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William Dampier (1651-1715) was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer. He was the first Englishman to explore or map parts of New Holland (Australia) and New Guinea. He was the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. In the 1670s he crewed with buccaneers on the Spanish Main of Central America, later transferring to Captain Charles Swan's ship, the Cygnet, and setting out across the Pacific to raid the East Indies. After further adventures Dampier returned to England in 1691 via the Cape of Good Hope, penniless but in possession of his journals. The publication of these journals as New Voyage Round the World in 1697 created interest at the British Admiralty and in 1699 Dampier was given the command of HMS Roebuck with a commission to explore Australia and New Guinea. On the return voyage to England, Roebuck foundered near Ascension Island on 21 February 1701 and the crew were marooned there for five weeks before being picked up by an East Indiaman and returned home. He wrote an account of the 1699-1701 expedition entitled A Voyage to New Holland (1703) and a few years later added A Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland (1709).