Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/29



the time when Cook sailed into Botany Bay in 1770 most Englishmen, it might be said, knew as much about New Holland as they did about the countries lying round the North Pole. They knew that there was a large tract of land to the south of New Guinea, which had been so far explored that its existence was an ascertained fact; but they knew very little more than that. The big folios in which all the known voyages and travels in different parts of the world had been collected by enterprising publishers from time to time—and which had for many years supplied the place of the old romances of chivalry among the reading public—told them very little about New Holland. The latest edition of Harris's collection of voyages (1764), gave them only the voyages of de Quiros, Pelsart, Tasman, and Dampier. Callander's collection, entitled Terra Australis Cognita (1766–8), contained those voyages and also a short historical summary of the Dutch explorations from 1616 to 1705. These portions of the collection were—like the rest of it—mere translations from a French original. By far the most popular publications on the subject were the various editions of Dampier. His New Voyage Round the World appeared in 1697, and his Voyage to New Holland in the year 1699 was published in 1703; each passing rapidly through several editions. How much they suited the taste of the age may be seen in a French translation published at Amsterdam in 1701–5, in four neat duo-decimos—evidently intended for the ship's cabin as well as the library on shore. Dampier's popularity seems to have spread