Record Number: 10122
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Having now, I believe, fairly passed through between New Holland and New Guinea, and having an open sea to the westward, so that to-morrow we intend to steer more to the northwards in order to make the south coast of New Guinea, it seems high time to take leave of New Holland, which I shall do by summing up the few observations I have been able to make on the country and people. I much wished, observing the people, as they differ so much from the account that Dampier (the only man I know of who has seen them besides us) has given of them: he indeed saw them on a part of the coast very distant from where we were, and consequently the people might be different; but I should rather conclude them to be the same, chiefly from having observed an universal confomity in such of their customs as came under my observation in the several places we landed upon during the run along the coast. Dampier in general seems to be a faithful relater; but in the voyage in which he touched on the coast of New Holland he was in a ship of pirates; possibly himself not a little tainted by their idle examples, he might have kept no written journal of anything more than the navigation of the ship, and when upon coming home he was solicited to publish an account of his voyage, may have referred to his memory for many particulars relating to the people, etc. These Indians, when covered with their filth, which I believe they never wash off, are, if not coal black, very near it. As negroes, then, he might well esteem them, and add the woolly hair and want of two front teeth in consequence of the similitude in complexion between these and the natives of Africa; but from whatever cause it might arise, certain it is that Dampier either was very much mistaken in his account, or else saw a very different race of people from those we have seen.'
Century:1700-1799
Date:26 Aug 1770
Country:Sea between Australia and New Guinea
Timen/a
Place:other location: On board HMS Endeavour
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:13 Feb 1743
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Naturalist
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:Sea between Australia and New Guinea
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:"Voyage Round the World" or "Voyage to New Holland"
Genre:Geography / Travel, Natural history
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:10122
Source:Joseph Banks
Editor:Joseph Hooker
Title:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart., K.B. P.R.S. during Captain Cook's first voyage in HMS Endeavour in 1768-71 to Terra del Fuego, Otahite, New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch East Indies etc.
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1896
Vol:n/a
Page:296-7
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Joseph Banks, Joseph Hooker (ed.), Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart., K.B. P.R.S. during Captain Cook's first voyage in HMS Endeavour in 1768-71 to Terra del Fuego, Otahite, New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch East Indies etc. (London, 1896), p. 296-7, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=10122, accessed: 27 April 2024
Additional Comments:
Date of birth is given in the book as 2 February 1743 (O.S.) this has been changed to the new style date. It is not known which of Dampier's books was being referred to. It may be one or the other or both.
