his exalted majesty's servant Namai Urdera, governor of the garrison-city of Archers Nest, from Birring Gabi, Chief Watcher of the West and Seventh Councillor [of Star Hill]: May the fortunate stars watch over you and the wanderers [planets] bring you joy and prosperity. May you know your path as it stretches out before you in this life, your lives past, and your lives yet to come.
Take heed and beware: on the night these raw-skinned strangers arrived, four stars were ripped from the Python [1] and descended to the earth. Know this to be true: four greater kuru have crossed over into the mortal realm. Consider and understand: this augurs a time of great consternation, of potent forces at work.
Answers may be found, if you contemplate the Python. Prey it finds, dangers it dispatches, not by poison or by swift strike, but by the slow embrace of the crushing death. If war the raw-skins offer, resolution will not be found in one swift strike. Measured, persistent, and unyielding action must be your response. If peace the raw-skins offer, likewise let the wisdom of the Python guide your steps, while considering always that even the pacifistic may cause harm through mischance or greed.
--
December 1619
Batavia Fort, Java
Rain poured onto the roof, a steady drumbeat of water which had started a month before and which would continue for several more months – the annual rhythm of the monsoons. This building, the new residence of the Governor-General of the East Indies, had been thrown up hastily, from the look of it. As Commander Frederik de Houtman walked in, with Councillor Jacob d'Edel at his side, he could only hope that the rapid construction had been enough to withstand the endless rains.
Of course, if he had had his way, he would have met with Governor-General Jan Coen months earlier, before the monsoon started. Alas, fortune had conspired against him. Earlier this year, Coen had moved the headquarters of the Company to Batavia from its old site of Ambon. De Houtman had not known that before he left the Netherlands, and so he had first taken his ships to Ambon, and then needed to resupply before he could come to Batavia.
"Have you met Coen before?" Jacob d'Edel asked, while they waited to be brought in to meet the Governor-General.
De Houtman shook his head. He had seen Coen occasionally, at meetings of the Lords Seventeen in Amsterdam and Middleburg, but had never spoken with him.
"From what I hear, he's sharp of both tongue and mind, and demands respect and strict obedience from all who serve him. Be careful what you say and do."
De Houtman nodded absently. He was more concerned with how long it had taken Coen to meet them at all, even after they reached Batavia. Apparently the Governor-General was more concerned with rebuilding the town, which had been burned in the fighting, and negotiating with the English, who were being more troublesome than usual [2].
Governor-General Coen rose to greet them as they entered his office. He dressed as a gentleman should, in a full coat topped by a broad white ruff. He had a narrow chin beard below a wider moustache, and his dark brown hair had been cut short to better suit the Indies' heat.
They exchanged perfunctory greetings, then Coen said, "So, Commander Houtman, you've found something you're proud of."
A blunt man, indeed, de Houtman thought. Still, Coen had the trust of the Seventeen Lords, so he was not a man to be crossed. And de Houtman suspected that Coen would also be prepared to put whatever effort was required to achieve something, if he decided that it needed to be done.
De Houtman said, "We have found a whole new world, as isolated behind its oceans and deserts as the Americas were before Columbus. The peoples who live there are as unknown to us as-"
Coen's chuckle cut him short. "And you consider yourself the next Columbus, no doubt. I know that you styled yourself as Captain-General on your voyage here, even though you were never granted that title."
De Houtman started to speak to defend himself, but Coen waved him to silence. The Governor-General continued, "You may have earned that rank, if this new land brings rewards worth the visiting."
"It does," d'Edel said.
"Indeed?" Coen steepled his fingers, and looked over them at the two men. "Tell me, or better yet show me: what does this land produce that is worth the Company sending more ships there? The reports from previous ships have not been encouraging."
De Houtman placed two bracelets on the table, one of gold, one of silver. He had taken those from the dead native leader. Along with a larger neck-ring made of two pieces of gold twisted together, but Coen did not need to know about that. The neck-ring would remain in de Houtman's personal possession, until he could present it to the most important people he could meet back in the Netherlands. For preference, to the Stadtholder, Maurits van Nassau, or at least to the assembled Lords Seventeen.
He said, "One of the natives' nobles wore these. The natives we brought back with us have confirmed that they mine gold and silver somewhere in their lands, although being peasants, they are too ignorant to tell us exactly where."
Coen smiled.
Well he might, too, de Houtman thought. Not only were gold and silver valuable in themselves, they were needed to buy the spices which the Company shipped back to Europe. Using bullion of silver or gold, Company traders could buy spices which were worth more than the metals themselves.
"Gold would indeed be excellent, if we can obtain it usefully. Is there anything else?"
"The natives have spices. We have not found out how many kinds, yet; we do not know enough of their language to understand the spices which the natives know of. Still, we can be sure of at least two."
De Houtman placed a small twig on the table. One of many samples; he had had his sailors cut down one of the sandalwood trees and bring it with them before they left d'Edels Land. "This is a kind of sandalwood. Not quite the same as that which comes from India, but still valuable, I dare say."
He waited while Coen found a tinderbox, lit the twig, and inhaled the smoke. The smile which lit the Governor-General's face was perhaps not as wide as the first one, but still, he clearly approved of the fragrance.
"And the other spice?"
De Houtman said, "Sadly, we could not bring any samples, but the natives know of tobacco. They recognised it when they saw our sailors smoking it, and begged to be allowed some themselves."
He shrugged. "They did not smoke it, though. They mixed it with ashes from the ship's ovens and chewed it. As far as our sailors can understand their language, they liked it, but said that it was inferior to what grew in their homeland."
This time, Coen's expression was one of calculation, at least as far as de Houtman could judge. Tobacco grew mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean islands, although sailors almost everywhere smoked it. A new source of tobacco could be promising indeed, especially if it truly was superior to that grown in the Americas. Or it might turn out to be useless; de Houtman did not know, but he wanted to find out.
"So, you have found a land of gold and spices. What of the natives themselves? A brief account only, if you please; if I want more details, I will ask for them."
De Houtman gave a short account of the inlet in d'Edels Land, the strange plants, and their skirmish with the natives. He continued, "We brought the natives back to the ships with us. There were four, but one of them decided to jump off the ship and drown herself in the open sea rather than come with us." Actually, he suspected that the native woman had been raped by sailors, despite his strict orders to the contrary. He could not prove that, though, and even if he could, he would not have admitted the failure here.
"A few sailors have learned something of their language, and we've started to teach them Dutch. Their knowledge is still limited, so we don't know much what their country is like. They do know nothing of the Indies, though, or anywhere else in the world other than their own southern land. They have some sort of king or lord at a place they call the White City, but we need to know more of their language to find out much about that city."
Coen said, "Would they be interested in trade? Especially for gold."
De Houtman glanced over at d'Edel. Being a Councillor of the Indies, d'Edel was in a better position to deliver ambiguous news. "We don't know, yet," d'Edel said. "The natives we have are peasants, from what I can gather. They babble about traders who visit somewhere to the south, but not the whys and wherefores. To know more about the potential for trade, we'd need to find some natives of good standing."
"We'll have to find out, then," Coen said. "If they are unwilling to trade, can gold be easily seized?"
De Houtman said, "Difficult to say. They know nothing whatsoever of muskets, nor of horses. The natives were horrified when they first saw horses in Ambon. But we don't know how large their armies are. Their fighting spirit is not to be despised; they killed two of my sailors, one immediately and a second who died of his wounds."
Coen said, "I will think more on this. Please send me a full written account of your meeting with these natives and everything which you have learned from them. Thank you, Councillor, Commander; we will speak more of this soon."
--
To his exalted majesty's servant Namai Urdera, governor of the garrison-city of Archers Nest, from his exalted majesty's servant Lerunna Mundi, chamberlain of the palace: May the Lord turn his eyes away from you. May you know friendship and honour all the days of your life.
