EA RL Y DISCO I 'ERIES. 



that their discovery 

 referred only to New 

 Guinea -- a country 

 which from a remote 

 period of antiquity had 

 been an object of curi- 

 osity to the civilized 

 world. It is, indeed, 

 matter for regret that 

 the historical evidence 

 of the first actual disco- 

 very of Australia is so 

 shadowy and delusive. 

 Amongst the European 

 nations the Portuguese, 

 the Spanish, the Dutch, 

 the French have each 

 and at different times 

 shared the credit of its 

 achievement ; and also 

 amongst the peoples of 

 Asia the Chinese and 

 the Malays put for- 

 ward claims to have 

 been " the first that 

 ever burst into that 

 silent sea." 



The first mention 

 in authentic history of 

 any European visiting 

 a supposed Southern 

 Continent is contained 

 in De Brasses' " His- 

 toirc dcs Navigations 

 A ux Terrcs / / list rales" 

 and relates to a certain 

 Binot Paulmyer who, 

 nearly four hundred 

 years ago, landed on 

 what was for long con- 

 sidered to be the great 



Terra . I ns/ra/is, although it was in all probability the island of Madagascar. Para- 

 phrasing the French account, which is very circumstantial, we read somewhat as follows : 

 When Vasquez de Gama had opened the road to the East Indies, French merchants 



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