WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

century, their interest was commercial. To protect any commercial advantage this
information was held in the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische
Compagnie, or VOC) archives and not disseminated throughout Europe. The Dutch
thought that the north-western coast of Australia was bleak, inhospitable and without
commercial attraction. Because of this perception, the Kimberley region was to
remain one of Australia's most isolated and unsettled areas, with European settlement
only developing in the late nineteenth century.
William Dampier stayed in the west Kimberley coast area for more than one month in
early 1688, landing first at Pender Bay, then sailing and anchoring in Karrakatta Bay,
where he camped onshore with the crew of the ship Cygnet . Dampier and the Cygnet
crew lived at Karrakatta Bay while the ship was careened, 'canoed' and fished in the
nearby sea, met a group of Aboriginal people on an island, observed Aboriginal
people elsewhere and swimming between islands. Dampier also notes in his account
old wells, low even land, sandy banks against the sea, rocky points, the careening
beach, the islands in the bay, the 'dragon' trees and the Aboriginal stone fish traps
described as 'weirs of stone across little coves or branches of the sea'. A full
description of his observations is included in his account of his voyages around the
world (Dampier 1697).
Dampier spent more time on the Australian coast than any previous European
navigator and was one of the first to make observations and record information about
the new land. These accounts became known by Europeans through publication of his
books. The information about 'New Holland' published by Dampier in these books
played a pivotal role in the process of revealing the geography of Australia to
Europeans. This information also stimulated a new drive for discovery and had further
impact on European philosophy at the time. Dampier's books became bestsellers
across Europe and because of their popularity became extremely influential in
forming European attitudes to Australia (Pearson 2004).
Dampier's accounts, which included his observations at Karrakatta Bay and nearby,
fostered widespread interest in the 'new south land' and were influential in shaping
late seventeenth and eighteenth century attitudes towards Australia and its Indigenous
people. Dampier's observations also provided encouragement for further exploration
by many European explorers, including for example French explorers and Dampier's
own later voyage in the Roebuck which was sponsored by the British Admiralty
(Pearson 2004) and during which Dampier collected some Australian plants,
foreshadowing the birth of Australian botany. This exploration stimulus foreshadowed
Cook's voyage to the Pacific and the eventual establishment of a British at Botany
Bay and the founding of modern Australia. In this regard the discovery and settlement
of eastern Australia may be viewed as the indirect but none the less real conclusion of
Dampier's work (ADB 1966c).
In summary, Karrakatta Bay is considered to have a significant association with the
nation's cultural history because of its association with William Dampier and his place
in the process whereby the mythical terra australis incognita was transformed in
European consciousness into the continent of Australia. The environment Dampier
observed is substantially unmodified since his 1688 landing and can be seen today.
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