Diodorus Siculus, In The Fifth Book Of His Historical
Library, Informs Us That In The African Ocean, Some Days' Sail
West
from Libya, there had been discovered an island, the soil of which
was exceedingly fertile and the country no
Less pleasant, all the
land being finely diversified by mountains and plains, the former
thick clothed with trees, the latter abounding with fruits and
flowers, the whole watered by innumerable rivulets, and affording so
pleasant an habitation that a finer or more delightful country fancy
itself could not feign; yet he assures us, the Carthagenians, those
great masters of maritime power and commerce, though they had
discovered this admirable island, would never suffer it to be
planted, but reserved it as a sanctuary to which they might fly,
whenever the ruin of their own republic left them no other resource.
This tallies exactly with the policy of the Dutch East India
Company, who, if they should at any time be driven from their
possessions in Java, Ceylon, and other places in that neighbourhood,
would without doubt retire back into the Moluccas, and avail
themselves effectually of this noble discovery, which lies open to
them, and has been hitherto close shut up to all the world beside.
But to proceed.
CHAPTER XII: OCCURRENCES IN THE VOYAGE.
On February 14th we were in the latitude of 16 degrees 30 minutes
south, and in the longitude of 193 degrees 35 minutes. We had
hitherto had much rain and bad weather, but this day the wind
sinking, we hailed our consort the Zee-Haan, and found to our great
satisfaction that our reckonings agreed.
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