William Dampier

William Dampier

William Dampier was an Englishman who made two trips to the coast of Australia. The first was in 1688. Sailing in the Cygnet, he landed at King Sound and spent two months looking around the country. Eleven years later he was back again, this time in the Roebuck. On this trip, he named Shark Bay, and explored the North West coast. 

Dampier wrote two books about his explorations. In them he had nothing good to say about the new land. He reported it was worthless and that the natives were the most backward people on earth. On reading his reports, few people wanted to visit the region.