in this voyage. Now though it be true, that from all these
accounts there is nothing said which is much to the advantage either of
the country or its inhabitants, yet we are to consider that it is
impossible to represent either in a worse light than that in which the
Cape of Good Hope was placed, before the Dutch took possession of it; and
plainly demonstrated that industry could make a paradise of what was a
perfect purgatory while in the hands of the Hottentots. If, therefore,
the climate of this country be good, and the soil fruitful, both of which
were affirmed in this relation, there could not be a more proper place
for a colony than some part of New Holland, or of the adjacent country of
Carpentaria. I shall give my reasons for asserting this when I come to
make my remarks on a succeeding voyage. At present I shall confine
myself to the reasons that have induced the Dutch East India Company to
leave all these countries unsettled, after having first shown so strong
an inclination to discover them, which will oblige me to lay before the
reader some secrets in commerce that have hitherto escaped common
observation, and which, whenever they are as thoroughly considered as
they deserve, will undoubtedly lead us to as great discoveries as those
of Columbus or Magellan.

In order to make myself perfectly understood, I must observe that it was
the finding out of the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, by the Portuguese,
that raised that spirit of discovery which produced Columbus's voyage,
which ended in finding America; though in fact Columbus intended rather
to reach this country of New Holland. The assertion is bold, and at
first sight may appear improbable; but a little attention will make it so
plain, that the reader must be convinced of the truth of what I say. The
proposition made by Columbus to the State of Genoa, the Kings of
Portugal, Spain, England, and France, was this, that he could discover a
new route to the East Indies; that is to say, without going round the
Cape of Good Hope. He grounded this proposition on the spherical figure
of the earth, from whence he thought it self-evident that any given point
might be sailed to through the great ocean, either by steering east or
west. In his attempt to go to the East Indies by a west course, he met
with the islands and continent of America; and finding gold and other
commodities, which till then had never been brought from the Indies, he
really thought that this