His exalted majesty Kepiuc Tjaanuc has heard your words and has instructed me to reply in his name. Your vigilance is noted; your dedication is to be praised. The death of your noble kinsman is to be mourned; may the Incarnator guide his spirit to a suitable rebirth. His exalted majesty's soldiers have died in his service, and deserve to be honoured. Send to me a full list of their names and kin, that their names can be revered at the next equinox parade along the Walk of Kings, and that their kin may be rewarded from his exalted majesty's storehouses.
His exalted majesty is pleased that all of the Middle Country recognises his supremacy, thanks to the Lady's blessing and the Lord's assent. Always must this supremacy be preserved, whether from treachery or from rebellion or wanderers from the treeless lands or Islander mutterers [ie priests] or wind-blown visitors from the west. You are instructed to keep watch, and respond to these strangers as you see fit if they return, provided that you always honour and uphold his exalted majesty's supremacy.
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Instructions for the yachts Hasewint, Assendelft and Wesel [3] having destination jointly to discover and explore the South-Land, 23 April 1620
Inasmuch as Our Masters [i.e. the Seventeen Lords] earnestly enjoin us to dispatch hence certain yachts for the purpose of making discovery of the South-Land; and since moreover experience has taught by great perils incurred by sundry of our ships - the urgent necessity of obtaining a full and accurate knowledge of the true bearing and conformation of the said land, that accidents may henceforth be prevented as much as possible [4]; besides this, seeing the late reports and accounts of the last ships to explore the said coast, it is highly desirable that an investigation should be made to ascertain which parts of these regions are inhabited, and whether any trade might with them be established [5].
Therefore, for the purpose before mentioned, we have resolved to fit out the yachts Hasewint, Assendelft and Wesel for undertaking the said voyage, and for ascertaining as much of the situation and nature of these regions as God Almighty shall vouchsafe to allow them.
You will accordingly set sail from here together, run out of Sunda Strait, and steer your course for the South-Land from the western extremity of Java, keeping as close to the wind as you will find at all possible, that by so doing you may avoid being driven too far westward by the south-easterly winds which generally blow in those waters. You may therefore run on as far as the 32nd or 33rd degree, if you do not fall in with land before that latitude; having got so far without seeing land, you may conclude that you have fallen off too far to westward, for sundry ships coming from the Netherlands have accidentally come upon the South-Land in this latitude; you will in this case have to turn your course to eastward, and run on in this direction until you sight land.
When you shall have come upon the South-land in the said latitude or near it, you will skirt the coast of the same as far as latitude 50 degrees, in case the land should extend so far southward; but if the land should fall off before you have reached the said latitude, and should be found to trend eastward, you will follow its eastern extension for some time, and finding no further extension to southward, you will not proceed farther east, but turn back. You will do the same if you should find the land to turn to westward. In returning you will run along the coast as far as it extends to northward, next proceeding on an eastern course or in such wise as you shall find the land to extend: in which manner you will follow the coast as close inshore and as long as you shall find practicable, and as you deem your victuals and provisions to be sufficient for the return voyage, even if in so doing you should sail round the whole land and emerge to southward.
The main object for which you are dispatched on this occasion, is, that from 45 or 50 degrees, or from the farthest point to which the land shall be found to extend southward within these latitudes, up to the northernmost extremity of the South-Land, you will have to discover and survey all capes, forelands, bights, lands, islands, rocks, reefs, sandbanks, depths, shallows, roads, winds, currents and all that appertains to the same, so as to be able to map out and duly mark everything in its true latitude, longitude, bearings and conformation. You will moreover go ashore in various places and diligently examine the coast in order to ascertain the nature of the land and the people, their towns and inhabited villages, the divisions of their kingdoms, their religion and policy, their wars, their rivers, the shape of their vessels, their fisheries, commodities and manufactures, but specially to inform yourselves what minerals, such as gold, silver, tin, iron, lead, and copper, what precious stones, pearls, vegetables, animals and fruits, these lands yield and produce. In all of these regions, you will diligently inquire whether they yield anywhere sandal-wood, nutmegs, cloves, tobacco or other spices; likewise whether they have any good harbours and fertile tracts, where it would be possible to establish settlements, which might be expected to yield satisfactory returns.
To all of which particulars and whatever else may be worth noting, you will pay diligent attention, keeping a careful record or daily journal of the same, that we may get full information of all your doings and experiences, and the Company obtain due and perfect knowledge of the situation and natural features of these regions, in return for the heavy expenses to which she is put by this expedition.
To all the places which you shall touch at, you will give appropriate names such as in each instance the case shall seem to require, choosing for the same either the names of the United Provinces or of the towns situated therein, or any other appellations that you may deem fitting and worthy. Of all which places, lands and islands, the commander and officers of these yachts, by order and pursuant to the commission of the Worshipful Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, sent out to India by their High Mightinesses the States-General of the United Netherlands, and by the Lords Managers of the General Chartered United East India Company established in the same, will, by solemn declaration signed by the ships' councils, take formal possession, and in sign thereof, besides, erect a stone column in such places as shall be taken possession of; the said column recording in bold, legible characters the year, the month, the day of the week and the date, the persons by whom and the hour of the day when such possession has been taken on behalf of the States-General above mentioned. You will likewise endeavour to enter into friendly relations and make covenants with all such kings and nations as you shall happen to fall in with, and try to prevail upon them to place themselves under the protection of the States of the United Netherlands, of which covenants and alliances you will likewise cause proper documents to be drawn up and signed.
Any lands, islands, places, etc., which you shall take possession of, as aforesaid, you will duly mark in the chart, with their true latitude, longitude and bearings, together with the names newly conferred on the same.
According to the oath of allegiance which each of you, jointly and severally, has sworn to the Lords States General, His Princely Excellency and Lords Managers, none of you shall be allowed to secrete, or by underhand means to retain, any written documents, journals, drawings or observations touching the expedition, but every one of you shall be bound on his return here faithfully to deliver up the same without exception.
For the purpose of making a trial we have given orders for various articles to be put on board your ships, such as diverse ironmongery, cloths, coast-stuffs [from Coromandel in India] and linens; which you will show and try to dispose of to such natives as you may meet with, always diligently noting what articles are found to be most in demand, what quantities might be disposed of, and what might be obtained in exchange for them; we furthermore hand you samples of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, pearls, sandal-wood, tobacco, nutmeg and cloves, that you may inquire whether these articles are known to the natives, and might be obtained there in any considerable quantity.
In landing anywhere you will use extreme caution, and never go ashore or into the interior unless well-armed, trusting no one, however innocent the natives may be in appearance, and with whatever kindness they may seem to receive you, being always ready to stand on the defensive, in order to prevent sudden traitorous surprises, the like of which, sad to say, have but too often been met with in similar cases, specially in the late landing of the ship Amsterdam. And if any natives should come near your ships, you will likewise take due care that they suffer no molestation from our men.
In a word, you will suffer nothing to escape your notice, but carefully scrutinise whatever you find, and give us a full and proper report on your return, by doing which you will render good service to the United Netherlands and reap special honour for yourselves.
In places where you meet with natives, you will either by dexterity or by other means endeavour to get hold of a number of full-grown persons, or better still, of boys and girls, to the end that the latter may be brought up here and be turned to useful purpose in the said quarters when occasion shall serve.
The command of the three yachts has been entrusted to Frederik de Houtman, who during the voyage will carry the flag, convene the council and take the chair in the same, in virtue of our special commission granted to the said de Houtman for the purpose.
Given in the Fortress of Batavia, this 23rd of April, A.D. 1620. [6]
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[1] The Python is more or less the constellation of Scorpio, although it includes a couple of stars in its "tail" from Sagittarius.
