Pobasso, also spelt Probasso or Pobassoo, was the chief of a division of the Makassan fleet of perahu in the waters between northern Australia and Indonesia in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The fleet harvested trepang, or sea cucumber, trading it to China. [1] Pobasso was a key informant on the early Makassan relationships with Australia's Indigenous peoples prior to European settlement.
On his 1803 voyage mapping the coastline of Terra Australis, Captain Matthew Flinders came upon six perahu vessels on the 17 February at the English Company's Islands' Malay Road, north of Arnhem Land. Thinking they were Chinese pirates he approached with caution. Pobasso, who Flinders described as a "short, elderly man" and five other chiefs came aboard Finders's ship the Investigator where he was extensively questioned by Flinders about the trepang trade. He was able to communicate through his cook, Abraham Williams, who acted as interpreter. Williams was of Javanese background, though generally described as a Malay by the British. It is most likely that Flinders took Williams on board in Cape Town, South Africa a port which Flinders visited on his way to Australia and where many Malays had been transported by the Dutch. [2]
Pobasso educated Finders about their fleet. He said its commander-in-chief was a man named 'Salloo' and was owned by the 'Rajah of Boni'. It boasted separate divisions totaling 60 perahu and 1000 crew. Each perahu was 25 tons with a crew of 20 to 25 men. [3] He said that he had made at least six voyages to the Australian coast over 20 years and was the first to do so. They had no knowledge of any European settlement in Australia and upon Flinders telling him about Port Jackson, Pobasso's son took notes about the settlement in "foreign characters, writing from left to right". [3] He also claimed to never have seen another foreign ship in the waters of the northern Australian coastline. [4] [5]
Pobasso's fleet had no charts nor were they able to make astronomical observations. They had no navigational tools other than a small compass. They carried a month's water supply in joints of bamboo as well as dried fish, coconuts, rice and poultry. [4] Flinders noted that Pobasso carried two small brass guns, obtained from the Dutch. The other chiefs were also armed, each carrying "a short dagger or cress".
Pobasso warned that his fleet "sometimes had skirmishes with the native inhabitants of the coast". He had formerly been speared in the knee, cautioning Flinders, ‘beware of the natives’. [3]
He was sketched by artist William Westall who was aboard the Investigator. [6]
Pobasso delayed his journey by a day to spend time with Flinders, accepting gifts of iron tools and a letter written in English to show to any other ships he might meet on his travels. [3]
Flinders named an island after Pobasso, Pobassoo Island. [3] [7] [8]
A fictional representation of Pobasso features in Steven Marcuson's novel The Bunting Quest. [9] Pobasso is also a central character in the musical Pobasso and the Cucumbers by Chris James, primarily performed for high schools. [10]
Terra Australis was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental land in the Northern Hemisphere should be balanced by land in the Southern Hemisphere. This theory of balancing land has been documented as early as the 5th century on maps by Macrobius, who uses the term Australis on his maps.
The maritime European exploration of Australia consisted of several waves of European seafarers who sailed the edges of the Australian continent. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans known to have explored and mapped the Australian coastline. The first documented encounter was that of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, in 1606. Dutch seafarers also visited the west and north coasts of the continent, as did French explorers.
Makassar, formerly Ujung Pandang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung. The city is located on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait.
Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts.
New Holland is a historical European name for mainland Australia.
Makassar people from the region of Sulawesi in Indonesia began visiting the coast of Northern Australia sometime around the middle of the 18th century, first in the Kimberley region, and some decades later in Arnhem Land. They were men who collected and processed trepang, a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary value generally and for its supposed medicinal properties in Chinese markets. The term Makassan is generally used to apply to all the trepangers who came to Australia.
The theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia claims that early Portuguese navigators were the first Europeans to sight Australia between 1521 and 1524, well before the arrival of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606 on board the Duyfken who is generally considered to be the first European discoverer. While lacking generally accepted evidence, this theory is based on the following:
The history of the Northern Territory began over 60,000 years ago when Indigenous Australians settled the region. Makassan traders began trading with the indigenous people of the Northern Territory for trepang from at least the 18th century onwards.
William Westall was a British landscape artist best known as one of the first artists to work in Australia.
Gawa is a place on Elcho Island in the Arnhem Land of Northern Territory, Australia.
Captain Matthew Flinders was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to utilise the name Australia to describe the entirety of that continent including Van Diemen's Land, a title he regarded as being "more agreeable to the ear" than previous names such as Terra Australis.
Trepanging is the act of collection or harvesting of sea cucumbers, known in Indonesian as trepang, Malay těripang, and used as food. The collector, or fisher, of trepang is a trepanger.
Overseas Indonesians refers to Indonesians who live outside of Indonesia. These include citizens that have migrated to another country as well as people born abroad of Indonesian descent. According to the Indonesian Statistics Agency, more than 9 million Indonesians live abroad in 2021.
Baijini are a mythical people mentioned in the Djanggawul song cycle of the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Many speculations have arisen that try to link these mythical culture-bearers with historical immigrants from either China directly or Southern Asia.
The Makassar or Makassarese people are an ethnic group that inhabits the southern part of the South Peninsula, Sulawesi in Indonesia. They live around Makassar, the capital city of the province of South Sulawesi, as well as the Konjo highlands, the coastal areas, and the Selayar and Spermonde islands. They speak Makassarese, which is closely related to Buginese and also a Malay creole called Makassar Malay.
Using Daeng Rangka, also known as Husein Daeng Rangka was the last Makassan trepanger, an Indonesian sea cucumber harvester, to visit Australia. He was born in Labbakang, in the south Celebes, and owned one of the first trepanging licences issued by the South Australian Government. His published accounts and memoirs - for his lived well into the 20th century - have formed the basis for great study in the history of Australia–Indonesia relations.
Padewakang were traditional boats used by the Bugis, Mandar, and Makassar people of South Sulawesi. Padewakang were used for long distance voyages serving the south Sulawesi kingdoms.
Wurrwurrwuy stone arrangements is a heritage-listed indigenous site at Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia. It is also known as Wurrwurrwuy. It was added to the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 15 August 2007 and to the Australian National Heritage List on 9 August 2013.
Patorani is a traditional fishing boat from Makassar, Indonesia. It is used by Macassan people for fishing, transport, and trading since at least 17th century A.D. Historically this type of boat was used by Gowa Sultanate as war boat.
The Javanese presence in Australia has been reported by native Southeast Asian and European people over several centuries. The most renowned record is from the itinerary of Chiaymasiouro, king of Demak, and Declaraçam de Malaca e India Meridional com o Cathay by Manuel Godinho de Eredia. Chiaymasiouro describes a land called LucaAntara in Southeast direction of Java, which Eredia coined the term India Meridional. According to Chiaymasiouro's accounts, a subgroup of Javanese people already settled in those lands, but when Eredia's servant went to LucaAntara in 1610, the land had seemingly been abandoned.