Cocos Eylandt Isle de Cocos. Verraders Eylandt Isle des traistres.

Rare engraved view of the Dutch ship Eendracht under the command of Jacob Le Maire and captained by Willem Cornelis Schouten, at Cocos Island (Keeling Island ) and Traitors Island (Niuatoputapu), Tonga. Both Islands are just north of Tonga. They are better known by the names given to them by Wallis in 1767, Boscawen and Keppel Islajnd but the Tongan names are Tafahi and Niuatobutabu. Keeling Island is an Australia External Territory. 

Tafahi and Niuatoputapu were discovered by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire in 1616. They named Cocos Island because of the abundance of coconut palms and Traitors Island due to the ruse by the natives who appeared peaceful but then attacked.

The view shows the natives of Traitors’ Island pelting the ship with stones because they were impressed by the hardness of the wood from which the vessel was made. The Dutch felt threatened and opened fire with their muskets. As a consequence the island was named ‘Traitors Island’.

In 1615 Willem Cornelisz Schouten and Jacob le Maire had sailed from Texel in the Netherlands, in command of an expedition sponsored by Isaac Le Maire (father of Jacob) and his Australische Compagnie, to search for new route to the Moluccas or Spice Islands. In January 24, 1616 Schouten and Le Maire rounded Cape Horn via the Le Maire Strait, which he named after his birthplace, the Dutch city of Hoorn. 

From Le Maire: Spieghel der Australische
Navigatie (Mirror of the Australian Navigation)