In 1615 Willem Cornelisz Schouten and Jacob le Maire sailed from Texel, Netherlands, in command of an expedition sponsored by Isaac Le Maire. A main purpose of the voyage was to search for Australia. A further objective was to trade restrictions of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) by finding a new route to the Pacific and the Spice Islands. In 1616 Schouten rounded Cape Horn, which he named for his birthplace, the Dutch city of Hoorn. He followed the north coasts of New Ireland and New Guinea and visited adjacent islands, including what became known as the Schouten Islands.
 

Although he had opened an unknown route to trade with the Spice Islands. Schouten was arrested (and later released) and his ship confiscated in Java. On his return he would sail again for the VOC, and on one of these trips he died off the coast of Madagascar in 1625.