In
1605, subsequent to the settlement of the Spaniards on the west coust
of South America, Fernandez de Quiros sailed from Peru in search of the
Terra Australia. After discovering several islands in the Pacific, he
came to a land which he termed Australia del Espiritu Sancto, which
would appear to have been the north or north-east coast. This he
supposed to be a portion of the great southern continent; but his
second in command, Vaes de Torres, having become separated from the
admiral in a storm, on pursuing his researches independently,
discovered the insularity of the northern portion of the country, by
passing through the Strait which now bears his name, and so round Cape
York into the Arafura Sea. It would almost appear, from his having thus
pronounced the country to be an island, that De Quiros had previously
circumnavigated, at any rate, a large portion of the eastern coast, or
that Torres had obtained reliable information from some one who had
preceded him.
This
discovery by Torres has only become known at a comparatively recent
period, and the way in which it became known is curious. On the capture
of Manilla by British troops in 1762, Mr. Dalrymple found amongst the
Government state papers, a copy of a letter from Torres to the king of
Spain, who, with the usual jealousy of European monarchs at this
period, had kept the secret of his discoveries from becoming generally
known. The discovery of this letter, however, places the fact beyond
doubt ; and the more so, as it announces that the Spanish navigator
spent two months in investigating the intricate navigation of the
strait which divides Australia from New Guinea. From the same jealousy
of the Spanish government, we know nothing of the discoveries of De
Quiros in this voyage, nor should we have learned anything of those
made by Torres, but from the circumstance alluded to. Mr. Dalrymple, on
finding the letter, rescued the name of the enterprising Spanish
navigator from oblivion, by giving it to the strait which he had
discovered. The most singular circumstance connected with the finding
of Torres' letter is, that this occurred
