It r n Ê M m Ök%t-jhé Moïthsro patt§ óftPapiiia wtxt not ru^feli©'## t»
but: Maj;co:P<ilQi]d^e» ptft feetn to indicate ëveft Java; far
fefs any landa to the fouth or eaft o f that ïfland.* As there xK! no
fliadöw o f evidence that the Ghinefe Had difpavcred New Holland, ^fiere
is room to believe that, the,'firft civilized people to whom it was dil-
clofed were the Spaniards or Portuguefe, "the earlieft European naviga-
toxs in this portion o f .the globe. As in the year 1580 Portugal became
fubjedt to Spain, and was incorporated with that kingdom till 1640, the
difcoveries which" happened during thefe fixty years arejndifterently
afcribed to the Spaniards or Portuguefe. An ancient map now lodged
in the BritiJjh Mnfeum has been thought to evince that a confiderahle
portion of the eoaft now called New South Wales was knowu .to the
Spaniards 6r Portuguefe, but the precife epoch of the map o r difcdvery
feems untertain.f It would indeed be a tedious and fruitlefs inquiry
gfeto
* HiïAenöon of Arabia, and of* the African iflands of .Zanzibar and Madagafcar, feems derived
froirTthe-Arabian merchants, whom he met with in the eaft, and affords no argument for bis .knowledge
in this quarter.:_
f An excellent geographer, M. la Rocbette, informs me that the names are Fiom the Portu-
gnefe, and to this people'he imputes the earlieft difcoveries in, this quarter, their fettlements in the
Moluccas, See. being to the fouth of the Spanifh. But lie does not believe that the name fnpgofed
to indicate Botany Bay refers to that -pofitien.
The author has recently TiifpeSied this remarkable map, which .formerly belonged to the Earl of
Oxford, br in other words, was in the Harleian library, to which it was reft6re.d-by Sir Jofeph-
Banks in 179a It is a large vellum roll, pn the plan of a Mcfcatar’s chart of the. world, but
without longitudes or latitudes, and is aumbered in the MS. Catalogue at the Britilh Mufeüm
5^13. Inftead of being Spanilh orPortuguefe, as has been reported, it is entirely'French, and
- thechief names very large and diftjnft,' as in S. America Terre du Brejil, See. Sec. I t is fo con-
ftrudted that the fouth point is at the top of the map inftead of thebottom, as now' ufual.
-To thé fouth of Alia is a large Hand, cor'refponding in pofition with our New Holland. On
the fouth of Ja-ba, which is here placed fouth of Samatra (Sumatra), is a narrow {trait between
Java and this large iiland ; and Timor appears to thé north eaft. The large iflandris called ‘.Jcrve
la Grande; and feveral namesare marked on the weft arid eaft Shafts, among! the latter being Cop 4a Herbaiges, or the Coaftof Plants (ratherherbage or pafture), which has been thought to cor-
refpond with Botany Bay, but j t i s too far to the north, even fuppofing that this large ifland re-
prefents New "Holland, To.the fouth of the C'ofie da Herbaiges are three other names',>t con-
fiderahle diftanees’; firft, C op de G r e ed } then, an extenftve and very, projefting promontory,-capA;
the cape de Fremofe, which is followed at a conSderable diftance to the fouth by Goufre, that is a
gulf, or rather large bay. . The terminating line of the map interfefls this large iiland, and leaves
, its extent uncertain. A t a confiderable diftance to the N. E. appears the Zipangri, or Japan of
Marco Polo, whichris drawn with an arbitrary outline, and without -any names of places.
the claims of various navigators to the mere fi te of a new- m*w Hot-
region, pr. even a brief cafija^. vi%^.and thc^raim.isiOaly admiffijble in LiKB*
rooft important inftanceg, % ih as-tjhe landing of, Qojon or Columbu^in
America, after he had difeovered the Wpfti Indies- Far'it would hé ~
As.JtJras bean j^rgady ftteym ;that. the Great Java of ,Masco’ .Polprk, in the fflgjjd of Borneo,
there ^ vehement reafon to FufpeH that this fuppo'fed Hew HoflanaHifierely t§e iflahdofl&lnW,
laMWiSinawriong pofition, which to a perfon veiftd in krhskh’tJfoajta'wiHfobt appear,wondfcrful.
