CHAPTER XXI: REMARKS UPON THE VOYAGE.

In speaking of the consequences of Captain Tasman's voyage, it has been

very amply shown that this part of Terra Australis, or southern country,

has been fully and certainly discovered. To prevent, however, the

reader's making any mistake, I will take this opportunity of laying

before him some remarks on the whole southern hemisphere, which will

enable him immediately to comprehend all that I have afterwards to say on

this subject.

If we suppose the south pole to be the centre of a chart of which the

equinoctial is the circumference, we shall then discern four quarters, of

the contents of which, if we could give a full account, this part of the

world would be perfectly discovered. To begin then with the first of

these, that is, from the first meridian, placed in the island of Fero.

Within this division, that is to say, from the first to the nineteenth

degree of longitude, there lies the great continent of Africa, the most

southern point of which is the Cape of Good Hope, lying in the latitude

of 34 degrees 15 minutes south. Between that and the pole, several small

but very inconsiderable islands have been discovered, affording us only

this degree of certainty, that to the latitude of 50 degrees there is no

land to be found of any consequence; there was, indeed, a voyage made by

Mr. Bovet in the year 1738, on purpose to discover whether there were any

lands to the south in that quarter or not. This gentleman sailed from

Port l'Orient July the 18th, 1738, and on the 1st of January, 1739,

discovered a country, the coasts of which were covered with ice, in the

latitude of 54 degrees south, and in the longitude of 28 degrees 30

minutes, the variation of the compass being there 6 degrees 45 minutes,

to the west.

In the next quarter, that is to say, from 90 degrees longitude to 180

degrees, lie the countries of which we have been speaking, or that large

southern island, extending from the equinoctial to the latitude of 43

degrees 10 minutes, and the longitude of 167 degrees 55 minutes, which is

the extremity of Van Diemen's Land.

In the third quarter, that is, from the longitude of 150 degrees to 170

degrees, there is very little discovered with any certainty. Captain

Tasman, indeed, visited the coast of New Zealand, in the latitude of 42

degrees 10 minutes south, and in the longitude of 188 degrees 28 minutes;

but besides this, and the islands of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, we know

very little; and therefore, if there be any doubts about the reality of

Terra Australis, it must be with respect to that part of it which lies

within this quarter, through which Schovten and Le Maire sailed, but

without discovering anything more than a few small islands.

The fourth and last quarter is from 270 degrees of longitude to the first

meridian, within which lies the continent of South America, and the

island of Terra del Fuego, the most southern promontory of which is

supposed to be Cape Horn, which, according to the best of observations,

is in the latitude of 56 degrees, beyond which there has been nothing

with any degree of certainty discovered on this side.

On the whole, therefore, it appears there are three continents already

tolerably discovered which point towards the south pole, and therefore it

is very probable there is a fourth, which if there be, it must lie

between the country of New Zealand, discovered by Captain Tasman, and

that country which was seen by Captain Sharpe and Mr. Wafer in the South

Seas, to which land therefore, and no other, the title of Terra Australis

Incognita properly belongs. Leaving this, therefore, to the industry of

future ages to discover, we will now return to that great southern island

which Captain Tasman actually surrounded, and the bounds of which are

tolerably well known.

In order to give the reader a proper idea of the importance of this

country, it will be requisite to say something of the climates in which

it is situated. As it lies from the equinoctial to near the latitude of

44 degrees, the longest day in the most northern parts must be twelve

hours, and in the southern about fifteen hours, or somewhat more, so that

it extends from the first to the seventh climate, which shows its

situation to be the happiest in the world, the country called Van

Diemen's Land resembling in all respects the south of France. As there

are in all countries some parts more pleasant than others, so there seems

good reason to believe that within two or three degrees of the tropic of

Capricorn, which passes through the midst of New Holland, is the most

unwholesome and disagreeable part of this country; the reason of which is

very plain, for in those parts it must be excessively hot, much more so

than under the line itself, since the days and nights are there always

equal, whereas within three or four degrees of the tropic of Capricorn,

that is to say, in the latitude 27 degrees south, the days are thirteen

hours and a half long, and the sun is twice in their zenith, first in the

beginning of December, or rather in the latter end of November, and again

when it returns back, which occasions a burning heat for about two

months, or something more; whereas, either farther to the south or nearer

to the line, the climate must be equally wholesome and pleasant.

As to the product and commodities of this country in general, there is

the greatest reason in the world to believe that they are extremely rich

and valuable, because the richest and finest countries in the known world

lie all of them within the same latitude; but to return from conjectures

to facts, the country discovered by De Quiros makes a part of this great

island, and is the opposite coast to that of Carpentaria. This country,

the discoverer called La Australia del Espiritu Santo, in the latitude of

15 degrees 40 minutes south, and, as he reports, it abounds with gold,

silver, pearl, nutmegs, mace, ginger, and sugar-canes, of an

extraordinary size. I do not wonder that formerly the fact might be

doubted, but at present I think there is sufficient reason to induce us

to believe it, for Captain Dampier describes the country about Cape St.

George and Port Mountague, which are within 9 degrees of the country

described by De Quiros. I say Captain Dampier describes what he saw in

the following words: "The country hereabouts is mountainous and woody,

full of rich valleys and pleasant fresh-water brooks; the mould in the

valleys is deep and yellowish, that on the sides of the hills of a very

brown colour, and not very deep, but rocky underneath, yet excellent

planting land; the trees in general are neither very straight, thick, nor

tall, yet appear green and pleasant enough; some of them bear flowers,

some berries, and others big fruits, but all unknown to any of us; cocoa-

nut trees thrive very well here, as well on the bays by the sea-side, as

more remote among the plantations; the nuts are of an indifferent size,

the milk and kernel very thick and pleasant; here are ginger, yams, and

other very good roots for the pot, that our men saw and tasted; what

other fruits or roots the country affords I know not; here are hogs and

dogs, other land animals we saw none; the fowls we saw and knew were

pigeons, parrots, cocadores, and crows, like those in England; a sort of

birds about the bigness of a blackbird, and smaller birds many. The sea

and rivers have plenty of fish; we saw abundance, though we catched but

few, and these were cavallies, yellow-tails, and whip-wreys."

This account is grounded only on a very slight view, whereas De Quiros

resided for some time in the place he has mentioned. In another place

Captain Dampier observes that he saw nutmegs amongst them, which seemed

to be fresh-gathered, all which agrees perfectly with the account given

by De Quiros; add to this, that Schovten had likewise observed, that they

had ginger upon this coast, and some other spices, so that on the whole

there seems not the least reason to doubt that if any part of this

country was settled, it must be attended with a very rich commerce; for

it cannot be supposed that all these writers should be either mistaken,

or that they should concur in a design to impose upon their readers;

which is the less to be suspected, if we consider how well their reports

agree with the situation of the country, and that the trees on the land,

and the fish on the coast, corresponding exactly with the trees of those

countries, and the fish on the coasts, where these commodities are known

to abound within land, seem to intimate a perfect conformity throughout.

The next thing to be considered is, the possibility of planting in this

part of the world, which at first sight, I must confess, seems to be

attended with considerable difficulties with respect to every other

nation except the Dutch, who either from Batavia, the Moluccas, or even

from the Cape of Good Hope, might with ease settle themselves wherever

they thought fit; as, however, they have neglected this for above a

century, there seems to be no reason why their conduct in this respect

should become the rule of other nations, or why any other nation should

be apprehensive of drawing on herself the displeasure of the Dutch, by

endeavouring to turn to their benefit countries the Dutch have so long

suffered to lie, with respect to Europe, waste and desert.

The first point, with respect to a discovery, would be to send a small

squadron on the coast of Van Diemen's Land, and from thence round, in the

same course taken by Captain Tasman, by the coast of New Guinea, which

might enable the nations that attempted it to come to an absolute

certainty with regard to its commodities and commerce. Such a voyage as

this might be performed with very great ease, and at a small expense, by

our East India Company; and this in the space of eight or nine months'

time; and considering what mighty advantages might accrue to the nation,

there seems to be nothing harsh or improbable in supposing that some time

or other, when the legislature is more than usually intent on affairs of

commerce, they may be directed to make such an expedition at the expense

of the public. By this means all the back coast of New Holland and New

Guinea might be thoroughly examined, and we might know as well, and as

certainly as the Dutch, how far a colony settled there might answer our

expectations; one thing is certain, that to persons used to the

navigation of the Indies, such an expedition could not be thought either

dangerous or difficult, because it is already sufficiently known that

there are everywhere islands upon the coast, where ships upon such a

discovery might be sure to meet with refreshments, as is plain from

Commodore Roggewein's voyage, made little more than twenty years ago.

