Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia: / A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

by Richard Henry Major

And thus, in agreement with this, the same prophet, speaking of the divine foundation of the earth, says also in another place: “Who hath founded the earth upon its own stability, that it shall not be moved for ever;” which was as much as to say, that the earth has no other stability or foundation for its remaining in the position in which it is but its own stability, which consists in the equal tendencies of its opposite parts towards the centre of gravity, a law to which the water also is subjected, and, as it rests upon the earth, it keeps the same relation to the centre of gravity; from all which results the aforesaid equalization of the whole mass of earth and water to that centre, and in this consists its stability. Hence it follows that the Psalmist, in the passage first quoted, spoke generally of the two hemispheres; since the inhabitants of each one might imagine to themselves that all the earth of that hemisphere was kept in its place by the water contained in the hollows of the other. The expression that the earth never shall move at any time, implies that it is naturally impossible that its centre of gravity should be moved from the centre of the entire elementary and celestial system, for that would be that gravitation should ascend or move upwards. Hence the statement of the Psalmist in no way opposes what has been demonstrated, that there is as much surface of land uncovered and free from water in the southern hemisphere as there is in the northern.

Also, if we recur to the celestial influences which, in regard to temperature, affect the earth and water with dryness and cold, heat and moisture, cold and moisture, and heat and dryness, and cause some parts of the earth to be uncovered by water and to be kept dry, while others remain under water; these are the influences of the fixed stars, which are vertical to the southern hemisphere, and as efficacious as those of the northern hemisphere for keeping the parts of the said southern hemisphere dry, uncovered, and habitable, as may be proved by observing the celestial objects which correspond to each hemisphere; when it will be seen that, of the forty-eight fixed stars, four-and-twenty correspond to each hemisphere, and also of the twelve signs of the zodiac, six belong to each; so that it cannot be doubted that there is in the southern hemisphere at least as great a part of the earth’s surface uncovered as in the north. Now it is consequently manifest that this part of the earth is as fertile and habitable as the northern hemisphere, for the south has of necessity the same distribution of zones as the north; that is to say, half of the torrid zone from the equinoctial line to the tropic of Capricorn, then the temperate zone from that to the Antarctic circle, and then that which lies between the Antarctic circle and the Antarctic pole; and those zones in the two hemispheres which correspond to each other, have (allowance being made for the natural motion of the sun through the ecliptic) the same, or nearly the same temperature, excepting such differences as are caused by certain vertical stars and the various form, arrangement, and temperament of the land, from which it occurs that in the hottest part of a zone there are some spots very temperate and cool. And thus in those zones which are generally cold, there are some parts which are milder and very free from the severity of the cold. And if particular consideration be given to the influences produced on temperature by the constellations belonging to the southern hemisphere, it will be found that there are lands in it, not only as habitable, but much more so than in the other hemisphere; and it has been seen by experience, from the discoveries which have been made in that half of the torrid zone which is south of the equator, that whereas the ancients considered its heat to be so excessive that it was utterly uninhabitable, there have been found in it parts as habitable and of as mild a temperature as in the most temperate and habitable parts of Spain. This has been shown in the country of the Baia de Sanfelipe y Santiago, discovered by captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, which is very near to the middle of the southern half of the torrid zone, where, in the month of May, was found the same mildness of temperature, the same songs of birds in the twilight, the same agreeableness and delight in the softness of the air, as is found in Spain in the mildest and most refreshing season of spring. And although, in the middle of the time that they were in the bay, the sun went down about twenty degrees to the north, which, together with the fifteen or twenty minutes of the latitude of the bay, made their distance from the sun, which was in the south of the zenith, little more than twenty-five degrees, and thus fifty-five of southern altitude; yet was the temperature extremely mild for a situation so near to the middle of the southern half of the torrid zone. But in other islands which they discovered in the same southern half of the torrid zone, when the sun stood in southern signs for January, February, and March, being vertical or very near the vertex or zenith of those islands, there was not felt greater heat there than in our summer, nor, indeed, did there appear to have been so much on those occasions when they went on shore for the purpose of taking in water.

