THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
83 
nent. The Englifh have fince proved that no fueh continent i 77 6 . 
exifts; and that the land in queftion is an ifland of no great , 1>ecember, t 
extent *; which, from its fterility, I fhould, with great pro¬ 
priety, call the Ifland of Defolation , but that I would not 
rob Monlieur de Kerguelen of the honour of its bearing his 
name t. 
Mr. Anderfon, my Surgeon, who, as I have already men- 
u Mers Meridionales, eft femee d’lfles ou de rochers; mais qu’il n’y a ni continent nr. 
“ grande terre.” Kerguelen, p. 92. 
* Kerguelen, as we fee in the laft Note, concurs with Captain Cook as to this. 
However, he tells us, that he has reafon to believe that it is about two hundred leagues in 
circuit ; and that he was acquainted with about fourfcore leagues of its coaft. “ J’en 
“ connois environs quatre-vingt lieues des cotes; et j’ai lieu de croire, qu’elle a environ 
“ deux cents lieues de circuit.” Kerguelen , ibid. 
f Some of Monfieur de Kerguelen’s own countrymen feem more defirous than we 
are, to rob him of this honour. It is very remarkable that Monfieur de Pages never once 
mentions the name of his commander. And, though he takes occafion to enumerate the 
feveral French explorers of the Southern Hemifphere, from Gonneville down to Crozet, 
he affetfts to preferve an entire filence about Kerguelen, whofe firft voyage, in which the 
difcovery of this considerable tract of land was made, is kept as much out of fight, as if it 
never had taken place. Nay, not fatisfied with refufing to acknowledge the right of an¬ 
other, he almoft alfumes it to himfelf. For upon a Map of the World, annexed to his 
book, at the fpot where the new land is delineated, we read this infcription: IJles nouvelles 
Aufrales vuees par Monfieur de Pages , en 1774. He could fcarcely have expreffed himfelf in 
ftronger terms, if he had meant to convey an idea that he was the conductor of the difco¬ 
very. And yet we know, that he was only a Lieutenant [Enfeigne de vaifleau] on board 
one of the three fliips commanded by Kerguelen; and that the difcovery had been already 
made in a former voyage, undertaken while he was actually engaged in his Singular jour¬ 
ney round the world. 
After all, it cannot but be remarked, that Kerguelen was peculiarly unfortunate, in 
having done fo little to complete what he had begun. He difcovered a new land indeed; 
but, in two expeditions to it, he could not once bring his Ships to an anchor upon any 
part of its coafts. Captain Cook, as we have feen in this, and in the foregoing Chapter, 
had either fewer difficulties to ftruggle with, or was more fuccefsful in Surmounting 
them. ° 
M 2 tionedj 
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