Annual Meteorological Table for Sidmouth, Devon, 50° 41' N. lat. 3° 13′ W. long. By Dr. Clarke. ARTICLE IX. Rain for the year 25.73 Comparison of the Variations in the Years 1813, 1814, and 1815. In deducing the mean of the observations, that of the morning of Jan. 30 is rejected, the variation exceeding that of any former day, without any apparent cause. Jan. 18.-The needle in the morning unsteady, and followed by a fall of snow. During the fall the needles were quite steady. Jan. 27.-Needles unsteady at noon: the wind afterwards blew fresh from the S. E., accompanied with snow. Feb. 12.-The needles at noon vibrated 14' 40" at intervals. The wind blew strong from the S. W. The wind afterwards increased, and shifted to the westward, accompanied with hard rain and showers of hail. ARTICLE XI. ANALYSES OF Books. A Voyage to Terra Australis, undertaken for the Purpose of completing the Discovery of that vast Country, and prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in his Majesty's Ship the Investigator; and subsequently in the armed Vessel Porpoise, and Cumberland Schooner. With an Account of the Shipwreck of the Porpoise, arrival of the Cumberland at the Mauritius, and Imprisonment of the Commander during six Years and a half in that Island. By Matthew Flinders, Commander of the Investigator. In two Volumes, with an Atlas. London, 1814. THE charts which accompany this work have been constructed with uncommon care, and are probably the most complete of their kind hitherto published. The workmanship does great honour to Captain Flinders, and to the artists employed. Captain Flinders, by way of introduction to his own voyage, gives a preliminary account of the previous discoveries made in the Terra Australis by preceding voyagers. The north coast of New Holland appears to have been discovered in 1606, by the Duyfhen, a Dutch yatch, dispatched from Bantam to explore the islands of New Guinea. But the commander of this vessel was not aware of the importance of his discovery, considering the country which he observed as a part of New Guinea. Torres, a Spanish navigator, saw it the same year; but was as little conscious of the importance. of his discovery. His letter to the King of Spain remained unknown, till a copy of it was found when Manilla was taken by the British forces in 1762. Mr. Dalrymple made it known to the public, and gave the name of Torres to the strait on the northeast side of New Holland, through which that navigator appears to have passed; and this name has been generally adopted. Further progress was made in the investigation of the north coast, by John Carstens, in 1623, by Gerrit Tomaz Pool and Pieterz Pieterzen, in 1636, and by three Dutch vessels, in 1705. In 1770, Captain Cook sailed along the north coast, and ascertained that New Guinea is not connected with New Holland. In 1791, Lieutenant M'Lure sailed along the north coast of New Holland, and determined the position of several islands, shoals, and projecting points of land. These were all the navigators that preceded Captain Flinders in his examination of the north coast.. But Captains Bligh and Portlock, in 1792, and Messrs. Bampton and Alt, in 1793, sailed through Torres Straits, and added considerably to our knowledge of that intricate navigation. The west coast of New Holland appears to have been first seen by Dirk Hartog, commander of the ship Endragt, outward-bound from Holland to India. He fell in with it in 1616, about latitude |