The Only Choice, Therefore,
That The Dutch Had Left, Was To Reserve This Mighty Discovery Till
The Season Arrived, In
Which they should be either obliged by
necessity or invited by occasion to make use of it; but though this
Country be reserved, it is no longer either unknown or neglected by
the Dutch, which is a point of very great consequence. To the other
nations of Europe, the southern continent is a chimera, a thing in
the clouds, or at least a country about which there are a thousand
doubts and suspicions, so that to talk of discovering or settling it
must be regarded as an idle and empty project: but, with respect to
them, it is a thing perfectly well known; its extent, its
boundaries, its situation, the genius of its several nations, and
the commodities of which they are possessed, are absolutely within
their cognisance, so that they are at liberty to take such measures
as appear to them best, for securing the eventual possession of this
country, whenever they think fit. This account explains at once all
the mysteries which the best writers upon this subject have found in
the Dutch proceedings. It shows why they have been at so much pains
to obtain a clear and distinct survey of these distant countries;
why they have hitherto forborne settling, and why they take so much
pains to prevent other nations from coming at a distinct knowledge
of them: and I may add to this another particular, which is that it
accounts for their permitting the natives of Amboyna, who are their
subjects, to carry on a trade to New Guinea, and the adjacent
countries, since, by this very method, it is apparent that they gain
daily fresh intelligence as to the product and commodities of those
countries.
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