DISCUSSION ON NOTES ON CHARTS OF THE COAST OP TASMANIA. 117 



January, 1739, of the Cap de la Circoncision, in 55 deg. S., 

 5 deg. E. The extreme rigour of its climate was incom- 

 patible with Gonneville's account of the country visited 

 by him. Despite much difference of opinion as to 

 Gonneville's actual landfall, some placing it in Virginia, 

 others in South America, and others in the lately coasted 

 New Holland, two fresh attempts were made with the object, 

 not only of finding some compensation for the loss to France 

 of its American territory, but also to discover the southern 

 land supposed to lie near the route to India. These voyages 

 were undertaken by the captain Kergueleu de Tremarec, and 

 were as fruitless as that of Bouvet, for they only resulted in 

 the discovery of the barren Kerguelen Land, in 49 deg. 3 min. 

 S., 68 deg. 18 min. E. Kerguelen returned full of the- 

 persuasion that Madagascar was the Southern Indies of 

 Gonneville. When Kerguelen' s crews were freezing on 

 the shores of his new antarctic island, Marion was 

 altering his course from an easterly one between the parallels 

 of 46 cleg, and 47 deg. S., to one with sufficient southing in 

 it to fetch his ships off the west coast of this island, some- 

 where between Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour. He too 

 liad been disappointed in the weary search for a southern 

 continent, and had only added the Prince Edward and 

 Crozet groups to our cognizance of the Southern Ocean. 



The interest of Marion's voyage lies in this — that it was 

 the last French voyage ostensibly undertaken with the object 

 of discovering the Terra Australis, and with it and the con- 

 temporary voyages of Cook the belief in the existence of a 

 continent reaching as far north as 45 deg. or 50 deg. S , may 

 be said to expire. But this was not Marion's own opinion or 

 the opinion of his officers. On the contrary, Crozet says 

 expressly, " At that point where we then were," namely, 

 Possession Island, " everything promised the discovery of 

 the southern continent could we only have continued to the 

 S.E., but, unfortunately, the state of the Castries since she 

 had lost her masts (through a collision), did not permit M., 

 Marion to follow in its full extent the careful project he had 

 formed for the discovery of these lands." Nouveau voyage, 

 p. 23. Rochon, editor of the journals of Crozet who was 

 lieutenant on the Mascarin, does not agree with the opinion 

 that the change of route was due to the accident to the 

 Castries, for he says that its commander, M. Duclesmeur,, 

 " assured M. Marion so often and so positively of his ability 

 and willingness to follow his leader that M. Marion must have 

 had some other reason for abandoning his original plan than 

 that above assigned." As for Marion's place in relation to 

 his successors, it is this. Our complete cognition of any 

 portion of the earth's surface is generally preceded by a 

 careful hydrographical survey, and that again by a cursory 



