The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea | Page 9

of France,
with the collar of St. Michael; and on the right, another shield of France
and Dauphiny, quarterly. It was probably executed in the time of
Francis I. of France, for his son, the Dauphin, afterwards Henry II.;
hence, this chart has sometimes been called the "Dauphin Chart."*
[* Another of these planispheres, belonging to the same French School
of Cartography, was presented to Henry II. of France. About that time a
movement was set on foot for the colonisation of the Great Southern
Continent, or Jave-la-Grande. The promotors failed in their endeavours,
and one of them went to England with the hopes of better success; he
also failed in his efforts, and the great colonising scheme was
abandoned.]
This chart formerly belonged to Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford and
one of the principal Lords of the Admiralty, after whose death it was
taken away by one of his servants. It. was subsequently purchased by
Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., and presented by him to the British Museum in
1790.
Copies of this and other maps of the same category, have been made
for the Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Free Public Libraries, at
considerable expense. This was a wise step on the part of our
governments, for the strongest evidence of early discovery as yet
brought to light is shown in the draughting of these old charts of
Australia.
Unfortunately, as I have said, they are all mere copies of copies, the
first of which were more or less altered in outline and corrupted in
nomenclature, from a prototype which has not yet been found.
But, if the internal evidence of these odd charts clearly shows the
original or originals to have been Portuguese or Spanish, one point of
the question will be settled, and the Portuguese and Spanish will
undoubtedly be entitled to the claim and honor of having discovered
Australia.
As to the matter of date, that is of less importance, and can be fixed

approximately, for the discovery must have taken place at some period
between the arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish in these seas and the
draughting of the earliest known chart, that is between the years 1511
and 1536, a period of 25 years.*
[* When the Portuguese reached India and the East Indian Archipelago
(1511) they were the masters in those seas, and became the possessors
of many charts used by Javanese, Malay, Chinese, and Arabian sailors.
The great Albuquerque refers to a large chart of this description, which
was afterwards lost at sea, but of which copies had been made by the
pilot Rodriguez. It showed all the coasts and islands from China, the
Spice Islands, and Java, to the Cape of Good Hope and Brazil. It is
difficult to believe that the Javanese, Malays, Chinese, or Arabs had
any knowledge of Brazil in South America, although the Malays and
Arabs had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, coming from the east side,
of course. I am inclined to think that the term Brazil mentioned by
Albuquerque refers to Australia, which had been called Brasilie Regio
from an early date--a date prior to the discovery of Brazil in the year
1500. See, on this subject, my paper in the proceedings of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australasia under the heading "Is Australia the
Baptismal Font of Brazil?" Vol. VI., No. 1, Sydney, N.S.W.]
But, after all, until the very date of the expedition which resulted in the
first discovery can be ascertained, the question of nationality of the first
discoverers is a much more interesting one.
Having no other documentary evidence except these old charts, the first
conclusion drawn was that as they are all written in French, the French
were the discoverers in spite of the fact that no French claim had been
made.
The late R. H. Major, the author of "Early Voyages to. Australia,"
having thoroughly considered the possibility of a French claim, came to
the conclusion that such a claim was untenable. Being somewhat
shaken, however, in his first belief of a Portuguese discovery, he was
led to adopt a Provençal theory to explain certain words which on these
old Gallicized charts, were neither Portuguese nor French. The whole
subject was in this state of incertitude and confusion, when, a few years

ago, having occasion to examine minutely these old documents, I
discovered on the oldest of them a phrase in Portuguese, which,
curiously enough, had escaped the notice of all the learned critics who
had made a special study of this early specimen of cartography.
The phrase I had discovered, "Anda ne barcha," or "No boats go here,"
situated as it is in the Gulf of Carpentaria, had, in my mind, a very great
significance, since it not only proves the Portuguese origin of the chart,
but also the