Page "William Dampier" Paragraph 14

The expedition set out on 14 January 1699, far too late in the season to round the Horn and it approached New Holland via Cape of Good Hope.

Following the Dutch routes to the Indies, on 26 July 1699, Dampier reached Dirk Hartog Island at the mouth of what he called Shark Bay in Western Australia.

He landed and began producing the first known detailed record of Australian flora and fauna.

The images are believed to be by his clerk James Brand.

Dampier then followed the coast northeast, reaching the Dampier Archipelago and then Lagrange Bay, just south of what is now called Roebuck Bay all the while recording and collecting specimens, including many shells.

From there he bore away north for Timor.

Then he sailed east and on 3 December 1699 rounded New Guinea, which he passed to the north.

Sailing east, he traced the southeastern coasts of New Hanover, New Ireland and New Britain, charting the Dampier Strait between these islands ( now the Bismarck Archipelago ) and New Guinea.

En route he paused to collect specimens with one stop resulting in a collection of many giant clams.