The intentions of navigators and the instructions given to them are seldom thoroughly carried out. We shall see, in this case, that Queiroz failed to reach Santa Cruz in the same way as Mendana had failed to reach the Solomans; although they both sailed almost within sight of the islands they were looking for. THE VOYAGE. According to Gonzales de Leza, the pilot of the expedition, the name of the _Capitana_, or Queiroz's ship, was the _San Pedro y San Pablo_; the _Almiranta_, named the _San Pedro_ was commanded by Luis Vaes de Torres; the brigantine or Zabra, was named the _Tres Reyes_, and was commanded by Pedro Bernal Cermeno. With variable winds, the three ships that composed the fleet sailed towards the west till the 26th of January, 1606, when, in the afternoon, they sighted a small island. No anchorage could be found and it was thought that it could not be inhabited, so they passed it. Continuing on a westerly course three days later, they came in sight of another island of larger dimensions; here, also, finding no convenient landing place, they passed on. The sky now became obscured, and, as they proceeded, rain set in, followed by thunder and lightning; then a fearful tempest threatened their destruction. Presently, however, the storm abated, and through a rift in the clouds they perceived land and made for it. They found it to be an island about thirty leagues in circumference, apparently an atoll, for it was described as having "a lagoon inside," and was surrounded by a coral reef. Here they wanted to get wood and water, but finding no entrance or bay they had to abandon their attempt. They continued their course, and the next day, 5th of February, they came in sight of four other islands of the same description, and all equally inaccessible. They passed them, keeping on a westerly and north westerly course, passing several other islands, all unfavourable to their purpose. At last being in 18 deg. 40' south, they passed the day with some rain, and the next day, 10th of February, from the topmast head a sailor cried out, "Land-a-head." It is strange how all the early navigators, Magellan, Sarmiento, Mendana, Queiroz and many others, always managed to steer clear of the larger islands that spread like a net across the South Pacific Ocean, and either found an open sea, or hit upon some insignificant atoll. From a careful study of the various narratives of this voyage it is evident that Queiroz had just sailed an the outskirts of the Tuamotu or Low Archipelago, and was now nearing Tahiti, which island however, he never set foot on.* [* Many writers have erroneously identified Queiroz's "_Conversion de San Pablo_," Torqamada's "_Sagitaria_," with Tahiti. Sagitaria is Makatea or Aurocra Island of the modern chart, and Conversion de San Pablo is Anaa, or Chain Island, about 200 miles east of Tahiti, in the same latitude.]