[2] Anglo-Dutch relations in the East Indies at this point were sometimes hostile, sometimes cooperative. In the following year, diplomatic agreements between Amsterdam and London would allow closer cooperation. In the historical East Indies, this cooperation broke down in 1623 with the Dutch executing some Englishmen (and others) accused of treason. Things may change in the allohistorical East Indies, though, since both countries will soon have other things to worry about.
[3] Yachts were the preferred vessels for exploration since they had very shallow drafts and thus could explore much closer to shore than larger transport ships. Dutch yachts of this era still had substantial crews; usually over a hundred men.
[4] By 1620, Dutch ships had actually been touching parts of the western coast for several years, and had prepared charts showing parts of the coast. These charts were not always accurate, however; a regular complaint from Dutch captains in this period was that they were striking land in places other than where their charts indicated that this should be. In historical Australia, this would largely be corrected by voyages in the late 1620s and early 1630s. In allohistorical Aururia, de Houtman's report of 1619 inspires earlier charting.
[5] While Governor-General Coen does not entirely disbelieve de Houtman's account, he does suspect a certain amount of exaggeration. This is because other Dutch ships which had been visiting parts of Aururia during the last four or five years had universally reported that the coast was barren and the natives were savages, when they found inhabitants at all. Coen is unaware that the previous Dutch ships made landfall in the north-western parts of Aururia, which are quite hostile country and inhabited only by hunter-gatherers. De Houtman's expedition was the first one to make landfall far enough south to contact the farming peoples of the south-western corner of the continent.
[6] In historical Australia, similar instructions were given in 1622 to the captains of two Dutch yachts, the Haringh and Hasewint. (A translation of these instructions has been adapted into these allohistorical instructions, suitably modified given the changed circumstances of de Houtman's encounter.) Their expedition did not go further than the Sunda Strait, since they were diverted to join the search for a missing ship (the Rotterdam).
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Thoughts?
Without getting too far ahead of the story, thematically this timeline is divided into three acts plus a prologue (and possible epilogue):
Prologue: For Want of a Yam
Act I: The Third World
Act II: The Four Horsemen
Act III: Shards of a Broken World
There may or may not be an epilogue because it's possible that the relevant sections for an epilogue will instead be included in Act III.
The general thematic structure of those three acts is optimism-despair-rebirth.
Horrific, unfortunately.(Shudders) That poor woman
Glad you liked it. Here I'm exploring various ways of depicting the encounters between such alien peoples.
For some reason, cultures which practice human sacrifice don't attract a great deal of reader sympathy.
The Dutch will doubtless think that the devil has inspired what they will find in the White City.
Certainly possible in the long run. Though it's worth noting that this was standard Dutch instructions when coming into contact with new lands. Not everyone was willing to receive Dutch protection. Whether someone who deems himself the King of Kings will willingly accept Dutch protection is an open question.
That particular timing was mostly a coincidence. I'm gradually updating this timeline as I post it here; the AH.com version runs for over 100 chapters so far and started posting several years ago.
It does get easier to buy things when you're sitting on the biggest existing gold mine in the world. (South Africa could create a larger mine, but no-one's yet discovered the gold in the Witwatersrand).
Spain won't be alone in having fun. Alt-Australia has access to the goldfields around Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, the goldfields around Ballarat and Bendigo in Victoria, some significant gold mines in Tasmania, and various smaller gold supplies elsewhere. It also access to the massive silver reserves around Broken Hill, which can outproduce the silver produced at Cerro Potosí (the largest source of colonial silver in the New World).
Between them... it's safe to say that inflation will be A Thing. Of course, inflation isn't automatically bad for an economy. What made it particularly bad for Spain was that a lot of prices were fixed - such as the aristocracy receiving fixed rents for their lands - and the inflation eroded the economic and tax base. But the level of inflation which will be produced in Europe (and elsewhere) will have definite Consequences.
Lands of Red and Gold #22: The Voyage of Tales
Lands of Red and Gold #22: The Voyage of Tales
"These Wesel Landers have the most unpleasant looks and the worst features of any people that I ever saw. Black and naked of skin, hair frizzled, their frames tall and thin, their face and chests painted white with lime or some similar pigment, their appearance is altogether distressing and unwelcoming.
They are the most wretched people in the world. They lack for houses, garments of cloth or even of animal skin, they keep no sheep, poultry, or beast of any kind. Their food comes from country that yields only meagre fish and roots that they dig wild from the earth. They have no herbs or pulses, no grains or fruit that we saw, and lack the tools to catch the wild birds and beasts."
Or so wrote Jan Vos, captain of the Hasewint, one of the three yachts in de Houtman's expedition, sent to explore the western coast of what would come to be called Aururia. He wrote this unflattering depiction of the inhabitants of what they had called Wesel Land; the first land they had sighted since passing through the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra [1].
His descriptions were harsh, but his disappointment was perhaps understandable. He and his fellow captains had heard wild tales of the land which they were to explore. De Houtman had been reasonably circumspect in his descriptions, but he had still spoken of a land of gold, sandalwood and tobacco, where the iron-using inhabitants had endless fields of yams and strange flowering trees. The tales told by his sailors were more exaggerated, and grew in each telling and retelling in Batavia in the months between the Dordrecht's arrival and the departure of the new voyage.
Instead of the expected land of abundance, their first landfall at Wesel Land (named after one of the expedition's ships) found only an eroded, infertile country of coastal sandplains. The hunter-gatherer inhabitants did not even know how to work metals and had no native crops. Most of their tools were of stone; only occasional metal tools of copper or rusted iron had been traded through many hands from the farming peoples further south, although the Dutch sailors did not yet know this.
Instead of the sandalwood and spices they had been expecting, the natives had nothing to offer in trade. They recognised iron and tobacco from the samples which the expedition brought, but could not supply either of those in any quantity. Worse, the Dutch could not even communicate with them; the people here had no language in common with the native interpreters which de Houtman's expedition had brought.
The voyage, though, continued. From their initial landfall they sailed west, skirting and charting an island-studded coast with occasional bays and harbours, but no large rivers or fertile tracts of land. Their instructions were to search these latitudes for any sign of the most valuable spices – sandalwood, cloves, nutmeg – which might grow there wild or domesticated, or for arable land where spice plantations could be established. They found neither, only continued disappointment.
After several days of careful sailing through shallow seas and numerous islands, the coastline to their south opened into a wide gulf [Exmouth Gulf] with mangrove-lined shores and filled with sea turtles. However, the shores of this gulf were dangerously shallow, and the surrounding lands dry and uninviting, so de Houtman marked the gulf on his charts as Turtle Sound and ordered his ships around its western extremity.
Here, for the first time the coastline turned south, which was the flotilla's expected direction. The southward voyage soon brought them into a region of the coast which was already sketchily marked on their charts; it was called Eendrachtsland, named by a Dutch explorer who had visited this region four years before.
Yet even here the disappointment continued, for an extensive coral reef along the shore [Ningaloo Reef] prevented them from coming close to the shore or making any further contact with the natives. The expedition skirted wide of the coral-lined coast, and did not make landfall again until they had cleared the reef and came to the north point of a sand-dune covered island.
Here, they made a remarkable discovery. A pewter plate had been nailed to a tree on this island. Its inscription announced that this island had been visited by Dirk Hartog on the ship Eendracht in 1616 [2].
De Houtman noted the discovery of the plate in his journal, and mentioned the shallow waters of the bay further inland, although he did not give it a name. Because of the shallow water and unpredictable currents, he ordered his ships not to enter the bay, and after resupplying with water, they continued their journey south.
De Houtman would never find out that he had bypassed the northernmost Atjuntja outpost, which the locals called Dugong Bay. A penal colony established to mine salt and collect pearls, this outpost lacked sufficient water to sustain any substantial agriculture; being appointed as governor of Dugong Bay was a punishment reserved for Atjuntja nobles who had gravely displeased the King of Kings.
