Or 11 deg. S. latitude, and then westward, till he
arrived at the Bay of St Philip and Jago, in the Island of Tierra del
Espirito Santo. In this route be discovered several islands; probably some
of those that have been seen by later navigators.
On leaving the bay of St Philip and St Jago, the two ships were separated.
Quiros, with the Capitana, stood to 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 sailed between New Holland and New Guinea.[4]
The next attempt to make discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, was
conducted by Le Maire and Schouten. They sailed from the Texel, on the 14th
of June, 1615, with the ships Concord and Horn. The latter was burnt by
accident in Port Desire. With the other they discovered the straits that
bear the name of Le 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 deg. 15' S., longitude 136 deg.
30' W.; Sondre Grondt in 15 deg. S. latitude, and 143 deg. 10' W. longitude;
Waterland in 14 deg. 46' S., and 144 deg. 10' W.; and twenty-five leagues westward
of this, Fly Island, in latitude 15 deg. 20'; Traitor's and Coco's Islands, in
latitude 15 deg. 43' S., longitude 173 deg. 13' W.; two degrees more to the
westward, the isle of Hope; and in the latitude of 14 deg. 56' S., longitude
179 deg. 30' E., Horn Island.
They next coasted the north side of New Britain and New Guinea, and arrived
at Batavia in October, 1616.[5]
Except some discoveries on the western and northern coasts of New Holland,
no important voyage to the Pacific Ocean was undertaken till 1642, when
Captain Tasman sailed from Batavia, with two ships belonging to the Dutch
East India Company, and discovered Van Diemen's Land; a small part of the
western coast of New Zealand; the Friendly Isles; and those called Prince
William's.[6]
Thus far I have thought it best not to interrupt the progress of discovery
in the South Pacific Ocean, otherwise I should before have mentioned, that
Sir Richard Hawkins in 1594, being about fifty leagues to the eastward of
the river Plate, was driven by a storm to the eastward of his intended
course, and when the weather grew moderate, steering towards the Straits of
Magalhaens, he unexpectedly fell in with land, about sixty leagues of which
he coasted, and has very particularly described. This he named Hawkins's
Maiden Land, in honour of his royal mistress, Queen Elizabeth, and says it
lies some threescore leagues from the nearest part of South America.
This land was afterwards discovered to be two large islands, by Captain
John Strong, of the Farewell, from London, who, in 1689, passed through the
strait which divides the eastern from the western of those islands. To this
strait he gave the name of Falkland's Sound, in honour of his patron Lord
Falkland; and the name has since been extended, through inadvertency, to
the two islands it separates.
Having mentioned these islands, I will add, that future navigators will
mis-spend their time, if they look for Pepy's Island in 47 deg. S.; it being
now certain, that Pepy's Island is no other than these islands of
Falkland.[7]
In April, 1675, Anthony la Roche, an English merchant, in his return from
the South Pacific Ocean, where he had been on a trading voyage, being
carried by the winds and currents, far to the east of Strait Le Maire, fell
in with a coast, which may possibly be the same with that which I visited
during this voyage, and have called the Island of Georgia.
Leaving this land, and sailing to the north, La Roche, in the latitude of
45 deg. S., discovered a large island, with a good port towards the eastern
part, where he found wood, water, and fish.
In 1699, that celebrated astronomer, Dr Edmund Halley, was appointed to the
command of his majesty's ship the Paramour Pink, on an expedition for
improving the knowledge of the longitude, and of the variation of the
compass; and for discovering the unknown lands supposed to lie in the
southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. In this voyage he determined the
longitude of several places; and, after his return, constructed his
variation-chart, and proposed a method of observing the longitude at sea,
by means of the appulses and occultations of the fixed stars. But, though
he so successfully attended to the two first articles of his instructions,
he did not find any unknown southern land.[8]
The Dutch, in 1721, fitted out three ships to make discoveries in the South
Pacific Ocean, under the command of Admiral Roggewein. He left the Texel on
the 21st of August, and arriving in that ocean, by going round Cape Horn,
discovered Easter Island, probably seen before, though not visited, by
Davies;[9] then between 14 deg. 41' and 15 deg. 47' S. latitude, and between the
longitude of 142 deg. and 150 deg. W., fell in with several other islands, which I
take to be some of those seen by the late English navigators. He next
discovered two islands in latitude 15 deg. S., longitude 170 deg. W., which he
called Baumen's Islands; and, lastly, Single Island, in latitude 13 deg. 41'
S., longitude 171 deg. 30' W. These three islands are, undoubtedly, the same
that Bougainville calls the Isles of Navigators.[10]
In 1738, the French East India Company sent Lozier Bouvet with two ships,
the Eagle and Mary, to make discoveries in the South Atlantic Ocean.
