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Voyages
1618–1619

Dordrecht and Amsterdam (Frederik de Houtman)

In late 1618, a squadron of 11 ships commanded by Frederik de Houtman left the Netherlands, bound for the East Indies. The fleet was scattered before it reached the Cape of Good Hope and two vessels, the Dordrecht and the Amsterdam, sailed on for Java together.

On 8 June 1619, crew sighted the coast of Australia at 32° 20’S but bad weather prevented them from landing. Even though the land he saw was 10° further south, de Houtman, aboard the Dordrecht, was convinced it was part of the same coastline discovered by Hartog two years previously. De Houtman’s detailed report, containing descriptions of reefs, steep coastlines and dunes, seemed to describe for the first time Rottnest Island and the Swan River.

Too large to explore the shallow waters off the coast, the ships resumed their journey north. At 28° 46’S their crews encountered a series of islands and reefs, which they named the Houtman Abrolhos, known today as the Abrolhos Islands (‘Abri voll olos’: ‘beware; keep your eyes open’).