Hartog to De Vlamingh Exhibition 100 years of
Dutch explorations of Australia

Return from the second expedition to the East Indies in 1599

by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom.

January 1997 marked 300 years since Willem de Vlamingh arrived off the coast of Western Australia and explored and named Rottnest Island and the Swan River.

This arrival was a significant event in the long assocaition of the Dutch with the Australian Continent. However, de Vlamingh was not the first Dutchman to reach the coast of Australia. Willem Janszoon claimed this honour when he explored the area around Cape York in the yatch Duyfken in 1606. The first Dutchman to land on the Western Australian coast was Dirk Hartog who arrived here in the ship Eendracht in 1616.

The early history of European exploration of Australia is inextricably linked with the expansion of the powerful Dutch East India Company, the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC). The VOC established a trade network throughout Asia seeking rare spices, exotic textiles and new markets for their goods. Trade between Europe and Asia was a profitable enterprise.

Fuelled by the growing myths about the treasures which awaited them in the huge unknown continent in the South, the VOC equipped several expeditions in their search for profit. However, instead of wealth, the VOC found tragedy when the first ships were wrecked on the dangerous west coast of Australia.

This exhibition traces the path of various expeditions, both successful and unsuccessful. It presents orginal maps and detailed ship journals that tell, first hand, the story of this era of search and expectation. The documents and objects chart the growth of knowledge about the mysterious Southland and its inhabitants.