DAMPIER, William, an English navigator, was born at East Coker, in Somersetshire, about the year 1652. Plis parents died whilst he was young, and having thus become an orphan, he was removed from the Latin school, and placed with the master of a ship at Weymouth. In this ship he made a voyage to Newfoundland; but, on his return, he left his master, with the resolution, as he himself observes, of never again exposing himself to the pinching cold of that northern climate. As the acquisition of experience in the art of navigation was ever his great object, he engaged himself as a common sailor in a voyage to the East Indies. He served in the Dutch war under Sir Edward Sprague, and was present at two engagements. The declining state of his health would not permit him to remain on board the fleet; he therefore came on shore, and removed to the country, where he remained some time. The year following he accepted an offer of employment in Jamaica as an under-manager of an estate; but he only continued a short time in this situation; after which he engaged in a coasting trader, and thus acquired an accurate knowledge of all the ports and bays of that island. Soon afterwards he entered on board a vessel bound for the bay of Campeachy, and returning a second time to the same coast, he remained with the logwood-cutters, and engaged himself as a common workman. During his stay in this country he collected the materials for the minute and interesting account which he has given of the laborious life of these people, as well as of the geographical description and the natural history of the tract which they occupy.

Satisfied with the knowledge which he had obtained of the nature of the trade and country, he returned to Jamaica, and thence proceeded to England, where he arrived in 1678. About the beginning of the year following he went out to Jamaica as a passenger, with the intention of revisiting the bay of Campeachy; but he was persuaded to associate himself with a body of privateers, as they were called, who were then lying in several vessels in a bay of that island. These people, called privateers, were in reality pirates, who, having no commission whatever from any government, undertook a predatory warfare on the commerce and settlements of the Spaniards. This body of plunderers was composed of English, Dutch, and French. In this expedition Dampier crossed the isthmus of Darien with his associates, spent the year 1680 on the Peruvian coast, and was occasionally successful in plundering the towns. The following year, in consequence of a dissension which arose among them, Dampier, and the minority with whom he had joined, recrossed the isthmus, and engaged with another fleet of privateers, which was then stationed on the Spanish Main; and having spent another year amongst the West India islands, he, with some others, proceeded to Virginia in a single ship, in order to dispose of their prize goods. Here he remained for a year; and afterwards engaged with a Captain Cook, who, with about seventy men, undertook an expedition against the Spaniards in the South Seas. They sailed in the month of August 1683, touched at the coast of Guinea, and then proceeded round Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean. Having fallen in with a ship from London, which had sailed on a similar expedition, they joined company; and, touching at the island of Juan Fernandez, they made the coast of South America, cruizing along Chili and Peru. They took some prizes, and with these they proceeded to the Mexican coast, which they fell in with near Cape Blanco. While they lay here Captain Cook died, and the command devolved on Captain Davis. Having separated from the London ship, they were joined by another commanded by Captain Swan. An attempt to plunder the town of Guayaquil was unsuccessful, but at the mouth of the river they took some vessels which had about 1000 slaves on board. With these negroes Dampier proposed to work the gold mines in the neighbourhood of Santa Maria, on the isthmus of Darien, from which the Spaniards had been driven away by some privateers. But this plan was not attempted. The next object of plunder was the Spanish fleet having on board the treasure of the Peruvian mines; but the English being ill supported by some French ships which had joined them, the fleet, after a running fight, got safe into Panama.

