Swan River Settlement
Frederick de Houtman
Another Dutch captain, Frederick de Houtman, came in 1619. He reached land just south of where Fremantle now stands. He wanted to go on shore, but the breakers were too strong. After a few days he turned north, sailing parallel with the coast.
In a few days he came on a cluster of dangerous reefs.
He called them Houtman's Abrolhos.
Abrolhos is a Portugese word which means "Keep your eyes open"!
Sailing further north, he finally reached his destination of Batavia. Houtman wrote a report on his voyage and had few good things to say about the land he had seen.
