United States or Djibouti ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Frederick Houtman's Abrolhos were sighted on January 17th, and the passage or channel between the Abrolhos Bank and the coast has been distinguished by the name of Vlaming's ship, the GEELVINK, since she was the first vessel that passed there, 1697.
The language spoken by them is entirely Papuan, being that which is used on all the coasts of Mysol, Salwatty, the north-west of New Guinea, and the islands in the great Geelvink Bay, a fact which indicates the way in which the coast settlements have been formed.
As suzerain nominally under the Sultan of Tidore, they claim possession of the western part of the island as far east as Lat. 141 degrees 47' E. The trade they carry on is said to be worth about 20,000l. a year. Dutch missionaries have for many years been stationed around the coast of Geelvink Bay.
Walking among the paper lanterns suspended to trees he remembered with regret the gloom and the dead stillness of the forests at the back of Geelvink Bay, perhaps the wildest, the unsafest, the most deadly spot on earth from which the sea can be seen. Oppressed by his thoughts, he sought the obscurity and peace of his bedroom; but they were not complete.
In 1770, Captain Cook visited the south-west coast, and in 1775, an English officer, Forrest by name, spent some months on the north-east coast in search of spices. In 1793, New Guinea was annexed by two of the East India Company's commanders, and an island in Geelvink Bay, Manasvari by name, was for a time held by their troops.
It was now necessary to resume our examination of the Abrolhos, and thirty-one miles on a West 1/4 South course, brought us between two groups of them, where we anchored for the night in 23 fathoms. The soundings in standing across Geelvink Channel, were 22 and 26 fathoms, fine white sand; the current ran North-North-West, a mile an hour. April 11.
Word Of The Day