In Prosecuting His Voyage In The Track Pursued By Dampier,
Captain Carteret Arrived On The East Coast Of The Land Named New Britain,
By That Celebrated Navigator.
This he found to consist of two islands,
separated by a wide channel; to the northern island he gave the name of New
Ireland.
At this period the French were prosecuting voyages of discovery in the same
portion of the globe. An expedition sailed from France in 1766, commanded
by M. Bougainville: he arrived within the limits of Australasia in May,
1768. Besides visiting a group of islands, named by him Navigators'
Islands, but which are supposed to have been discovered by Rogewein, and a
large cluster, which is also supposed to be the archipelago of the same
navigator, M. Bougainville discovered a beautiful country, to which he gave
the name of Louisiade: he was not able to examine this country, and as it
has not been visited by subsequent navigators, it is generally believed to
be an extension of the coast of Papua. After discovering some islands not
far from this land, M. Bougainville directed his course to the coast of New
Ireland; he afterwards examined the north coast of New Guinea.
About the same time, M. Surville, another Frenchman, in a voyage from the
East Indies into the Pacific, landed on the north coast of a country east
of New Guinea; he had not an opportunity of examining this land, but it
seems probable that it was one of Solomon's Islands.
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