In speaking of the consequences of Captain Tasman's voyage, it has
been very amply shown that this part of Terra Australis, or southern
country, has been fully and certainly discovered. To prevent,
however, the reader's making any mistake, I will take this
opportunity of laying before him some remarks on the whole southern
hemisphere, which will enable him immediately to comprehend all that
I have afterwards to say on this subject.
If we suppose the south pole to be the centre of a chart of which
the equinoctial is the circumference, we shall then discern four
quarters, of the contents of which, if we could give a full account,
this part of the world would be perfectly discovered. To begin then
with the first of these, that is, from the first meridian, placed in
the island of Fero. Within this division, that is to say, from the
first to the nineteenth degree of longitude, there lies the great
continent of Africa, the most southern point of which is the Cape of
Good Hope, lying in the latitude of 34 degrees 15 minutes south.
Between that and the pole, several small but very inconsiderable
islands have been discovered, affording us only this degree of
certainty, that to the latitude of 50 degrees there is no land to be
found of any consequence; there was, indeed, a voyage made by Mr.
Bovet in the year 1738, on purpose to discover whether there were
any lands to the south in that quarter or not. This gentleman
sailed from Port l'Orient July the 18th, 1738, and on the 1st of
January, 1739, discovered a country, the coasts of which were
covered with ice, in the latitude of 54 degrees south, and in the
longitude of 28 degrees 30 minutes, the variation of the compass
being there 6 degrees 45 minutes, to the west.
In the next quarter, that is to say, from 90 degrees longitude to
180 degrees, lie the countries of which we have been speaking, or
that large southern island, extending from the equinoctial to the
latitude of 43 degrees 10 minutes, and the longitude of 167 degrees
55 minutes, which is the extremity of Van Diemen's Land
In the third quarter, that is, from the longitude of 150 degrees to
170 degrees, there is very little discovered with any certainty.
Captain Tasman, indeed, visited the coast of New Zealand, in the
latitude of 42 degrees 10 minutes south, and in the longitude of 188
degrees 28 minutes; but besides this, and the islands of Amsterdam
and Rotterdam, we know very little; and therefore, if there be any
doubts about the reality of Terra Australis, it must be with respect
to that part of it which lies within this quarter, through which
Schovten and Le Maire sailed, but without discovering anything more
than a few small islands.
The fourth and last quarter is from 270 degrees of longitude to the
first meridian, within which lies the continent of South America,
and the island of Terra del Fuego, the most southern promontory of
which is supposed to be Cape Horn, which, according to the best of
observations, is in the latitude of 56 degrees, beyond which there
has been nothing with any degree of certainty discovered on this
side.
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