o land there, we
undoubtedly might have reached the Cape of Good Hope by April, and so have
put an end to the expedition, so far as it related to the finding a
continent; which indeed was the first object of the voyage. But for me at
this time to have quitted the southern Pacific Ocean, with a good ship
expressly sent out on discoveries, a healthy crew, and not in want either
of stores or of provisions, would have been betraying not only a want of
perseverance, but of judgment, in supposing the south Pacific Ocean to have
been so well explored, that nothing remained to be done in it. This,
however, was not my opinion; for though I had proved that there was no
continent but what must lie far to the south, there remained nevertheless
room for very large islands in places wholly unexamined; and many of those
which were formerly discovered, are but imperfectly explored, and their
situations as imperfectly known. I was besides of opinion, that my
remaining in this sea some time longer, would be productive of improvements
in navigation and geography, as well as in other sciences. I had several
times communicated my thoughts on this subject to Captain Furneaux; but as
it then wholly depended on what we might meet with to the south, I could
not give it in orders, without running a risk of drawing us from the main
object. Since now nothing had happened to prevent me from, carrying these
views into execution, my intention was first to go in search of the land
said to have been discovered by Juan Fernandez, above a century ago, in
about the latitude of 38 deg.; if I should fail in finding this land, then to
go in search of Easter Island or Davis's Land, whose situation was known
with so little certainty, that the attempts lately made to find it had
miscarried. I next intended to get within the tropic, and then proceed to
the west, touching at, and settling the situations of such islands as we
might meet with till we arrived at Otaheite, where it was necessary I
should stop to look for the Adventure. I had also thoughts of running as
far west as the Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo, discovered by Quiros,
and which M. de Bougainville calls the Great Cyclades. Quiros speaks of
this land as being large, or lying in the neighbourhood of large lands; and
as this was a point which M. de Bougainville had neither confirmed nor
refuted, I thought it was worth clearing up. From this land my design was
to steer to the south, and so back to the