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UiULtJJJlIpBi^BIBIH
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oi 30r()nitinll.
V.
X iJv. xAuiraii\<^nn:.iit xji x iv a—
LONDON:
Printed for T H O M A S J E F F E R Y S, at Charing Crofs.
MDCCLXVIir. •
B
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"3
GENERAL MAI'
rbf Ji I ii/>ifify o/\t
JfORTIl«WK«T FAH ^: AUEo
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KXPLAXATION
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GENERAL MAP
O If
tbf J} 1 s r o vi: R IE X ,./'
Admiral, ijk Fontk,
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tfia
THE
GREAT PROBABILITY
O F A
NORTH WEST PASSAGE:
DEDUCED FROM
O B S E RVAT IONS
O N' T H E
Letter of Admiral D E F O N T E,
Who failed from the Callao of Lima on the Difcovery of a Cominunicatior
f: ' BETWEENTHE
SOUTH SEA and the ATLANTIC OCEAN;
And to intercept fome Navigators from Bo/len in New England^ whom he met with.
Then in Search of a NORTH WEST PASSAGE. ,^
'. i ''■ , PROVING THE , t
AUTHENTICITY of the Admiral's LETTER.
With Three Explanatory M A P S. • >:
I ft. A Copy of an authentic Spanijh Map oi America, publiflied in 1608.
2d. The Difcoveries made in Hud/onh Bay, by Capt. Smith, in 1746 and 1747.
3d. A General Map of the Difcoveries of Admiral deFonle.
By THOMAS JEFFERYS, Geographer to the King.
' ^ W 1 T H
AN APPENDIX.
Containino- the Account of a Difcovery of Part of the Coaft and Inland
Country of LABRADOR, made in 1753.
The Whole intended for
The Advancement of TRAD E and COM M E RCE.
LONDON:
Printed for T H O M A S J E F F E R Y S, at Charing Crofs.
MDCCLXVIII.
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II. (
•J'. '•; •;
sH' ■'■•''
. ' TOTHERIGHT HONOURABLE
WILtS EARL OF HILLSBOROUGH,
. ' ■ &€. &C, &€,
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATI\
FIRST LORD COMMISSIONER OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLK
PRIVY COUNCIL, AND F.R.S.
THE Difcovery of a North-weft Paflage having
deferved the particular Attention of that great
Minifter of State Sir Francis Waljingham^ with the Ap-
probation of the greateft Princefs of that Age, I pre-
fumed to afk the PermifTion to infcribe the following
Sheets, on the fame Subjedt, to your Lordfhip, wrote
with no View of fetting any further Expeditions on Foot,
or with refpeft to any particular Syftem, but as a can-
did and impartial Enquiry, to fhew the great Probabi-
lity there is of a North-weft Paflage. . The Importance
of the Subjed:, treated with the greateft Regard to
Truth, are the only Pretenflons I have to merit your
Patronage.
Your Lordfhip will appear, to the lateft Pofterity, in
the amiable Light of being zealous for the Glory of his
Majefty, the Honour of the Nation, for promoting the
commercial Interefts, the Happinefs of his Majefty 's
•a Subjeds
r
^
( vi )
Sul)jc(^s in general, and of thofc in America in parti-
cular. I therefore have the moft grateful Scnfc of your
Benevolence and Humanity in condefcending to grant
nie this Favour, as it will be known for Part of that
lime that I had the Honour to be
YOUR LORDSHIP'S
MOST HUMBLE AND
OBEDIENT SERVANT,,
THE AUTHOR.
T II K
PREFACE.
THE Opinion of there being a North- wcil ParTige hctwccn
the Atlantic and Southern Ocean hatli continued for more
than two Centuries ; and though the Attempts made to difcover
this Pafl'agc have not been attended with tlic defired Succef;, yet
in Confcquence of fuch Attempts great Advantages have been re-
ceived, not by the Merchant only but by the Men of Science. It
muft be a Satisfadlion to the Adventurer, though difappointed
in his principal Defign, that his Labours have contributed to tlie
Improvement of Science, and the Advancement of Commerce.
