A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

After leaving these islands, Quiros seems to have directed his course to W.N.W. and N.W. to 10° or 11° S.latitude, and then westward, till he arrived at the Bay of St Philip and Jago, in the Island of Tierra delEspirito Santo. In this route be discovered several islands; probably some of those that have been seen bylater navigators.On leaving the bay of St Philip and St Jago, the two ships were separated. Quiros, with the Capitana, stoodto the north, and returned to New Spain, after having suffered greatly for want of provisions and water.Torres, with the Almiranta and the tender, steered to the west, and seems to have been the first who sailedbetween New Holland and New Guinea.[4][4] Two relations have been given of Mendana's voyage; one by Quiros above-mentioned, in a letterto Don Antonio Morga, lieutenant-general of the Phillipines, when Quiros landed at Manila, whichwas inserted in a work published at Mexico in 1609; and the other contained in Thevenot's Frenchcollection, being, as Mr Dalrymple has remarked, a transcript from Figueroa's history of GarciaHurtado de Mendoça, and of less authority. The discoveries of Quiros, real and supposed, haveattracted very peculiar notice, and deservedly so. Almost every collection specifies them. That whichthe president de Brosses has given on the authority of several Spanish works, has been generallyfollowed. Mr Dalrymple is earnest in securing to this immortal name, the honour of discovering thesouthern continent. It is most certain that he did discover something in the Pacific Ocean, but itnever yet has been shewn, that this something any way corresponds with the wonderful descriptionhe thought proper to give of it, in his memorial to the Spanish king. "Its longitude," says he, (wecopy from Mr Dalrymple's translation) "is as much as that of all Europe, Asia- Minor, and to theCaspian Sea, and Persia, with all the islands of the Mediterranean and Ocean, which are in its limitsembraced, including England and Ireland. That unknown part is a quarter of the whole globe, and socapacious, that it may contain in it double the kingdoms and provinces of all those your majesty is atpresent Lord of: And that without adjoining to Turks or Moors, or others of the nations which areaccustomed to disquiet and disturb their neighbours!" This was a discoverer after our own heart,worth a dozen or two of Ansons, Byrons, and Cooks! Amongst his real discoveries must beparticularly regarded the Tierra del Espirito Santo above- mentioned, which was visited byBougainville in 1768, and called by him the New Cyclades, a name since supplanted by that whichCook gave, the New Hebrides.--E.The next attempt to make discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, was conducted by Le Maire andSchouten. They sailed from the Texel, on the 14th of June, 1615, with the ships Concord and Horn. Thelatter was burnt by accident in Port Desire. With the other they discovered the straits that bear the name ofLe Maire, and were the first who ever entered the Pacific Ocean, by the way of Cape Horn.They discovered the island of Dogs, in latitude 15° 15' S., longitude 136° 30' W.; Sondre Grondt in 15° S.latitude, and 143° 10' W. longitude; Waterland in 14° 46' S., and 144° 10' W.; and twenty-five leagueswestward of this, Fly Island, in latitude 15° 20'; Traitor's and Coco's Islands, in latitude 15° 43' S.,longitude 173° 13' W.; two degrees more to the westward, the isle of Hope; and in the latitude of 14° 56'S., longitude 179° 30' E., Horn Island.They next coasted the north side of New Britain and New Guinea, and arrived at Batavia in October, 1616.[5][5] See our account of this voyage in vol. x. It was perhaps more fruitful in discoveries of islands,than any preceding expedition, and was remarkable, besides, for the small loss of lives during itscontinuance, viz. only three men. The interesting enough discovery of the Strait which bears the