The only difficulty that I can see would be the getting a fair and honest

account of this expedition when made; for private interest is so apt to

interfere, and get the better of the public service, that it is very hard

to be sure of anything of this sort. That I may not be suspected of any

intent to calumniate, I shall put the reader in mind of two instances;

the first is, as to the new trade from Russia, for establishing of which

an Act of Parliament was with great difficulty obtained, though visibly

for the advantage of the nation; the other instance is, the voyage of

Captain Middleton, for the discovery of a north-west passage into the

south seas, which is ended by a very warm dispute, whether that passage

be found or not, the person supposed to have found it maintaining the

negative.

Whenever, therefore, such an expedition is undertaken, it ought to be

under the direction, not only of a person of parts and experience, but of

unspotted character, who, on his return, should be obliged to deliver his

journal upon oath, and the principal officers under him should likewise

be directed to keep their journals distinctly, and without their being

inspected by the principal officer; all which journals ought to be

published by authority as soon as received, that every man might be at

liberty to examine them, and deliver his thoughts as to the discoveries

made, or the impediments suggested to have hindered or prevented such

discoveries, by which means the public would be sure to obtain a full and

distinct account of the matter; and it would thence immediately appear

whether it would be expedient to prosecute the design or not.

But if it should be thought too burdensome for a company in so

flourishing a condition, and consequently engaged in so extensive a

commerce as the East India Company is, to undertake such an expedition,

merely to serve the public, promote the exportation of our manufactures,

and increase the number of industrious persons who are maintained by

foreign trade; if this, I say, should be thought too grievous for a

company that has purchased her privileges from the public by a large loan

at low interest, there can certainly be no objection to the putting this

project into the hands of the Royal African Company, who are not quite in

so flourishing a condition; they have equal opportunities for undertaking

it, since the voyage might be with great ease performed from their

settlements in ten months, and if the trade was found to answer, it might

encourage the settling a colony at Madagascar to and from which ships

might, with the greatest conveniency, carry on the trade to New Guinea. I

cannot say how far such a trade might be consistent with their present

charter; but if it should be found advantageous to the public, and

beneficial to the company, I think there can be no reason assigned why it

should not be secured to them, and that too in the most effectual manner.

A very small progress in it would restore the reputation of the company,

and in time, perhaps, free the nation from the annual expense she is now

at, for the support of the forts and garrisons belonging to that company

on the coasts of Africa; which would alone prove of great and immediate

service, both to the public and to the company. To say the truth,

something of this sort is absolutely necessary to vindicate the expense

the nation is at; for if the trade, for the carrying on of which a

company is established, proves, by a change of circumstances, incapable

of supporting that company, and thereby brings a load upon the public,

this ought to be a motive, it ought, indeed, to be the strongest motive,

for that company to endeavour the extension of its commerce, or the

striking out, if possible, some new branch of trade, which may restore it

to its former splendour; and in this as it hath an apparent right, so

there is not the least reason to doubt that it would meet with all the

countenance and assistance from the government that it could reasonably

expect or desire.

If such a design should ever be attempted, perhaps the island of New

Britain might be the properest place for them to settle. As to the

situation, extent, and present condition of that island, all that can be

said of it must be taken from the account given by its discoverer Captain

Dampier, which, in few words, amounts to this: "The island which I call

Nova Britannia has about 4 degrees of latitude, the body of it lying in 4

degrees, the northernmost part in 2 degrees 30 minutes, and the

southernmost in 6 degrees 30 minutes. It has about 5 degrees 18 minutes

longitude from east to west; it is generally high mountainous land, mixed

with large valleys, which, as well as the mountains, appeared very

fertile; and in most places that we saw the trees are very large, tall,

and thick. It is also very well inhabited with strong, well-limbed

negroes, whom we found very daring and bold at several places: as to the

product of it, it is very probable this island may afford as many rich

commodities as any in the world; and the natives may be easily brought to

commerce, though I could not pretend to it in my circumstances." If any

objections should be raised from Dampier's misfortune in that voyage, it

is easy to show that it ought to have no manner of weight whatever,

since, though he was an excellent pilot, he is allowed to have been but a

bad commander; besides, the _Roebuck_, in which he sailed, was a worn-out

frigate that would hardly swim; and it is no great wonder that in so

crazy a vessel the people were a little impatient at being abroad on

discoveries; yet, after all, he performed what he was sent for; and, by

the discovery of this island of New Britain, secured us an indisputable

right to a country, that is, or might be made, very valuable.

It is so situated, that a great trade might be carried on from thence

through the whole Terra Australis on one side, and the most valuable

islands of the East Indies on the other. In short, all, or at least

most, of the advantages proposed by the Dutch West India Company's

joining with their East India Company, of which a large account has

already been given, might be procured for this nation, by the

establishing a colony in this island of New Britain, and securing the

trade of that colony to the African Company by law; the very passing of

which law would give the company more than sufficient credit, to fit out

a squadron at once capable of securing the possession of that island, and

of giving the public such satisfaction as to its importance, as might be

requisite to obtain further power and assistance from the State, if that

should be found necessary. It would be very easy to point out some

advantages peculiarly convenient for that company; but it will be time

enough to think of these whenever the African Company shall discover an

inclination to prosecute this design. At present I have done what I

proposed, and have shown that such a collection of voyages as this ought

not to be considered as a work of mere amusement, but as a work

calculated for the benefit of mankind in general, and of this nation in

particular, which it is the duty of every man to promote in his station;

and whatever fate these reflections may meet with, I shall always have

the satisfaction of remembering that I have not neglected it in mine, but

have taken the utmost pains to turn a course of laborious reading to the

advantage of my country.

But, supposing that neither of these companies should think it expedient,

or, in other words, should not think it consistent with their interest to

attempt this discovery, there is yet a third company, within the spirit

of whose charter, I humbly conceive, the prosecution of such a scheme

immediately lies. The reader will easily discern that I mean the company

for carrying on a trade to the South Seas, who, notwithstanding the

extensiveness of their charter, confirmed and supported by authority of

parliament, have not, so far as my information reaches, ever attempted to

send so much as a single ship for the sake of discoveries into the South

Seas, which, however, was the great point proposed when this company was

first established. In order to prove this, I need only lay before the

reader the limits assigned that company by their charter, the substance

of which is contained in the following words:--

"The corporation, and their successors, shall, for ever, be vested in the

sole trade into and from all the kingdoms and lands on the east side of

America, from the River Oroonoco, to the southernmost part of Terra del

Fuego, and on the west side thereof from the said southernmost part of

Terra del Fuego, through the South Sea, to the northernmost part of

America, and into and through all the countries, islands, and places

within the said limits, which are reputed to belong to Spain, or which

shall hereafter be found out and discovered within the limits aforesaid,

not exceeding 300 leagues from the continent of America, between the

southernmost part of the Terra del Fuego and the northernmost part of

America, on the said west side thereof, except the Kingdom of Brazil, and

such other places on the east side of America, as are now in the

possession of the King of Portugal, and the country of Surinam, in the

possession of the States-general. The said company, and none else, are

to trade within the said limits; and, if any other persons shall trade to

the South Seas, they shall forfeit the ship and goods, and double value,

one-fourth part to the crown, and another fourth part to the prosecutor,

and the other two-fourths to the use of the company. And the company

shall be the sole owners of the islands, forts, etc., which they shall

discover within the said limits, to be held of the crown, under an annual

rent of an ounce of gold, and of all ships taken as prizes by the ships

of the said company; and the company may seize, by force of arms, all

other British ships trading in those seas."

It is, I think, impossible for any man to imagine that either these

limits should be secured to the company for no purpose in the world; or

that these prohibitions and penalties should take place, notwithstanding

the company's never attempting to make any use of these powers; from

whence I infer that it was the intent of the legislature that new

discoveries should be made, new plantations settled, and a new trade

carried on by this new corporation, agreeable to the rules prescribed,

and for the general benefit of this nation; which I apprehend was chiefly

considered in the providing that this new commerce should be put under

the management of a particular company. But I am very well aware of an

objection that may be made to what I have advanced; _viz_., that, from my

own showing, this southern continent lies absolutely without their

limits; and that there is also a proviso in the charter of that company

that seems particularly calculated to exclude it, since it recites that.

