47° a u s t r a i ; a>st a ..
invidious to -fob fhat'grcit ■mah, of this important aridImmediate corife-
queriee of his prior' di-fcoveries. bn*
I The Tbrtugu^f&hfemgTupplanted'By the Dutch,'the latter are fille te d
the/lcarhed^eff&unt De firoiKB1 1-
afia, between tfie “year 16x6" and I'&pp* " The firft difeevCty'T'f dates
in the month df Odtbbef' i‘6i'6, jjjSSBr extremity was explored
by .Hartog.: Th e n o r th e rn , part,. called D iem en V- Land, was ffifclofed
by another Dutch navigator, named-Z'ea'chen, who bellowed the
appellation in honour of Aothony'V'an Diemen, governor general in
- the 'Eaft, Indies, wTio returned t;© Europe with incredible t-reafures in
x6j x.: It is .to be concluded that this governor encouraged fuch difco-
veries, for his; name vv.as impofed-onvarious regions in this part of the
world. In like manner Garpenteria was named from General JGarpen-
ter,, being difoovered in 1628.
In 1642 that celebrated navigator Tafman leaving Batavia with tWo
fhips, performed almoft a cirbuit of Auftralafia, and difcoWed: ffie|te,&-
££7/ land of V anH ie rn en , with "New Z e a l a n d , andlbme idles oflefs con-
fequence. It would be foreign t© the.prelent purpqfe to.detaU the;-,.richer
cfifcovejies which preceded the voyages of Gook-in'176s,- 177^ and
1776, which, from the fuperior amplitude and accuracy o f rife details,
may be faid to amount, to a new difeovery.1
The caftern coaft havihg Teen carefully' ekammed by Cook, £tnd
• juftl y appearing of great importance, was formally taken poffeffion of
in the dame of .the king of Great Britain 1776I: -On the clofe ofthe
American .war it being difficult to feledf a proper place of trarifportation
for eriminalsfentenced'tothat puniffimerit by the laws of their-countiy,
this new territory was at length' preferred in 1786, and the ftrfl *fhip
failed from Spithead on the ^oth January 1,787, and ar;riVed^pn the
20th of the fame month in the following‘year.® ■. Botany,Bay being
found to be a ftation of inferior advaritages to what were expedted, and
do fpot appearing proper -for .the colony, it was immediately.refolved
by Governor- Phillip to transfer It to another excellent inlet,- /about
twelve miles further to the north, called Port Jackfon, on the fouth fide
4i£-which, at a fpot galled .'Sidney .Cove, this fettlement is no.w .lixed.
1 De.Broflcs, i. 426. * Collins^ p.-il.
p o e t
A U S ' T R A h A S ' I A .
Port Jackfon is one of the harbours.!ini the world, extending:
abopfe&mrteen mUoun,length, with numerous creeks,or coves* This
new colony mot with cnnfideraMe, difficultly in regard .rik ffib filW
and the. expence was- confident Asltg#:grea$,rfp:Mh^*'Qhjey. y But-men
ef mpce extenfty? and phUofcphiqal views -beheld withcPmpiacence th‘e
defxg^ of ^transferring the Englhhvra.ee a.# name ^ fuch a- diftafntknd
important region rpf >tj|e~t$ p b ^ # i c h ^l^hu/ffipply g j l S g g to
g M P 3 M M in, Sthe;eSour%, pf, £ ,f?w; -prefeat 'as
rt.w^je au/othe^Aipen^, a. country ^ i^ng, tn o q ^ lg ^ and,eiyilW
tron, m the madft o£;a benighted and favage region o f t h ^ ^ q ^ N o r
wepq. Ymws^^rnbitioni andiglqrymndeligffi# with this. ne.wA djffiafioa
Of the. great; ands furprifing | | f | g of a remqtegEurogean -iile, in. the
fx ttp ^ ifs ,p f the n^vig.abl|}p.cean.te r
• «The-general-* ey^ffiow^ver, '
erily beheld^he prefent difficulties- and,expenditure, and- from the degraded
charay¥ of fhe ma& of the. a ^ n ift^ ex p e ^ d nothing; hm confpfioq>.
inteftme; broils, and .confeqitept,deneliaion, 1| It fis ,h q ^ y e r t o - ^
hoped th a t, a%ffituatiop is frequently, th e <©letcaufq crime, -ar change
m/thfarefped; m ay gradually lead to moral.condupl,- Imajt iyents'thb/e
periods have elapfed in which cffijdrgp w^ere h e ld .c ^ ^ a ijp n a ted by" the*'
faults-jof fhjeir % h e rs ;. and, in f f i c ^ p r h ^ o f a g e n ^ r^ q n . Or .two-die
ftream- may run pure, while the mud of the fountain has; M M
And to the eye o f a candid philosopher, who cannot, with plfltfa-ric
K.ouffeau, prefer the crimes, offayages to the faults of civilized fociety,
it may perhaps-appear that even now the new territory has gained aa
acceffion of virtue. For. where: the murder of innocent children, in
revenge, for the faults o f their parents, is not only permitted, but prac-
tlfed with attendant circurnftancics of deliberate, and infernal crueky^ an
Engliffi;criminal may comparatively be reputed-a virtuous citizen.3" It '
is indeed to be lam^ited that the p.uuiflnnent of death fo frequent in
England, and fo ufeiefs in eyer-y point of view, is not almoft univerfally
changed into. trapTportatjon; and in the few inftances in-which it is
I ' f j S v Ba7 -S inlet, feeing ain-eftuary: of.the v
t 7 °f °th“ nvfrs> whlk ? ? $ fackfon only Jeceivea two or three fmall ftreams. 1
w p £>*'587*
4 7 *
£W Hol-
V1HO.
unavoidable.