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This watercolor painting shows William Dampier venturing into the unknown aboard a pirate ship.

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Dampier on the High Seas

July 2010

Pirates divide up the riches they plundered. Most pirates abided by their own codes of conduct, and life aboard pirate ships was more democratic than that on naval ships of the time. Watch a slide show about legendary pirates from the Golden Age of Pirates.

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Pyle's "The Sacking of Panama"

July 2010

Map of South America highlighting Juan Fernandez Island off of the west coast, near Chile

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Map of Juan Fernandez Island

July 2010

Three hundred year old pen and ink drawing of a "strange and large" bat.

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New Guinea Bat

July 2010

The arrows show the direction of ocean currents recorded by William Dampier while crossing “La Grande Mer du Sud”—the Pacific Ocean.

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Pacific Ocean Currents

July 2010

Illustrations of fish and crab from New Guinea

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New Guinea Fish and Crab

July 2010

After leaving Australia, Dampier and his men reached the western coast of New Guinea on New Year’s Day 1700. There Dampier observed birds that he had never seen before, like the “stately land-fowl” shown here.

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New Guinea Birds

July 2010

Pirate William Dampier's shipboard artist carefully recorded the species that Dampier found new and unusual.

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Australian Fish and Cuttlefish

July 2010

As Dampier studied the plants he encountered in Australia, he wrote that they were “for the most part unlike any I had seen elsewhere.” In fact, nearly all the plants Dampier observed were entirely unknown to botanists at that time.

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More Australian Plants

July 2010

As soon as Dampier set foot in Australia, he began making observations and collecting specimens of plants, which he carefully pressed between the pages of books to be studied by the “ingenious” and “curious” upon his return to England. As Dampier conducted his investigations, his artist made detailed sketches like these.

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Australian Plants

July 2010

Pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts dressed in embroidered coats and hats with feathered plumes, like an elegant gentleman.

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Portrait of Bartholomew Roberts

July 2010

Pirates Ann Bonny and Mary Read shown in men's clothes

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Ann Bonny and Mary Read

July 2010