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historical fact seems to be less disputed, than that the South Coast of New Holland was first discovered in January 1627: whether it were the 26th, according to De Hondt, or the 16th, as is expressed on Thevenot's charts is of very little import. It is generally said, that the ship was commanded by ; but as Nuyts, on his arrival at Batavia, was sent ambassador to Japan, and afterwards made governor of Formosa, it seems more probable that he was a civilian, perhaps Company's first merchant on board, rather than captain of the ship: the land discovered has, however, always borne his name.

The Dutch recital says,—"In the year 1627, the South Coast of the Great was accidentally discovered by the ship the Gulde Zeepaard, outward-bound from Fatherland, for the space of a thousand miles."

This discovery has always been considered as of importance. A memoir was published at Amsterdam in 1718, "to prove, that, being in the fifth climate, between 34° and 36° of latitude; it ought to be, like all other countries so situated, one of the most habitable, most rich, and most fertile parts of the world." The