Page 99

Cook's Descriptions of Places

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New Guinea (continued) out of dispute but as I beleive it was known before tho' not publickly I clame no other merit than the clearing up of a doubtfull point. A nother doubtfull point I should liked to have clear'd up ^altho it is of very little if of any concequence which is whether or no the Natives of New-Holland and those of New-Guinea are or were original one People which one might well suppose as these two Countries lay so near to each other and the intermediate space fill'd up with Islands   on the other hand if these Two People have or ever had any ^friendly communication with each other it seems strange ^as I have before observed that they should not have transplanted from New-Guinea over to New Holland, Cocoa-nutts. Bread fruit, Plantains &Ca &Ca ^all very usefull Articles for the support of man that we never saw grow in the latter and which we have now seen in the former   La Maire hath given us a Vocabulary of words spoke by the people of New-Brittain / which before Dampiers time was taken to be a part of New Guinea / by which it appears that the people of New-brittain speak a very different Language from those of New-Holland. Now should it be found that the Natives of New-Holland Britain and those of New Guiney have had one Origin and speake the same Language, it will follow of Course that the New-Hollanders are a different people from both — Voyaging Accounts © Transcribed from National Library of Australia Manuscript 1 page 309, 2004 Published by South Seas To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook_remarks-099