第39章

It is true that some of the zealous defenders of the ancients, and some of the great admirers of the Eastern nations, dispute these facts, and would have us believe that almost everything was known to the old philosophers, and not only known but practised by the Chinese long before the time of the great men to whom we ascribe them. But the difference between their assertions and ours is, that we fully prove the facts we allege, whereas they produce no evidence at all; for instance, Albertus Magnus says that Aristotle wrote an express treatise on the direction of the loadstone; but nobody ever saw that treatise, nor was it ever heard of by any of the rest of his commentators. We have in our hands some of the best performances of antiquity in regard to geography, and any man who has eyes, and is at all acquainted with that science, can very easily discern how far they fall short of maps that were made even a hundred years ago. The celebrated Vossius, and the rest of the admirers of the Chinese, who, by the way, derived all their knowledge from hearsay, may testify, in as strong terms as they think fit, their contempt for the Western sages and their high opinion of those in the East; but till they prove to us that their favourite Chinese made any voyages comparable to the Europeans, before the discovery of a passage to China by the Cape of Good Hope, they will excuse us from believing them. Besides, if the ancients had all this knowledge, how came it not to display itself in their performances? How came they to make such difficulties of what are now esteemed trifles? And how came they never to make any voyages, by choice at least, that were out of sight of land? Again, with respect to the Chinese, if they excel us so much in knowledge, how came the missionaries to be so much admired for their superior skill in the sciences? But to cut the matter short, we are not disputing now about speculative points of science, but as to the practical application of it; in which, I think, there is no doubt that the modern inhabitants of the western parts of the world excel, and excel chiefly from the labours and discoveries of these great and ingenious men, who applied their abilities to the improvement of useful arts, for the particular benefit of their countrymen, and to the common good of mankind; which character is not derived from any prejudice of ours, either against the ancients or the Oriental nations, but is founded on facts of public notoriety, and on general experience, which are a kind of evidence not to be controverted or contradicted.

We are still, however, in several respects short of perfection, and there are many things left to exercise the sagacity, penetration, and application of this and of succeeding ages; for instance, the passages to the north-east and north-west are yet unknown; there is a great part of the southern continent undiscovered; we are, in a manner, ignorant of what lies between America and Japan, and all beyond that country lies buried in obscurity, perhaps in greater obscurity than it was an age ago; so that there is still room for performing great things, which in their consequences perhaps might prove greater than can well be imagined. I say nothing of the discoveries that yet remain with regard to inland countries, because these fall properly under another head, I mean that of travels. But it will be time enough to think of penetrating into the heart of countries when we have discovered the sea-coasts of the whole globe, towards which the voyages recorded in this chapter have so far advanced already. But the only means to arrive at these great ends, and to transmit to posterity a fame approaching, at least in some measure, to that of our ancestors, is to revive and restore that glorious spirit which led them to such great exploits; and the most natural method of doing this is to collect and preserve the memory of their exploits, that they may serve at once to excite our imitation, encourage our endeavours, and point out to us how they may be best employed, and with the greatest probability of success.

BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER.

Having described his voyage from Brazil to New Holland, this celebrated navigator thus proceeds:

About the latitude of 26 degrees south we saw an opening, and ran in, hoping to find a harbour there; but when we came to its mouth, which was about two leagues wide, we saw rocks and foul ground within, and therefore stood out again; there we had twenty fathom water within two miles of the shore: the land everywhere appeared pretty low, flat, and even, but with steep cliffs to the sea, and when we came near it there were no trees, shrubs, or grass to be seen. The soundings in the latitude of 26 degrees south, from about eight or nine leagues off till you come within a league of the shore, are generally about forty fathoms, differing but little, seldom above three or four fathoms; but the lead brings up very different sorts of sand, some coarse, some fine, and of several colours, as yellow, white, grey, brown, bluish, and reddish.