It Is Also Remarkable That This Is The Very Coast
Surveyed By Captain Dampier, Whose Account Agrees Exactly With That
Contained 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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 26 of 180
Words from 6937 to 7238
of 50938