There was a Generofity with refpcdl to the Difcovery of a
North-weft Paflage, or a Refped to the great Abilities of thofc
who promoted the various Undertakings for making fuch Dif-
covery, to the Crown which patronized them, and the Eftates
of the Kingdom who promifed a moft munificent Reward to fuch
who fliould compleat fuch Difcovery, tiiat thofe who were of a
contrary Opinion treated the Subjed: with a becoming Decency.
But the Cenfures that have been of late made by our Country-
men, and more particularly by Foreigners, our Anceftors have
been treated as ,fo many Fools, or infatuated Perfons, b;ilied to
compleat an impra'fticable and a mcerly chimerical Projed:, and
are accufed by a foreign Geographer to have proceeded fo far as
to forge a fiditious Account under the Title of a Letter of Ad-
miral de Fonte. Tliat the Iniquity of the Englijh Writers is not
fiich (neither was ever known to be fuch) nor, was it in their
Inclination, could they fo eaCly deceive the World j and the
'i a 2 Falfliood
( viii )
f
■\
•f I
ft
■ I <■
Falfliood of this Affertion coukl be no otherway made apparent
than by confidering fuch Letter with a juf Critlcifm, and exa-
mining the Circumftances relating thereto. Though the prefent
Age may not pay much Regard to thefe Cenfures, yet if they are
palled unnoticed, might hereafter be coniidered aS; Truths unan-
fwerable at the Time thofe Cenfures were made. Therefore to
do Juflice to the Charadter of our Anceftors, to the prefent Age.
in which fuch great Encouragement hath been given to thefe Un-
dertakings, and that Pofterity might not be deceived, were Mo-
tives ^had they been duly confidered withcut a Regard to the
Importance of the Subje(ft) which might incite a» abler Pen to
have undertaken to vindicate the Authenticity ofiieFonte's Letter.
As for a long Time nothing of this Kind appeared, nor could I
hear that any Thing was undertaken of this Sorti by any Perfon
to whom I could freely communicate my Sentiment?, and the In-
formations which I had colleded on this Subjeft, as the Difcovery
of a North-weft PafTage hath been the Obje<5l of my Attention
for fome Years, confidered myfelf under the difagreeable Necef-
fity of becoming an Author in an Age of fuch refined Sentiments,
V xprefTed in the greateft Purity of Language : But if I have f^jc*-
ceeded in the greater Matters, I hope to be excufed in the leffer.
I have infertcd the Letter o( ^e Fonfe, as firft publifhed in the
Monthly Mifcellany^ or Memoirs of the Curious, in j^pri/ and June
1708, very fcarce or in very few Hands; not only as I thought it
confiftent with my Work, but that the" Curious would be glad
to have a Copy of fuch Letter exadly in the fame Manner in
which it was firft publifhed, to keep in their CoUedions.
As to the Obfervatlons refpeding the Circumftances of the
Letter of ^/(? Fonte, the Manner by which it was attained, its being
a Copy of fuch Letter which the Editors procured to be tran-
flated from the Spanijhy and as to fuch Matters as are to be col-
ledted from the Title of fuch Letter, and from the Letter in Sup-
■'■■■:■ -i- ■' ,S ^ , ..- ■ PO'-t
( ix )
port of its Authenticity, I fubmit thofe Obfervations to fupcrior
Judgments : If confuted, and it appears I have mifapp/ehcndcd
the Matter, am not tenacious of my Opinion, but flvall receive
the Convidion with Pleafure, being entirely confiftent with my
Defign, which is, That the Truth may be difcovered, whether
this Account is Quthentick or not. . ; . ,.
In my Remarks of the Letter I have endeavoured to diftinguifli
what was genuine, from what hath been fin ce added by other
Hands J have made an exadl Calculation of the Courfes j hav«c
confidered the Circumftances of fuch Letter, giving the Reafons
of the Conduft that was u fed 'n the various Parts of the Voyage,
and ihewing the Regularity and Confiftency th'*re is through the
Whole, and without Anachronifms or Contradidions as hath been
objeded,- part of which I was the better enabled to do from fomc
Experience which I have had in Affairs of this Sort. - I mud ob-
ferve, the Calculations were made without any Regard had to the
Situation of Hu^Jbns or Baffin s Bay; but begun at the Cal/ao of
jL/w<7, and purfued as the Account dircdls from the Weftward :
And it was an agreeable Surpi:ize to find what an Agreement there
"vas as to the Parts which, by fuch Courlcs, it appeared that the
Admiral and his Captain were in, confiftent with the Purpofe they
were fent on, and the Proximity of where they were to Hudfons
and Baffin's Bay.. ,- .^ in m •;. • ; i . ' :. .
