Piracy, Turtles and Flying Foxes

Dampier´s (1651-1715) adventures and writing inspired both Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver´s Travels, but in his own right he was a remarkable, observant and enjoyable writer - whether on a woefully mishandled pirate raid in Spanish America or on a desperate journey to Sumatra in an open boat or on the habits of manatees or bats. He also left the first description in English of the Aborigines of Australia - thus initiating a painful, now three centuries´ long encounter between peoples on opposite sides of the world.