INTRODUCTION. 
master Witsen, in 1705 ; of which there will be occasion to speak 
in the sequel. 
It is necessary, however, to geographical precision, that so soon 
as New Holland and New South Wales were known to form one 
land, there should be a general name applicable to the whole ; and this 
essential point having been ascertained in the present voyage, with 
a degree of certainty sufficient to authorise the measure, I have, 
with the concurrence of opinions entitled to deference, ventured 
upon the re-adoption of the original Terra Australis ; and of this 
term I shall hereafter make use, when speaking of New Holland 
and New South Wales, in a collective sense ; and when using it in 
the most extensive signification, the adjacent isles, including that of 
Van Diemen, must be understood to be comprehended. 
There is no probability, that any other detached body of land, of 
nearly equal extent, will ever be found in a more southern latitude ; 
the name Terra Australis will, therefore, remain descriptive of the 
geographical importance of this country, and of its situation on the 
globe : it has antiquity to recommend it ; and, having no reference 
to either of the two claiming nations, appears to be less objectionable 
than any other which could have been selected.* 
In dividing New South Wales from New Holland, I have been 
guided by the British patent to the first governor of the new colony, 
at Port Jackson. In this patent, a meridian, nearly corresponding 
to the ancient line of separation, between New Holland and Terra 
Australis, has been made the western limit of New South Wales ; 
and is fixed at the longitude of 135 0 east, from the meridian of 
Greenwich. From hence, the British territory extends eastward, 
de pieces rapportees 3 sur le pave de la nouvelle Maison-de-Ville d'Amsterdam." Rela- 
tions de divers Voyages curieiix. — Avis. 
* Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been 
to convert it into Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to 
the names of the other great portions of the earth. 
