A glance at any of the published charts will show a vague outline of coast and islands and reefs, with numerous blanks--a compilation from various sources, some utterly unworthy of credit; and of the inhabitants and productions of these regions, nothing was known beyond that portion at least of them were peopled by a savage and warlike race.
LUIZ VAEZ DE TORRES.
The first navigator who saw the shores in question, appears to have been Luiz Vaez de Torres, in the Spanish frigate La Almiranta, coming from the eastward, in August 1606.

In latitude 11 1/2 degrees South, Torres came upon what he calls the beginning of New Guinea, which, however, appears to have been a portion of what is now known as the Louisiade Archipelago.
Being unable to weather the easternmost point of this land (Cape Deliverance) he bore away to the westward along its southern shores.

"All this land of New Guinea," says he, in his long-forgotten letter to the king of Spain (a copy of which was found in the Archives at Manila, after the capture of that city by the British, in 1762) "is peopled with Indians, not very white, much painted, and naked, except a cloth made of the bark of trees.

They fight with darts, targets, and some stone clubs, which are made fine with plumage.

Along the coast are many islands and habitations.