A Voyage to New Guinea and the Moluccas, from Balambangan: Including an Account of Magindano, Sooloo, and Other Islands

In 1770, Thomas Forrest (c.1729–c.1802) was involved in establishing a new free port at Balambangan, Malaysia, which would improve the British East India Company's trade routes eastwards. In 1774 he agreed to lead an expedition on the Company's behalf to find out more about the waters between Malaysia and New Guinea. This 1779 publication (reissued in the Dublin edition) tells the story of Forrest's fifteen-month voyage in a small local vessel crewed by Malaysians, exploring the archipelago...