440

'Tasman’s voyage of discovery.

coafts, and who might be able to add to the difcoveries already made, as well as furnifea more accurate defcription, even of them, than had been hitherto given.

This was faithfully performed by Captain Tafman; and, from the lights afforded byhis journal, a very exa£t and curious map was made of all thefe new countries. Buthis voyage was never publifhed entire; and it is very probable that the Eafl-India Com-pany never intended it fhould be publifhed at dll. However, Dirk Rembrantz, moved bythe excellency and accuracy of the work, publifhed in Low Dutch an extrad of CaptainTafman’s Journal, which has been ever fince confidered as a very great curiofity ; and,as fuch, has been tranflated into many languages, particularly into our own, by the careof the learned Profeffor of Grefham College, Doctor Hook, an abridgement of whichtranflation found a place in Dodor Harris’s Colledion of Voyages. But we have madeno ufe of either of thefe pieces, the following being a new tranflation, made with allthe care and diligence that is poffible.

2. On Auguft 14, 1642 ,1 failed from Batavia with two veffels; the one called theHeemfkirk, and the other the Zee-Haan. On September 5, I anchored at MauriceBland, in the latitude of 20° fouth, and in the longitude of 83° 48'. I found thisifland fifty German miles more to the eaft than I expeded ; that is to fay, 3 0 33' oflongitude. This ifland was fo called from Prince Maurice, being before known by thename of Cerne. It is about fifteen leagues in circumference, and has a very fineharbour, at the entrance of which there is one hundred fathoms water. The countryis mountainous ; but the mountains are covered with green trees. The tops of thefemountains are fo high, that they are loft in the clouds, and are frequently covered bythick exhalations or fmoke, that afcends from them. The air of this ifland is extremelywholefome. It is well furnifhed with flefh and fowl; and the fea on its coafts aboundswith all Torts of fifh. The fineft ebony in the world grows here. It is a tall, ftraighttree, of a-moderate thicknefs, covered with a green bark, very thick, under which thewood is as black as pitch, and as clofe as ivory. There are other trees on the ifland,which are of a bright red, and a third fort as yellow as wax. The fhips belonging tothe Eaft India Company commonly touch at this ifland for refrefhments, in theirpaflage to Batavia.

d left this ifland on the 8th of Oftober, and continued my courfe to the fouth, to thelatitude of 40° or 41 0 , having a ftrong north-weft wind; and finding the needle vary23, 24, and 25 0 to the 22d of O&ober, I failed from that time to the 29th to the eaft,inclining a little to the fouth, till I arrived in the latitude of 45 0 47' fouth, and in thelongitude of 89° 44'; and then obferved the variation of the needle to be 2 6 ° 45 'towards the-weft.

As our authorwas extremely careful in this particular, and obferved the variation ofthe needle with the utmoft diligence, it may not be amifs to take this opportunity ofexplaining this point, fo that the importance of his remarks may fufEciently appear.The needle points exa&ly north only in a few places, and perhaps not conftantly inthem ; but in moft it declines a little to the eaft, or to the weft, whence arifes eafternand weftern declination: when this was firft obferved, it was attributed to certainexcavations or hollows in the earth, to veins of lead, ftone, and other fuch-like caufes-But when it was found, by repeated experiments, that this variation varied, it appearedplainly that none of thofe caufes could take place; fince, if they had, the variation inthe fame place muft always have been the fame, whereas the fact is otherwife.

Here at London , for inftance, in the year 1580, the variation v/as obferved to he11° 17' to the eaft ; in the year 1666 , the variation was here 34' to the weft ; andrthe year 1734, the variation was fomewhat more than i° weft. In order to find the

variation