CHAPTER II: CAPTAIN TASMAN SAILS FROM BATAVIA, AUGUST 14, 1642.


On August 14, 1642, I sailed from Batavia with two vessels; the one
called the _Heemskirk_, and the other the _Zee-Haan_. On September 5 I
anchored at Maurice Island, in the latitude of 20 degrees south, and in
the longitude of 83 degrees 48 minutes. I found this island fifty German
miles more to the east than I expected; that is to say, 3 degrees 33
minutes of longitude. This island was so called from Prince Maurice,
being before known by the name of Cerne. It is about fifteen leagues in
circumference, and has a very fine harbour, at the entrance of which
there is one hundred fathoms water. The country is mountainous; but the
mountains are covered with green trees. The tops of these mountains are
so high that they are lost in the clouds, and are frequently covered by
thick exhalations or smoke that ascends from them. The air of this
island is extremely wholesome. It is well furnished with flesh and fowl;
and the sea on its coasts abounds with all sorts of fish. The finest
ebony in the world grows here. It is a tall, straight tree of a moderate
thickness, covered with a green bark, very thick, under which the wood is
as black as pitch, and as close as ivory. There are other trees on the
island, which are of a bright red, and a third sort as yellow as wax. The
ships belonging to the East India Company commonly touch at this island
for refreshments on their passage to Batavia.

I left this island on the 8th of October, and continued my course to the
south to the latitude of 40 degrees or 41 degrees, having a strong north-
west wind; and finding the needle vary 23, 24, and 25 degrees to the 22nd
of October, I sailed from that time to the 29th to the east, inclining a
little to the south, till I arrived in the latitude of 45 degrees 47