"The agents of the company shall not sail beyond the southernmost parts

of Terra del Fuego, except through the Straits of Magellan, or round

Terra del Fuego; nor go from thence to any part of the East Indies, nor

return to Great Britain, or any port or place, unless through the said

straits, or by Terra del Fuego: nor shall they trade in East India goods,

or in any places within the limits granted to the united company of

merchants of England trading to East India (such India goods excepted as

shall be actually exported from Great Britain, and also such gold,

silver, wrought plate, and other goods and commodities, which are the

produce, growth, or manufactures of the West Indies, or continent of

America): neither shall they send ships, or use them or any vessel,

within the South Seas, from Terra del Fuego to the northernmost parts of

America, above three hundred leagues to the westward of, and distant from

the land of Chili, Peru, Mexico, California, or any other the lands or

shores of Southern or Northern America, between Terra del Fuego and the

northernmost part of America, on pain of the forfeiture of the ships and

goods; one-third to the crown, and the other two-thirds to the East India

Company."

But the reader will observe that I mentioned the East India and African

Companies before; and that I now mention the South Sea Company, on a

supposition that the two former may refuse it. In that case, I presume,

the legislature will make the same distinction that the States of Holland

did, and not suffer the private advantage of any particular company to

stand in competition with the good of a whole people. It was upon this

principle that I laid it down as a thing certain, that the African

company would be allowed to settle the island of Madagascar, though it

lies within the limits of the East India Company's charter, in case it

should be found necessary for the better carrying on of this trade. It

is upon the same principle I say this southern continent lies within the

intention of the South Sea Company's charter, because, I presume, the

intent of that charter was to grant them all the commerce in those seas,

not occupied before by British subjects; for, if it were otherwise, what

a condition should we be in as a maritime power? If a grant does not

oblige a company to carry on a trade within the limits granted to that

company, and is, at the same time, of force to preclude all the subjects

of this nation from the right they before had to carry on a trade within

those limits, such a law is plainly destructive to the nation's interest

and to commerce in general. I therefore suppose, that, if the South Sea

Company should think proper to revive their trade in the manner I

propose, this proviso would be explained by Parliament to mean no more

than excluding the South Sea Company from settling or trading in or to

any place at present settled in or traded to by the East India Company:

for, as this interpretation would secure the just rights of both

companies, and, at the same time reconcile the laws for establishing them

to the general interest of trade and the nation, there is the greatest

reason to believe this to be the intention of the legislature. I have

been obliged to insist fully upon this matter, because it is a point

hitherto untouched, and a point of such high importance, that, unless it

be understood according to my sense of the matter, there is an end of all

hopes of extending our trade on this side, which is perhaps the only side

on which there is the least probability that it ever can be extended;

for, as to the north-west passage into the South Seas, that seems to be

blocked up by the rights of another company; so that, according to the

letter of our laws, each company is to have its rights, and the nation in

general no right at all.

If, therefore, the settling of this part of Terra Australis should

devolve on the South Sea Company, by way of equivalent for the loss of

their Assiento contract, there is no sort of question but it might be as

well performed by them as by any other, and the trade carried on without

interfering with that which is at present carried on, either by the East

India or African Companies. It would indeed, in this case, be absolutely

necessary to settle Juan Fernandez, the settlement of which place, under

the direction of that company, if they could, as very probably they

might, fall into some share of the slave-trade from New Guinea, must

prove wonderfully advantageous, considering the opportunity they would

have of vending those slaves to the Spaniards in Chili and Peru. The

settling of this island ought to be performed at once, and with a

competent force, since, without doubt, the Spaniards would leave no means

unattempted to dispossess them: yet, if a good fortification was once

raised, the passes properly retrenched, and a garrison left there of

between three and five hundred men, it would be simply impossible for the

Spaniards to force them out of it before the arrival of another squadron

from hence. Neither do I see any reason why, in the space of a very few

years, the plantation of this island should not prove of as great

consequence to the South Sea Company as that of Curacao to the Dutch West

India Company, who raise no less than sixty thousand florins per annum

for licensing ships to trade there.

From Juan Fernandez to Van Diemen's Land is not above two months' sail;

and a voyage for discovery might be very conveniently made between the

time that a squadron returned from Juan Fernandez, and another squadron's

arrival there from hence. It is true that, if once a considerable

settlement was made in the most southern part of Terra Australis, the

company might then fall into a large commerce in the most valuable East

India goods, very probably gold, and spices of all sorts: yet I cannot

think that even these would fall within the exclusive proviso of their

charter; for that was certainly intended to hinder their trading in such

goods as are brought hither by our East India Company; and I must confess

I see no difference, with respect to the interest of that company,

between our having cloves, cinnamon, and mace, by the South Sea Company's

ships from Juan Fernandez, and our receiving them from Holland, after the

Dutch East India Company's ships have brought them thither by the way of

the Cape of Good Hope. Sure I am they would come to us sooner by some

months by the way of Cape Horn. If this reasoning does not satisfy

people, but they still remain persuaded that the South Sea Company ought

not to intermeddle with the East India trade at all, I desire to know why

the West India merchants are allowed to import coffee from Jamaica, when

it is well known that the East India Company can supply the whole demand

of this kingdom from Mocha? If it be answered that the Jamaica coffee

comes cheaper, and is the growth of our own plantations, I reply, that

these spices will not only be cheaper, but better, and be purchased by

our own manufacturers; and these, I think, are the strongest reasons that

can be given.

If it be demanded what certainty I have that spices can be had from

thence, I answer, all the certainty that in a thing of this nature can be

reasonably expected: Ferdinand de Quiros met with all sorts of spices in

the country he discovered; William Schovten, and Jacques le Maire, saw

ginger and nutmegs; so did Dampier; and the author of Commodore

Roggewein's Voyage asserts, that the free burgesses of Amboyna purchase

nutmegs from the natives of New Guinea for bits of iron. All, therefore,

I contend for, is that these bits of iron may be sent them from Old

England.

The reason I recommend settling on the south coast of Terra Australis, if

this design should be prosecuted, from Juan Fernandez, rather than the

island of New Britain, which I mentioned before, is, because that coast

is nearer, and is situated in a better and pleasanter climate. Besides

all which advantages, as it was never hitherto visited by the Dutch, they

cannot, with any colour of justice, take umbrage at our attempting such a

settlement. To close then this subject, the importance of which alone

inclined me to spend so much of mine and the reader's time about it:

It is most evident, that, if such a settlement was made at Juan

Fernandez, proper magazines erected, and a constant correspondence

established between that island and the Terra Australis, these three

consequences must absolutely follow from thence: 1. That a new trade

would be opened, which must carry off a great quantity of our goods and

manufactures, that cannot, at present, be brought to any market, or at

least, not to so good a market as if there was a greater demand for them.

2. It would render this navigation, which is at present so strange, and

consequently so terrible, to us, easy and familiar; which might be

attended with advantages that cannot be foreseen, especially since there

is, as I before observed, in all probability another southern continent,

which is still to be discovered. 3. It would greatly increase our

shipping and our seamen, which are the true and natural strength of this

country, extend our naval power, and raise the reputation of this nation;

the most distant prospect of which is sufficient to warm the soul of any

man who has the least regard for his country, with courage sufficient to

despise the imputations that may be thrown upon him as a visionary

projector, for taking so much pains about an affair that can tend so

little to his private advantage. We will now add a few words with

respect to the advantages arising from having thus digested the history

of circumnavigators, from the earliest account of time to the present,

and then shut up the whole with another section, containing the last

circumnavigation by Rear-Admiral Anson, whose voyage has at least shown

that, under a proper officer, English seamen are able to achieve as much

as they ever did; and that is as much as was ever done by any nation in

the world.

It is a point that has always admitted some debate, whether science

stands more indebted to speculation or practice; or, in other words,

whether the greater discoveries have been made by men of deep study, or

persons of great experience in the most useful parts of knowledge. But

this, I think, is a proposition that admits of no dispute at all, that

the noblest discoveries have been the result of a just mixture of theory

with practice. It was from hence that the very notion of sailing round

the earth took rise; and the ingenious Genoese first laid down this

system of the world, according to his conception, and then added the

proofs derived from experience. It is much to be deplored that we have

not that plan of discovery which the great Christopher Columbus sent over

thither by his brother Bartholomew to King Henry VII., for if we had we

should certainly find abundance of very curious observations, which might

still be useful to mariners: for it appears clearly, from many little

circumstances, that he was a person of universal genius, and, until bad

usage obliged him to take many precautions, very communicative.

