Madagascar tribal dance. 17th-century artwork of indigenous people in Madagascar performing a dance around a plant. This scene was observed during a Dutch voyage to the East Indies (Indonesia). Artwork from 'Rerum et urbis Amstelodamensium historia' (1611) a history of Amsterdam by Dutch-Danish royal historiographer Johannes Isacius Pontanus (1571-1639). This book includes descriptions of the first Dutch voyage to the East Indies in 1595 by Cornelis de Houtman. During this voyage, Houtman's four ships anchored at a bay in Madagascar where they buried 70 of their dead from an outbreak of scurvy.