casions 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