does not appear:

"In 16° 10' south, longitude 159° 17'" (east of Teneriffe, or between
142° and 143° east of Greenwich,) "the people swam on board of a Dutch
ship; and when they received a present of a piece of linen, they laid it
upon their head in token of gratitude: Every where thereabout, all the
people are malicious. They use arrows, and bows of such a length, that
one end rests on the ground when shooting. They have also _hazeygaeys_
and _kalawaeys_, and attacked the Dutch; but did not know the execution
of the guns." On summing up the whole of the knowledge which had been
acquired of the North Coast, it will appear, that natural history,
geography, and navigation had still much to learn of this part of the
world; and more particularly, that they required the accomplishment of
the following objects:

1st. _A general survey of TORRES' STRAIT_. The navigation from the
Pacific, or Great Ocean to all parts of India, and to the Cape of Good
Hope, would be greatly facilitated, if a passage through the Strait,
moderately free from danger, could be discovered; since _five or six
weeks_ of the usual route, by the north of New Guinea or the more eastern
islands, would thereby be saved. Notwithstanding the great obstacles
which navigators had encountered in some parts of the Strait, there was
still room to hope, that an examination of the whole, made with care and
perseverance, would bring such a passage to light. A survey of it was,
therefore, an object much to be desired; not only for the merchants and
seamen trading to these parts, but also from the benefits which would
certainly accrue therefrom to general navigation and geography.

2nd. _An examination of the shores of the GULPH OF CARPENTARIA_. The real
form of this gulph remained in as great doubt with geographers, as were