Captain Carteret, who sailed from England in 1767, along with Captain
Wallis, but who was separated from him in the Straits of Magellan,
discovered several isles in the South Pacific, the largest of which there
is little doubt is that which was visited by Mandana in 1595, and called by
him Santa Cruz. In prosecuting his voyage in the track pursued by Dampier,
Captain Carteret arrived on the east coast of the land named New Britain,
by that celebrated navigator. This he found to consist of two islands,
separated by a wide channel; to the northern island he gave the name of New
Ireland.
At this period the French were prosecuting voyages of discovery in the same
portion of the globe. An expedition sailed from France in 1766, commanded
by M. Bougainville: he arrived within the limits of Australasia in May,
1768. Besides visiting a group of islands, named by him Navigators'
Islands, but which are supposed to have been discovered by Rogewein, and a
large cluster, which is also supposed to be the archipelago of the same
navigator, M. Bougainville discovered a beautiful country, to which he gave
the name of Louisiade: he was not able to examine this country, and as it
has not been visited by subsequent navigators, it is generally believed to
be an extension of the coast of Papua. After discovering some islands not
far from this land, M.
Pages:
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806