On this trip he devised the Brouwer Route, a route from South Africa to Java that reduced voyage duration from a year to about six months by taking advantage of the strong westerly winds in the Roaring Forties – latitudes between 40° and 50° south.

In 1642, the VOC joined the Dutch West India Company in organizing an expedition to Chile to establish a base for trading gold at the abandoned ruins of Valdivia.

While rounding Cape Horn, the expedition established that Isla de los Estados was not part of the unknown southern land.

[3] After making landfall on Chiloé Island, Brouwer made a pact with native Huilliches to aid in establishing a resettlement at Valdivia.

Having been told that the Dutch had plans to return to the location, the Spanish viceroy in Peru sent 1,000 men in 20 ships in 1644, to resettle Valdivia and fortify it.