A Voyage to New Holland, Etc. in the Year 1699

"A Voyage to New Holland, Etc. in the Year 1699" by William Dampier is a historical account written in the early 18th century. This travelogue details Dampier's observations and experiences from his voyage to various exotic locations, including the Canary Islands, Brazil, and New Holland (now Australia), offering insights into the inhabitants, their cultures, and the natural environment he encountered. The work is notable for its combination of personal narrative with geographical and ethnographical observations, written in an engaging style that aims to inform and entertain. At the start of the book, Dampier recounts his departure from the Downs and the course of his journey across the Atlantic Ocean, making stops at the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands. He provides detailed descriptions of these locations, discussing their geography, local customs, trade, and natural resources, while also sharing practical navigation tips and cautionary advice for other sailors. The opening sets a tone of exploration and discovery, emphasizing the challenges of long sea voyages and establishing a framework for the rich and informative accounts that will follow about other regions he visits throughout his travels. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

William Dampier was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He has also been described as Australia's first natural historian, as well as one of the most important British explorers of the period between Sir Francis Drake and Captain James Cook ; he "bridged those two eras" with a mix of piratical derring-do of the former and scientific inquiry of the latter. His expeditions were among the first to identify and name a number of plants, animals, foods, and cooking techniques for a European audience, being among the first English writers to use words such as avocado, barbecue, and chopsticks. In describing the preparation of avocados, he was the first European to describe the making of guacamole, named the breadfruit plant, and made frequent documentation of the taste of numerous foods foreign to the European palate at the time, such as flamingo and manatee.