country, its productions, and inhabitants, may be obtained.*

[* _Hawkesworth's Voyages_, Vol. III. page 77, _et seq_.]

This voyage of captain Cook, whether considered in the extent of his
discoveries and the accuracy with which they were traced, or in the
labours of his scientific associates, far surpassed all that had gone
before. The general plan of the voyage did not, however, permit captain
Cook to enter minutely into the details of every part; and had it been
otherwise, the very extent of his discoveries would have rendered it
impossible. Thus, some portions of the east coast of Terra Australis were
passed in the night, many openings were seen and left unexamined., and
the islands and reefs lying at a distance from the shore could,
generally, be no more than indicated: he reaped the harvest of discovery,
but the gleanings of the field remained to be gathered.

MARION. 1772.

The first visitor to Van Diemen's Land, after Tasman, its discoverer, was
captain MARION. He commanded the _Mascarin_ and _Marquis de Castries_,
from the Isle Mauritius; and one of the objects of his expedition, was
the discovery of the supposed SOUTHERN CONTINENT. This voyage possesses a
considerable degree of interest, and was published at Paris in 1783; but
not being generally known in England, the parts which relate to Van
Diemen's Land, are here given in abridgment.

March 3, 1772, M. Marion made the west side, in latitude 42° 56', half a
degree south of Tasman's first land fall; and behind a point in 43° 15',
he saw an opening leading to the northward, but of which no particular
mention is made. Steering eastward, round all the rocks and islets lying