I N T R O D U C T I 0 N.
NOTWITHSTAND IN G the great. improvement o£ na-
vigatioa within the laft two Centuries, a Voyage.round the
World is ftill confidered as airenterprize o f fo very lingular
a ^ r e , that the Public have- iiaretj felled to be extremely in-
^«htwe about the various accidents and toms o f fortune with
which this uncommon attempts generally attended. And though
the amufement expe&ed m thefe narrations is doubtlefs one great
fovtrce o f that curiofity with the hulk of readers ; yet the more
intelligent part o f mankin4 hav,e always .agreed, that, from accounts-
o f this nature, i f faithfully exLécuted, the more important purpofes;
e f navigation, commerce, and mtiötial- ihtereft, may be grcarly
promoted: for every authentic defeription o f foreign ceaifi 'and
countries will contribute to one or more o f thefe great ends in!
proportion to the wealth, wants, or commodities o f thofe countries
and our ignorance of thofe coafts; and, therefore, a Voyage
round the World promifes a fpecies o f information, o f all others
the moffc definable and interefting; fince great part of it is per"
formed in feas- with- which we are, as yet, but very imperfe&lyacquainted^
and in.the neighbourhood of a country renowned for the
abundance of its wealth.; though it is, at the fame time, fiigmatizedfor
its. poverty in the neceffaries. and conveniences o f a civi-
IizedTife..
Thefe Goaliderations have occafioned the compiling the'enfuing
work;, which, in. gratifying the inquifitive difpofition of mankind I
and, contributing , to the fafety. and fuccefs, o f future navigators and*
to.the extenfionof ofir, commerce and power, may doubtlefs vie.
with any narration o f this- kind hitherto made public.: fince, as to
the firft of.thefe.heads,, it.may. well, be. foppofed,. that the general;
i curiofity. hath .been ftrongly excited by the. circumftances of this-
uudsvtakiug already, known,to theiworld;. for. whether we.cbnfider
* the,
the force o f the fquadrou lent on this iervice, or the diverfified
diftreffes that each fingle fhip was feparately involved in, or the
• uncommon inftances o f varying fortune which attended the whole
enterprise; each of thefe articles, I conceive, mu ft, from its rude,
well-known outlines, appear worthy o f a compleater and more
fniilhcd delineation: and, i f this be allowed with refpeft to the
.narrative part of the work, there'can be no doubt about the more
ufeful and inftruCtive parts, which are almoft every where interwoven
with i t ; for I can venture to affirm, without fear o f being
contradicted on a companion, that no voyage, hitherto publilhed,
furnilhes fuch a number of views of land, foundings, draughts of
roads and ports, charts, and other materials, for the improvement
o f geography and navigation, as are contained in the enfoing volume
; which are the more v aluable too, as the greateft part o f them
relate to fuch Iflands or Coafts as have been hitherto not at all, or
erroneoufly deferibed; and where the want of fufficient and authentic
information might occafion future enterprises to prove
abortive, perhaps with the deftrinStion of the fhips and men employed
therein.
And, befides the number and choice o f thefe marine drawings
and deferiptions, there is another very efiential circamftance belonging
to them, which much enhances their worth ; and that is,
the great accuracy with which they were executed. I fhall exprels
my opinion of them, in this particular, very imperfectly, when I
fay, that they are not exceeded, and perhaps not equalled, by any
thing of this nature which hath, as yet, been communicated to the
world : for they were not copied from the works o f others, or
compofed at home from imperfeCt accounts given by incurious
anduulkilful oblervers (apraflice too frequent in thefe matters); but
the greateft part o f them were delineated on the ipot, with the ut-
moft exaftnefs, by the direction and under the eye of Mr. Anfon
himlelf; and where (as is the cafe in three or four of them) they
have1 been done by lefs Ikilful hands, or were found in pofleffion of
the enemy, and confequently their juftnefs could be lefs relied on, I
b 2 have