:The Great South Sea: English Voyages and Encounters, 1570-1750

Abstract

From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English buccaneers, privateers, and naval expeditions sought fame and fortune in the distant reaches of the South Sea. Beginning with the voyage of Francis drake in the 1570s and continuing through that of George Anson in the 1740s, a series of predatory English adventurers pursued Spanish treasure, and for a few the dream of riches came true. For most the voyages ended in disappointment, or even death. This book investigates these maritime adventures and how they were described in popular accounts of the time - accounts that affected English consciousness and perceptions of the wider world and that influenced the planning and nature of the later great voyages of James Cook and others. Glyndwr Williams draws on printed accounts of South Sea voyages as well as unpublished records - buccaneer journals, expedition papers and government documents from public and private archives. For English seamen preying on Spanish trade and treasure, the South Sea was limited to the waters lapping the shores of Chile, Pery and Mexico. But the vision was wider for others, Williams reveals. Cartographers at home in England, untrammelled by the constraints and dange