Ship (3m).
L:
120 (36.6m). Hull:
wood. Comp.:
110. Arm.:
32 guns. Built:
Netherlands; <1675.
In 1675, Arend Roggeveen applied to States-General for a charter to search for unknown or unconfirmed lands in the South Pacific. Although he died before he could undertake the mission, in 1721 his son Jacob made a similar proposal to the Dutch West India Company. They fitted him out with Den Arend ("The Eagle"), Thienhoven (100 feet/30.5 meters, 24 guns, 80 crew), and Den Afrikaansche Galei (92 feet/28 meters, 14 guns, 33 crew). In particular, Roggeveen intended to search for Davis's Land, reputedly seen in latitude 27°S about 1,500 miles from the coast of South America by English buccaneer Edward Davis in 1687. The ships sailed from the Texel on July 26, 1721, and after a stop in Brazil rounded Cape Horn. Sailing northwest, Roggeveen's men were the first Europeans to visit Easter Island on April 5 (Easter Sunday), 1722. Thereafter the ships sailed west following the track laid down by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire in
Eendracht in 1616. On May 19, the Galei was lost on Takapoto Island in the Tuamotu Archipelago, and five sailors deserted the expedition. Having made no substantial discovery, Roggeveen was bound to return home. Deciding that rounding Cape Horn again would be impossible with a sick and disabled crew, he determined to sail west and then north around New Guinea to Batavia, where they arrived on October 3. There, the East India Company confiscated the ships and property of the rival West India Company crews before sending them on to the Netherlands.
Roggeveen, Journal of Jacob Roggeveen.
