The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea / Being The Narrative of Portuguese and Spanish Discoveries in the Australasian Regions, between the Years 1492-1606, with Descriptions of their Old Charts.

The book assembles Portuguese and Spanish voyage narratives and reproductions of early charts to trace European exploration of Australasian waters between the age of discovery and the early seventeenth century. It documents expeditions to the Spice Islands and adjacent archipelagos, the first mappings of New Guinea and the Australian coastline, and sightings of the Solomon and New Hebrides groups. The author analyzes and compares historical maps and navigational tracks, describes contemporary maritime encounters and island geography, and illustrates these findings with period charts, coastal sketches, and ethnographic scenes.