Mauritius (1612)

Dutch sailing ship that visited Western Australia in July 1618

Mauritius

Painting at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam depicting Mauritius, c. 1618

History
Netherlands
Name| Mauritius
Namesake| The island of Mauritius
Owner| Dutch East India Company
Route| Holland to Bantam, Indonesia
Launched| 1612[1]
In service| 1618–1622 (Documented)
General characteristics VOC Ship Mauritius
Type| Wooden-hulled sailing ship
Service record
Commanders:|

* Willem Janszoon
* Lenaert Jacobszoon

Mauritius was an early 17th century Dutch wooden-hulled sailing ship, documented as being in service to the Dutch East India Company between 1618 and 1622.[2]

## History

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### 1618 discoveries

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On the 1618 voyage, the ship was commanded by Supercargo Willem Janszoon and captained by Lenaert Jacobszoon, when they sighted North West Cape in Western Australia on 31 July 1618.[2] On that occasion they had believed that the mainland peninsular west of the Exmouth Gulf, was an island.[2] They went ashore there and it is written that they discovered human footprints, as follows.[2]

> Letter Of supercargo WILLEM JANSZ(OON) to the Managers of the Amsterdam

> Chamber, October 6, 1618. A. Worshipful Wise Provident Discreet Gentlemen,

> (Sailed 1000 miles to eastward in 38 degrees with notable success.)

> The present serves only to inform you that on the 8th of June last with the ship Mauritius we passed Cape de bon esperence, with strong westerly winds, so that we deemed it inadvisable to call at any land, after which we ran a thousand miles to eastward in 38 degrees Southern Latitude, though we should have wished to go still further east.

> On the 31st of July we discovered an island and landed on the same, where we found the marks of human footsteps--on the west-side it extends N.N.E. and S.S.W.; it measures 15 miles in length, and its northern extremity is in 22° S. Lat. It bears Eendracht S.S.E. and N.N.W. from the south-point of Sunda at 240 miles' distance; from there (Eendrachtsland[a]) through God's grace we safely arrived before Bantam on the 22nd of August...

> Done on board the ship 't Wapen van Amsterdam, October 6, 1618.

— Willem Janszoon, 6 October 1618

### 1627 chart of Eendrachtsland

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Mauritius is mentioned on the Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht (transl. Chart of the Land of Eendracht), which is a 1627 chart by Hessel Gerritsz and one of the earliest charts that shows Australia.

#### Willems Rivier (1618) on the 1627 chart

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On the 1618 voyage, the crew visited and partly mapped a river which was named Willems Rivier.[2] This river was most likely named after the commander of the ship Mauritius, Supercargo Willem Janszoon. The chart has annotation Willems revier, besocht by 't volck van 't Schip Mauritius in Iulius A° 1618 (transl. Willem's River, visited by the crew of the ship Mauritius in July 1618).

* Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht

* Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht (detail naming Mauritius as ship used for the discovery of Willem's River) by Hessel Gerritsz, stating, Willems revier, besocht by 't volck van 't Schip Mauritius in Iulius A° 1618 (transl. Willem's River, visited by the crew of the ship Mauritius in July 1618). This cropped image has been reoriented 90 degrees clockwise from the original chart with north at the now customary top.

#### Commander Willem Janszoon

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The Commander of the ship Mauritius, Supercargo Willem Janszoon, was captain of Duyfken in 1605–1606, when part of the Gulf of Carpentaria was mapped, during that earliest documented visit to Australia by a vessel from Europe.[2]

#### Willems Rivier - Ashburton River

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The 1618 named Willem's River is believed to be the Ashburton River.[3] The detail of the river’s position on the chart backs up the claim that Willem's River is the Ashburton River, which, being at 21 degrees 40 minutes south and 114 degrees 56 east, is almost exactly the latitude shown on the chart and discussed in other writing.[2]

#### Eendrachtsland (1616) - Australia

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The chart was based on a number of voyages, beginning with the 1616 voyage of Dirk Hartog. On that voyage Hartog named Eendrachtsland after his ship Eendracht, meaning 'concord' or 'unity'. The name Eendrachtsland appeared on subsequent charts.[2]

### Mauritius reaches Bantam

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The ship Mauritius reached its destination Bantam, Indonesia on 22 August 1618.[2][page needed]

Mauritius is mentioned in September 1622, as follows.[4]

> But in the meantime, in the years 1616, 1618, 1619 and 1622, the west coast of this great unknown south land from 35° to 22° S. latitude was discovered by outward bound ships, and among them by the ship Endraght [Eendracht]; for the nearer discovery of which the governor-general, Jan Pietersz Coen (of worthy memory) in September, 1622, despatched the yachts De Haring and Harewind; but this voyage was rendered abortive by meeting the ship Mauritius, and searching after the ship Rotterdam.

## Notes

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1. ^ This marginal note was made by an official of the East India Company, when the letter had reached its destination.

## References

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1. ^ "The Dutch East India Company's shipping between the Netherlands and Asia 1595-1795". huygens.knaw.nl. Huygens ING. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heeres, Jan Ernst (3 January 2006) [1899]. Choat, Colin (ed.). The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765. Project Gutenberg Australia. Wikidata Q132175190. Retrieved 10 July 2025 - via Project Gutenberg Australia.
3. ^ Tent, Jan (March 2006). "The importance of bygone placenames" (PDF). Placenames Australia - Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey: 10–11. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
4. ^ Major, Richard Henry (2006) [1859]. Choat, Colin; Forsyth, Bob (eds.). Early Voyages to Terra Australis, now called Australia: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of that Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook. Project Gutenberg. Wikidata Q135264721. Retrieved 10 July 2025 - via Project Gutenberg Australia.

Portals:

* Netherlands
* Western Australia
* Modern history

*[c.]: circa
*[transl.]: translation