might indeed have proceeded farther along the coast to the northward and westward, in search of a place where the ship might have lain so near the shore as to cover the people with her guns when they landed; but this would have obviated only part of the mischief, and though it might have secured us, would probably in the very act have been fatal to the natives. Besides, we had reason to think that before such a place would have been found, we should have been carried so far to the westward as to have been obliged to go to Batavia, on the north side of Java, which I did not think so safe a passage as to the south of Java, through the Streights of Sunday: The ship also was so leaky, that I doubted whether it would not be necessary to heave her down at Batavia, which was another reason for making the best of our way to that place, especially as no discovery could be expected in seas which had already been navigated, and where every coast had been laid down by the Dutch geographers. The Spaniards, indeed, as well as the Dutch, seem to have circumnavigated all the islands in New Guinea, as almost every place that is distinguished in the chart has a name in both languages. The charts with which I compared such part of the coast as I visited, are bound up with a French work, entitled, "Histoire des Navigationes aux Terres Australes," which was published in 1756, and I found them tolerably exact; yet I know not by whom, or when they were taken: And though New Holland and New Guinea are in them represented as two distinct countries, the very history in which they are bound up, leaves it in doubt. I pretend, however, to no

more

gestion that would naturally present itself to any one who considered the benefit of the crew only, without respect to the rights and properties of the natives, a suggestion, however, which it required but a moment's reflection on the laws of humanity to dissipate with reproach. Some readers, it is probable, will be sensible, as well as the writer, of an uncomfortable emotion at the perusal of this part of the text, exclusive entirely of disapprobation of the matter of which it treats.-E.

4 The work here mentioned was the valuable labour of President De Brosses, and appeared at Paris, in two vols. quarto. It was translated into English, and published at London in 1767. We shall hereafter have oc casion to cull some information from it, and to revert to the fact of the separation of New Holland and New Guinea now alluded to. Callender published a work at Edinburgh, in 1766, in three vols. octavo, entitled, " Terra Australis Cognita; or Voyages to the Terra Australis, or Southern Hemisphere, &c.' It bore to be an original, but is in fact a translation of what has now been mentioned.-E.

more merit in this part of the voyage than to have established the fact beyond all controversy.

As the two countries lie very near each other, and the intermediate space is full of islands, it is reasonable to suppose that they were both peopled from one common stock; yet no intercourse appears to have been kept up between them; for if there had, the cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, plantains, and other fruits of New Guinea, which are equally necessary for the support of life, would certainly have been transplanted to New Holland, where no traces of them are to be found. The author of the "Histoire des Navigationes aux Terres Australes," in his account of La Maire's voyage, has given a vocabulary of the language that is spoken in an island near New Britain, and we find, by comparing that vocabulary with the words which we learnt in New Holland, that the languages are not the same. If therefore it should appear that the languages of New Britain and New Guinea are the same, there will be reason to suppose that New Britain and New Guinea were peopled from a common stock, but that the inhabitants of New Holland had a different origin, notwithstanding the proximity of the countries.

SECTION XXXV.

The Passage from New Guinea to the Island of Semau, and the Transactions there.'

WE made sail, from noon on Monday the 3d, to noon on Tuesday the 4th, standing to the westward, and all the time kept in soundings, having from fourteen to thirty fathom; not regular, but sometimes more, sometimes less. At noon on the 4th, we were in fourteen fathom, and latitude 6° 44′ S., longitude 223° 51′ W.; our course and distance since the 3d, at noon, were S. 76 W., one hundred and twenty miles to the westward. At noon on the 5th of September,

we

5 An interesting enough subject for enquiry is here started. We shall, in another part of our work, have to give it some attention.-E.

'It is quite unnecessary, and would answer no good purpose, to occupy the reader's attention with any geographical notes respecting the islands mentioned in this section. Subsequent voyages, and other publications, have greatly enriched our acquaintance with this subject; but it would make sad patch-work to detail it here. The reader will do better to amuse himself with the narrative for the present, and to reserve study for a future occasion.-E.

we were in latitude 7° 25′ S., longitude 225° 41′ W., having been in soundings the whole time from ten to twenty fa thom.

At half an hour after one in the morning of the next day, we passed a small island which bore from us N.N.W., distant between three and four miles; and at day-light we discovered another low island, extending from N.N.W. to N.N.E., distant about two or three leagues. Upon this island, which did not appear to be very small, I believe I should have landed to examine its produce, if the wind had not blown too fresh to admit of it. When we passed this island we had only ten fathom water, with a rocky bottom, and therefore I was afraid of running down to leeward, lest I should meet with shoal water and foul ground. These islands have no place in the charts except they are the Arrou islands; and if these, they are laid down much too far from New Guinea. I found the south part of them to lie in latitude 7° 6' S., longitude 225 W.

