Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.Major, Richard Henry
History
Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.
Major, Richard Henry
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels
Such is the narrative of Castanheda. The Jesuit Maffei, who has
given us a history of India, has supplied us with less details, but
his account is not less valuable, inasmuch as he gives us the name
of the captain who commanded the ship. He says: Some Portuguese of
the Moluccas, having gone to the islands of Celebes to seek for
gold, but not having been able to land, were driven by a fearful
tempest upon an island, which is distant therefrom three hundred
leagues, when they went ashore. The inhabitants, who were simple
people, received them very well, and soon became familiar with them.
They comprehended their signs, and even understood a little of the
language spoken at the Moluccas. All the inhabitants were
well-looking, both male and female; they were cheerful, and the men
wore beards and long hair. The existence of this island was
previously unknown, but in consideration of the account given of it
by the captain, whose name was Gomez de Sequeira, and of the map
which he drew of this island, his name was given to it.
From the details supplied to us by these two authors, it is evident
that the island on which Gomez de Sequeira was thrown was to the
eastward of the Moluccas, because, in returning, the Portuguese had
to sail westward. Now three hundred Portuguese leagues, starting
from the Moluccas or the island of Celebes, lead us to within a
trifle of Endeavour Straits; we may therefore conclude that it was
upon one of the rocks in this strait that Gomez de Sequeira lost his
rudder, and that the island on which he landed was one of the
westernmost of those which lie along its western extremity. The
Portuguese did not advance far into this strait, for it is plain
that they met with no obstacle in returning to the Moluccas. I
think, therefore, that the island on which Gomez de Sequeira landed
was one of those which were called Prince of Wales’s Islands by
Captain Cook, and which are inhabited, because this navigator states
that he saw smoke there. What confirms me in this opinion, is the
agreement of our two authors in stating that the men of Gomez de
Sequeira’s Island had long and black hair and beards. We still find
this characteristic distinguishing the natives of New Holland from
those of New Guinea, whose hair and beards are crisped. This island,
therefore, was nearer to New Holland than to New Guinea, which is,
in fact, the case with the Prince of Wales’s Islands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account