Search
The arrows show the direction of ocean currents recorded by William Dampier while crossing “La Grande Mer du Sud”—the Pacific Ocean.
Photo

Pacific Ocean Currents

View Image
Illustrations of fish and crab from New Guinea
Photo

New Guinea Fish and Crab

View Image
After leaving Australia, Dampier and his men reached the western coast of New Guinea on New Year’s Day 1700. There Dampier observed birds that he had never seen before, like the “stately land-fowl” shown here.
Photo

New Guinea Birds

View Image
Pirate William Dampier's shipboard artist carefully recorded the species that Dampier found new and unusual.
Photo

Australian Fish and Cuttlefish

View Image
As Dampier studied the plants he encountered in Australia, he wrote that they were “for the most part unlike any I had seen elsewhere.” In fact, nearly all the plants Dampier observed were entirely unknown to botanists at that time.
Photo

More Australian Plants

View Image
As soon as Dampier set foot in Australia, he began making observations and collecting specimens of plants, which he carefully pressed between the pages of books to be studied by the “ingenious” and “curious” upon his return to England. As Dampier conducted his investigations, his artist made detailed sketches like these.
Photo

Australian Plants

View Image
Giant tortoise habitat on Galapagos Islands.
Photo

Cerro Azul, Isabela Island, Galapagos Islands

View Image
Pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts dressed in embroidered coats and hats with feathered plumes, like an elegant gentleman.
Photo

Portrait of Bartholomew Roberts

View Image
Pirates Ann Bonny and Mary Read shown in men's clothes
Photo

Ann Bonny and Mary Read

View Image
Stede Bonnet at his hanging in Charleston, North Carolina
Photo

Stede Bonnett’s Fate

View Image
Major Stede Bonnet on a ship, shown in an engraved print
Photo

Major Stede Bonnet

View Image
Blackbeard's head suspended from the end of a bowsprit.
Photo

Blackbeard’s Head

View Image