4 ANlsriVEESART ADDEESS. 



of an introduction, copies of charts, and various documents. 

 The author, who is a distinguished member of the Society of 

 Antiquaries, as well as a member of the Hahluyt Society, and 

 also one of the Secretaries of the Hoyal Geographical Society, 

 has for many years occasionally turned his attention to solving 

 the .problem — " "Who discovered Australia ?" 



About twelve years since, he had come to the conclusion that 

 the discovery was not made, as generally supposed, by a Dutch- 

 man, but by a Portuguese. He has more recently published 

 another paper, in the " Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries," 

 which points to the discoverer in a very different direction. At 

 the time mentioned, he held as authentic that this great land was 

 first made known to Europeans by Manoel Grodinho de Eredia, in 

 the year 1601. The supposed fact was founded on a comparison 

 of a MS. map and certain printed documents ; and morcrecently, 

 in the Burgundian Library, at Brussels, there has been found 

 the original report of Eredia, illustrated by charts and other 

 drawings. 



In 1809, Mr. Major had pointed out the existence in the British 

 Museum of several French maps, in which the date of the 

 discovery was placed at an earlier period tlian IGOl, the date of 

 the oldest map being 1512. 



The names of places on the coast of Australia, called on the 

 charts " Jave la Orande,'' were considered to be written in 

 " Gallicized Portuguese,^'' and hence the discovery was given to 

 Portugal. 



Another map, of the date of 1531, still more recently has been 

 found, in which Australia is denominated " Begio Pa falls'' by the 

 author, Oronce Pine, the Astronomer of Brian9on. Coincident 

 with this is the fact that, on the Portuguese maps of the period, 

 where Australia ought to have been, if discovered by that nation 

 at the time, there is a perfect blank. Mr. Major was, therefore, 

 induced to reconsider the idea of " Gallicized Portuguese,'' and 