We continued to steer W.S.W., at the rate of four miles and a half an hour, till ten o'clock at night, when we had forty-two fathom, at eleven we had thirty-seven, at twelve forty-five, at one in the morning, forty-nine, and at three, 120, after which we had no ground. At day-light we made all the sail we could, and at ten o'clock saw land extending from N.N.W. to W. by N., distant between five and six leagues: At noon it bore from N. to W., and at about the same distance: It appeared to be level, and of a moderate height; by our distance from New Guinea, it ought to have been part of the Arrou Islands, but it lies a degree farther to the south than any of these islands are laid down in the charts; and, by the latitude, should be Timor Laoet: We sounded, but had no ground with fifty fathom.

As I was not able to satisfy myself from any chart, what land it was that I saw to leeward, and fearing that it might trend away more southerly, the weather also being so hazy that we could not see far, I steered S. W., and by four had lost sight of the island. I was now sure that no part of it lay to the southward of 8° 15′ S., and continued standing to the S.W. with an easy sail, and a fresh breeze at S.E. by E. and E.S.E.: We sounded every hour, but had no bottom with 120 fathom.

At day-break in the morning, we steered W.S.W., and afterwards W. by S., which by noon brought us into the

latitude

latitude of 9° 30′ S., longitude 229° 34′ W., and by our run from New Guinea, we ought to have been within sight of Weasel Isles, which in the charts are laid down at the distance of twenty or twenty-five leagues from the coast of New Holland; we however saw nothing, and therefore they must have been placed erroneously; nor can this be thought strange, when it is considered that not only these islands, but the coast which bounds this sea, have been discovered and explored by different people, and at different times, and the charts upon which they are delineated, put together by others, perhaps at the distance of more than a century after the discoveries had been made; not to mention that the discoverers themselves had not all the requisites for keeping an accurate journal, of which those of the present age are possessed.

We continued our course, steering W. till the evening of the 8th, when the variation of the compass, by several azimuths, was 12′ W., and by the amplitude 5′ W. At noon, on the 9th, our latitude, by observation, was 9° 46' S., longitude 232° 7′ W. For the last two days we had steered due W., yet, by observation, we made sixteen miles southing, six miles from noon on the 6th to noon on the 7th, and ten miles from noon on the 7th to noon on the 8th, by which it appeared that there was a current setting to the southward. At sun-set, we found the variation to be 2 W., and at the same time, saw an appearance of very high land bearing N.W.

In the morning of the 10th, we saw clearly that what had appeared to be land the night before, was Timor. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 10° 1' S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of that given by the log; our longitude, by observation, was 233° 27′ W. We steered N.W. in order to obtain a more distinct view of the land in sight, till four o'clock in the morning of the 11th, when the wind came to the N.W. and W., with which we stood to the southward till nine, when we tacked and stood N.W., having the wind now at W.S.W. At sun-rise the land had appeared to extend from W.N.W. to N.E., and at noon, we could see it extend to the westward as far as W. by S. S. but no farther to the eastward than N. by E. We were now well assured, that as the first land we had seen was Timor, the last island we had passed was Timor

Laoet,

Laoet, or Laut.* Laoet, is a word in the language of Malaca, signifying Sea, and this island was named by the inhabitants of that country. The south part of it lies in latitude 8° 15' S., longitude 228° 10′ W., but in the charts the south point is laid down in various latitudes, from 8° 30' to 9° 30': It is indeed possible that the land we saw might be some other island, but the presumption to the contrary is very strong, for if Timor Laut had lain where it is placed in the charts, we must have seen it there. We were now in latitude 9° 37' S.; longitude, by an observation of the sun and moon, 233° 54′ W.; we were the day before in 233° 27′; the difference is 27', exactly the same that was given by the log: This, however, is a degree of accuracy in observation that is seldom to be expected. In the afternoon, we stood in shore till eight in the evening, when we tacked and stood off, being at the distance of about three leagues from the land, which at sun-set extended from S.W. W. to N.E.: At this time we sounded, and had no ground with 140 fathom. At midnight, having but little wind, we tacked and stood in, and at noon the next day, our latitude, by observation, was 9° 36′ S. This day, we saw smoke on shore in several places, and had seen many fires during the night. The land appeared to be very high, rising in gradual slopes one above another: The hills were in general covered with thick woods, but among them we could distinguish naked spots of a considerable extent, which had the appearance of having been cleared by art. At five o'clock in the afternoon, we were within a mile and a half of the shore, in sixteen fathom water, and abreast of a small inlet into the low land, which lies in latitude 9° 34 S., and probably is the same that Dampier entered with his boat, for it did not seem to have sufficient depth of water for a ship. The land here answered well to the description that he has given of it:

close

2 Little is known of this island. Timor is said to have been discovered by the companions of Magellan in 1522, when it was found full of white sandal wood. The Portuguese very early settled in it as a place of refuge from the Dutch, who however soon followed them, and in 1613, drove them from Cupan, their principal town, at the west end of the island. The possession of this island might be made more valuable than it seems as yet to have been. With scarcely any help from human industry, its products in useful articles are considerable. We shall have to treat of it hereafter.-E.