THc Voyage, anExtrad from which is added by Way of Ap- -
pendix, w«s made from Philadelphia^ in a Schooner of about, fixty
Tons, and fifteen Perfons aboard, fitted out on a Subicription of
the Merchants of Maryland, Peiinfyhania, New Torky and Bojlon, ■
on a generous Plan, agreeable to Propofals made them, with no '
View of any Monopoly which they oppofed, not to interfere with *
the Hud/on' s Bay Trade, or to carry on a clandeftine Trade- with
the Natives o^ Greenland, but to difcover a North-weft PafTage,
and explore the Labrador Coaft, at that Time fuppofed to be
locked up under a pretended Right, and not frequented by the
Subjedls oi England, but a fuccefsful Trade carried on by the
French ; to open a Trade there, to improve the Fishery and the
Whaling on thefeCoafts, cultivate a Friendfhip with the Nritives, -
and make them ferviceable in a political Way ; Which Defign
of theirs of a publick Nature, open and generous, was in a great
Meafure defeated by private Perfons interfering, whofe Views
were more contracted.
They did not fucceed the firft Year as to their Attempt in dif-
covering a North-weft PaflagCj as it was a great Year for Ice ;
that
If:
( xii )
that it would be ktc in the Year before the Weflern Part oi Hud-
Jbn\ Bay could be attained to, and then impofllble to explore the
Labrador that Year, therefore the firfl Part of the Defign was
dropped, and the Labrador was explored. The next Year a fe-
cond Attempt was made as to a Paflage j but three of the People
who went beyond the Place appointed by their Orders, and in-
advertently to look for a Mine, Samples of v/hich had been car-
ried home the Year before, and this at the InAigation of a pri-
vate Perfon before they fet out from home, without the Privity of
the Commander, were killed by the Ejkemaux^ and the Boat taken
from them. After which Accident, with fome difagreeable Cir-
cvJindances confequent thereon amongfl: the Schooner's Company*
and after an Experiment made of their Difinclination to proceed
on any further Dilcovery, it was thought moft prudent to return.
This Hiort Account is given by the Perfon who commanded in
this Affair, to prevent any Mifreprefentation hereafter of what
was done on thefc Voyages. h:; ; '•
■'• '•' J > ^■ -.1 i ..-!i . . ''\: ..': : .
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CONTENTS.
;:!■•
L
ETTER of Admiral de Fonte as publiflied In April 1708
June
Page
I
6
O B S E RVAT I O N S o« //&-.-,-, utf.)
Obfervations on that Account - «■ ..\u.^^\.,-
The Tradition of there being a Paflage between the Atlantic and
Southern Ocean credible . - _ _ .
Accounts received from various Pcrfons relating thereto not to be
difcrcdrted - ^ ,
Indians^ their Account of the Situation of fuch Streight how to be
confidered ---_-__
The Reasons why we cannot obtain a particular Information as to
the original Letter of de Fonte . - . _
Evidence relating to this Account of de Fonte, wl;yji Diftance of
Time or other Accidents could not deface, yet remains
No authenticated Account of the Equipment of die Fleet to be ex-
pected from JSfew Spain . _ , _ _
Ji
12
»7
18
20
21
22
24
This
(
XIV
)
This Account of de Fonte authentick, and no Forgery.
The Editors publifhed this Account as authentick
The Reflection that this Account is a Forgery of fome Englijhman
obviated - - - -
The Defign in publifhing this Tranflation.
The Purpofe of de Fonte's writing this Letter not undcrftood by the
Editors ------.
The Editors unjuflly reproached with a Want of Integrity.
The Cenfures as to the Inauthenticity of this Account of de Fonte
not founded on Fa<5ls. ;
Invalidity of the Objedion that no Original hath been produced.
The Sufpicion of the Account being a Deceit or Forgery from
Page
■ 26
27
28
I
whence.