It was from this plan, as it had been communicated to the Portuguese

court, that the famous Magellan came to have so just notions of the

possibility of sailing by the West to the East Indies; and there was a

great deal of theory in the proposal made by that great man to the

Emperor Charles V. Sir Francis Drake was a person of the same genius,

and of a like general knowledge; and it is very remarkable that these

three great seamen met also with the same fate; by which I mean, that

they were constantly pursued by envy while they lived, which hindered so

much notice being taken of their discourses and discoveries as they

deserved. But when the experience of succeeding times had verified many

of their sayings, which had been considered as vain and empty boastings

in their lifetimes, then prosperity began to pay a superstitious regard

to whatever could be collected concerning them, and to admire all they

delivered as oraculous. Our other discoverer, Candish, was likewise a

man of great parts and great penetration, as well as of great spirit; he

had, undoubtedly, a mighty genius for discoveries; but the prevailing

notion of those times, that the only way to serve the nation was

plundering the Spaniards, seems to have got the better of his desire to

find out unknown countries; and made him choose to be known to posterity

rather as a gallant privateer than as an able seaman, though in truth he

was both.

After these follow Schovten and Le Maire, who were fitted out to make

discoveries; and executed their commission with equal capacity and

success. If Le Maire had lived to return to Holland, and to have

digested into proper order his own accounts, we should, without question,

have received a much fuller and clearer, as well as a much more correct

and satisfactory detail of them than we have at present: though the

voyage, as it is now published, is in all respects the best, and the most

curious of all the circumnavigators. This was, very probably, owing to

the ill-usage he met with from the Dutch East India Company; which put

Captain Schovten, and the relations of Le Maire, upon giving the world

the best information they could of what had been in that voyage

performed. Yet the fate of Le Maire had a much greater effect in

discouraging, than the fame of his discoveries had in exciting, a spirit

of emulation; so that we may safely say, the severity of the East India

Company in Holland extinguished that generous desire of exploring unknown

lands, which might otherwise have raised the reputation and extended the

commerce of the republic much beyond what they have hitherto reached.

This is so true that for upwards of one hundred years we hear of no Dutch

voyage in pursuit of Le Maire's discoveries; and we see, when Commodore

Roggewein, in our own time, revived that noble design, it was again

cramped by the same power that stifled it before; and though the States

did justice to the West India Company, and to the parties injured, yet

the hardships they suffered, and the plain proof they gave of the

difficulties that must be met with in the prosecution of such a design,

seem to have done the business of the East India Company, and damped the

spirit of discovery, for perhaps another century, in Holland.

It is very observable that all the mighty discoveries that have been made

arose from these great men, who joined reasoning with practice, and were

men of genius and learning, as well as seamen. To Columbus we owe the

finding America; to Magellan the passing by the straits which bear his

name, by a new route to the East Indies; to Le Maire a more commodious

passage round Cape Horn, and without running up to California; Sir

Francis Drake, too, hinted the advantages that might arise by examining

the north-west side of America; and Candish had some notions of

discovering a passage between China and Japan. As to the history we have

of Roggewein's voyage, it affords such lights as nothing but our own

negligence can render useless. But in the other voyages, whatever

discoveries we meet with are purely accidental, except it be Dampier's

voyage to the coasts of New Holland and New Guinea, which was expressly

made for discoveries; and in which, if an abler man had been employed in

conjunction with Dampier, we cannot doubt that the interior and exterior

of those countries would have been much better known than they are at

present; because such a person would rather have chosen to have refreshed

in the island of New Britain, or some other country not visited before,

than at that of Timer, already settled both by the Portuguese and the

Dutch.

In all attempts, therefore, of this sort, those men are fittest to be

employed who, with competent abilities as seamen, have likewise general

capacities, are at least tolerably acquainted with other sciences, and

have settled judgments and solid understandings. These are the men from

whom we are to expect the finishing that great work which former

circumnavigators have begun; I mean the discovering every part and parcel

of the globe, and the carrying to its utmost perfection the admirable and

useful science of navigation.

It is, however, a piece of justice due to the memory of these great men,

to acknowledge that we are equally encouraged by their examples and

guided by their discoveries. We owe to them the being freed, not only

from the errors, but from the doubts and difficulties with which former

ages were oppressed; to them we stand indebted for the discovery of the

best part of the world, which was entirely unknown to the ancients,

particularly some part of the eastern, most of the southern, and all the

western hemisphere; from them we have learned that the earth is

surrounded by the ocean, and that all the countries under the torrid zone

are inhabited, and that, quite contrary to the notions that were formerly

entertained, they are very far from being the most sultry climate in the

world, those within a few degrees of the tropics, though habitable, being

much more hot, for reasons which have been elsewhere explained. By their

voyages, and especially by the observations of Columbus, we have been

taught the general motion of the sea, the reason of it, and the cause and

difference of currents in particular places, to which we may add the

doctrine of tides, which were very imperfectly known, even by the

greatest men in former times, whose accounts have been found equally

repugnant to reason and experience.

By their observations we have acquired a great knowledge as to the nature

and variation of winds, particularly the monsoons, or trade winds, and

other periodical winds, of which the ancients had not the least

conception; and by these helps we not only have it in our power to

proceed much farther in our discoveries, but we are likewise delivered

from a multitude of groundless apprehensions, that frightened them from

prosecuting discoveries. We give no credit now to the fables that not

only amused antiquity, but even obtained credit within a few generations.

The authority of Pliny will not persuade us that there are any nations

without heads, whose eyes and mouths are in their breasts, or that the

Arimaspi have only one eye, fixed in their forehead, and that they are

perpetually at war with the Griffins, who guard hidden treasures; or that

there are nations that have long hairy tales, and grin like monkeys. No

traveller can make us believe that, under the torrid zone, there are a

nation every man of which has one large flat foot, with which, lying upon

his back, he covers himself from the sun. In this respect we have the

same advantage over the ancients that men have over children; and we

cannot reflect without amazement on men's having so much knowledge and

learning in other respects, with such childish understandings in these.

By the labours of these great men in the two last centuries we are taught

to know what we seek, and how it is to be sought. We know, for example,

what parts of the north are yet undiscovered, and also what parts of the

south. We can form a very certain judgment of the climate of countries

undiscovered, and can foresee the advantages that will result from

discoveries before they are made; all which are prodigious advantages,

and ought certainly to animate us in our searches. I might add to this

the great benefits we receive from our more perfect acquaintance with the

properties of the loadstone, and from the surprising accuracy of

astronomical observations, to which I may add the physical discoveries

made of late years in relation to the figure of the earth, all of which

are the result of the lights which these great men have given us.

It is true that some of the zealous defenders of the ancients, and some

of the great admirers of the Eastern nations, dispute these facts, and

would have us believe that almost everything was known to the old

philosophers, and not only known but practised by the Chinese long before

the time of the great men to whom we ascribe them. But the difference

between their assertions and ours is, that we fully prove the facts we

allege, whereas they produce no evidence at all; for instance, Albertus

Magnus says that Aristotle wrote an express treatise on the direction of

the loadstone; but nobody ever saw that treatise, nor was it ever heard

of by any of the rest of his commentators. We have in our hands some of

the best performances of antiquity in regard to geography, and any man

who has eyes, and is at all acquainted with that science, can very easily

discern how far they fall short of maps that were made even a hundred

years ago. The celebrated Vossius, and the rest of the admirers of the

Chinese, who, by the way, derived all their knowledge from hearsay, may

testify, in as strong terms as they think fit, their contempt for the

Western sages and their high opinion of those in the East; but till they

prove to us that their favourite Chinese made any voyages comparable to

the Europeans, before the discovery of a passage to China by the Cape of

Good Hope, they will excuse us from believing them. Besides, if the

ancients had all this knowledge, how came it not to display itself in

their performances? How came they to make such difficulties of what are

now esteemed trifles? And how came they never to make any voyages, by

choice at least, that were out of sight of land? Again, with respect to

the Chinese, if they excel us so much in knowledge, how came the

missionaries to be so much admired for their superior skill in the

sciences? But to cut the matter short, we are not disputing now about

speculative points of science, but as to the practical application of it;

in which, I think, there is no doubt that the modern inhabitants of the

western parts of the world excel, and excel chiefly from the labours and

discoveries of these great and ingenious men, who applied their abilities

to the improvement of useful arts, for the particular benefit of their

countrymen, and to the common good of mankind; which character is not

derived from any prejudice of ours, either against the ancients or the

Oriental nations, but is founded on facts of public notoriety, and on

general experience, which are a kind of evidence not to be controverted

or contradicted.

