Chap. I. Commodore R o g g e w e i n. z6^ 
of Canaan , where the Province of Galilee was efteemed 
the faired, and moft fruitful, becaufe fituated fartheft to the 
North, and confequently neareft to that Latitude we re- 
commend. 
In the New World again, the Provinces of Carolina , 
Florida , New Mexico , and California , all lying in the fifth 
North Climate, are comparable, in point of Beauty and 
Fertility, to any Part of the known World ; and it is cer- 
tainly a great Fault in their Inhabitants, not to have culti- 
vated thofe Countries as they deferve. In South America , 
again, the Provinces in this Climate equal in Beauty, and 
in Riches, any Countries hitherto difcovered. The Cape 
of Good Hope is fo charming a Place, that there are very 
few Countries that equal, and none that furpafs it. The 
Air there is exceedingly wholfome ; the Soil produces, in 
abundance. Wine, Corn, and the moft excellent Fruits ; 
they have likewife fuch infinite Quantities of Cattle, tame 
and wild Fowl, that the People live, as it were, in Para- 
dife. The Country of Chili is likewife confidered as one 
of the fineft in the World ; and the City of St. Iago, its 
Capital, ftands in the Latitude of 33° 40' South. The 
Spaniards would have us believe, that there is nothing 
equal to it ; and it is, at the fame time, certain, that the 
Provinces behind it, and which extend quite to the North 
■ Seas, are almoft incredibly fruitful. 
Such as are acquainted with different Climates will readily 
agree with me, that the Heat is much greater in the iffand 
Ceylon , and on the Coaft of Malabar , than in the Coun- 
tries fituated under the Torrid Zone, and in thefirft Climate. 
On the other Side it is certain, that the Kingdom of Ben- 
gali, and the Country of Surat , is ftill much warmer than 
■ Malabar , as being in the third Climate, whereas Malabar 
is in the fecond. The Warmth of the Air, and the Fer- 
tility of the Soil, increafe from Surat to Belli , which is 
the Capital of the Dominions of the Great Mogul , the 
, former lying in 21, and the latter in 30° Latitude. The 
Heat is much greater at Gambron , which is feated on the 
Gulph of Balfora , than at Surat, the former being in the 
fourth Climate. All that I have advanced is fo clear, and 
• withal fo certain, that it is not liable to the leaft Objection : 
. From thefe Remarks, founded upon Experience, we may 
juftly infer, becaufe we can invincibly prove, that the fifth 
Climate is fuperior to the reft, and the Countries feated 
: therein, the beft and the moft fertile ; if fit was not fo, the 
Pleat under the Torrid Zone would be abfolutely infupport- 
able, the Earth would be burnt up, and incapable of pro- 
ducing any thing for the Nourilhment of Men, or the Sub- 
fiftence of Beafts. On the other hand, the Northern Coun- 
tries, even in the midft of Summer, would have fo little 
Heat, that they would produce nothing : We fee, how- 
ever, that in our Northern Regions, fuch, for Inftance, as 
Sweden , Poland , and Livonia, the Force of the Sun pro- 
, duces, in a Fortnight or three Weeks, as great Effedls, as 
in two or three Months in the Countries under the Line 
Eft If : The Reafon is plainly this, that in the Northern 
■ Countries, the Nights being extremely fhoit, the Earth 
has not time to cool, but remains continually heated, and 
that, to a Degree, fometimes as vehement as under the 
iirft Climate : But this does not laft long •, for as foon as 
the Rays of the Sun begin to. fall obliquely, the Nights 
grow long, which is the Reafon, that, in thefe Countries, 
neither Plants nor Fruits ever arrive at full Maturity. 
The Countries in the fixth Climate are lefs fertile than 
thofe in the fifth ; and, for the fame Reaion, the feventh, 
eighth, and ninth Climates yield to the fixth ; and thus 
the Richnefs and Fertility of the Soil conftantly and regu- 
larly dimimfhes to the twenty-fourth Climate, under which 
lie the Laplands , the Extremity of Rujfia and Siberia. 
To conclude, if a Traveller had a mind to put this to the 
Teft, by making a Voyage through ail the different Cli- 
mates of the Earth, he would certainly find the Pofition 
before laid down, viz. that the moft fruitful, the moft de- 
lightful, and, of conlequence, the moft defirable Countries, 
lie in the fifth Climate, certain and inccnteftable. Such a 
Journey would lead him to Pyre in Syria, the Country about 
which all Writers agree to be the moft delightful ; thence 
he ought to proceed to Tunis , and along the Coaft of Bar- 
bary, celebrated likewife for the Wholfomenefs of the 
Air, and the Fertility of the Soil: He muft take the Cape 
Numb. 18. 
of Good Hope alfo in his Paffage, where he would find a 
Country lovely beyond Defcription ; laftly, he muft pro- 
ceed to Nankin, and the Province of Honan, in China ; 
but if he would fave himfelf this Trouble, let him exa- 
mine the Accounts of thofe who have been in thefe Coun- 
tries, and he will no longer have any Doubts. 