Once past the island, the expedition drew near a more familiar section of coastline. Here, only the year before, de Houtman had discovered a series of low-lying islands with coral reefs surrounding them, which he had called the Abrolhos [3]. Because they had no high points or headlands to make them visible from a distance, he had almost lost a ship to the reefs the year before.
This time, because he knew of their location, he deliberately ordered his ships to stay closer to shore, making careful progress while charting the coastline. Their caution meant that while they sighted the mainland coast many times, they did not attempt to land until they reached a locale where they were sure that there was a useful harbour or other safe landing.
After slow progress against unfavourable winds and contrary currents, de Houtman's three ships reached a large promontory jutting into the Indian Ocean. The shelter of this promontory created a reasonable harbour. In this, they found several wharfs and jetties built into the water, with several small boats and canoes anchored. On the shore beyond, they saw the first houses of wood and stone, and knew that they had found what they sought.
The houses which clustered around the docks were those of the artisans, fishermen and common folk of the Binyin people who were native to this region. Beyond those houses, de Houtman's sailors found field after field filled with workers. They watched as the workers methodically dug out the yams, cut off the main part of the bulky tuber, replanted the remnant of the tuber and refilled the hole. Thus, they became the first Europeans to witness a yam harvest [4].
Once they had bargained for safe travel, de Houtman's sailors also became the first Europeans to glimpse an Atjuntja garrion-city. Inland, beyond the docks and the low houses, rose walls of pale orange sandstone, a statement both of defence and authority. This garrison-city of Seal Point was the residence of the Atjuntja governor of this region, as well as housing the administrators who oversaw life here, and the soldiers who enforced their will.
De Houtman's expedition had brought two interpreters with them, peasants who had more or less voluntarily accompanied de Houtman's sailors on his first visit to the South Land [5]. These peasants were of the Djarwari people who dwelt further south, but their dialect was close enough to the locals to allow communication.
Contact was wary, but peaceful. The Atjuntja governor had been forewarned by post-runners, who carried word from further south of the brief skirmish near Archers Nest [Perth]. He did not allow any of the Dutch sailors inside the walls of Seal Point, but they were permitted to visit the local town which had grown up outside the walls. The Dutch found the town-dwellers to be quite friendly, especially some of the local women.
Although the Dutch did not know this at the time, this friendly contact would have unfortunate consequences for both sides. De Houtman's ships had already sailed on when the Dutch sailors started to fall ill with a strange form of influenza which brought quick fatigue and turned faces and lips blue. In time, this illness would claim the lives of seventeen Dutch sailors, including Captain Jan Vos of the Hasewint, and weaken many more. Their interpreters recognised the disease and called it "blue-sleep," but the Dutch sailors christened it sweating-fever.
While they were in Spear Point, however, de Houtman and his sailors knew nothing of this. In accordance with his instructions, he offered the Atjuntja governor the friendship and protection of the United Netherlands. When that offer was translated and understood, it produced nothing but raucous laughter. The governor of Seal Point explained that friendship was all very well, and not to be despised. Yet all of the Middle Country was under the rule of the King of Kings, who lived in the White City at the centre of the universe, and who needed protection from nothing in the mortal realms.
With this exchange, de Houtman finally began to grasp the extent of the nation he had contacted. He had made landfall at a place more than 400 kilometres further north than his first visit, only to be told that it was under the rule of the same King of Kings in a distant city. He knew that the Atjuntja lands extended some distance further north and an indeterminate distance to the east, and now he was reminded that the White City was somewhere far to the south, too.
When his diplomatic advances came to naught, de Houtman and his fellow captains explored a matter which was even closer to their hearts: trade. The Company had been generous in supplying them with samples of trade goods: iron and steel manufactures; linen and other textiles; Coromandel goods such as lacquered boxes, screens and chests [6]; metals, gems and similar such as gold, silver, lead, tin, pearls, and coloured glass; and very limited quantities of spices such as nutmeg, mace, sandalwood, tobacco and cloves.
To their delight, the Atjuntja governor and his administrators recognised most of their trade goods. Gold and silver they acknowledged, although they did not appear greatly impressed. Lead they viewed with disdain as commonplace; pearls and glass interested them more. Textiles and lacquer work interested them even more, as did some of the iron cookware and utensils [7]. Of the most valued goods, the spices, though, they recognised tobacco but treated it as nothing of consequence, and they thought that the Indian sandalwood was inferior. Alas, of the other spices, they knew nothing, and appeared to care but little.
To de Houtman's frustration, the Atjuntja governor bluntly refused to conduct trade. He explained that everything valuable in the Middle Country belonged to the King of Kings, and that it would not be traded without his permission. Everyday items such as food, wood and tobacco could be exchanged as gifts between friends, and some of them had already been supplied to the visiting Dutch. However, items of value such as gold, silver, sandalwood, "worked goods" and kunduri were part of the tribute owed to the King of Kings, and could not be exchanged elsewhere without his approval.
The Dutch disappointment was almost palpable; severe enough that de Houtman took some time before he remembered to ask what kunduri was. His interpreter refused to relay the question, saying that would be like asking a man to explain what water was. Instead, the interpreter simply explained that kunduri was to tobacco what yam wine was to water.
After three days of explanation and frustration, de Houtman decided that they had found out all that they could from Seal Point. Privately, he told his captains that he hoped to find a place further south where the natives would be willing to trade, no matter what restrictions their emperor might have placed on them.
From Seal Point, the expedition continued southward, charting the coast and noting as they explored that the shore country was becoming ever more fertile. De Houtman and his captains named many geographical features, with no regard whatsoever for what the natives called them.
The captains knew both elation and frustration as they ventured ever further south. Elation, because their methodical progress permitted them to draw extremely accurate charts of the coastline, currents, and other features of interest. Frustration, because the fever claimed too many of their crew, and because further visits to the coast provided exchanges of food but met the same absolute refusal to trade any goods which the natives deemed valuable.
Before too much longer, the expedition struck trouble. The three ships were nearing the latitude where de Houtman had made landfall on his last visit. Mindful of the bloodshed on this previous occasion, he had planned to avoid any contact with the natives in this region. Alas, weather and ocean currents interfered with his plans. Overnight, the wind shifted to a land breeze, and unknown to his captains, an eddy in the current pushed their ships further out to sea [8].
The Wesel, at that point the lead yacht in the expedition, struck rocks near an offshore island. De Houtman had known of this island, naming it Rottnest on his previous expedition, but had not been able to warn the other ships in time. Taking on water, the Wesel's new captain had no choice put to bring the vessel into sheltered water to effect repairs. There was only one suitable anchorage on the mainland; a narrow inlet which they had called Swan River, and on whose shores Atjuntja and Dutchmen had first shed each others' blood.
Despite de Houtman's misgivings, the Atjuntja did not attack them on sight. The immediate problem was preventing their interpreters from fleeing home. Once that was under control, they met a deputation from the Atjuntja governor, who reported that they would be permitted to anchor in the river, and would be provided with gifts of food and some timber to help them repair their vessel. De Houtman, who had by now gained some understanding of how Atjuntja society worked, responded with gifts of his own, including iron cooking utensils and tobacco to the families of the peasants and soldiers who had been killed in the last skirmish.
Repairs to Wesel took nearly two weeks. They could have been hurried, but de Houtman did not urge his sailors to make haste, since he decided that staying here would allow him to fulfill more of his instructions. Governor-General Coen had ordered his expedition to survey what vegetables, animals, fruits and other produce could be obtained in the South Land. While a few sailors worked on the Wesel, the rest were rotated through visits ashore, learning what they could of the region which they called d'Edels Land.
