William Dampier

William Dampier was an English explorer and privateer, the first person to circumnavigate the world three times, and the first Englishman to explore Australia.  His book, "New Voyage Round the World," impressed the Admiralty.  Dampier went on to influence Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt.  His observations in natural history and innovations in navigation technology also impacted future sailors and explorers.  He made contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary for the first English examples of words like "barbecue", "avocado", "chopsticks", and "sub-species" used in his writings.

Here is Dampier's A Voyage Round the World with an introduction by Sir Albert Gray and images of a page from Dampier's journal, the title page of the first edition of A Voyage Round the World, and relevant maps/tables.