We are still, however, in several respects short of perfection, and there

are many things left to exercise the sagacity, penetration, and

application of this and of succeeding ages; for instance, the passages to

the north-east and north-west are yet unknown; there is a great part of

the southern continent undiscovered; we are, in a manner, ignorant of

what lies between America and Japan, and all beyond that country lies

buried in obscurity, perhaps in greater obscurity than it was an age ago;

so that there is still room for performing great things, which in their

consequences perhaps might prove greater than can well be imagined. I

say nothing of the discoveries that yet remain with regard to inland

countries, because these fall properly under another head, I mean that of

travels. But it will be time enough to think of penetrating into the

heart of countries when we have discovered the seacoasts of the whole

globe, towards which the voyages recorded in this chapter have so far

advanced already. But the only means to arrive at these great ends, and

to transmit to posterity a fame approaching, at least in some measure, to

that of our ancestors, is to revive and restore that glorious spirit

which led them to such great exploits; and the most natural method of

doing this is to collect and preserve the memory of their exploits, that

they may serve at once to excite our imitation, encourage our endeavours,

and point out to us how they may be best employed, and with the greatest

probability of success.

AN ACCOUNT OF NEW HOLLAND AND THE ADJACENT ISLANDS. 1699-1700.

BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER.

Having described his voyage from Brazil to New Holland, this celebrated

navigator thus proceeds:

About the latitude of 26 degrees south we saw an opening, and ran in,

hoping to find a harbour there; but when we came to its mouth, which was

about two leagues wide, we saw rocks and foul ground within, and

therefore stood out again; there we had twenty fathom water within two

miles of the shore: the land everywhere appeared pretty low, flat, and

even, but with steep cliffs to the sea, and when we came near it there

were no trees, shrubs, or grass to be seen. The soundings in the

latitude of 26 degrees south, from about eight or nine leagues off till

you come within a league of the shore, are generally about forty fathoms,

differing but little, seldom above three or four fathoms; but the lead

brings up very different sorts of sand, some coarse, some fine, and of

several colours, as yellow, white, grey, brown, bluish, and reddish.

When I saw there was no harbour here, nor good anchoring, I stood off to

sea again in the evening of the 2nd of August, fearing a storm on a lee-

shore, in a place where there was no shelter, and desiring at least to

have sea-room, for the clouds began to grow thick in the western-board,

and the wind was already there and began to blow fresh almost upon the

shore, which at this place lies along north-north-west and south-south-

east. By nine o'clock at night we got a pretty good offing, but the wind

still increasing, I took in my main-top-sail, being able to carry no more

sail than two courses and the mizen. At two in the morning, August 3rd,

it blew very hard, and the sea was much raised, so that I furled all my

sails but my mainsail, though the wind blew so hard, we had pretty clear

weather till noon, but then the whole sky was blackened with thick

clouds, and we had some rain, which would last a quarter of an hour at a

time, and then it would blow very fierce while the squalls of rain were

over our heads, but as soon as they were gone the wind was by much

abated, the stress of the storm being over; we sounded several times, but

had no ground till eight o'clock, August the 4th, in the evening, and

then had sixty fathom water, coral ground. At ten we had fifty-six

fathom, fine sand. At twelve we had fifty-five fathom, fine sand, of a

pale bluish colour. It was now pretty moderate weather, yet I made no

sail till morning, but then the wind veering about to the south-west, I

made sail and stood to the north, and at eleven o'clock the next day,

August 5th, we saw land again, at about ten leagues distant. This noon

we were in latitude 25 degrees 30 minutes, and in the afternoon our cook

died, an old man, who had been sick a great while, being infirm before we

came out of England.

The 6th of August, in the morning, we saw an opening in the land, and we

ran into it, and anchored in seven and a half fathom water, two miles

from the shore, clean sand. It was somewhat difficult getting in here,

by reason of many shoals we met with; but I sent my boat sounding before

me. The mouth of this sound, which I called Shark's Bay, lies in about

25 degrees south latitude, and our reckoning made its longitude from the

Cape of Good Hope to be about 87 degrees, which is less by one hundred

and ninety-five leagues than is usually laid down in our common draughts,

if our reckoning was right and our glasses did not deceive us. As soon

as I came to anchor in this bay, I sent my boat ashore to seek for fresh

water, but in the evening my men returned, having found none. The next

morning I went ashore myself, carrying pickaxes and shovels with me, to

dig for water, and axes to cut wood. We tried in several places for

water, but finding none after several trials, nor in several miles

compass, we left any further search for it, and spending the rest of the

day in cutting wood, we went aboard at night.

The land is of an indifferent height, so that it may be seen nine or ten

leagues off. It appears at a distance very even; but as you come nigher

you find there are many gentle risings, though none steep or high. It is

all a steep shore against the open sea; but in this bay or sound we were

now in, the land is low by the seaside, rising gradually in with the

land. The mould is sand by the seaside, producing a large sort of

samphire, which bears a white flower. Farther in the mould is reddish, a

sort of sand, producing some grass, plants, and shrubs. The grass grows

in great tufts as big as a bushel, here and there a tuft, being

intermixed with much heath, much of the kind we have growing on our

commons in England. Of trees or shrubs here are divers sorts, but none

above ten feet high, their bodies about three feet about, and five or six

feet high before you come to the branches, which are bushy, and composed

of small twigs there spreading abroad, though thick set and full of

leaves, which were mostly long and narrow. The colour of the leaves was

on one side whitish, and on the other green, and the bark of the trees

was generally of the same colour with the leaves, of a pale green. Some

of these trees were sweet-scented, and reddish within the bark, like

sassafras, but redder. Most of the trees and shrubs had at this time

either blossoms or berries on them. The blossoms of the different sorts

of trees were of several colours, as red, white, yellow, etc., but mostly

blue, and these generally smelt very sweet and fragrant, as did some also

of the rest. There were also besides some plants, herbs, and tall

flowers, some very small flowers growing on the ground, that were sweet

and beautiful, and, for the most part, unlike any I had seen elsewhere.

There were but few land fowls. We saw none but eagles of the larger

sorts of birds, but five or six sorts of small birds. The biggest sort

of these were not bigger than larks, some no bigger than wrens, all

singing with great variety of fine shrill notes; and we saw some of their

nests with young ones in them. The water-fowls are ducks (which had

young ones now, this being the beginning of the spring in these parts),

curlews, galdens, crab-catchers, cormorants, gulls, pelicans, and some

water-fowl, such as I have not seen anywhere besides.

The land animals that we saw here were only a sort of raccoons, different

from those of the West Indies, chiefly as to their legs, for these have

very short forelegs, but go jumping upon them as the others do (and like

them are very good meat), and a sort of guanos, of the same shape and

size with other guanos described, but differing from them in three

remarkable particulars; for these had a larger and uglier head, and had

no tail, and at the rump, instead of the tail there, they had a stump of

a tail, which appeared like another head, but not really such, being

without mouth or eyes; yet this creature seemed by this means to have a

head at each end, and, which may be reckoned a fourth difference, the

legs also seemed all four of them to be forelegs, being all alike in

shape and length, and seeming by the joints and bending to be made as if

they were to go indifferently either head or tail foremost. They were

speckled black and yellow like toads, and had scales or knobs on their

backs like those of crocodiles, plated on to the skin, or stuck into it,

as part of the skin. They are very slow in motion, and when a man comes

nigh them they will stand still and hiss, not endeavouring to get away.

Their livers are also spotted black and yellow; and the body, when

opened, hath a very unsavoury smell. I did never see such ugly creatures

anywhere but here. The guanos I have observed to be very good meat, and

I have often eaten of them with pleasure; but though I have eaten of

snakes, crocodiles, and alligators, and many creatures that look

frightfully enough, and there are but few I should have been afraid to

eat of if pressed by hunger, yet I think my stomach would scarce have

served to venture upon these New Holland guanos, both the looks and the

smell of them being so offensive.

The sea-fish that we saw here (for here was no river, land or pond of

fresh water to be seen) are chiefly sharks. There are abundance of them

in this particular sound, that I therefore gave it the name of Shark's

Bay. Here are also skates, thornbacks, and other fish of the ray kind

(one sort especially like the sea-devil), and gar-fish, bonetas, etc. Of

shell-fish we got here mussels, periwinkles, limpets, oysters, both of

the pearl kind and also eating oysters, as well the common sort as long

oysters, besides cockles, etc. The shore was lined thick with many other

sorts of very strange and beautiful shells for variety of colour and

shape, most finely spotted with red, black, or yellow, etc., such as I

have not seen anywhere but at this place. I brought away a great many of

them, but lost all except a very few, and those not of the best.

There are also some green turtle weighing about two hundred pounds. Of

these we caught two, which the water ebbing had left behind a ledge of

rock which they could not creep over. These served all my company two

days, and they were indifferent sweet meat. Of the sharks we caught a

great many, which our men ate very savourily. Among them we caught one

which was eleven feet long. The space between its two eyes was twenty

inches, and eighteen inches from one corner of his mouth to the other.

