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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.Major, Richard Henry

History

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.

Name: 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.
Author: Major, Richard Henry

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

Being in this city of Manila, at the end of a year and a half of
navigation and making discovery of the lands and seas in the southern
parts; and seeing that the Royal Audience of Manila have not hitherto
thought proper to give me dispatches for completing the voyage as Your
Majesty commanded, and as I was in hopes of being the first to give
yourself a relation of the discovery, etc.; but being detained here, and
not knowing if, in this city of Manila, I shall receive my dispatches, I
have thought proper to send Your Majesty Fray Juan de Merlo, of the
order of San Francisco, one of the three religious who were on board
with me, who having been an eye-witness, will give a full relation to
Your Majesty. The account from me is the following.

We sailed from Callao, in Peru, December 21st, 1605, with two ships and
a launch, under the command of Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, and I
for his almirante; and without losing company, we stood W.S.W., and went
on this course 800 leagues.

In latitude 26° S., it appeared proper to our commander not to pass that
latitude, because of changes in the weather: on which account I gave a
declaration under my hand that it was not a thing obvious that we ought
to diminish our latitude, if the season would allow, till we got beyond
30 degrees. My opinion had no effect; for from the said 26 v., we
decreased our latitude in a W.N.W. course to 24½v. In this situation we
found a small low island, about two leagues long, uninhabited and
without anchoring ground.

From hence we sailed W. by N. to 24° S. In this situation we found
another island, uninhabited, and without anchorage. It was about ten
leagues in circumference. We named it San Valerio.

From hence we sailed W. by N. one day, and then W.N.W. to 21⅓° S., where
we found another small low island without soundings, uninhabited, and
divided into pieces.

We passed on in the same course, and sailed twenty-five leagues: we
found four islands in a triangle, five or six leagues each; low,
uninhabited, and without soundings. We named them las Virgines (the
Virgins). Here the variation was north-easterly.

From hence we sailed N.W. to 19° S. In this situation we saw a small
island to the eastward, about three leagues distant. It appeared like
those we had passed. We named it Sta. Polonia.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

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History

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.

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

Being in this city of Manila, at the end of a year and a half of
navigation and making discovery of the lands and seas in the southern
parts; and seeing that the Royal Audience of Manila have not hitherto
thought proper to give me dispatches for completing the voyage as Your
Majesty commanded, and as I was in hopes of being the first to give
yourself a relation of the discovery, etc.; but being detained here, and
not knowing if, in this city of Manila, I shall receive my dispatches, I
have thought proper to send Your Majesty Fray Juan de Merlo, of the
order of San Francisco, one of the three religious who were on board
with me, who having been an eye-witness, will give a full relation to
Your Majesty. The account from me is the following.

We sailed from Callao, in Peru, December 21st, 1605, with two ships and
a launch, under the command of Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, and I
for his almirante; and without losing company, we stood W.S.W., and went
on this course 800 leagues.

In latitude 26° S., it appeared proper to our commander not to pass that
latitude, because of changes in the weather: on which account I gave a
declaration under my hand that it was not a thing obvious that we ought
to diminish our latitude, if the season would allow, till we got beyond
30 degrees. My opinion had no effect; for from the said 26 v., we
decreased our latitude in a W.N.W. course to 24½v. In this situation we
found a small low island, about two leagues long, uninhabited and
without anchoring ground.

From hence we sailed W. by N. to 24° S. In this situation we found
another island, uninhabited, and without anchorage. It was about ten
leagues in circumference. We named it San Valerio.

From hence we sailed W. by N. one day, and then W.N.W. to 21⅓° S., where
we found another small low island without soundings, uninhabited, and
divided into pieces.

We passed on in the same course, and sailed twenty-five leagues: we
found four islands in a triangle, five or six leagues each; low,
uninhabited, and without soundings. We named them las Virgines (the
Virgins). Here the variation was north-easterly.

From hence we sailed N.W. to 19° S. In this situation we saw a small
island to the eastward, about three leagues distant. It appeared like
those we had passed. We named it Sta. Polonia.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

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.

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.

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