By the same reasoning it is shown, that the land of the southern hemisphere is greatly stored with metals and rich in precious stones and pearls, fruits and animals; and from the discoveries and investigations which have been already made in this southern hemisphere, there has been found such fertility, so great plenty and abundance of animals, swine, oxen, and other beasts of different kinds fit for the sustenance of man as has never been seen in our Europe; also of birds and fishes of different species, and, amongst them all, those which we most value as wholesome and delicate on the shores of our own ocean; and fruits, some of which we already know, and others of different kinds, all which may well excite the greatest admiration, as has been related in detail in the treatise referred to at the beginning of this memorial.

It must be observed that, although the arguments we have hitherto advanced refer to the entire southern hemisphere, yet that which we now propose to have explored, discovered, and evangelically subdued, is that part of the said hemisphere which lies in the Pacific Ocean, between the longitude of the coast of Peru, as far as the Baia de San Felipe y Santiago and the longitude which remains up to Bachan and Ternate, in which longitude the following most remarkable discoveries have already been made. The adelantado Alvaro Mendaña de Meyra first discovered New Guadalcanal, which is a very large island very near New Guinea; and some have imagined that what Mendaña called New Guadalcanal was part of New Guinea, but this is of no consequence whatever. New Guinea belongs also to the southern hemisphere, and was discovered some time before; and almost all of it has been since discovered on the outside [the northern side]. It is a country encompassed with water,[^[9]] and, according to the greater number of those who have seen it, it is seven hundred leagues in circuit: others make it much more: we do not give a close calculation here, because what has been said is sufficient for the intention of this discourse. The rest will be said in its proper place. The middle of those great islands are in from thirteen to fourteen degrees of south latitude. The adelantado Mendaña afterwards discovered the archipelago of islands which he called the Islands of Solomon, whereof, great and small, he saw thirty-three of very fine appearance, the middle of which was, according to his account, in eleven degrees south latitude. After this he discovered, in the year 1565, the island of San Christobal, not far from the said archipelago, the middle of which was in from seven to eight degrees of south latitude. The island was one hundred and ten leagues in circuit. Subsequently, in the year ’95, the said adelantado sailed for the last time from Peru, taking with him for his chief pilot the Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, with the purpose of colonizing the island of San Christobal, and from thence attempting the discovery of the southern terra firma. He shortly after discovered, to the east of the said island of San Christobal, the island of Santa Cruz, in ten degrees south latitude. The island was more than one hundred leagues in circuit, very fertile and populous, as, indeed, appeared all those islands which we have mentioned, and most of them of very beautiful aspect. In this island of Santa Cruz the adelantado had such great contentions with his soldiers, that he had some of the chief of them killed, because he understood that they intended to mutiny, and in a few days after he died. Whereupon, as the admiral of the fleet had parted company a short time before they had reached the said island, the whole project was frustrated, and Pedro Fernandez de Quiros took Doña Isabel Garreto, the wife of the adelantado, and the remainder of the fleet to Manilla.

Some time afterwards Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, being at Valladolid, came to this court to petition for the same discovery, and was dispatched to the viceroy of Peru, who was to supply him with all that was requisite. He sailed from Lima in January of the year 1605, with three vessels, the Capitana, the Almiranta, and one Zabra, with Luis Vaez de Torres for his admiral, in order to colonize the island of Santa Cruz, and to follow out the intentions of the adelantado Mendaña. After discovering in this voyage many islands and islets, he put in at the island of Taumaco, which is from eight to nine leagues in circuit, in ten degrees south latitude, and about one thousand seven hundred leagues distant from Lima, which is about eighty leagues to the eastward of the island of Santa Cruz. The cacique or chief of Taumaco informed him, as well as he could make himself understood, that if he sought the coast of the great Terra Firma, he would light upon it sooner by going to the south than to the island of Santa Cruz; for in the south there were lands very fertile and populous, and running down to a great depth towards the said south. In consequence of which Pedro Fernandez de Quiros abandoned his idea of going to colonize the island of Santa Cruz, and sailed southward with a slight variation to the south-west, discovering many islands and islets, which were very populous and of pleasing appearance, until, in fifteen degrees and twenty minutes south, he discovered the land of the Baia de San Felipe y Santiago, which, on the side that he first came upon, ran from east to west. It appeared to be more than one hundred leagues long; the country was very populous, and, although the people were dark, they were very well favoured; there were also many plantations of trees, and the temperature was so mild that they seemed to be in Paradise; the air, also, was so healthy, that in a few days after they arrived all the men who were sick recovered. The land produced most abundantly many kinds of very delicious fruits, as well as animals and birds in great variety. The bay, also, was no less abundant in fish of excellent flavour, and of all the kinds which are found on the coast of the sea in Spain. The Indians ate for bread certain roots like the batata, either roasted or boiled, which when the Spaniards tasted they found them better eating and more sustaining than biscuit.