Thus, the sailors of de Houtman's expedition were the first to learn much of what Aururia produced and how its inhabitants lived. They saw Archers Nest, another garrison-city, but built away from the coast in a reminder that the Atjuntja did not look to the sea. They saw the many fields of what the Atjuntja called wealth-trees, and asked what these trees could produce that was so valuable. The Atjuntja responded by giving their Dutch guests an ample supply of wattleseeds and wattle gum. De Houtman ordered that some of these seeds be brought back to Batavia, along with some of the ubiquitous yams, in case they would prove suitable to grow there [9].
The Atjuntja crops presented their Dutch visitors with a strange combination of the familiar and the exotic. Flax they knew; while the Atjuntja species differed in its appearance, it produced similar fibres and seeds. De Houtman also noted in his journal: "they grow a variety of indigo here, which produces a dye as fine as anything I have seen from India. Yet their indigo plant is more versatile, for by different preparations they may use the same leaves to produce either the true indigo colour, or a brilliant yellow, or a noteworthy green [10]."
Other Atjuntja crops simply left the Dutch perplexed. They recognised the timber of eucalypts as being extremely useful; those were the main source of the wood they used to repair the Wesel. Yet the smell of eucalypts was like nothing they had ever encountered before, and reminded them that this land was an exotic place. Likewise, the local dried fruits offered tastes unlike anything which the Dutch had known; after sampling dried quandong, de Houtman recorded in his journal that he wished that he had visited the South Land when these fruits were in season.
Still, no crops offered such a complete mix of the familiar and exotic as tobacco and related crops which the Atjuntja used. Tobacco was something with which every Dutch sailor was familiar. So, indeed, were most European sailors; they had been spreading tobacco around the world since their first contact with the Americas. The Atjuntja tobacco crops were distinctive in their appearance, but could still be recognised as forms of tobacco [11].
Yet while the Atjuntja grew and used tobacco, they universally told the Dutch sailors that this tobacco was merely an inferior product. The drug of choice was kunduri. This time, de Houtman overrode the wishes of his interpreters and asked the Atjuntja governor what kunduri was and why it was so valuable. The governor replied that kunduri was what every Atjuntja man would use if he could, but that it was rare and came from beyond the sunrise. He had a reasonable quantity, but few of his soldiers or administrators were so fortunate.
In what was an extremely generous gesture, although de Houtman did not yet recognise it as such, the governor of Archers Nest sent for some of his personal supply of kunduri and offered a sample to de Houtman.
The appearance of the kunduri was unremarkable; dried leaves and plant stems which did not look much like tobacco. Still, following instructions, de Houtman mixed the kunduri with wood ash and chewed it. He described the resulting sensation in his journal: "I chewed this kunduri for several minutes, and a sensation of bliss and relaxation came over me. I no longer cared who was in the room, nor what they might say or do. The effect was akin to the euphoria I might feel after several glasses of good French wine [12]."
The Dutch sailors found the same mixture of familiar and exotic in the Atjuntja domestic animals. Dogs were familiar, except that the breeds which the Atjuntja had developed had no European equivalents. Ducks they knew, although again, the breeds were unfamiliar. Captain de Vries of the Assendelft recorded in his log that "they use ducks in as many numbers and varieties as Dutch farmers use chickens." Quolls were an exotic animal, but the Dutch did their best to link them to more familiar forms; they referred to domesticated quolls as native pole-cats. To the Dutch, emus were the most exotic of the domesticated animals; oversized flightless birds with voracious appetites and booming calls which could be heard over a mile away. The captains' journal entries indicated bemusement about whether the emus would be of any worth as poultry in Europe.
Before leaving Archers Nest, de Houtman recorded in his journal that he believed that this was the most promising site yet for a trading post, if the Atjuntja could be persuaded to permit one. He also recorded his frustration at convincing any natives to come voluntarily, and noted that he did not want word to spread ahead of his voyage that the Dutch were kidnappers. He noted that the time to kidnap natives would be at the last place they visited.
As the three ships sailed south of Archers Nest, their journal entries grew increasingly enthusiastic about the merits of d'Edels Land. The land was well-watered, the vegetation grew ever more luxuriant, with some towering forests visible along the shores.
The expedition continued its diligent work of charting, but for some time after visiting Archers Nest, de Houtman did not allow any extensive visits ashore. He had by now become obsessed with sailing to the Atjuntja capital. And while his peasant interpreters did not have a detailed understanding of the geography, they had reported that he needed to pass a major landmark called Sunset Point [Cape Leeuwin] and sail east along the "great storm road" to reach the White City.
As it happened, for all of his conscientiousness, de Houtman would never sight Sunset Point, although he believed until his dying day that he had done so. Sunset Point was one of the world's three great capes [13], marking the merging of two oceans, but was also surrounded by several rocks and small islands which reached further into the ocean. De Houtman steered the Hasewint clear of those rocks, missing the cape itself, and brought his ships east in the strong winds of the Roaring Forties.
At every town which he visited along the southern coast, he had his interpreters ask if he had reached the White City. Three times, he visited a city or town and was disappointed when he received a negative answer.
On 26 July, the Hasewint sailed into a wide natural harbour, and then further into an inner harbour. De Houtman saw crowded docks, a towering row of statues behind them on the shore, and beyond that twin mountains with colossal edifices built into their sides, and he knew that he would not need to have his interpreters ask the question again.
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[1] De Houtman's expedition first touched land about halfway between the historical towns of Port Hedland and Karratha. The region which they call Wesel Land is semi-arid country covered in spinifex grass and scattered trees. It is too close to the equator for Aururian crops to grow, and in any case the rainfall is so low that any farming would be extremely marginal.
[2] In historical Australia, the Dirk Hartog plate was rediscovered in 1697 by another Dutch captain, Willem de Vlamingh, who replaced it with another pewter plate of his own and took the original back to Amsterdam. The Hartog Plate is the oldest known European artefact associated with Australia.
[3] Those islands still bear that name in historical Australia; formally they are called the Houtman Abrolhos, which is usually shortened to Abrolhos.
[4] Red yams are harvested in late April-May, when the tubers are at their largest and the above-ground portions of the plant are starting to wither and die back in preparation for the coming winter.
[5] De Houtman had brought three captives back to Batavia, but only two had been sent back with him. The third was kept in Batavia to learn more Dutch, and as a safeguard in case something happened to de Houtman's exploratory voyage.
[6] These lacquered products were mostly manufactured in China, but the trading networks saw them re-exported to the Coromandel Coast of India, and this became the common name for them.
[7] They would have been even more impressed by muskets, but de Houtman had prudently ordered his sailors not to fire muskets except at uttermost need, or describe their function. He wanted them to be a surprise if they were attacked. The Atjuntja had heard exaggerated tales from the south that these raw-skinned strangers could chain kuru and throw thunder balls, but did not recognise the muskets for what they were.
[8] The currents on the coast of Western Australia are quite complex; there is a major warm water current which moves south (the Leeuwin Current), but it is bracketed by cold-water currents which move north. This is one of the many features which make navigation along the Western Australian coast so troublesome.
[9] Red yams, at least, will not grow so close to the equator. Wattles are not quite as sensitive to latitude, but the Dutch will still have difficulty getting the main domesticated species to grow properly in a tropical climate.
[10] This plant is native indigo (Indigofera australis), a relative of true indigo (I. tinctoria). Native indigo is widespread across much of the continent, and in historical Australia it was used in early colonial times to dye wool.
[11] Native Australian species of tobacco have been used as narcotics for tens of millennia; the main one cultivated by the Atjuntja is Nicotiana rotundifolia (sometimes classified as N. suaveolens). This is similar to common tobacco in its cultivation, although the Atjuntja only chew tobacco (mixed with wood ash); they do not smoke it.
