Editing Matthijs Quast (section)

==1639 Expedition==
[[File:Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (坤輿萬國全圖).jpg|thumb|right|250px|The c.&nbsp;1604 Japanese edition of [[Matteo Ricci]]'s [[Kunyu Wanguo Quantu]] [[mappamundi|world map]], which pointedly added ''Kinshima'' and ''Ginshima'' to the original in the [[North Pacific]] east of [[Honshu]]. The islands continued to appear in Japanese world maps until after the [[Meiji Restoration]] in the mid-19th century but could not be located by Quast's expedition... or anyone else after.]]
[[File:37 30 N. in East Asia.png|thumb|right|250px|The [[circle of latitude]] at 37° 30′ N., the supposed location of the islands [[Rica de Oro]] and [[Rica de Plata|Plata]] according to the [[Dejima]] trader [[Willem Verstegen]]. The line crosses the [[Shatsky Rise]] and [[Emperor Seamounts]] but nothing at or near [[sea level]].]]
Claims that southern or eastern seas held islands rich with [[gold]] and [[silver]] are at least as old as the [[Ancient Greek geographers|ancient Greeks]], who called them [[Chryse and Argyre]]. Spanish mariners had placed their {{lang|es|Isla Rica de Oro}} and {{lang|es|Rica de Plata}} ("Island Rich with Gold" and "with Silver") at various locations around the [[North Pacific]] for decades. Quast's expedition was occasioned by a 7 December 1635 report from [[Willem Verstegen]], a VOC trader at [[Dejima]] off [[Nagasaki]],{{sfnp|Heeres et al.|1895|loc=Life & Labors, p. 15}} that seemed to verify the Spanish claims, placing ''Kinshima'' {{nowrap|({{lang|ja|金島}},}} "Island of Gold") and ''Ginshima'' {{nowrap|({{lang|ja|銀島}},}} "Island of Silver") somewhere vaguely east of [[Honshu]]. (For his part, Verstegen specifically located the islands to be discovered at [[37th parallel north|37° 30′ N.]]{{sfnp|Heeres et al.|1895|loc=Life & Labors, p. 15}} somewhere within 400 [[mijl]]s of the Japanese coast.){{sfnp|Leupe & al.|1858|pp=35-40}} The VOC officials at the eastern headquarters of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] on [[Java]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now [[Jakarta]], [[Indonesia]]) were unimpressed and uninterested but were eventually overruled by the [[Heeren XIX|heeren]] back in the [[Dutch Republic|Netherlands]], who ordered them to investigate.{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|p=39}}

Quast was instructed to go to the area matching the Spanish and Japanese accounts by way of the [[Philippines]] and then to continue northwest from there to explore [[Joseon Korea|Korea]] and the possibilities for a [[Northeast Passage]] around [[Mongolia]], [[Manchuria]], and [[Siberia]] ("[[Tartary]]").{{sfnp|Engels|2004}} The VOC reserving its good ships for trading voyages with certain profit upon completion, the expedition was given the two small and run-down ships {{lang|nl|Engel}} ([[Dutch language|Dutch]] for "Angel") and {{lang|nl|Graft}}{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|p=39}} or {{lang|nl|Gracht}} ("[[Gracht|Urban Canal]]"). Quast and his commander [[Lucas Albertsen]] used the ''Engel'' as the flagship while his lieutenant [[Abel Tasman]]{{mdash}}now famous for his later voyages to [[New Holland (Australia)|Australia]]{{mdash}}captained the ''Gracht''.{{sfnp|Engels|2004}}

The expedition left Batavia on 2 June 1639.{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|p=39}} It passed [[Luzon]] into the open water of the Pacific on 10 July.{{sfnp|Engels|2004}} Eager to find the two islands, Quast raised the bonus for the first person to sight land. Simultaneously, he more seriously penalized anyone found asleep on watch: fifty [[Flagellation|lashes]] and a fine of a month's pay on the first offense, twice as much for the second, and [[capital punishment|death]] for the third.{{sfnp|Engels|2004}} Systematically crossing the sea in the areas indicated, reaching as far as [[42° northern latitude|42° N.]] and [[177th meridian east|177° E.]],{{sfnp|Hayes|2001}} the two ships discovered{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|p=40}}{{sfnp|Eldridge|2008|p=13}} or [[Bernardo de la Torre|rediscovered]] the entirely uninhabited [[Bonin Islands]]{{efn|The names their log records for the larger islands they found were Hooge Meeuwen<!--sic--> Island ({{langx|nl|t'Hooge Meuwen<!--sic--> Eylandt}}, "the High [[Seagull]] Island") for [[North Iwo Jima]] in the [[Volcano Islands|Volcanos]] and Engel's or Engel Island ({{lang|nl|Engels Eylandt}}) for [[Hahajima]] and Gracht's, Graft's, or Graft Island ({{lang|nl|Graghts Eylandt}}) for [[Chichijima]] in the [[Bonin]]s.{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|pp=39–40}}{{sfnp|Eldridge|2008|p=13}}}} but found nothing even vaguely resembling what they were looking for. The crew decimated by illness exacerbated by poor rations and the ships beginning to fail, Quast finally abandoned his fruitless search on 25 October.{{sfnp|Engels|2004}} Bad as things were, he directed his men to sail for [[Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)|Fort Zeelandia]] on [[Dutch Taiwan|Taiwan]] (now within [[Tainan]]'s [[Anping District]]) rather than attempting to continue northwest.{{sfnp|Engels|2004}} By the time his men reached [[Tayouan]] and its fort on 24 November, 41 of the 90 men who had sailed with Quast had died.{{sfnp|Engels|2004}}