PeHiaps-tlie draughtfman, who by. the writing of the.qames muft have■ intended the fouth to be te f
permoft, had before hup a.maroof the .(greater and Defier Java, in which the north was upper-
njoft, and thSe error nlight have h’appen'ea even' if he had alreta'd^ grae?n"Bbrn^a (ts*projfer fitfiitfdni
In the gdofcfe by Martin Behaim, i4g’2, Java Major isiin a-cosreiipondifcglpoif^gity a6 appea^tfrdm,
Jhe print ip the. Voyage de Pigafetta, Paris, an Q,} vThri map. (indeed|fb.f,ws-a.&r fapejigr
knowledge in other refpeft , and feems to have been conftnfoted about 154a: bqt Ute agpejila-
tjoflio1 Jjpmildr Grande and Z^»§ri’ffufiiciehtly nidrate' thdt-, in fStis j^rrV, the Wdthorilahaured
under iroperfaft accounts; a n d m g w narrowftraitfhgtweei^tMlarg.e1 jOaptj,
and Java, with the - of Bipw, Guinea, anl other circnmAn^-e-u apjeji t,> ihei tint th a
fuppofed New Holland is perhaps the offspring of ignorance and error, being me-i-el'y a repealed'
and Vrtfeg-poffti^n' of Borneo, the real Greafer’Java.
. Since tjhis note wa« written Mr. Plan^a, cj^efJ^raikni9fftlk,,||riS|iSM|tfe|m,,,a|^^s^ td.fh'p'
anthor" a-curious manufeript there, Bib.i Regt I t* E^ ix. jjeing^afet of charlj6, or rather jr&ps, m-
titulrap hy{jmh^mx^ wui calls Tiitnielf'feirvwi't td ‘Henry VHI ;'and 1Vis "dated
at fheerid 1542, intliethirtyrfodrth year of that king’s reign. Thi&'moft onsjops and important
MS. is written on vellum in Englilh, but the dedication: js iri French } and Rota was perhaps a.
Fleming, who came over with Ann of Cleves 1740. Befides a calender, and feme infti iMiMl» for
'arh fe^rai rhaps,'executed with, great care atad" <l^dhce,,pariieuIai-N atplmuri
fphere at the end, „which well deTerves to be publiihed. In thi^, and in the feicond map, N^y Hal-i
land is laid down as it'appeared in modem mapa-after the fuppofed difeovery by Tafman, Qfher
jiarts are alfo ftriking, as the co jt if Labrador, with four Portiiguefe names ; Newfonde Condeyw^ere
meniga 'jifhing; and Cepe Bretons, with.feveral names betwixt it and Florida. There is alfo L a
Bermuda, with fome iflej to the N. E . now unkiiown.
The author collated thefe maps with the large map above mentioned, but incline to think that
Rotzis the original, as he retains many Portuguefe words, which in the'other are'.franftatfed; rihto
French.. In both the weft eoaft of Borneo appeantinrits proper.pla.qe,; with ,Porto de 'Bprnsq and
Baxes de Borne, -(in' the large map Port de Borne, B a p s de Borne ; ) and in the fame, ifleriniosf de
St. P . and -23?rfr &- Faak North of Borneo is T. de Polouan (Palawan) ; andjouithe eaft the
Moluccas. In the large map Boprfbo is an oblong fquare, much too fmall'in fize : ^
between Little and Great Java, refenlbljng a river, feems to be- called.Rio \Gmifdf, whilejonj
the'weft vi.TJoin de Lame.. -Rotz calls riie:: fappoi,:(l New Holland the lando£ Java ; and to the:
north are Florez and Tymor. His Taprobana is Sumatra ; and his Little java,, modern Java :
while lit jPigafetta’s voyage, 1522, Balli is Little Java ; alid-'.Grfeater Java, is the iiland ripjw fo
.halted^; - tlphn the ‘whole: the: author inclines to retraftshis: opinion- that the, Greater Java of, thefe i
maps -maybe Borneo I and rather to infer that, in the enfhufiafm of enterprize, after the voyage of-
Magalhaens, the Spaniards and Portuguefe had di(covered the northern, parts of New 1 1 allantlj,’
more than a century before the pretended Dutch difebyeries. •'-But neither, interfere with the di&i
covery of the Si E. part by our immortal Cook,;.