[12] This is de Houtman's introduction to the drug known in historical Australia as pituri. John King, the only survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860-61, reported a similar reaction when he first experienced pituri. Kunduri is grown in parts of the Nyalananga [Murray] basin and exported to many parts of the continent; it reaches the Atjuntja via Islander trading ships. It does have a stronger effect than tobacco; the nicotine content of kunduri/ pituri is up to four times stronger than that of modern commercial tobacco. The drug also contains other alkaloids such as nor-nicotine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which add to its potency.
[13] The three great capes are three major landmarks in the Southern Ocean. Cape Horn in South America divides the Atlantic from the Pacific, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa is the traditional sailing landmark (though modern oceanography sets the dividing point for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans further east at Cape Agulhas), and Cape Leeuwin in south-western Australia divides the Indian Ocean from the Pacific.
--
Thoughts?
"These Wesel Landers have the most unpleasant looks and the worst features of any people that I ever saw. Black and naked of skin, hair frizzled, their frames tall and thin, their face and chests painted white with lime or some similar pigment, their appearance is altogether distressing and unwelcoming.
They are the most wretched people in the world. They lack for houses, garments of cloth or even of animal skin, they keep no sheep, poultry, or beast of any kind. Their food comes from country that yields only meagre fish and roots that they dig wild from the earth. They have no herbs or pulses, no grains or fruit that we saw, and lack the tools to catch the wild birds and beasts."
Or so wrote Jan Vos, captain of the Hasewint, one of the three yachts in de Houtman's expedition, sent to explore the western coast of what would come to be called Aururia. He wrote this unflattering depiction of the inhabitants of what they had called Wesel Land; the first land they had sighted since passing through the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra [1].
His descriptions were harsh, but his disappointment was perhaps understandable. He and his fellow captains had heard wild tales of the land which they were to explore. De Houtman had been reasonably circumspect in his descriptions, but he had still spoken of a land of gold, sandalwood and tobacco, where the iron-using inhabitants had endless fields of yams and strange flowering trees. The tales told by his sailors were more exaggerated, and grew in each telling and retelling in Batavia in the months between the Dordrecht's arrival and the departure of the new voyage.
Instead of the expected land of abundance, their first landfall at Wesel Land (named after one of the expedition's ships) found only an eroded, infertile country of coastal sandplains. The hunter-gatherer inhabitants did not even know how to work metals and had no native crops. Most of their tools were of stone; only occasional metal tools of copper or rusted iron had been traded through many hands from the farming peoples further south, although the Dutch sailors did not yet know this.
Instead of the sandalwood and spices they had been expecting, the natives had nothing to offer in trade. They recognised iron and tobacco from the samples which the expedition brought, but could not supply either of those in any quantity. Worse, the Dutch could not even communicate with them; the people here had no language in common with the native interpreters which de Houtman's expedition had brought.
The voyage, though, continued. From their initial landfall they sailed west, skirting and charting an island-studded coast with occasional bays and harbours, but no large rivers or fertile tracts of land. Their instructions were to search these latitudes for any sign of the most valuable spices – sandalwood, cloves, nutmeg – which might grow there wild or domesticated, or for arable land where spice plantations could be established. They found neither, only continued disappointment.
After several days of careful sailing through shallow seas and numerous islands, the coastline to their south opened into a wide gulf [Exmouth Gulf] with mangrove-lined shores and filled with sea turtles. However, the shores of this gulf were dangerously shallow, and the surrounding lands dry and uninviting, so de Houtman marked the gulf on his charts as Turtle Sound and ordered his ships around its western extremity.
Here, for the first time the coastline turned south, which was the flotilla's expected direction. The southward voyage soon brought them into a region of the coast which was already sketchily marked on their charts; it was called Eendrachtsland, named by a Dutch explorer who had visited this region four years before.
Yet even here the disappointment continued, for an extensive coral reef along the shore [Ningaloo Reef] prevented them from coming close to the shore or making any further contact with the natives. The expedition skirted wide of the coral-lined coast, and did not make landfall again until they had cleared the reef and came to the north point of a sand-dune covered island.
Here, they made a remarkable discovery. A pewter plate had been nailed to a tree on this island. Its inscription announced that this island had been visited by Dirk Hartog on the ship Eendracht in 1616 [2].
De Houtman noted the discovery of the plate in his journal, and mentioned the shallow waters of the bay further inland, although he did not give it a name. Because of the shallow water and unpredictable currents, he ordered his ships not to enter the bay, and after resupplying with water, they continued their journey south.
De Houtman would never find out that he had bypassed the northernmost Atjuntja outpost, which the locals called Dugong Bay. A penal colony established to mine salt and collect pearls, this outpost lacked sufficient water to sustain any substantial agriculture; being appointed as governor of Dugong Bay was a punishment reserved for Atjuntja nobles who had gravely displeased the King of Kings.
Once past the island, the expedition drew near a more familiar section of coastline. Here, only the year before, de Houtman had discovered a series of low-lying islands with coral reefs surrounding them, which he had called the Abrolhos [3]. Because they had no high points or headlands to make them visible from a distance, he had almost lost a ship to the reefs the year before.
This time, because he knew of their location, he deliberately ordered his ships to stay closer to shore, making careful progress while charting the coastline. Their caution meant that while they sighted the mainland coast many times, they did not attempt to land until they reached a locale where they were sure that there was a useful harbour or other safe landing.
After slow progress against unfavourable winds and contrary currents, de Houtman's three ships reached a large promontory jutting into the Indian Ocean. The shelter of this promontory created a reasonable harbour. In this, they found several wharfs and jetties built into the water, with several small boats and canoes anchored. On the shore beyond, they saw the first houses of wood and stone, and knew that they had found what they sought.
The houses which clustered around the docks were those of the artisans, fishermen and common folk of the Binyin people who were native to this region. Beyond those houses, de Houtman's sailors found field after field filled with workers. They watched as the workers methodically dug out the yams, cut off the main part of the bulky tuber, replanted the remnant of the tuber and refilled the hole. Thus, they became the first Europeans to witness a yam harvest [4].
Once they had bargained for safe travel, de Houtman's sailors also became the first Europeans to glimpse an Atjuntja garrion-city. Inland, beyond the docks and the low houses, rose walls of pale orange sandstone, a statement both of defence and authority. This garrison-city of Seal Point was the residence of the Atjuntja governor of this region, as well as housing the administrators who oversaw life here, and the soldiers who enforced their will.
De Houtman's expedition had brought two interpreters with them, peasants who had more or less voluntarily accompanied de Houtman's sailors on his first visit to the South Land [5]. These peasants were of the Djarwari people who dwelt further south, but their dialect was close enough to the locals to allow communication.
Contact was wary, but peaceful. The Atjuntja governor had been forewarned by post-runners, who carried word from further south of the brief skirmish near Archers Nest [Perth]. He did not allow any of the Dutch sailors inside the walls of Seal Point, but they were permitted to visit the local town which had grown up outside the walls. The Dutch found the town-dwellers to be quite friendly, especially some of the local women.
Although the Dutch did not know this at the time, this friendly contact would have unfortunate consequences for both sides. De Houtman's ships had already sailed on when the Dutch sailors started to fall ill with a strange form of influenza which brought quick fatigue and turned faces and lips blue. In time, this illness would claim the lives of seventeen Dutch sailors, including Captain Jan Vos of the Hasewint, and weaken many more. Their interpreters recognised the disease and called it "blue-sleep," but the Dutch sailors christened it sweating-fever.
While they were in Spear Point, however, de Houtman and his sailors knew nothing of this. In accordance with his instructions, he offered the Atjuntja governor the friendship and protection of the United Netherlands. When that offer was translated and understood, it produced nothing but raucous laughter. The governor of Seal Point explained that friendship was all very well, and not to be despised. Yet all of the Middle Country was under the rule of the King of Kings, who lived in the White City at the centre of the universe, and who needed protection from nothing in the mortal realms.