. >* iJ/V
^.'Ml
29
3'
iM
Tlie original Letter was in the Spanifi Language
Obfervations as to the Name Bartholomew de Fonte - •> -
Z)^ Fc«/^ was a Man of Family - _ - -
The Spanijh Marine not in fo low a Condition as they were under a
Necelfity to apply to Portugal for Sea Officers to fupply the prin-.
cipal Pofts.
What is to be underftood o{ de Fonte being Prefident of Chili - 31
REMARKS on the Letter of Admiral de Fonte.
The Advice of the Attempt from Bofiouy in what Manner tranfmit-
Mtdi ixoxw Old Spain X.O the Viceroys. ,;.
The Appellation of induftrious Navigators conformable to the Cha-
ra<5ters of the Perfons concerned.
The Court of Spain knew that the Attempt was to be by Hudfon\
Bay. ..;..-;( -f rf«'«;''*'l >'.
This Attempt particularly commanded the Attention of the Court
oi Spain _-----
As to the Computation by the Years of the Reign of King Charles.
The Times mentioned in the Letter do not refer to the Times the
Voyage was fet out on
There was fufficient Time to equip the four Ships
How the Defign of this Attempt might come to the Knowledge of
the Court of Spain.
Rcaibns v/hy both Viceroys fhould be informed * • -
- 34
35
36
De
;._'. cr
( xv )
De Fonte received his Orders from Old Spain^
Wrote his Letter to the Court of Spain.
De Fonte and tlie Viceroys did not receive their Orders from the
fame Perfons - - . *
What is the Purpofe of the introductory Part of tliis Letter.
The Names of the Ships agreeable to the Spanifli Manner,
Pan;tt
n
3«
/'Vc^wz Callao /(? St. Helena.
Obfervations as to the Computation of Courfe and Diftance in the
Voyage of de Fonte - - , - - . .
From whence de Fonte takes his Departure.
As to the Diftance between the Callao of Lima and St. Helena^ no
Fault in the ImprefTion. ' ... - -
An Account of the Latitude and Longitude made Ufe of, which
agrees with ;
■■■"'•••• ');-f*. ■.-, ^»!rv-' '»■ I."
■" " ' From St. Hdtna to tibe River St. J ago.'
Obfervations as to de Fonte taking frefli Provifion aboard at the Ri-
ver St. Jago - --- - -4'
A Comment or fpurious Interpolation. ?; -'' • f m-v ^ - . . ,
The Courfe de Fonte failed trom the River St. 'Jago* " ■ ' ' ya^
-I <,''>K<; .*^*-,'',':l» «i I-
Frew St. Jago /(? Realejo. • ri <;.,... r
A Proof that Glofies and Comments have been added to the original
Text - . - . .i»t*tt5.:*:i*0iB^«rj*iii2ij. - 42
The Latitude not mentioned in the original Letter of ^^^ Fonte. '^, ■
The Times that de Fonte is failing between the refpedlive Ports from
tht Callao to Realejo no Objedion to the Autlienticity of this
Account. ,, v^in. -n
BoatB provided for dt Fonte before he arrived at Realeja j- - 43
b 2
From
r
III
( '^^^ )
From Reakjo io the Port tf/Salagua. '''r
Obfervatlons as to tlic Iflands of Cbianietb.
• " — — — Port of 5rt/flf tttf . ' . '
»__— — Mafler and Mariners . - -
An Interpolation or Comment added.
The Tranflator not exa6t as to his 'I'ranflation.
Remark as to the Information de Fonte received as to tlic Tide at
the Mead of the Bay of Crt/;/(>r;//^ . . _ .
Pennelojj'a appointed to difcover whether California was an Ifland.
I'iie Account given of PenneloJJ'a, as to his Defcent, not in the ori-
ginal Letter. . , .
Page
44
45
U'
From the Pert of Salagua to the Archipelagus of St. Laza-
rus and Rio Los Reyes.
De Fonte leaves Pcnnelojfa within the SJioals oiChiametla - - 46:
Courfe conefted.
Remark as to Cape Ahcl.
— — — — as to the Weather and the Time he was running eight Hun-
dred and fixty Leagues
A Negle<5t as to inferting a Courfe.
<('
- 47
- 48
49
Computation of Longitude altered .• / -.t. - - ,.
The Courfe de Fonte (leered, he accounts as to the Land being in a
Latitude and Longitude agreeable to die late Riiffian Difcoveries.
