PRIOR DISCOVERIES IN TERRA AUSTRALIS.
SECTION IV.
EAST COAST, WITH VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.
PART I.
Preliminary Observations. Discoveries of Tasman; of Cook; Marion; and Furneaux. Observations of Cook; Bligh; and Cox. Discovery of D'Entrecasteaux. Hayes.
Preliminary
Information.
Van Diemen's Land would more properly have been arranged under the head of the South Coast; but the later discoveries here have so intimate a connexion with those on the East, as to render it impossible to separate them without making repetitions, and losing perspicuity in the narrative.
The anxiety of the Dutch government at Batavia, to know how far the
South Lands might extend towards the antarctic circle, was the cause of
Tasman being sent with two vessels, to ascertain this point; and the discovery of Van Diemen's Land was one of the results. It was not, however, the policy of the Dutch government to make discoveries for the benefit of general knowledge; and accordingly this voyage "was never," says Dr. Campbell, "published intire; and it is probable, that the East-India Company never intended it should be published at all. However,
Dirk Rembrantz, moved by the excellency and accuracy of the work, published in
Low Dutch an extract of captain Tasman's journal, which has
