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 OBSERVATIONS.

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