The Sea And Rivers Have Plenty Of Fish; We Saw Abundance,
Though We Catched But Few, And These Were Cavallies, Yellow-Tails,
And Whip-Wreys."
This account is grounded only on a very slight view, whereas De
Quiros resided for some time in the place he has mentioned.
In
another place Captain Dampier observes that he saw nutmegs amongst
them, which seemed to be fresh-gathered, all which agrees perfectly
with the account given by De Quiros; add to this, that Schovten had
likewise observed, that they had ginger upon this coast, and some
other spices, so that on the whole there seems not the least reason
to doubt that if any part of this country was settled, it must be
attended with a very rich commerce; for it cannot be supposed that
all these writers should be either mistaken, or that they should
concur in a design to impose upon their readers; which is the less
to be suspected, if we consider how well their reports agree with
the situation of the country, and that the trees on the land, and
the fish on the coast, corresponding exactly with the trees of those
countries, and the fish on the coasts, where these commodities are
known to abound within land, seem to intimate a perfect conformity
throughout.
The next thing to be considered is, the possibility of planting in
this part of the world, which at first sight, I must confess, seems
to be attended with considerable difficulties with respect to every
other nation except the Dutch, who either from Batavia, the
Moluccas, or even from the Cape of Good Hope, might with ease settle
themselves wherever they thought fit; as, however, they have
neglected this for above a century, there seems to be no reason why
their conduct in this respect should become the rule of other
nations, or why any other nation should be apprehensive of drawing
on herself the displeasure of the Dutch, by endeavouring to turn to
their benefit countries the Dutch have so long suffered to lie, with
respect to Europe, waste and desert.
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