Its maw was like a leather sack, very thick, and so tough that a sharp

knife could scarce cut it, in which we found the head and bones of a

hippopotamus, the hairy lips of which were still sound and not putrified,

and the jaw was also firm, out of which we plucked a great many teeth,

two of them eight inches long and as big as a man's thumb, small at one

end, and a little crooked, the rest not above half so long. The maw was

full of jelly, which stank extremely. However, I saved for awhile the

teeth and the shark's jaw. The flesh of it was divided among my men, and

they took care that no waste should be made of it.

It was the 7th of August when we came into Shark's Bay, in which we

anchored at three several places, and stayed at the first of them (on the

west side of the bay) till the 11th, during which time we searched about,

as I said, for fresh water, digging wells, but to no purpose. However,

we cut good store of firewood at this first anchoring-place, and my

company were all here very well refreshed with raccoons, turtle, shark,

and other fish, and some fowls, so that we were now all much brisker than

when we came in hither. Yet still I was for standing farther into the

bay, partly because I had a mind to increase my stock of fresh water,

which was begun to be low, and partly for the sake of discovering this

part of the coast. I was invited to go further by seeing from this

anchoring-place all open before me, which therefore I designed to search

before I left the bay. So on the 11th about noon I steered further in,

with an easy sail, because we had but shallow water. We kept, therefore,

good looking out for fear of shoals, sometimes shortening, sometimes

deepening the water. About two in the afternoon we saw the land ahead

that makes the south of the bay, and before night we had again sholdings

from that shore, and therefore shortened sail and stood off and on all

night, under two top-sails, continually sounding, having never more than

ten fathom, and seldom less than seven. The water deepened and sholdened

so very gently, that in heaving the lead five or six times we should

scarce have a foot difference. When we came into seven fathom either

way, we presently went about. From this south part of the bay we could

not see the land from whence we came in the afternoon; and this land we

found to be an island of three or four leagues long; but it appearing

barren, I did not strive to go nearer it, and the rather because the

winds would not permit us to do it without much trouble, and at the

openings the water was generally shoal: I therefore made no farther

attempts in this south-west and south part of the bay, but steered away

to the eastward, to see if there was any land that way, for as yet we had

seen none there. On the 12th, in the morning, we passed by the north

point of that land, and were confirmed in the persuasion of its being an

island by seeing an opening to the east of it, as we had done on the

west. Having fair weather, a small gale, and smooth water, we stood

further on in the bay to see what land was on the east of it. Our

soundings at first were seven fathom, which held so a great while, but at

length it decreased to six. Then we saw the land right ahead. We could

not come near it with the ship, having but shoal water, and it being

dangerous lying there, and the land extraordinarily low, very unlikely to

have fresh water (though it had a few trees on it, seemingly mangroves),

and much of it probably covered at high water, I stood out again that

afternoon, deepening the water, and before night anchored in eight

fathom, clean white sand, about the middle of the bay. The next day we

got up our anchor, and that afternoon came to an anchor once more near

two islands and a shoal of coral rocks that face the bay. Here I

scrubbed my ship; and finding it very improbable I should get any further

here, I made the best of my way out to sea again, sounding all the way;

but finding, by the shallowness of the water, that there was no going out

to sea to the east of the two islands that face the bay, nor between

them, I returned to the west entrance, going out by the same way I came

in at, only on the east instead of the west side of the small shoal: in

which channel we had ten, twelve, and thirteen fathom water, still

deepening upon us till we were out at sea. The day before we came out I

sent a boat ashore to the most northerly of the two islands, which is the

least of them, catching many small fish in the meanwhile, with hook and

line. The boat's crew returning told me that the isle produces nothing

but a sort of green, short, hard, prickly grass, affording neither wood

nor fresh water, and that a sea broke between the two islands--a sign

that the water was shallow. They saw a large turtle, and many skates and

thornbacks, but caught none.

It was August the 14th when I sailed out of this bay or sound, the mouth

of which lies, as I said, in 25 degrees 5 minutes, designing to coast

along to the north-east till I might commodiously put in at some other

port of New Holland. In passing out we saw three water-serpents swimming

about in the sea, of a yellow colour spotted with dark brown spots. They

were each about four foot long, and about the bigness of a man's wrist,

and were the first I saw on this coast, which abounds with several sorts

of them. We had the winds at our first coming out at north, and the land

lying north-easterly. We plied off and on, getting forward but little

till the next day, when the wind coming at south-south-west and south, we

began to coast it along the shore on the northward, keeping at six or

seven leagues off shore, and sounding often, we had between forty and

forty-six fathom water, brown sand with some white shells. This 15th of

August we were in latitude 24 degrees 41 minutes. On the 16th day, at

noon, we were in 23 degrees 22 minutes. The wind coming at east by

north, we could not keep the shore aboard, but were forced to go farther

off, and lost sight of the land; then sounding, we had no ground with

eighty-fathom line. However, the wind shortly after came about again to

the southward, and then we jogged on again to the northward, and saw many

small dolphins and whales, and abundance of cuttle-shells swimming on the

sea, and some water-snakes every day. The 17th we saw the land again and

took a sight of it.

The 18th, in the afternoon, being three or four leagues off shore, I saw

a shoal-point stretching from the land into the sea a league or more; the

sea broke high on it, by which I saw plainly there was a shoal there. I

stood farther off and coasted along shore to about seven or eight leagues

distance, and at twelve o'clock at night we sounded, and had but twenty

fathom, hard sand. By this I found I was upon another shoal, and so

presently steered off west half an hour, and had then forty fathom. At

one in the morning of the 18th day we had eighty-five fathom; by two we

could find no ground, and then I ventured to steer along shore again due

north, which is two points wide of the coast (that lies

north-north-east), for fear of another shoal. I would not be too far off

from the land, being desirous to search into it wherever I should find an

opening or any convenience of searching about for water, etc. When we

were off the shoal-point I mentioned, where we had but twenty fathom

water, we had in the night abundance of whales about the ship, some

ahead, others astern, and some on each side, blowing and making a very

dismal noise; but when we came out again into deeper water, they left us;

indeed, the noise that they made by blowing and dashing of the sea with

their tails, making it all of a breach and foam, was very dreadful to us,

like the breach of the waves in very shoal water or among rocks. The

shoal these whales were upon had depth of water sufficient, no less than

twenty fathom, as I said, and it lies in latitude 22 degrees 22 minutes.

The shore was generally bold all along. We had met with no shoal at sea

since the Abrohlo shoal, when we first fell on the New Holland coast in

the latitude of 28 degrees, till yesterday in the afternoon and this

night. This morning also, when we expected by the draught we had with us

to have been eleven leagues off shore, we were but four, so that either

our draughts were faulty, which yet hitherto and afterwards we found true

enough as to the lying of the coast, or else here was a tide unknown to

us that deceived us, though we had found very little of any tide on this

coast hitherto; as to our winds in the coasting thus far, as we had been

within the verge of the general trade (though interrupted by the storm I

mentioned), from the latitude of 28 degrees, when we first fell in with

the coast, and by that time we were in the latitude of 25 degrees, we had

usually the regular trade wind (which is here south-south-east) when we

were at any distance from shore; but we had often sea and land breezes,

especially when near shore and when in Shark's Bay, and had a particular

north-west wind or storm that set us in thither. On this 18th of August

we coasted with a brisk gale of the true trade wind at south-south-east,

very fair and clear weather; but hauling off in the evening to sea, were

next morning out of sight of land, and the land now trending away north-

easterly, and we being to the northward of it, and the wind also

shrinking from the south-south-east to the east-south-east (that is, from

the true trade wind to the sea breeze, as the land now lay), we could not

get in with the land again yet awhile so as to see it, though we trimmed

sharp and kept close on a wind. We were this 19th day in latitude 21

degrees 42 minutes. The 20th we were in latitude 19 degrees 37 minutes,

and kept close on a wind to get sight of the land again, but could not

yet see it. We had very fair weather, and though we were so far from the

land as to be out of sight of it, yet we had the sea and land breezes. In

the night we had the land breeze at south-south-east, a small gentle

gale, which in the morning about sun-rising would shift about gradually

(and withal increasing in strength) till about noon we should have it at

east-south-east, which is the true sea breeze here. Then it would blow a

brisk gale so that we could scarce carry our top-sails double-reefed; and

it would continue thus till three in the afternoon, when it would

decrease again. The weather was fair all the while, not a cloud to be

seen, but very hazy, especially nigh the horizon. We sounded several

times this 20th day, and at first had no ground, but had afterwards from

fifty-two to forty-five fathom, coarse brown sand, mixed with small brown

and white stones, with dints besides in the tallow.