The English ships, afterwards cruizing along the coast of Mexico landed, took the town of Puebla Nova, and burnt two others. Dampier leaving Davis, went on board of Swan’s ship, and proceeded with him along the northern parts of Mexico as far as the southern part of California. During this expedition they frequently landed for the purpose of plunder, but particularly when they were in want of provisions. Returning from the plunder of one place, fifty of the party were killed by the Spaniards. This disaster so discouraged them that they relinquished all further attempts on these coasts. Swan then proposed to run across the Pacific Ocean, and return by the East Indies; and, in hopes of a successful cruise off the Manillas, the crew were persuaded, with a very slender stock of provisions, to risk this long passage. On the last day of March 1686, they took their departure from Cape Corrientes, and on the fifty-second day reached Guam, one of the Ladrone Islands. About this time the crew talked of killing and eating Swan and the other officers, in case their stock of provisions should be exhausted before it could be supplied. From Guam they proceeded to Mindanao. Whilst the ship lay here a mutiny arose among the crew, and the majority carried her oft', Swan and some of his people being left on the island. Among the former was Dampier, although it is said that he had no concern in the mutiny. After cruizing some time off' Manilla, and having careened their vessel at Pulo Condore, in 1687, they were driven to the Chinese coast, made the circuit of Luzonia and Mindanao, passed through the group of Spice Islands, and reached the coast of New Holland in the beginning of 1688. They left this in March, and having passed along the west coast of Sumatra, they arrived at the Nicoar Islands, where Dampier, at his own request, and two other Englishmen, a Portuguese, and some Malays, were set on shore. Dampier’s object was to establish a trade in ambergris. Attempting to navigate a canoe to Aeheen in Sumatra, they were overtaken by a severe storm, in which they experienced great hardships. They at last reached Sumatra; but the fatigues and distress of the voyage proved fatal to several of them, who were carried off by a fever. Dampier himself was scarcely recovered at the end of a twelvemonth. After making several voyages to different places of the East Indies, he acted for some time as gunner to the English fort of Bencoolen. In 1691, wishing to revisit his native country, he embarked on board a ship bound for England, where he arrived in September. At this time he brought with him a native of Mean-gis, one of the Spice Islands, who was supposed to be the son of a chief, and after being exhibited as a curiosity, died of the small-pox at Oxford.

It is not known in what manner Dampier was employed for some years after this period. It appears, however, that he was at last engaged in the king’s service. He had the command of the Roebuck, a sloop of twelve guns and fifty men. This vessel, it is supposed, was fitted out for some voyage of discovery, for she had twenty months’ provisions on board. He sailed from Britain in 1699, touched at the coast of Brazil, and then ran across to the coast of New Holland, and arrived there on the lst of August, [7:7:611]about latitude twenty-six degrees. He proceeded northwards along the coast, exploring the country in different places where he landed. To procure refreshments lie found it necessary to direct his course towards Timor; and from this he sailed to the coast of New Guinea, where he arrived on the 3d of December. By sailing along to its easternmost extremity he discovered that it was terminated by an island, which he circumnavigated, and named New Britain.

Here it would appear from his own journal that he encountered considerable difficulties from the small number of his men, and their eager desire to hasten home. On account of these difficulties he was prevented from prosecuting his discoveries. In May he returned to Timor, and thence proceeded homeward by Batavia and the Cape of Good Hope. In February 1701 he arrived off the island of Ascension, when the vessel sprung a leak and foundered; and it was with much difficulty that the crew reached the island. They remained at Ascension till they were taken away by an East India ship, and conveyed to England. This closes the account of Dampier’s life and adventures as it is detailed by himself. It appears, however, from the preface to the third volume, that he was preparing in 1703 for another voyage. It is mentioned also in Woodes Rogers’ Voyage round the World, that Dampier had the command of a ship in the South Seas about the year 1705, along with Captain Stradling, whose vessel foundered at sea. Dampier accompanied Woodes Rogers in his voyage round the world, in the years 1708, 17Ό9, 1710, and 1711, but only in the capacity of pilot, which is supposed to be owing to something faulty in his conduct. During this expedition Guayaquil was taken, and Dampier had the command of the artillery. Nothing further is known of the life of Dampier; and we arc equally ignorant of the place and time of his death.

The works of Dampier are well known, and have been often reprinted. They consist of, 1. A Voyage round the World, 3 vols. 8vo; 2. A Supplement to it, describing the countries of Tonquin, Malacca, &c.; 3. Two Voyages to Campeachy; 4. A Discourse of Trade-winds, Seasons, Tides, &c. in the Torrid Zone; 5. A Voyage to New Holland. His observations are curious and important, and conveyed in a plain manly style. His nautical remarks discover a great deal of professional knowledge. His knowledge in natural history is not scientific; but it appears to be accurate, and has been frequently quoted.

Dampier’s Straits. These straits separate the Wageeoo Isles from the island of Battanta. They have from twelve to forty fathoms through the passage.