Transcription

From New Guinea to Batavia
Sept 1770 History of voyages these maps are bound up in, however we have now put this wholy  not of dispute; but I believe it was known before tho' not publicly I claim no other merit than the clearing up of a doubtful point. another doubfull point I should have liked to have clear'd up altho' it is of very little if of any consequence which is, whether the natives of New Holland & those of New Guinea are or were original one people which one might well suppose as these 2 countrys lay so near to each other & the intermediate space fill'd up with islands, on the other hand if these 2 people have or ever had any friendly communication with each other it seems strange as I have before observed that they should not have transplanted from New Guinea over to New Holland cocoa nutts, bread fruit, plaintains &tc. all very useful articles for the support of man, that we never saw grown in the latter & which we have now seen in the former La Maire hath given us a vocabulary of words spoken by the people of New Britain/which before Dampiers time was taken to be a part of New Guinea/by which it appears that the people of New Britain speak a very different language from those of New Holland , now should it be found that the natives of New Britain & those of New Guinea have had one origin & speak the same language. it will follow of course that the New  Hollanders are a different people from both.
Tuesday 4th. Stood to the westward all this day having at first a mod.te breeze  southerly which afterwards freshened & veered to SE & ESE. we kept in soundings all the time having from 14 to 30 fa.om. not regular but sometimes more & sometimes less at noon we were in 14 fa.om by observation in the latitude of 6:14So. Long.de 223°:57' W. Course & distance sail'd since yesterday noon So76'W. 120 miles.
Wednesday 6th. Winds at EbS & SEbE a fresh gale & clear wea.r with which we ran 118 miles upon a So.69°:15'W course which at noon bro.t us into the Lat.de of 7°.25'So. Long.de 225°:41'W. depth of water 28 fa.om. having been in soundings the whole of this days run generally between 10 & 20 fa.om. at half an hour past one in the morning we past by a small low island which bore from us at that time NNW distant 4 miles depth of water 14 fathom & at daylight we discover'd another low island extending from NNW to NNE, distant 2 or 3 Leag.s 
[margin] Arrow Isles[/margin]
I believe I should have landed upon this island to have known its produce as it did not appear to be very small had not the wind blown too fresh for such an undertaking & at the time we passed the island we had only 10 fa.om of water a rocky bottom I was therefore afraid of running down to leeward for fear of meeting with shoal water & foul ground these islands have no place in the charts unless they are the Arrow Isles which if they are laid down much

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