On 2 June 1639 the expedition to find the so-called Silver Island and Gold Island departed from Batavia under the command of Mathijs Hendrikszoon Quast. The expedition consisted of two ships, the ‘Engel’ and the ‘Gracht’ – the latter under the command of skipper Abel Tasman. The Gold Island and Silver Island were rumoured to be very rich in the resources they were named after and were thought to lie somewhere east of Japan, but earlier attempts by other Europeans had not found them. After a long back-and-forth correspondence between Batavia and the Directors of the VOC in the 1630s, the decision was made to launch an expedition to find the islands. If they were not found, the expedition was to survey the eastern coasts of what is now Siberia, northern China and Korea, or failing that, sail back via the west coast of the Americas.
Progress
The planned route would take the expedition along the western coast of the Philippines, rounding the northern coast of Luzon before sailing in north-eastern direction to eventually reach the oceans to the east of Japan. From there it would cover as much area as possible to uncover the location of the islands. The expedition first sailed past Bangka and Biliton, before stopping off the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula to stock up on supplies and make repairs. From there the expedition reached the Philippines. In late June and early July the expedition passed the Philippines, rounding the northern coast of Luzon and set sail in north-eastern direction. After passing several islands that are now considered part of the Bonin Islands, the expedition turned west and reached the eastern shores of the Japanese island of Hondo in the second half of August. From there, the ships sailed east for over a month, reaching the eastern-most point of their voyage at October 2nd at roughly 177 degrees western longitude before turning back. Conditions on board meanwhile deteriorated. In late October and early November, the expedition again sailed past the eastern coast of Japan. Conditions on board were such that the secondary mission of exploring the eastern coasts of Asia was abandoned, and the ships set sail to Formosa (Taiwan), and the Dutch fortress of Zeelandia there. On 24 November 1639, the expedition ended its journey at Formosa, yielding nothing but the description of some hitherto unknown coastlines.
