Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia and Discovery of Mauritius
- When
- 1598
- Where
- Grand Port District; Mauritius
- Episodes
- 2
In 1598, the Dutch fleet under Jacob van Neck and Wybrand van Warwijck reached Mauritius. The squadron landed at Grand Port, named the island after Prince Maurice of Nassau, and recorded the first known accounts of the dodo.
Episodes
- Dutch Landing and Naming of Mauritius
Dutch squadron lands at Grand Port and names the island Mauritius after Prince Maurice of Nassau.
- First Recorded Accounts of the Dodo
Dutch sailors record the first known mentions of the dodo during the 1598 expedition.
Background and detail
Landing and Naming. The Dutch squadron landed at Grand Port in 1598 and took possession of the island. They renamed it Mauritius in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau, the stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, establishing a Dutch presence in the Indian Ocean.
Dodo Discovery. During this expedition, Dutch sailors provided the earliest known accounts of the dodo, an extinct flightless bird endemic to Mauritius. Van Warwijck's journal described the bird as a 'Walghvoghel,' marking the first recorded mention of the species in 1598.
People involved
- Jacob Corneliszoon van Neck · Admiral and expedition leader
- Wybrand van Warwijck · Vice-Admiral
- Maurice of Nassau · Prince of Orange and namesake
Sources
- Jacob Corneliszoon van Neck Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-12
- Mauritius Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-18
- Dodo Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-17
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.