With this exchange, de Houtman finally began to grasp the extent of the nation he had contacted. He had made landfall at a place more than 400 kilometres further north than his first visit, only to be told that it was under the rule of the same King of Kings in a distant city. He knew that the Atjuntja lands extended some distance further north and an indeterminate distance to the east, and now he was reminded that the White City was somewhere far to the south, too.
When his diplomatic advances came to naught, de Houtman and his fellow captains explored a matter which was even closer to their hearts: trade. The Company had been generous in supplying them with samples of trade goods: iron and steel manufactures; linen and other textiles; Coromandel goods such as lacquered boxes, screens and chests [6]; metals, gems and similar such as gold, silver, lead, tin, pearls, and coloured glass; and very limited quantities of spices such as nutmeg, mace, sandalwood, tobacco and cloves.
To their delight, the Atjuntja governor and his administrators recognised most of their trade goods. Gold and silver they acknowledged, although they did not appear greatly impressed. Lead they viewed with disdain as commonplace; pearls and glass interested them more. Textiles and lacquer work interested them even more, as did some of the iron cookware and utensils [7]. Of the most valued goods, the spices, though, they recognised tobacco but treated it as nothing of consequence, and they thought that the Indian sandalwood was inferior. Alas, of the other spices, they knew nothing, and appeared to care but little.
To de Houtman's frustration, the Atjuntja governor bluntly refused to conduct trade. He explained that everything valuable in the Middle Country belonged to the King of Kings, and that it would not be traded without his permission. Everyday items such as food, wood and tobacco could be exchanged as gifts between friends, and some of them had already been supplied to the visiting Dutch. However, items of value such as gold, silver, sandalwood, "worked goods" and kunduri were part of the tribute owed to the King of Kings, and could not be exchanged elsewhere without his approval.
The Dutch disappointment was almost palpable; severe enough that de Houtman took some time before he remembered to ask what kunduri was. His interpreter refused to relay the question, saying that would be like asking a man to explain what water was. Instead, the interpreter simply explained that kunduri was to tobacco what yam wine was to water.
After three days of explanation and frustration, de Houtman decided that they had found out all that they could from Seal Point. Privately, he told his captains that he hoped to find a place further south where the natives would be willing to trade, no matter what restrictions their emperor might have placed on them.
From Seal Point, the expedition continued southward, charting the coast and noting as they explored that the shore country was becoming ever more fertile. De Houtman and his captains named many geographical features, with no regard whatsoever for what the natives called them.
The captains knew both elation and frustration as they ventured ever further south. Elation, because their methodical progress permitted them to draw extremely accurate charts of the coastline, currents, and other features of interest. Frustration, because the fever claimed too many of their crew, and because further visits to the coast provided exchanges of food but met the same absolute refusal to trade any goods which the natives deemed valuable.
Before too much longer, the expedition struck trouble. The three ships were nearing the latitude where de Houtman had made landfall on his last visit. Mindful of the bloodshed on this previous occasion, he had planned to avoid any contact with the natives in this region. Alas, weather and ocean currents interfered with his plans. Overnight, the wind shifted to a land breeze, and unknown to his captains, an eddy in the current pushed their ships further out to sea [8].
The Wesel, at that point the lead yacht in the expedition, struck rocks near an offshore island. De Houtman had known of this island, naming it Rottnest on his previous expedition, but had not been able to warn the other ships in time. Taking on water, the Wesel's new captain had no choice put to bring the vessel into sheltered water to effect repairs. There was only one suitable anchorage on the mainland; a narrow inlet which they had called Swan River, and on whose shores Atjuntja and Dutchmen had first shed each others' blood.
Despite de Houtman's misgivings, the Atjuntja did not attack them on sight. The immediate problem was preventing their interpreters from fleeing home. Once that was under control, they met a deputation from the Atjuntja governor, who reported that they would be permitted to anchor in the river, and would be provided with gifts of food and some timber to help them repair their vessel. De Houtman, who had by now gained some understanding of how Atjuntja society worked, responded with gifts of his own, including iron cooking utensils and tobacco to the families of the peasants and soldiers who had been killed in the last skirmish.
Repairs to Wesel took nearly two weeks. They could have been hurried, but de Houtman did not urge his sailors to make haste, since he decided that staying here would allow him to fulfill more of his instructions. Governor-General Coen had ordered his expedition to survey what vegetables, animals, fruits and other produce could be obtained in the South Land. While a few sailors worked on the Wesel, the rest were rotated through visits ashore, learning what they could of the region which they called d'Edels Land.
Thus, the sailors of de Houtman's expedition were the first to learn much of what Aururia produced and how its inhabitants lived. They saw Archers Nest, another garrison-city, but built away from the coast in a reminder that the Atjuntja did not look to the sea. They saw the many fields of what the Atjuntja called wealth-trees, and asked what these trees could produce that was so valuable. The Atjuntja responded by giving their Dutch guests an ample supply of wattleseeds and wattle gum. De Houtman ordered that some of these seeds be brought back to Batavia, along with some of the ubiquitous yams, in case they would prove suitable to grow there [9].
The Atjuntja crops presented their Dutch visitors with a strange combination of the familiar and the exotic. Flax they knew; while the Atjuntja species differed in its appearance, it produced similar fibres and seeds. De Houtman also noted in his journal: "they grow a variety of indigo here, which produces a dye as fine as anything I have seen from India. Yet their indigo plant is more versatile, for by different preparations they may use the same leaves to produce either the true indigo colour, or a brilliant yellow, or a noteworthy green [10]."
Other Atjuntja crops simply left the Dutch perplexed. They recognised the timber of eucalypts as being extremely useful; those were the main source of the wood they used to repair the Wesel. Yet the smell of eucalypts was like nothing they had ever encountered before, and reminded them that this land was an exotic place. Likewise, the local dried fruits offered tastes unlike anything which the Dutch had known; after sampling dried quandong, de Houtman recorded in his journal that he wished that he had visited the South Land when these fruits were in season.
Still, no crops offered such a complete mix of the familiar and exotic as tobacco and related crops which the Atjuntja used. Tobacco was something with which every Dutch sailor was familiar. So, indeed, were most European sailors; they had been spreading tobacco around the world since their first contact with the Americas. The Atjuntja tobacco crops were distinctive in their appearance, but could still be recognised as forms of tobacco [11].
Yet while the Atjuntja grew and used tobacco, they universally told the Dutch sailors that this tobacco was merely an inferior product. The drug of choice was kunduri. This time, de Houtman overrode the wishes of his interpreters and asked the Atjuntja governor what kunduri was and why it was so valuable. The governor replied that kunduri was what every Atjuntja man would use if he could, but that it was rare and came from beyond the sunrise. He had a reasonable quantity, but few of his soldiers or administrators were so fortunate.
In what was an extremely generous gesture, although de Houtman did not yet recognise it as such, the governor of Archers Nest sent for some of his personal supply of kunduri and offered a sample to de Houtman.
The appearance of the kunduri was unremarkable; dried leaves and plant stems which did not look much like tobacco. Still, following instructions, de Houtman mixed the kunduri with wood ash and chewed it. He described the resulting sensation in his journal: "I chewed this kunduri for several minutes, and a sensation of bliss and relaxation came over me. I no longer cared who was in the room, nor what they might say or do. The effect was akin to the euphoria I might feel after several glasses of good French wine [12]."
The Dutch sailors found the same mixture of familiar and exotic in the Atjuntja domestic animals. Dogs were familiar, except that the breeds which the Atjuntja had developed had no European equivalents. Ducks they knew, although again, the breeds were unfamiliar. Captain de Vries of the Assendelft recorded in his log that "they use ducks in as many numbers and varieties as Dutch farmers use chickens." Quolls were an exotic animal, but the Dutch did their best to link them to more familiar forms; they referred to domesticated quolls as native pole-cats. To the Dutch, emus were the most exotic of the domesticated animals; oversized flightless birds with voracious appetites and booming calls which could be heard over a mile away. The captains' journal entries indicated bemusement about whether the emus would be of any worth as poultry in Europe.
