Editing Willem de Vlamingh (section)

== Rescue mission ==
[[File:Vlamingh ships at the Swan River, Keulen 1796.jpg|thumb|''Willem de Vlamingh's ships, with black swans, at the entrance to the Swan River, Western Australia'', coloured engraving (1796), derived from an earlier drawing (now lost)]]
In 1696, de Vlamingh commanded the rescue mission to Australia's west coast to look for survivors of the ''[[Ridderschap van Holland (1681)|Ridderschap van Holland]]'' that had gone missing two years earlier, and had admiral Sir James Couper on board.{{sfnp |Playford |1998 |p=4 }} There were three ships under his command: the frigate ''Geelvink'', captained by de Vlamingh himself; ''Nijptang'', under Captain Gerrit Collaert; and the [[galiot]] ''Weseltje'', under Captain Cornelis de Vlamingh, son of Willem de Vlamingh. The expedition departed [[Texel]] 'strictly incognito' on 3 May 1696<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vocsite.nl/schepen/detail.html?id=10355|title=De VOCsite : gegevens VOC-schip Geelvink (1696)|website=www.vocsite.nl}}</ref> and, because of the [[Nine Years' War]] with France, sailed around the coast of Scotland to [[Tristan da Cunha]]. In early September the three ships arrived at [[Cape of Good Hope]], where they stayed for seven weeks because of scurvy among the crew. There, Cornelis de Vlamingh took command after Laurens T. Zeeman died.{{sfnp |Playford |1998 |p=5 }} On 27 October, they left using the [[Brouwer Route]] on the Indian Ocean route from the African [[Cape of Good Hope]] to the [[Dutch East Indies]]. On their way east they checked [[Île Saint-Paul]] and [[Île Amsterdam]], but no wreckage or survivors were found. On 5 December they sailed on.

On 29 December 1696, de Vlamingh's party landed on [[Rottnest Island]]. He saw numerous [[quokka]]s (a native marsupial), and thinking they were large rats he named the island {{lang |nl |{{'}}t Eylandt 't Rottenest}} ({{lit |Rats' Nest Island}}). He afterwards wrote of it in his journal:{{sfnp |Playford |1998 |p= }}{{page needed |date=April 2025}}
{{blockquote |text=I had great pleasure in admiring this island, which is very attractive, and where it seems to me that nature has denied nothing to make it pleasurable beyond all islands I have ever seen, being very well provided for man's well-being, with timber, stone, and lime for building him houses, only lacking ploughmen to fill these fine plains. There is plentiful salt, and the coast is full of fish. Birds make themselves heard with pleasant song in these scented groves. So I believe that of the many people who seek to make themselves happy, there are many who would scorn the fortunes of our country for the choice of this one here, which would seem a paradise on earth [...].}}

On 10 January 1697, he ventured up the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]]. He and his crew are believed to have been the first Europeans to do so. They are also assumed to be the first Europeans to see [[black swan]]s,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Origin Of Life On Perth (1697)|url=http://www.lifeonperth.com/origin.htm|website=LifeonPerth.com|access-date=18 August 2016}}</ref> and de Vlamingh named the river {{lang |nl |Zwaanenrivier}} ({{lit |Swan River}}) after the large number of swans they observed there. The crew split into three parties, hoping to catch an [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] person, but about five days later they gave up their quest to catch a "South lander".{{sfnp |Playford |1998 |pp=36, 41 }}

On 22 January, they sailed through the [[Geelvink Channel]]. The next days they saw ten naked Aboriginal people. On 24 January they passed Red Bluff. Near Wittecarra they went looking for fresh water. On 4 February 1697, he landed at [[Dirk Hartog Island]], Western Australia, and [[Hartog Plate|replaced the pewter plate]] left by [[Dirk Hartog]] in 1616 with a new one that bore a record of both of the Dutch sea-captains' visits. The original plate is preserved in the [[Rijksmuseum Amsterdam|Rijksmuseum]] in Amsterdam.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Hartog & de Vlamingh Plates  | publisher = Western Australian Museum  | url = http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/hartog/  | access-date = 18 May 2010}}</ref>{{sfnp |Major |1859 |p=lxxxii }}

De Vlamingh, with his son and Collaert, commanded a return fleet from the Indies on 3 or 11 February 1698,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vocsite.nl/schepen/detail.html?id=10363|title=de VOCsite : gegevens VOC-schip Gent (1693)|website=www.vocsite.nl}}</ref> which arrived in his hometown, Amsterdam, on 16 August. However, it is not certain that de Vlamingh was still alive at that point, and burial records from Vlieland around this time do not exist. On an earlier retourship, de Vlamingh had sent [[Nicolaes Witsen|Witsen]] a box with seashells, fruits and vegetation from [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]] (now called ''Australia''), as well as eleven drawings that Victor Victorsz had made on the expedition. De Vlamingh also included some black swans, but they died on the voyage. Witsen offered the drawings to [[Martin Lister]].<ref>Smit, P & A.P.M. Sanders & J.P.F. van der Veen (1986) Hendrik Engel's Alphabetical List of Dutch Zoological Cabinets and Menageries, p. 306.</ref> Witsen, who had invested in the journey, was disappointed the men had been more interested in setting up trade than in exploring.{{sfnp |Heeres |1899 |pp=xvi, 83 }} In 1699, [[William Dampier]] would explore the coast of Australia and New Guinea.