A model of a wooden sailing ship on display in a glass case.

The Europeans Arrive - the Portuguese and the Dutch

T’Weseltje: small ship in a wide ocean

The first Europeans to visit the Australian coast were seafarers of the VOC - the Dutch East India Company. In 1616 Dirk Hartog, in Eendracht, encountered the central coast of Western Australia and sailed north, leaving a message inscribed on a pewter mess dish on an island off Shark Bay. Then there were the wrecks of Batavia in 1629 and Vergulde Draeck in 1656. When, in 1694, the Ridderschap van Holland disappeared in the Indian Ocean, it was assumed to have been shipwrecked on the Southland.

Willem de Vlamingh, an experienced VOC officer, was appointed to search for the wrecks, and possible survivors, from both Ridderschap van Holland and Vergulde Draeck. He was given a new fleet for the expedition, the hooker Nijptangh, the galliot ‘t Weseltje, and the frigate Geelvinck. As you can see, ‘t Weseltje was tiny but, with its shallow draft it would prove indispensable for inshore exploration and charting. Vlamingh’s expedition left Holland in great secrecy in May 1696. t’Weseltje’s captain died when the fleet arrived at Cape Town. Somewhat controversially, Vlamingh appointed his own son to take over the ship. Nonetheless, the expedition proceeded and on Boxing Day 1696 anchored off Rottnest Island. The expedition made its way north and found Hartog’s plate and left one of its own. The ultimate fate of ‘t Weseltje is not recorded, but it possibly remained in the Dutch East Indies as its small size would have made it ideal for further coastal exploration.

A colour drawing of a large and smaller Dutch sailing ship, with two boats rowing up the river to capture black swans.

Willem de Vlamingh's ships, with black swans, at the entrance to the Swan River, Western Australia, coloured engraving, derived from an earlier drawing (now lost) from the de Vlamingh expeditions of 1696–97.
Credit: Het Eyland Amsterdam, held at the National Library of Australia

An oil painting of a finely dressed Dutch gentleman. Navigational equipment and a glob are nearby. Outside the building are several sailing ships on the water.

This portrait of a gentleman in a cassock, with a maritime scene on one side and a maritime/geographical instruments on the other, suggests a Dutch seafarer from the VOC (Dutch East India Company) of the 1690s, and is believed to be Willem de Vlamingh.
Credit: Jan and Nikolaas Verkolje, c.1690 - 1700

Ship model - t'Westltje, Dutch galliot, lent by Adriaen de Jong.
Credit: WA Museum