In the first place, then, it is most evident,
from Captain Tasman’s voyage, that New Guinea, Carpentaria, New Holland, Antony
van Diemen’s Land, and the countries discovered by De Quiros, make all one
continent, from which New Zealand seems to be separated by a strait; and,
perhaps, is part of another continent, answering to Africa, as this, of which we
are now speaking, plainly does to America. This continent reaches from the
equinoctial to 44 degrees of south latitude, and extends from 122 degrees to 188
degrees of longitude, making indeed a very large country, but nothing like what
De Quiros imagined; which shows how dangerous a thing it is to trust too much to
conjecture in such points as these. It is, secondly, observable, that as New
Guinea, Carpentaria, and New Holland, had been already pretty well examined,
Captain Tasman fell directly to the south of these; so that his first discovery
was Van Diemen’s Land, the most southern part of the continent on this side the
globe, and then passing round by New Zealand, he plainly discovered the opposite
side of that country towards America, though he visited the islands only, and
never fell in again with the continent till he arrived on the coast of New
Britain, which he mistook for that of New Guinea, as he very well might; that
country having never been suspected to be an island, till Dampier discovered it
to be such in the beginning of the present century. Thirdly, by this survey,
these countries are for ever marked out, so long as the map or memory of this
voyage, shall remain. The Dutch East India Company have it always in their power
to direct settlements, or new discoveries, either in New Guinea, from the
Moluccas, or in New Holland, from Batavia directly. The prudence shown in the
conduct of this affair deserves the highest praise. To have attempted
heretofore, or even now, the establishing colonies in those countries, would be
impolitic, because it would be grasping more than the East India Company, or
than even the republic of Holland, could manage; for, in the first place, to
reduce a continent between three and four thousand miles broad is a prodigious
undertaking, and to settle it by degrees would be to open to all the world the
importance of that country which, for anything we can tell, may be much superior
to any country yet known: the only choice, therefore, that the Dutch had left,
was to reserve this mighty discovery till the season arrived, in which they
should be either obliged by necessity or invited by occasion to make use of it;
but though this country be reserved, it is no longer either unknown or neglected
by the Dutch, which is a point of very great consequence. To the other nations
of Europe, the southern continent is a chimera, a thing in the clouds, or at
least a country about which there are a thousand doubts and suspicions, so that
to talk of discovering or settling it must be regarded as an idle and empty
project: but, with respect to them, it is a thing perfectly well known; its
extent, its boundaries, its situation, the genius of its several nations, and
the commodities of which they are possessed, are absolutely within their
cognizance, so that they are at liberty to take such measures as appear to them
best, for securing the eventual possession of this country, whenever they think
fit. This account explains at once all the mysteries which the best writers upon
this subject have found in the Dutch proceedings. It shows why they have been at
so much pains to obtain a clear and distinct survey of these distant countries;
why they have hitherto forborne settling, and why they take so much pains to
prevent other nations from coming at a distinct knowledge of them: and I may add
to this another particular, which is that it accounts for their permitting the
natives of Amboyna, who are their subjects, to carry on a trade to New Guinea,
and the adjacent countries, since, by this very method, it is apparent that they
gain daily fresh intelligence as to the product and commodities of those
countries. Having thus explained the consequence of Captain Tasman’s voyage, and
thereby fully justified my giving it a place in this part of my work, I am now
at liberty to pursue the reflections with which I promised to close this
section, and the history of circumnavigators, and in doing which, I shall
endeavor to make the reader sensible of the advantages that arise from
publishing these voyages in their proper order, so as to show what is, and what
is yet to be discovered of the globe on which we live.
Early Australian Voyages, 1886, John Pinkerton |
