Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 2.: The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth CenturyVerne, Jules
History
Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 2.: The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century
Verne, Jules
Discoveries in geography; Explorers; Voyages and travels
"It must be confessed," says Behrens, "that this is the most civilized
nation, as well as the most honest, which we have met with in the
southern seas. Charmed with our arrival, they received us like gods,
and when we showed our intention of leaving, they testified most
lively regrets."
From the description, these would appear to have been the inhabitants
of the Navigators Islands.
After having encountered the islands which Roggewein believed to be
Cocoa and Traitor Islands, already visited by Schouten and Lemaire,
and which Fleurieu, imagining them to be a Dutch discovery, named
Roggewein Islands; after having caught sight of Tienhoven and
Groningue Islands, which were believed by Pingre to be identical with
Santa Cruz of Mendana, the expedition finally reached the coast of New
Ireland. Here the discoverers perpetrated new massacres. From thence
they went to the shores of New Guinea, and after crossing the Moluccas,
cast anchor at Batavia.
There their fellow-countrymen, less humane than many of the tribes
they had visited, confiscated the two vessels, imprisoned the officers
and sailors indiscriminately, and sent them to Europe to take their
trial. They had committed the unpardonable crime of having entered
countries belonging to the East India Company, whilst they themselves
were in the employ of the West India Company.
The result was a trial, and the East India Company was compelled to
restore all that it had appropriated, and to pay heavy damages.
We lose all sight of Roggewein after his arrival at Texel upon the
11th July, 1723, and no details are to be obtained of the last years
of his life. Grateful thanks are due to Fleurieu for having unravelled
this "chaotic" narrative, and for having thrown some light upon an
expedition which deserves to be better known.
Upon the 17th of June, 1764, Commodore Byron received instructions
signed by the Lord of the Admiralty. They were to the following
effect,--"As nothing contributes more to the glory of this nation, in
its character of a maritime power, to the dignity of the British crown,
and to the progress of its national commerce and navigation, than the
discovery of new regions; and as there is every reason for believing
in the existence of lands and islands in great numbers, between the
Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan, which have been
hitherto unknown to the European powers, and which are situated in
latitudes suitable for navigation, and in climates productive of
different marketable commodities; and as moreover, his Majesty's
islands, called Pepys and Falkland Islands, situated as will be
described, have not been sufficiently examined for a just appreciation
of their shores and productions, although they were discovered by
English navigators; his Majesty, taking all these considerations into
account, and conceiving the existing state of profound peace now
enjoyed by his subjects especially suitable for such an undertaking,
has decided to put it into execution."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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