Duyfken

In 1605, on the initiative of the VOC, Jan Willemsz Verschoor set up an expedition ‘to discover the large country of Nova Guinea and other East- and Southlands’. For this he equipped the small yacht Duyfken (Little Dove). This yacht, also called a ‘pinas’, had been in service for a while now, and had proven exceptionally well suited to exploration, due to her shallow draft and good manoeuvrability.