Chap. 1. Captain William DampieSi 8 | 
the Buildings in Peru. 24. Defcription of federal Kinds of Bark-logs „ and their XJfes. 25. Pheir 
Proceedings till they reach the Iftands of St. Clara. 26. Defcription of the P nvn of Guiaquil. 27. MiJ~ 
carry in an Attempt on that Place . 28. Defcription of the Bay of Panama. 25). Account of the adja- 
cent Coaft. 30. Phe tfland ^ Gorgon ia defended. 31. Obfervations on Panama, and the Country about 
it. 32. Phe Courfe of the Spanifh Plate Fleet deferibed. 33. Phat Defcription continued . 34. Tfey 
w/Vi? <2 confiderable Body of Privateers. 35. Defcription of the Coaft near Cape Lorenzo. 36. Pheir 
Adventures on that Coaft . 37. Pheir Engagement with the Spanifh Fleet. 38. Defcription of the IJlands 
of Quibo. 39. Make various Attempts , uW 02^/ with continual Difappointments. 40. Phey attack and 
become Mafters of the City of Leon. 41. Further Account of their Pranjaclions to the Separation of the 
Fleet. 42. Attempt Guatimala, and are repulfed. 43. Projection of their Voyage towards the North , 
44. Phe City and Port of Acapulco, and other Places on that Coaft , deferibed. 47. Continuation of their 
Voyage to the IJlands of Chametly. 46. Mifcarry in their Defign on the Manilla Ship. 47. Arrive at 
the IJlands before -mentioned. 48. Some Account of California, and New Mexico. 49. Sail for theEzH 
Indies, and arrive at the Philippine Iftands. 70. Defcription of thofe IJlands , and of their Pranfatlions 
there . 71. Other IJlands, and their Inhabitants, dejeribed. 72. Pheir Difcoveries in theje Parts-, the 
Names beftowed by them upon feveral Iftands, with a . 'Defcription of thofe IJlands , and an Account of their 
Inhabitants. 73* Phe IJlands of Celebes, Bouton, and other Places, deferibed. 34 " Copious Account of 
that Part of the Southern Continent , diftinguijhed by the Name of New Holland. 77, Our Author quits 
the Ship at Nicobar.. 76. Brief Account of his three Tears Stay in the Eaft Indies. 37. He embarques 
for, and returns J’af'e to England, arriving in the Thames, September 16. 1691. 
1. fjlHE Obfervations heretofore made, with refpedt 
to the Difficulty of compiling Voyages, and the 
J1L Caufes of thofe Imperfections that are ufually 
difeerned in them, cannot be better illuftrated, than by the 
fubfequent Account of his own Difcoveries by Captain Dam- 
pier, one of the greateft Navigators of late Years, that this 
Nation has to boaft. His Character has been varioufly re- 
presented, according to the different Notions entertained 
of him by Men who were guided rather by their particular 
Prejudices or Prepoffeffions, than by Love of Truth, or 
Relpect to Juftice. This was, in fome meafure, owing to 
the great Difadvantages, under which his Works were 
published : They came out at feveral times, without Order, 
harfhly written, obfeure in fome Places, prolix in others, 
and every-where full of Promifes of giving the World fur- 
ther and better Accounts, which naturally funk the Credit of 
what he was then giving ; but, with all thefe Difadvan- 
tages, the Voyages of Captain Dampier will be always 
thought ufeful and entertaining. I have taken all the Care 
I could to improve them in both refpeeffs ; and, I prefume, 
the Reader will find, that they are much clearer, and more 
intelligible, as they (land here, than they can be found elfe- 
where, and that for thefe Reafons : I have, in the firft 
Place, digefted his feveral Relations into their proper Order 
of Time, which renders them perfectly well connected, 
and contributes not a little to their being better underftood. 
By taking this Method, I have had the Opportunity of 
pruning away many unneceffary Digreffions,and needlefs Re- 
petitions, which, without Doubt, the Author himfelf would 
have done, if he had revifed his own Writings, and reduced 
them into a juft Series, of which that he had fome Notion, 
appears from feveral of his Prefaces and Dedications. Thus 
much as to the rendering his Voyages the more ufeful ; and, 
that they might ftill remain as entertaining as ever, I have 
chofen to retain his own Manner of Writing, except in the 
fubfequent Introduction, where I propofe to give the Reader 
a ooncife Account of this extraordinary Perfon from his 
own Works, previous to thofe Voyages, that intitle him 
to a Place in mine, as a very eminent Circum-navigator, 
and one, whofe many Difcoveries ought to recommend his 
Memory to Pofterity, as a Man of infinite Induftry, and 
of a very laudable public Spirit. 