The 21st day also we had small land breezes in the night, and sea breezes

in the day, and as we saw some sea-snakes every day, so this day we saw a

great many, of two different sorts or shapes. One sort was yellow, and

about the bigness of a man's wrist, about four feet long, having a flat

tail about four fingers broad. The other sort was much smaller and

shorter, round, and spotted black and yellow. This day we sounded

several times, and had forty-five fathom, sand. We did not make the land

till noon, and then saw it first from our topmast head; it bore south-

east by east about nine leagues distance, and it appeared like a cape or

head of land. The sea breeze this day was not so strong as the day

before, and it veered out more, so that we had a fair wind to run in with

to the shore, and at sunset anchored in twenty fathom, clean sand, about

five leagues from the Bluff point, which was not a cape (as it appeared

at a great distance), but the easternmost end of an island about five or

six leagues in length, and one in breadth. There were three or four

rocky islands about a league from us, between us and the Bluff point, and

we saw many other islands both to the east and west of it, as far as we

could see either way from our topmast-head, and all within them to the

south there was nothing but islands of a pretty height, that may be seen

eight or nine leagues off; by what we saw of them they must have been a

range of islands of about twenty leagues in length, stretching from east-

north-east to west-south-west, and, for aught I know, as far as to those

of Shark's Bay, and to a considerable breadth also, for we could see nine

or ten leagues in among them, towards the continent or mainland of New

Holland, if there be any such thing hereabouts; and by the great tides I

met with awhile afterwards, more to the north-east, I had a strong

suspicion that here might be a kind of archipelago of islands, and a

passage possibly to the south of New Holland and New Guinea into the

great South Sea eastward, which I had thoughts also of attempting in my

return from New Guinea, had circumstances permitted, and told my officers

so; but I would not attempt it at this time, because we wanted water, and

could not depend upon finding it there. This place is in the latitude of

20 degrees 21 minutes, but in the draught that I had of this coast, which

was Tasman's, it was laid down in 19 degrees 50 minutes, and the shore is

laid down as all along joining in one body or continent, with some

openings appearing like rivers, and not like islands as really they are.

This place lies more northerly by 40 minutes than is laid down in Mr.

Tasman's draught, and besides its being made a firm continued land, only

with some openings like the mouths of rivers, I found the soundings also

different from what the pricked line of his course shows them, and

generally shallower than he makes them, which inclines me to think that

he came not so near the shore as his line shows, and so had deeper

soundings, and could not so well distinguish the islands. His meridian

or difference of longitude from Shark's Bay agrees well enough with my

account, which is two hundred and thirty-two leagues, though we differ in

latitude; and to confirm my conjecture that the line of his course is

made too near the shore, at least not far to the east of this place, the

water is there so shallow that he could not come there so nigh.

But to proceed. In the night we had a small land breeze, and in the

morning I weighed anchor, designing to run in among the islands, for they

had large channels between them of a league wide at least, and some two

or three leagues wide. I sent in my boat before to sound, and if they

found shoal water to return again, but if they found water enough to go

ashore on one of the islands and stay till the ship came in, where they

might in the meantime search for water. So we followed after with the

ship, sounding as we went in, and had twenty fathom till within two

leagues of the Bluff head, and then we had shoal water and very uncertain

soundings; yet we ran in still with an easy sail, sounding and looking

out well, for this was dangerous work. When we came abreast of the Bluff

head, and about two miles from it, we had but seven fathom, then we edged

away from it, but had no more water, and running in a little farther we

had but four fathoms, so we anchored immediately; and yet when we had

veered out a third of a cable, we had seven fathom water again, so

uncertain was the water. My boat came immediately on board, and told me

that the island was very rocky and dry, and they had little hopes of

finding water there. I sent them to sound, and bade them, if they found

a channel of eight or ten fathom water, to keep on, and we would follow

with the ship. We were now about four leagues within the outer small

rocky islands, but still could see nothing but islands within us, some

five or six leagues long, others not above a mile round. The large

islands were pretty high, but all appeared dry, and mostly rocky and

barren. The rocks looked of a rusty yellow colour, and therefore I

despaired of getting water on any of them, but was in some hopes of

finding a channel to run in beyond all these islands, could I have spent

time here, and either got to the main of New Holland or find out some

other islands that might afford us water and other refreshments; besides

that among so many islands we might have found some sort of rich mineral,

or ambergris, it being a good latitude for both these. But we had not

sailed above a league farther before our water grew shoaler again, and

then we anchored in six fathom, hard sand.

We were now on the inner side of the island, on whose outside is the

Bluff point. We rode a league from the island, and I presently went

ashore and carried shovels to dig for water, but found none. There grow

here two or three sorts of shrubs, one just like rosemary, and therefore

I called this Rosemary Island; it grew in great plenty here, but had no

smell. Some of the other shrubs had blue and yellow flowers; and we

found two sorts of grain like beans; the one grew on bushes, the other on

a sort of creeping vine that runs along on the ground, having very thick

broad leaves, and the blossom like a bean blossom, but much larger and of

a deep red colour, looking very beautiful. We saw here some cormorants,

gulls, crab-catchers, etc., a few small land birds, and a sort of white

parrots, which flew a great many together. We found some shell-fish,

viz., limpets, periwinkles, and abundance of small oysters growing on the

rocks, which were very sweet. In the sea we saw some green turtle, many

sharks, and abundance of water-snakes of several sorts and sizes. The

stones were all of rusty colour, and ponderous.

We saw a smoke on an island three or four leagues off, and here also the

bushes had been burned, but we found no other sign of inhabitants. It

was probable that on the island where the smoke was there were

inhabitants, and fresh water for them. In the evening I went aboard, and

consulted with my officers whether it was best to send thither, or to

search among any other of these islands with my boat, or else go from

hence and coast along shore with the ship, till we could find some better

place than this was to ride in, where we had shoal water and lay exposed

to winds and tides. They all agreed to go from hence, so I gave orders

to weigh in the morning as soon as it should be light, and to get out

with the land breeze.

Accordingly, August 23rd, at five in the morning, we ran out, having a

pretty fresh land breeze at south-south-east. By eight o'clock we were

got out, and very seasonably, for before nine the sea breeze came on us

very strong, and increasing, we took in our top-sails and stood off under

two courses and a mizen, this being as much sail as we could carry. The

sky was clear, there being not one cloud to be seen, but the horizon

appeared very hazy, and the sun at setting the night before, and this

morning at rising, appeared very red. The wind continued very strong

till twelve, then it began to abate; I have seldom met with a stronger

breeze. These strong sea breezes lasted thus in their turns three or

four days. They sprang up with the sunrise; by nine o'clock they were

very strong, and so continued till noon, when they began to abate; and by

sunset there was little wind, or a calm, till the land breezes came,

which we should certainly have in the morning about one or two o'clock.

The land breezes were between the south-south-west and south-south-east:

the sea breezes between the east-north-east and north-north-east. In the

night while calm, we fished with hook and line, and caught good store of

fish viz., snappers, breams, old-wives, and dog-fish. When these last

came we seldom caught any others; for it they did not drive away the

other fish, yet they would be sure to keep them from taking our hooks,

for they would first have them themselves, biting very greedily. We

caught also a monk-fish, of which I brought home the picture.

On the 25th of August we still coasted along shore, that we might the

better see any opening; kept sounding, and had about twenty fathom, clean

sand. The 26th day, being about four leagues off shore, the water began

gradually to sholden from twenty to fourteen fathom. I was edging in a

little towards the land, thinking to have anchored; but presently after

the water decreased almost at once, till we had but five fathom. I

durst, therefore, adventure no farther, but steered out the same way that

we came in, and in a short time had ten fathom (being then about four

leagues and a half from the shore), and even soundings. I steered away

east-north-east, coasting along as the land lies. This day the sea

breezes began to be very moderate again, and we made the best of our way

along shore, only in the night edging off a little for fear of shoals.

Ever since we left Shark's Bay we had fair clear weather, and so for a

great while still.

The 27th day we had twenty fathom water all night, yet we could not see

land till one in the afternoon from our topmast-head. By three we could

just discern land from our quarter-deck; we had then sixteen fathom. The

wind was at north, and we steered east-by-north, which is but one point

in on the land; yet we decreased our water very fast, for at four we had

but nine fathom, the next cast but seven, which frightened us; and we

then tacked instantly and steed off, but in a short time the wind coming

at north-west and west-north-west, we tacked again and steered

north-north-east, and then deepened our water again, and had all night

from fifteen to twenty fathom.