A
U he Agreement of tlie Table of Latitude and Longitude wirii the
Ruffian Difcoveries. And the Suefia d^l Eflrech UAnian not laid
down on a vague Calculation - - - .j/.w *
Former Authorities for it. . .
So named by the Spaniards.
A fuperior Entrance to that of Martin Aguilar and of de Fuca. '? •
The Archipelago of St. Lazarus^ properly fo named by de Fonte.
A North-eafl; Part of the South Sea that de Fonte pafled up -
His Infl-niftions were to fall in with the Iflands which formed the
Archipelago^ and not the main Land.
Rio los Reyes^ in what Longitude.
A further Proof that his Courfe wa^ to the Eaftward •
6
50
- i^
W-.
Proceedings
( xvii )
Proeeedings of Admiral ^t Fontc »fter bis Jf rival at Rio
de los Reyes. ; ^ ; .
The Tranflation very inaccurate in this Part, u ) I
The Date of the 2 2d of June an Error.
De Fonte difpatches one of his Captains to Bernarda with Orders.
Jefuits had been in there Parts, from whofe Accounts the Inltruc-
tions were formed - - - * . . '
Remarks as to the Orders fent Bernarda^ ' "
Page
De Fontc fails up Rio de los Reyes.
DeFohte kts out on his Part of the Expedition
Was at the Entrance of Los Reyes the 14th of June,
Obferved the Tides in Los Reyes and Hare.
Precaution to be ufed in going up the River.
An additional Note as to the Jefuits. . .
Obfervations as to the Jefuits. • ^i ' ' :
Knew not of a Strcight - • • ' • • -n <■ ■
Could not publifli their Miflion without Leave. • ., v
■-^
53
54-
. » De Fonte tfrnVw ^/ CohofTct. v."^ '
Receives a Letter from Bernarda dated 27th oijune - - 55
The 22d oijune was not the Time Bernarda received his Difpatclics. . ,
The Later is an Anfwer to the Difpatches lie received from delonte. ,
Remarks on the Letter.
Alters the Courfc dire£lcd by de Fonte.
Aflurcs de Fonte he will do what was poffible, and is ,unddr no Ap-
prehenfion as to a Want of Provifions - - - 5^
The Name of Ilaroy and of the Lake Vdafco, a particular Compli- .
ment.
This Letter of de Fonte wrote in Spaniflj. .' ■ • '} f. u'':'i '
• DefcriptioH of Rio
)i^t-,
^^iv'"'l^-:.i-^,u r--- De-.
( xviil )
He Fonte kavts his Ships bejort tbt Town ^/Conoflct.
The 'I'iinc de I'onie had ftaid at Couojfet - - -58
Wa.'i before acquainted with the Pradicability of Dsrnarda fcndliijr
a L.etter.
How the Letter iVom Bernarda was fent. ' ' '•
De Fonte waited to receive the Letter before he proceeded. *
ParmentierSy whom he was. ^ .* - ' . ' ' "^ '. '
Frenihinen were admitted into Peru. '^^''"^ '''•' -'••''"• -^ ■*•' • ' •' • • • •'
Rcalons for the Jefuits coming into thefe Parts without pafling the
intermediate Country - - • - ' -
Pannentiers had been before in thefe Parts. . " ' ' •' ■• '.'.
His Motive for going into thofe Parts, and furveying the River Par-
mcntiers - - ,- -hp. «...-. .^ - . -
The People Captain Tcbinkow met with, no ObjefVion to the Cha-
rader of the Indians in thefe Parts.
Prtr/W(?«//Vrj not a general Interpreter - - ,4''
Voyai^cs had been made to thefe Parts. . lU .. e { > 1
An Omiflion in the Tranflator. "• i - J -; -'- ;
59
60
- 6i
\ .V K,"!'
A Defcription of the River Parmentiers, Lake de Fonte,
and the adjacent Country. ^v
The Form of the Letter again obfervcd by tfie Tranflator -
Lake de Fonte^ fo named in Compliment to the Family he was of.
Lake de Fonte a Salt Water Lake.
A Comparifon of the Country with other Parts. " '' ' /*"-
Why de Fonte flopped at the Ifland South of the Lake
.De Fonte fails out of the Eaji Nortb-eajl End of the Lake
de Fonte, and pafes the Streight of Ronquillo. ^n-u
An additional Comment.
