By The Labours Of These Great Men In The Two Last Centuries We Are
Taught To Know What We Seek, And How It Is To Be Sought.
We know,
for example, what parts of the north are yet undiscovered, and also
what parts of the south.
We can form a very certain judgment of the
climate of countries undiscovered, and can foresee the advantages
that will result from discoveries before they are made; all which
are prodigious advantages, and ought certainly to animate us in our
searches. I might add to this the great benefits we receive from
our more perfect acquaintance with the properties of the loadstone,
and from the surprising accuracy of astronomical observations, to
which I may add the physical discoveries made of late years in
relation to the figure of the earth, all of which are the result of
the lights which these great men have given us.
It is true that some of the zealous defenders of the ancients, and
some of the great admirers of the Eastern nations, dispute these
facts, and would have us believe that almost everything was known to
the old philosophers, and not only known but practised by the
Chinese long before the time of the great men to whom we ascribe
them. But the difference between their assertions and ours is, that
we fully prove the facts we allege, whereas they produce no evidence
at all; for instance, Albertus Magnus says that Aristotle wrote an
express treatise on the direction of the loadstone; but nobody ever
saw that treatise, nor was it ever heard of by any of the rest of
his commentators. We have in our hands some of the best
performances of antiquity in regard to geography, and any man who
has eyes, and is at all acquainted with that science, can very
easily discern how far they fall short of maps that were made even a
hundred years ago. The celebrated Vossius, and the rest of the
admirers of the Chinese, who, by the way, derived all their
knowledge from hearsay, may testify, in as strong terms as they
think fit, their contempt for the Western sages and their high
opinion of those in the East; but till they prove to us that their
favourite Chinese made any voyages comparable to the Europeans,
before the discovery of a passage to China by the Cape of Good Hope,
they will excuse us from believing them. Besides, if the ancients
had all this knowledge, how came it not to display itself in their
performances? How came they to make such difficulties of what are
now esteemed trifles? And how came they never to make any voyages,
by choice at least, that were out of sight of land? Again, with
respect to the Chinese, if they excel us so much in knowledge, how
came the missionaries to be so much admired for their superior skill
in the sciences? But to cut the matter short, we are not disputing
now about speculative points of science, but as to the practical
application of it; in which, I think, there is no doubt that the
modern inhabitants of the western parts of the world excel, and
excel chiefly from the labours and discoveries of these great and
ingenious men, who applied their abilities to the improvement of
useful arts, for the particular benefit of their countrymen, and to
the common good of mankind; which character is not derived from any
prejudice of ours, either against the ancients or the Oriental
nations, but is founded on facts of public notoriety, and on general
experience, which are a kind of evidence not to be controverted or
contradicted.
We are still, however, in several respects short of perfection, and
there are many things left to exercise the sagacity, penetration,
and application of this and of succeeding ages; for instance, the
passages to the north-east and north-west are yet unknown; there is
a great part of the southern continent undiscovered; we are, in a
manner, ignorant of what lies between America and Japan, and all
beyond that country lies buried in obscurity, perhaps in greater
obscurity than it was an age ago; so that there is still room for
performing great things, which in their consequences perhaps might
prove greater than can well be imagined. I say nothing of the
discoveries that yet remain with regard to inland countries, because
these fall properly under another head, I mean that of travels. But
it will be time enough to think of penetrating into the heart of
countries when we have discovered the sea-coasts of the whole globe,
towards which the voyages recorded in this chapter have so far
advanced already. But the only means to arrive at these great ends,
and to transmit to posterity a fame approaching, at least in some
measure, to that of our ancestors, is to revive and restore that
glorious spirit which led them to such great exploits; and the most
natural method of doing this is to collect and preserve the memory
of their exploits, that they may serve at once to excite our
imitation, encourage our endeavours, and point out to us how they
may be best employed, and with the greatest probability of success.
AN ACCOUNT OF NEW HOLLAND AND THE ADJACENT ISLANDS.
1699-1700.
BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER.
Having described his voyage from Brazil to New Holland, this
celebrated navigator thus proceeds:
About the latitude of 26 degrees south we saw an opening, and ran
in, hoping to find a harbour there; but when we came to its mouth,
which was about two leagues wide, we saw rocks and foul ground
within, and therefore stood out again; there we had twenty fathom
water within two miles of the shore: the land everywhere appeared
pretty low, flat, and even, but with steep cliffs to the sea, and
when we came near it there were no trees, shrubs, or grass to be
seen. The soundings in the latitude of 26 degrees south, from about
eight or nine leagues off till you come within a league of the
shore, are generally about forty fathoms, differing but little,
seldom above three or four fathoms; but the lead brings up very
different sorts of sand, some coarse, some fine, and of several
colours, as yellow, white, grey, brown, bluish, and reddish.
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