2. Captain William Dampier was defeended from a very 
reputable Family in Somerfetfhire , where he was born in the 
Year 1652 ; and, during the. Life-time of his Father and 
Mother^ held fuch. «in Educstion^ s.s w*is thought rcouifitc 
to fit him for a Trade •, but, lofing both his Parents while 
he was very young, thofe, who had the Care of him after- 
wards, finding him of a roving Difpofition, and ftrongly 
rnchned to go to Sea, refolved to comply with his Humour 
in this refpeft j and, aoout the Year 1669, bound him to 
a Mailer of a Ship, who lived at Weymouth in Dorfetfhire , 
with whom he made a Voyage to France the fame Year, 
and, in the next, went to Newfoundland but was fo pinch- 
ed by the Severity of that Climate, that, on his Return, he 
went home to his Friends in the Country, having loft much 
Numb. 6* 
of that Eagernefs, with which he had been poffeffed for 
going to Sea. This, however, foon returned, on his hear- 
ing of an outward-bound Eaft India Ship, which was fpeed- 
ily to fail from the Port of London and thereupon, in the 
latter End of the Year 1670, he came up to Town, and 
entered himfelf before the Maft on board the John and 
Miartha of London , Captain Earning Commander, with 
whom he made a Voyage to Bantam in the Ifland of Java, 
and back ; by which he acquired a great deal of Experience. 
He returned into England in January 1672, and retired to 
his Brother’s Houfe in Somerfetfhire , where he ftaid all the 
next Summer. In 1673, he entered himfelf on board the 
Royal Prince , commanded by the famous Sir Edward 
Spragge, and was in two Engagements againft the Dutch 
that Summer ; but, falling fick, was put on board an Ho- 
fpital-fhip a Day or two before the laft Engagement, in 
which that brave Englifh Seaman was killed, and which 
Mr. Dampier faw only at a Diftance. After this, he went 
down again to his Brother’s in Somerfetfhire , where, meet- 
ing with one Colonel Hellier, who had a large Eftate in 
Jamaica , he was perfuaded by him to go over to that Ifland, 
where he was to be employed in the Management of it. 
With this View, he failed from the River Thames in the 
Spring of the Year 1674, and refided fomewhat more than 
a Year at Jamaica where, not liking the Life of a Planter, 
he, at the Perfuafion of one Captain Hodfell, engaged 
himfelf among the Logwood- cutters, and embarqued in 
Auguft 1 675 for Campeachy , where he refided for fome time, 
and followed that Employment diligently, tho’ he under- 
went many and great Hardfliips, before he had an Oppor- 
tunity of returning to Jamaica , which he did in the End of 
the Year. In the February following, he embarqued again 
for Campeachy, being now better provided for the Trade of 
Logwood-cutter than before. He continued here a good 
while, and acquainted himfelf perfe&ly with the Manner of 
cuttipg Logwood, and trading in it ; which enabled him 
to form fome Projects for advancing his Fortune : This, 
however, made it neceffary for him to return firft to Ja- 
maica, and then to England, where he arrived on board a 
Ship commanded by one Captain Loader , in the Month of 
Auguft 1678. It was this new Scene of Life in the Bay of 
Campeachy , that introduced him to the Acquaintance of 
fome Buccaneers, and gave him a Notion of that fort of 
Life, in which we fhall find him afterwards engaged, and 
of which, it is certain, he was afterwards very much afhamed ; 
which I take to be the Reafon, that, in his firft Voyage 
round the World, he has concealed many Circumftances, 
with which, however, the World has been made acquainted 
by Captain Cowley, and others, who had not, perhaps, the 
fame Reafons for keeping them fecret. But to proceed with 
the Hiftory of our Author’s Adventures. 
3. In the Spring of the Year 1679, be embarked on 
board the Loyal Merchant, of London, commanded by 
Captain Knapman , bound for Jamaica, where he arrived in 
the latter End of April, the fame Year, with an Intent to 
have provided himfelf in fuch manner, as might have fet 
Z him 
