or 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 cognisance, 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 endeavour 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.

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 cert