William Dampier: 1679-1707
Map of the Trade Winds fromVoyages and descriptions. Vol. II. London: Knapton, 1699.	In the text of the first volume of the voyage (1697), Dampier describes how Captain Swan persuaded the crew to cross the great ocean. He told them "that Sir Thomas Ca'ndish and Sir Francis Drake did run it in less than fifty days and that our ships were better sailers than those that were built in that age, and that he did not doubt to get there in little more than forty days." The crew being convinced, they sailed from Corrientes on March 31st, 1686, and finally reached Guam on May 20, nearly matching the earlier navigator's time. If they had not made land within three days, the crew "had contrived first to kill Captain Swan and eat him when the victuals was gone, and after him all of us who were accessory in promoting the undertaking of this voyage. This made Captain Swan say to me after our arrival at Guam 'Ah! Dampier, you would have made them but a poor meal'; for I was as lean as the Captain was lusty and fleshy."
According to the calculations Dampier made of his trip across the Pacific: "the South Sea must be of greater breadth by 25 degrees than it is commonly reckoned." He thought the difference must be found: "in the breadth of Asia and Africk, the Atlantic Sea, or the American Continent, or all together; and so that tract of the Terraqueous Globe, must be so much shortened."
Dampier: Page 5 of 13. The first voyage.	back   next