1 1. The Butch Commodore, when he quitted the Iffand 
of Juan Fernandez, propofed to vifit that Part of the 
Southern Continent, which was reported to be difcovered 
by Captain Bavis, in the Year 1680. Our Author gives 
us but a dark Account of this Matter ; and therefore I 
fhali infert, as it is very fhort, Mr. Wafer’ s Story of this 
Difcovery. Pie was a Man of Senfe and Knowledge, and 
aftually on board Captain Bavis’ s Ship, when the Difco- 
very was made. “ We fleered, faid he, from the Galla - 
“ pagos Hands, South and by Eaft, half Eafterly, until 
65 we came to the Latitude of 27 0 20' South ; when, about 
“ twelve Hours before Day, we fell in with a low final! 
cc fandy Iffand, and heard a great roaring Noife, like that 
“ of the Sea beating upon the Shore, right a-head of the 
“ Ship : Whereupon the Sailors, fearing to fall foul upon 
“ the Shore before Day, defired the Captain to put the 
tc Ship about, and to ftand off till Day appeared ; to 
“ which the Captain gave his Confent : So we plied off 
“ till Day, and then flood in again with the Land, which 
proved to be a fmall flat Iffand, without the Guard of 
“ any Rocks .: We flood in within a Quarter of a Mile 
ct of the Shore, and could fee it plainly ; for it was a clear 
“ Morning, not foggy nor hazy. To the Weftward 
“ about twelve Leagues, by judgment, we faw a Range 
“ of High-land, which we took to be the Elands ; for 
“ there were feveral Partitions in the Prolpedl. This 
“ Land feemed to reach about fourteen or fixteen Leagues 
“ in a Range ; and there came great Flocks of Fowls : I* 
“ and many more of our Men, would have made this 
“ Land, and have gone afhore at it, but the Captain would 
“ not permit us. The fmall Iffand bears from Copayapo 
“ almoft due Eaft, 500 Leagues ; and from the Gallapagos, 
“ under the Line, 600 Leagues. 55 We fee by this, that 
Mr. Roggewein’ s Scheme was built, not only on a rational 
Conjecture, but, as far as might be, on the Lights afforded 
by Experience. He thought he had good Grounds to be- 
lieve, that there was a Southern Continent ; and this Ac- 
count of Bavis’ s, for under his Name it has always gone, 
and in the Maps we find it marked by the Name of Ba- 
vis’ s Land, fhewed itfelf Part of it ; which therefore he 
meant firft to examine. 
In their Paffage, the firft Land they faw, was that of the 
leffer Iffand of Juan Fernandez , which lies about ten 
Miles from the great one, appears lower, and lefs fertile, at 
a Diftance ; but, as our Butch Difcoverers had not an Op- 
portunity of landing, we cannot depend much upon their 
Account of it. As they had no w the Benefit of the South- 
eaft Monfoon, they quickly arrived in the Latitude of 
28 Degrees, and in the Longitude of two hundred and 
fifty-one, where they expeCled to have met with Bavis’ s 
Land, of which alfo they had the greateft and moft pro- 
bable Hopes, when they perceived abundance of Fowls 
flying, and obferved alfo, that the Wind fhifeed often, both 
which are looked upon as certain Signs of Land. Some 
of the Company flattered themfelves that they faw it ; but, 
to the great Grief, and no fmall Aftonifhment, of the Com- 
modore, no fuch Land was to be found. Our Author 
thinks, that either they paffed it, or that there is no fuch 
Country. I muft own, that I do not wonder they miffed 
it ; for whoever conffders Mr. Wafer’ s Defcription at- 
tentively, will fee that they fought it near ten Degrees too 
far to the Weft. Our Author oblerves afterwards very 
fenfibly, that, as thefe Southern Countries lie Eaft and Weft, 
or to the Eaft and to the South-weft, this Situation renders 
it almoft impracticable to difeover them ; for a Weft 
North- weft Wind carries a Ship by them at lome Diftance, 
and a North- weft Wind bears a Ship quite away from them ; 
fo that, while thefe Winds reign, the Search muft, hu- 
manly fpeaking, be abfolutely vain. The Confideration 
of this will fufficiently explain the Accounts hitherto given 
us of thefe Southern Countries ; they are feen, as it were, 
accidentally, and by chance ; when looked for, they are not 
to be found. This, to fuch as are inadvertent, brings 
3 Y former 