The 28th day we had between twenty and forty fathom. We saw no land this

day, but saw a great many snakes and some whales. We saw also some

boobies and noddy-birds, and in the night caught one of these last. It

was of another shape and colour than any I had seen before. It had a

small long bill, as all of them have, flat feet like ducks' feet, its

tail forked like a swallow, but longer and broader, and the fork deeper

than that of the swallow, with very long wings; the top or crown of the

head of this noddy was coal-black, having also small black streaks round

about and close to the eyes; and round these streaks on each side, a

pretty broad white circle. The breast, belly, and under part of the

wings of this noddy were white, and the back and upper part of its wings

of a faint black or smoke colour. Noddies are seen in most places

between the tropics, as well in the East Indies and on the coast of

Brazil, as in the West Indies. They rest ashore at night, and therefore

we never see them far at sea, not above twenty or thirty leagues, unless

driven off in a storm. When they come about a ship they commonly perch

in the night, and will sit still till they are taken by the seamen. They

build on cliffs against the sea, or rocks.

The 30th day, being in latitude 18 degrees 21 minutes, we made the land

again, and saw many great smokes near the shore; and having fair weather

and moderate breezes, I steered in towards it. At four in the afternoon

I anchored in eight fathom water, clear sand, about three leagues and a

half from the shore. I presently sent my boat to sound nearer in, and

they found ten fathom about a mile farther in, and from thence still

farther in the water decreased gradually to nine, eight, seven, and at

two miles distance to six fathom. This evening we saw an eclipse of the

moon, but it was abating before the moon appeared to us; for the horizon

was very hazy, so that we could not see the moon till she had been half

an hour above the horizon; and at two hours twenty-two minutes after

sunset, by the reckoning of our glasses, the eclipse was quite gone,

which was not of many digits. The moon's centre was then 33 degrees 40

minutes high.

The 31st of August, betimes in the morning, I went ashore with ten or

eleven men to search for water. We went armed with muskets and cutlasses

for our defence, expecting to see people there, and carried also shovels

and pickaxes to dig wells. When we came near the shore we saw three

tall, black, naked men on the sandy bay ahead of us; but as we rowed in,

they went away. When we were landed, I sent the boat with two men in her

to lie a little from the shore at an anchor, to prevent being seized;

while the rest of us went after the three black men, who were now got on

the top of a small hill about a quarter of a mile from us, with eight or

nine men more in their company. They, seeing us coming, ran away. When

we came on the top of the hill where they first stood, we saw a plain

savannah, about half a mile from us, farther in from the sea. There were

several things like hay-cocks standing in the savannah, which at a

distance we thought were houses, looking just like the Hottentots' houses

at the Cape of Good Hope: but we found them to be so many rocks. We

searched about these for water, but could find none, nor any houses, nor

people, for they were all gone. Then we turned again to the place where

we landed, and there we dug for water.

While we were at work there came nine or ten of the natives to a small

hill a little way from us, and stood there menacing and threatening us,

and making a great noise. At last one of them came towards us, and the

rest followed at a distance. I went out to meet him, and came within

fifty yards of him, making to him all the signs of peace and friendship I

could, but then he ran away, neither would they any of them stay for us

to come nigh them, for we tried two or three times. At last I took two

men with me, and went in the afternoon along by the sea-side, purposely

to catch one of them, if I could, of whom I might learn where they got

their fresh water. There were ten or twelve of the natives a little way

off, who, seeing us three going away from the rest of our men, followed

us at a distance. I thought they would follow us, but there being for

awhile a sand-bank between us and them, that they could not then see us,

we made a halt, and hid ourselves in a bending of the sand-bank. They

knew we must be thereabouts, and being three or four times our numbers,

thought to seize us. So they dispersed themselves, some going to the sea-

shore, and others beating about the sand-hills. We knew by what

rencounter we had had with them in the morning that we could easily out-

run them, so a nimble young man that was with me, seeing some of them

near, ran towards them; and they for some time ran away before him, but

he soon overtaking them, they faced about and fought him. He had a

cutlass and they had wooden lances, with which, being many of them, they

were too hard for him. When he first ran towards them I chased two more

that were by the shore; but fearing how it might be with my young man, I

turned back quickly and went to the top of a sand-hill, whence I saw him

near me, closely engaged with them. Upon their seeing me, one of them

threw a lance at me, that narrowly missed me. I discharged my gun to

scare them, but avoided shooting any of them, till finding the young man

in great danger from them, and myself in some; and that though the gun

had a little frightened them at first, yet they had soon learnt to

despise it, tossing up their hands and crying, "pooh, pooh, pooh," and

coming on afresh with a great noise, I thought it high time to charge

again, and shoot one of them, which I did. The rest, seeing him fall,

made a stand again, and my young man took the opportunity to disengage

himself and come off to me; my other man also was with me, who had done

nothing all this while, having come out unarmed, and I returned back with

my men, designing to attempt the natives no farther, being very sorry for

what had happened already. They took up their wounded companion; and my

young man, who had been struck through the cheek by one of their lances,

was afraid it had been poisoned, but I did not think that likely. His

wound was very painful to him, being made with a blunt weapon; but he

soon recovered of it.

Among the New Hollanders, whom we were thus engaged with, there was one

who by his appearance and carriage, as well in the morning as this

afternoon, seemed to be the chief of them, and a kind of prince or

captain among them. He was a young brisk man, not very tall, nor so

personable as some of the rest, though more active and courageous: he was

painted (which none of the rest were at all) with a circle of white paste

or pigment (a sort of lime, as we thought) about his eyes, and a white

streak down his nose, from his forehead to the tip of it: and his breast

and some part of his arms were also made white with the same paint; not

for beauty or ornament, one would think, but as some wild Indian warriors

are said to do, he seemed thereby to design the looking more terrible;

this his painting adding very much to his natural deformity; for they all

of them have the most unpleasant looks and the worst features of any

people that ever I saw, though I have seen great variety of savages.

These New Hollanders were probably the same sort of people as those I met

with on this coast in my voyage round the world, for the place I then

touched at was not above forty or fifty leagues to the north-east of

this, and these were much the same blinking creatures (here being also

abundance of the same kind of flesh-flies teazing them,) and with the

same black skins, and hair frizzled, tall and thin, &c. as those were:

but we had not the opportunity to see whether these, as the former,

wanted two of their fore-teeth.

We saw a great many places where they had made fires, and where there

were commonly three or four boughs stuck up to windward of them; for the

wind, (which is the sea-breeze), in the day-time blows always one way

with them, and the land-breeze is but small. By their fire-places we

should always find great heaps of fish-shells of several sorts; and it is

probable that these poor creatures here lived chiefly on the shell-fish,

as those I before described did on small fish, which they caught in wires

or holes in the sand at low water. These gathered their shell-fish on

the rocks at low water but had no wires (that we saw), whereby to get any

other sorts of fish; as among the former I saw not any heaps of shells as

here, though I know they also gathered some shell-fish. The lances also

of those were such as these had; however, they being upon an island, with

their women and children, and all in our power, they did not there use

them against us, as here on the continent, where we saw none but some of

the men under head, who come out purposely to observe us. We saw no

houses at either place, and I believe they have none, since the former

people on the island had none, though they had all their families with

them.

Upon returning to my men I saw that though they had dug eight or nine

feet deep, yet found no water. So I returned aboard that evening, and

the next day, being September 1st, I sent my boatswain ashore to dig

deeper, and sent the seine within him to catch fish. While I stayed

aboard I observed the flowing of the tide, which runs very swift here, so

that our nun-buoy would not bear above the water to be seen. It flows

here (as on that part of New Holland I described formerly) about five

fathom; and here the flood runs south-east by south till the last

quarter; then it sets right in towards the shore (which lies here south-

south-west and north north-east) and the ebb runs north-west by north.

When the tides slackened we fished with hook and line, as we had already

done in several places on this coast; on which in this voyage hitherto we

had found but little tides; but by the height, and strength, and course

of them hereabouts, it should seem that if there be such a passage or

strait going through eastward to the great South Sea, as I said one might

suspect, one would expect to find the mouth of it somewhere between this

place and Rosemary Island, which was the part of New Holland I came last

from.

Next morning my men came aboard and brought a runlet of brackish water

which they had got out of another well that they dug in a place a mile

off, and about half as far from the shore; but this water was not fit to

drink. However, we all concluded that it would serve to boil our

oatmeal, for burgoo, whereby we might save the remains of our other water

for drinking, till we should get more: and accordingly the next day we

brought aboard four hogsheads of it: but while we were at work about the

well we were sadly pestered with the flies, which were more troublesome

to us than the sun, though it shone clear and strong upon us all the

while very hot. All this while we saw no more of the natives, but saw

some of the smoke of some of their fires at two or three miles distance.