£ fash} 
Ail thefe Difcoverits had feme thing iri them noble aiid 
furprifing ; they excited a generous Emulation among all 
great Mind's of that Age all Europe over inibtnuch that 
we every-where hear of Attempts of that kind, fince td 
that we may refer the Attempts for finding a North-eaft and 
a North-weft Palfage to the Ihdies , which, in Fabt, would 
have proved but a new Route for a C i rcu 111-n avi gat ion , being 
all founded on the fame Principle, that there are Paffages 
from oiie Ocean to the other at both Poles. While this 
Spirit prevailed, the Practice of Navigation grew to Per- 
fection, and thefe long Voyages were performed more hap- 
pily, than they have been fince : the Reafon of which I 
take to^ be this, that, in thole Days* Men of great Abilities 
made fuch Voyages in Peffon ; whereas they now content 
themfelves with forming Syftems in their Clofets : And, 
except the late famous Profeffor Halley , we have fcarce 
heard of any Man of acknowledged Capacity, who has ven- 
tured on a long Voyage, merely to compare the Notions 
derived from Theory with the Refult of Practice. 
After the eftablifhing the Trade of the Englijh and Dutch 
to the Eaft Indies , exclufive Companies came in, which put 
a Stop to Difcoveries, and to the. nobler Expeditions in 
Search of new Lands, as the great de Witte long ago ob- 
ferved in his admirable Maxims of the Policy of Holland. 
From this time Difputes about Trade commenced •, and, 
inftead of extending their Commerce, by finding out frefh 
Markets, all the great Maritime Powers have been employ- 
ed in circumfcribing each others T rade, and even in ruin- 
ing one another. This Evil, indeed, has been accident- 
ally productive of frefh Difcoveries, by the Means of Pri- 
vateers, who, not by Defign, but through Force, have be- 
come Ci rcu m -navigators •, which is the Reafon, that moft 
of their Difcoveries have been lame and imperfect, as being 
made by Men more intent on Plunder, than on acquir- 
ing Fame, or on rendering Service to the Public. By 
degrees, this Flumour of confining Trade to particular 
Nations, and to particular Companies of Men in each of 
thole Nations, has increafed to fuch a Degree, that Propo- 
fals for new Difcoveries have fallen into Difrepute, and fuch 
as. turned their Heads that way treated as Projectors-, which, 
with us, is looked upon as only a fefter Name for Mad- 
men. 
We have a notable Pittance of this in the Conduct of 
the French Court, about the Year 1666. when they re- 
jected an Offer made them by two of their own Subjects, 
for the Difcovery of Hudfon' s Bay ; by which Accident that 
rich Trade fell into our Hands, and has been a Bone of 
Contention between the two Nations ever fince. There 
is, however, Reafon to believe, that this kind of Temper 
is wearing out ; and that, in moft trading Nations, the true 
Spirit of inlarging Trade, by the finding new Markets, 
begins to revive. The late Czar Peter was the firft that en- 
deavoured to promote the Commerce, not only of his own 
Subjects, but of Mankind in general, by caufing a ftrict 
Search to be made into alt the hitherto unknown Coun- 
tries, bordering upon his wide Empire, of which we fhali 
have occafion to treat in another Place. His Example ex- 
cited a like Difpofition in the Szvedes and Danes ; and here, 
in our own Country, fome Projects of the fame Nature have 
been better received, than formerly they were. 
But the lateft and moft remarkable Voyage that has 
been for Difcoveries, is that which will be the Subject of 
the next Section, performed by the Direction, and at the 
Expence, of the Dutch W f India Company , which is a 
very fingular Inftance of a right Application of a Com- 
pany’s Powers •, and it would be a very happy thing, if 
fome great Companies, in another Country, would follow 
their Example.. Moft certain it is, that, in all Countries, 
this was the original Motive to their Inftitution, as appears 
by Charters, and other public Adis ; and, indeed, many of 
them profecuted this Defign for fome time, and made con- 
fiderable Progrefs that way, till the Love of Money, and 
Over-fond nels of Power, and the Defire of providing for 
their own Dependents at the public Expence, got the bet- 
ter of thofe old-fafhioned Principles, and taught Men to 
vernilh, with fair Pretences, the Purfuit of private Ad- 
vantage, tho 5 at the Expence of the common Good. 
c. S E C T I O N XX. 
An Account of Commodore Roggewein’s Expedition , with three Ships , for the Difcovery of 
Southern' Lands , under the Direction of the Dutch Weft India Company , * from an ori- 
ginal ^Journal, 
I. An Account of the original Scheme of this Voyage , and the Difcoveries propofed thereby . 2. The Fleet 
Jails from the Texel, July 1 6. 1721. 3. Account of their PaJJdge to the If and of Teneriffe. 4. The 
fame continued till their Arrival on the Coaft of Brafil. 5. DeJcription of the City of St. Sebaftian, of 
the Country round it , and Things remarkable therein. 6. Other Occurrences in the Voyage. 7. Difco- 
very of a new If and, called Belgia Auflralis. 8. PaJJdge through the Str eights of Le Maire into the 
S'outh Sea. 9. Adventures in thofe Seas , and DeJcription of the If and of Juan Fernandez. 10. Re- 
fed? ions on the Nature and the Importance of the intended Difcoveries, with the Reafons which render it 
probable , that Jiich Difcoveries may be made. 1 r . Difcovery and DeJcription of a new If and , with an 
Account of its Inhabitants. 12. Arrival at Bad water If and, and Difcovery of five other Ifiands. 
13. Shipwreck of the African Galley. 14. Difcovery and DeJcription of nine new Ifiands. 1 y. Ref- 
lation taken to quit this Goaf , and the Reafons for and againfl it. 16. Continuation of the Voyage to 
New Britain and New Guiney. 17. Five new Ifiands df covered and deferibed. 18. DeJcription of 
New Britain, and of fever al Ifiands in its Neighbourhood. 19. Unlucky Dfpute with its Inhabitants, 
and the Confluences of that Dfpute. 20. A large Account of that Country, and its Inhabitants. 
21. DeJcription of the Ifiands of Moa, and Arimoa, with an Account of their Inhabitants. 22. Df 
cover an Archipelago, to which they give the Name of the Thoufand Ifiands. 23. DeJcription Gf the 
Ifiands Bouro and Baton. 24. Arrival at the If and of Java, and Defcription of the Coaft. 2 7. Their 
Veffels Jeized at Batavia, and their Companies made Prf oners. 2 6. The prefent State of Batavia, with a 
large Account of its Inhabitants. 27. The Manner in which the Affairs of the Dutch Company are ad- 
minifiered in the Eaft Indies. 28. The Difribution of their Government into all its Parts, Ecclefaflical, 
Civil, and Military. 29, Farther DeJcription of Batavia, and the If and of Java. 30. Defcription 
of the If and of Ceylan, or Ceylon, its Government and Inhabitants. 31. The prefent State of Am- 
boy 11a, with an Account of the Clove Trade. 32. The If and of Banda, its Government and Inhabitants, 
deferibed. 33. A difinbl Account of the four Governments of Macaffar, Ternate, Malacca, and of the 
Cafe of Good Elope. 34. DeJcription of the four Directories of Coromandel, Surat, Bengal, and 
Perfia. 37. The Commanderies of Malabar, Gallo, Java, and Ban tam , deferibed. 36. An Account of 
* There never was any Account of this Voyage in our Language. 
e* 
t> 
the 
