Between The Years 1774 And 1776, Some
Discoveries Were Made In The Northern Parts Of It By Captain Forrest:
He
sailed from India in a vessel of only ten tons, with the intention of
ascertaining whether a settlement could not be formed on an island near the
northern promontory of Borneo.
In the course of this voyage he examined the
north coast of Waygiou; and after visiting several small islands, he
arrived on the north coast of Papua.
The next accessions that were made to our geographical knowledge of
Australasia, are derived from the voyage in search of La Peyrouse. The
object of La Peyrouse's voyage was to complete the discoveries made by
former navigators in the southern hemisphere: in the course of this voyage
he navigated some portion of Australasia; but where he and his crew
perished is not known. As the French government were naturally and very
laudably anxious to ascertain his real fate, two vessels were despatched
from France in the year 1791, for that purpose. In April, 1792, they
arrived within the limits of Australasia: after having examined Van
Diemen's Land, they sailed along an immense chain of reefs, extending
upwards of 3OO miles on the east coast of New Caledonia. As Captain Cook
had confined his survey to the north, they directed their attention to the
south-west coast. After visiting some islands in this sea, they arrived at
New Ireland, part of which they carefully explored. In 1793, after having
visited New Holland, they sailed for New Zealand; and near it they
discovered an island which lies near the eastern limit of Australasia: to
this they gave the name of Recherche. The New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and
New Britain, were also visited and examined; near the coast of the last
they discovered several mountainous islands. Beside the accessions to our
geographical knowledge of Australasia which we derived from this voyage, it
is particularly valuable "on account of the illustrations of the natural
history of the different countries, and the accuracy with which the
astronomical observations were made." It is worthy of remark that the two
ships lost nearly half their men; whereas, British navigators have been out
as long, in a climate and circumstances as unfavourable to health, and have
scarcely lost a single man.
At the beginning of this century, the French government planned a voyage of
discovery, the chief object of which was to explore the seas of
Australasia. Those parts of New Holland which were entirely unknown, or but
imperfectly ascertained, were to be examined; the coast of New Guinea to be
surveyed, principally in the search of a strait which was supposed to
divide it into two parts; a passage by Endeavour Straits to the eastern
point of the Gulf of Carpentaria was to be attempted; and then the
expedition was to sail to Cape Northwest. Besides these objects in
Australasia, the Indian Ocean was to be navigated.
Two vessels, the Geographe and Naturaliste, sailed on this expedition in
October, 1800; but they did not by their discoveries add much that was
important to the geography of Australasia.
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