For certain reasons (they ought to have been very weighty) which hitherto have not been ascertained with entire certainty, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros left the Almiranta and the Zabra in the said bay, and himself sailed with his ship, the Capitana, for Mexico, from whence he again came to this court to advocate anew the colonization of that land, and was again sent back to the viceroy of Peru, and died at Panamá on his return voyage to Lima. The admiral Luis Vaez de Torres being left in the bay and most disconsolate for the loss of the Capitana, resolved, with the consent of his companions, to continue the discovery. Being prevented by stress of weather from making the circuit of the land of the Baia, to see whether it were an island or mainland as they had imagined, and finding himself in great straits in twenty-one degrees south, to which high latitude he had persevered in sailing in about a south-westerly direction from the fifteen or twenty minutes south in which lay the aforesaid Baia, he put back to the north-west and north-east up to fourteen degrees, in which he sighted a very extensive coast, which he took for that of New Guadalcanal; from thence he sailed westwards, having constantly on the right hand the coast of another very great land, which he continued coasting, according to his own reckoning, more than six hundred leagues, having it still to the right hand[^[10]] (in which course may be understood to be comprehended New Guadalcanal and New Guinea). Along the same coast he discovered a great diversity of islands. The whole country was very fertile and populous; he continued his voyage on to Bachan and Ternate, and from thence to Manilla, which was the end of this discovery.

There was also a pilot named Juan Fernandez, who discovered the track from Lima to Chili by going to the westward (which till then had been made with much difficulty, as they kept along shore, where the southerly winds almost constantly prevail): he sailing from the coast of Chili about the latitude of forty degrees, little more or less, in a small ship, with some of his companions, in courses between west and south-west, was brought in a month’s time to what was, to the best of their judgment, a very fertile and agreeable continent, inhabited by a white and well-proportioned people, of our own height, well clad, and of so peaceable and gentle a disposition that, in every way they could express, they showed the greatest hospitality, both with respect to the fruits and productions of their country, which appeared in every respect very rich and plentiful. But (being overjoyed to have discovered the coast of that great and so much desired continent) he returned to Chili, intending to go back properly fitted, and to keep it a secret till they and their friends could return on the discovery. It was delayed from day to day till Juan Fernandez died, when, with his death, this important matter fell to the ground.

In regard to this subject it must be observed, that many have related this discovery of Juan Fernandez in the following manner, affirming that they had it thus from himself, viz.: That going to the westward from Lima, to discover the track to Chili, waiting their opportunity and getting off shore (where the winds almost always are southerly), a certain space of longitude (which he would, at a proper time, declare); and then standing south, with little deviation to the adjoining points, he discovered the said coast of the southern continent in the latitude (which he would also tell when expedient), from whence he made his voyage to Chili.

Other relations, very worthy of credit, give this discovery as before described; but whether it happened in this or the other manner, or whether there were two different discourses, it is a very certain fact that he did discover the coast of the southern land; for it has been thus certified by persons of great credit and authority, to whom the said Juan Fernandez communicated the account, with the above-mentioned proofs and details of the country and the people thus discovered: and one of these witnesses, who made a statement thereof here to Your Majesty, as having heard it from the said pilot, and seen the description he brought of the said coast, was the Maestre del Campo Cortes, a man as worthy of credit as any that is known, and who has been employed in Chili nearly sixty years.

When Pedro Fernandez de Quiros sailed from the coast of Peru, he followed nearly the same track until he reached the latitude of twenty-six degrees, when his companions, and especially his admiral, earnestly advised him to continue on until he reached forty degrees, as the most reasonable means of finding the continent which they had come in search of. This, for certain considerations he refused, being apprehensive of unfavourable weather, as he saw that the sun already began to decline towards the equinoctial; but in this refusal he made a great mistake.