uthentic accounts speak of its discovery. One of these charts is in
French, without date; and from its almost exact similitude, is probably
either the original, or a copy of the other, which is in English; and
bears, with the date 1542, a dedication to the KING OF ENGLAND.* In it,
an extensive country is marked to the southward of the Moluccas, under
the name of GREAT JAVA; which agrees nearer with the position and extent
of Terra Australis, than with any other land; and the direction given to
some parts of the coast, approaches too near to the truth, for the whole
to have been marked from conjecture alone. But, combining this with the
exaggerated extent of Great Java in a southern direction, and the animals
and houses painted upon the shores, such as have not been any where seen
in Terra Australis, it should appear to have been partly formed from
vague information, collected, probably, by the early Portuguese
navigators, from the eastern nations; and that conjecture has done the
rest. It may, at the same time, be admitted, that a part of the west and
north-west coasts, where the coincidence of form is most striking, might
have been seen by the Portuguese themselves, before the year 1540, in
their voyages to, and from, India.

[* A more particular account of these charts, now in the _British
Museum_, will be found in Captain Burney's "_History of Discoveries in
the South Sea_." Vol. I. p. 379-383. An opinion is there expressed
concerning the early discoveries in these regions, which is entitled to
respectful attention.]

But quitting those claims to original discovery, in which conjecture
bears so large a share, we come to such as are supported by undeniable
documents. Before entering upon these, it is proper to premise, that,
instead of following precisely the order of time, these discoveries will
be classed under the heads of the different coasts upon which they were
made: an arrangement which will obviate the confusion that would arise
from being carried back from one coast to another, as must, of necessity,
be the case, were the chronological order to be strictly followed.

The discoveries made in Terra Australis, _prior to the Investigator's
voyage_, will, therefore, be divided into four Sections, under the
following heads: 1. The NORTH COAST; 2. The WESTERN COASTS; 3. The SOUTH
COAST; and, 4. The EAST COAST with VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. But the articles in
the fourth Section, being numerous and more extensive, will be