C.

_Letter from the Governor-General LAURENS REAEL to the Managers of the E.I.C., May 10, 1617._

...Mr. Cornelis Dedel, LL. D., had by us been dispatched to this place [*] from the Moluccas, that with two or three yachts and pinnaces he might proceed to the discovery of the Southern lands, which undertaking had heretofore once more by order of...Admiraal Verhagen been engaged in by Jan Rossangin [**]. But when lying at anchor in Amboyna...Dedel's ships were employed on other services. [***]

[* Reael was then staying in Banda.]

[* This almost certainly refers to the voyage of 1605-6 under Willem Jansz. and Rosengein.]

[* Although, as we see, the project was not carried into execution, I have thought it good to print the above documents, because they bear testimony to the earnest intention of the Dutch authorities in India once more to undertake the discovery of the "South-land" (at the same time the matter was by no means lost sight of in the Netherlands, as is proved by a resolution of the Managers of the E.I.C., of October 1616); [and] because document C in the text is _presumably_ fresh evidence for the voyage of 1605-6.]

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