Before leaving Archers Nest, de Houtman recorded in his journal that he believed that this was the most promising site yet for a trading post, if the Atjuntja could be persuaded to permit one. He also recorded his frustration at convincing any natives to come voluntarily, and noted that he did not want word to spread ahead of his voyage that the Dutch were kidnappers. He noted that the time to kidnap natives would be at the last place they visited.
As the three ships sailed south of Archers Nest, their journal entries grew increasingly enthusiastic about the merits of d'Edels Land. The land was well-watered, the vegetation grew ever more luxuriant, with some towering forests visible along the shores.
The expedition continued its diligent work of charting, but for some time after visiting Archers Nest, de Houtman did not allow any extensive visits ashore. He had by now become obsessed with sailing to the Atjuntja capital. And while his peasant interpreters did not have a detailed understanding of the geography, they had reported that he needed to pass a major landmark called Sunset Point [Cape Leeuwin] and sail east along the "great storm road" to reach the White City.
As it happened, for all of his conscientiousness, de Houtman would never sight Sunset Point, although he believed until his dying day that he had done so. Sunset Point was one of the world's three great capes [13], marking the merging of two oceans, but was also surrounded by several rocks and small islands which reached further into the ocean. De Houtman steered the Hasewint clear of those rocks, missing the cape itself, and brought his ships east in the strong winds of the Roaring Forties.
At every town which he visited along the southern coast, he had his interpreters ask if he had reached the White City. Three times, he visited a city or town and was disappointed when he received a negative answer.
On 26 July, the Hasewint sailed into a wide natural harbour, and then further into an inner harbour. De Houtman saw crowded docks, a towering row of statues behind them on the shore, and beyond that twin mountains with colossal edifices built into their sides, and he knew that he would not need to have his interpreters ask the question again.
--
[1] De Houtman's expedition first touched land about halfway between the historical towns of Port Hedland and Karratha. The region which they call Wesel Land is semi-arid country covered in spinifex grass and scattered trees. It is too close to the equator for Aururian crops to grow, and in any case the rainfall is so low that any farming would be extremely marginal.
[2] In historical Australia, the Dirk Hartog plate was rediscovered in 1697 by another Dutch captain, Willem de Vlamingh, who replaced it with another pewter plate of his own and took the original back to Amsterdam. The Hartog Plate is the oldest known European artefact associated with Australia.
[3] Those islands still bear that name in historical Australia; formally they are called the Houtman Abrolhos, which is usually shortened to Abrolhos.
[4] Red yams are harvested in late April-May, when the tubers are at their largest and the above-ground portions of the plant are starting to wither and die back in preparation for the coming winter.
[5] De Houtman had brought three captives back to Batavia, but only two had been sent back with him. The third was kept in Batavia to learn more Dutch, and as a safeguard in case something happened to de Houtman's exploratory voyage.
[6] These lacquered products were mostly manufactured in China, but the trading networks saw them re-exported to the Coromandel Coast of India, and this became the common name for them.
[7] They would have been even more impressed by muskets, but de Houtman had prudently ordered his sailors not to fire muskets except at uttermost need, or describe their function. He wanted them to be a surprise if they were attacked. The Atjuntja had heard exaggerated tales from the south that these raw-skinned strangers could chain kuru and throw thunder balls, but did not recognise the muskets for what they were.
[8] The currents on the coast of Western Australia are quite complex; there is a major warm water current which moves south (the Leeuwin Current), but it is bracketed by cold-water currents which move north. This is one of the many features which make navigation along the Western Australian coast so troublesome.
[9] Red yams, at least, will not grow so close to the equator. Wattles are not quite as sensitive to latitude, but the Dutch will still have difficulty getting the main domesticated species to grow properly in a tropical climate.
[10] This plant is native indigo (Indigofera australis), a relative of true indigo (I. tinctoria). Native indigo is widespread across much of the continent, and in historical Australia it was used in early colonial times to dye wool.
[11] Native Australian species of tobacco have been used as narcotics for tens of millennia; the main one cultivated by the Atjuntja is Nicotiana rotundifolia (sometimes classified as N. suaveolens). This is similar to common tobacco in its cultivation, although the Atjuntja only chew tobacco (mixed with wood ash); they do not smoke it.
[12] This is de Houtman's introduction to the drug known in historical Australia as pituri. John King, the only survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860-61, reported a similar reaction when he first experienced pituri. Kunduri is grown in parts of the Nyalananga [Murray] basin and exported to many parts of the continent; it reaches the Atjuntja via Islander trading ships. It does have a stronger effect than tobacco; the nicotine content of kunduri/ pituri is up to four times stronger than that of modern commercial tobacco. The drug also contains other alkaloids such as nor-nicotine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which add to its potency.
[13] The three great capes are three major landmarks in the Southern Ocean. Cape Horn in South America divides the Atlantic from the Pacific, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa is the traditional sailing landmark (though modern oceanography sets the dividing point for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans further east at Cape Agulhas), and Cape Leeuwin in south-western Australia divides the Indian Ocean from the Pacific.
--
Thoughts?
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And for another thing...
Lands of Red and Gold has been nominated for a Sobel Award for Best Timeline. The voting thread is here:
Sobel Award for Best Timeline
Vote early, vote often, and if you feel like, even vote for Lands of Red and Gold.
Lands of Red and Gold has been nominated for a Sobel Award for Best Timeline. The voting thread is here:
Sobel Award for Best Timeline
Vote early, vote often, and if you feel like, even vote for Lands of Red and Gold.
This was a grand and fascinating piece, you convey tone and time so incredibly well and watching De Houtman's views start off so bitter and evolve and grow, while not making everything smooth sailings was really engaging to read, the shock and intrigue at the new cities, products and lands were truly engaging. Also loved them trying to tie the animals and products to stuff they recognized, its a good detail and makes sense. Edit: also stuff like the translators refusing certain questions was a nice touch, especially the phrasing XD
That thing about the women being unusually friendly was interesting, and the gift giving culture neat. Gotta admit, that is one impressive king to have people that loyal/terrified of them, also wow, kidnapping, intense much?
Loved that ending, it was truly grand and well built up, this was an engrossing read!
That thing about the women being unusually friendly was interesting, and the gift giving culture neat. Gotta admit, that is one impressive king to have people that loyal/terrified of them, also wow, kidnapping, intense much?
Loved that ending, it was truly grand and well built up, this was an engrossing read!
- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
I can almost like De Houtman now. And that faint sense of wonder you wove through the piece is brilliant.
This is the kind of king who has garrison-cities everywhere to enforce his will, and governors sent there who don't want to be there, and would prefer to go back to the White City. The best way to get back to the White City is to be seen as faithful and obedient. Disobeying his will leads to a choice between being reassigned somewhere even worse or volunteering to be the main attraction at the next religious event at the House of Pain.
Merci.
Glad you liked it.
As with many such things, it depends on who you ask, and in what context. When listing the three great capes from a sailing perspective (especially traditionally) the Cape of Good Hope is viewed as the African great cape because it's the point where the easiest sailing route (from the west, with the winds) stops going mostly southward and switches to mostly eastward. From an oceanographic perspective, Cape Agulhas is indeed the point which divides the Indian from Atlantic Ocean.
At the time de Houtman was sailing, though, the Cape of Good Hope was viewed as the key landmark. (I've since edited the footnote to clarify the distinction).
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Makes sense, I assume you meant 'seen as universally loyal and obedient' or something to that effect?
NP, good luck with your writing!