De Fonte's Obfervation as to the Country altering for the worfe.
A purpofed Silence as to the Part come into after pafling the Streight
oi Ronquillo. - -.',:...,-- -X:-,;.-.' -j:.".- . --
62
63
I'. /
De Fonte arri'ves at the Indian Town, and rieei'Vts an At- *V{?.
count of the Ship.
A further Inftance of Parmentiers having been in thefe Parts - 64.
De
( J'ix )
De Fonte had been on tlic Inquiry. .
Pag« •
66
«7
68
The Proceedings of de Fontc after meeting with the Ship.
The Reafon of the Ship's Company retiring to the Woods - - 6^
De Fonte had particularly provided himfelf with fome Engliflmcn,
Shapley^ the Navigator of the Ship, firft waits on the Admiral.
Particulars as to Shapley.
A Difappointment of the Intelligence the Author hoped to attain -
A Tradition amongft the antient People of there having been fuch
a Voyage. • , * •
M<»/(7r G/^^o«j, an Account of him . - - -
Seimar Gibbons^ a Miftake of the Tranflator - - -
MajfachufetSy the largefl Colony in New. England at that Time. ^ ^,,.
The Ship fitted out from 5o/?
That the Pcrfons met by Grofeliers were not Major Gibbons and his
Company. • ;...,,.,. ' . ^h- e v" v« •
' De Fonte r*/«r«j /,-.>»• ■.'•'
The various Courfes, Diftances, i^c. from Rio de los Reyes to tlx
Sea to the Eaftward of Ronquillo ^w a ^n>- \i n!r-7\»*.\ -.MT'.n ■\ u ~
The prudent Conduft obferved in the Abfence of tlie Admiral
" 'Dtl:onte receives a Letter from Bern^rdn.. ],
The Latitude and Longitude of ConibaJJet, &c. „ r jivA\x
Obfervations as to the Meflenger who carried the firft Letter from
Bernarda. ,,, j, .
Obfervations as to the Meflenger with the fecond Letter - - 7
The various Courfes, Diftances, i^c. that Bernarda went.
The Probability of fending a Seaman over Land to Baffin'^ Bay,
Remarli4..'5
73 >
74 .
75'
^■^
( ^^ )
Page
77
78
I
7?
80
iNcmarks 011 i!ic Report made by the Seaman ^ - -
Ihrunvda {join^; up the I'tirtarian Sea is agreeable to the Japanefj
Map.
A I\iriilli I (hawn between Conojfet and Port Nelfon.
'1 he phyHcal Obllacles confulercd ....
Bctnarda'^ Obfcrvr Jons as to the Parti he had been in.
Whether the Parts about Dajfin'^ Bay were inhabited
All Objedioii as to tlic Affability of the Inhabitants further confi-
dcrcd. . " ■ -',-■'-;••. ' '
As to the Difpatch viled by IndiciHS in carrying ExprefTes.
IBernarda dircCt'xl by the Jcfuits as to the Harbour where he meets
de Fonle. ' . • •
De Fonte fent a Chart with his Letter
. Miguel Venegas^ a Mexican Jel'uit, his Oblervat'on as to the Account
of^if /'>«/A Voyage, l£c.
The Dcfign with which his Work was publifhed.
Arguments for putting into immediate Execution what he recom-
mends _......
Don Cortez informs the King of Spain that there is a Streight on the
Coafl of the Baccaloos.
Attempts made by Cortez - - - - -
"What is comprehended under tlie Name of Florida.
King of Portugal kuLh Ga/perCor/erealis on DKcovery. '
l.^he'N ame Falrador, what it means.
Promofiterum Cortereale^ what Part fo named. 1
Hudfon^s Streights named the River of Three Brothers or yfnian.
When the finding a Streight to Northward became a Matter of par-
ticular Attention of the Spaniards - - . -
Undertaken by the Emperor. '" ''"'"' "^" ' *" """ '•'' "-
By Phi/fp the Second.
By Pbilip the Third, and the Reafons - - - .
I'he Opinions of Geographers as to the North Part of America,
How the Maps were contlrufled at that Time 1 -
Unacquainted with what Cortez knew of the Streight
Inflanced by the Voyage of Alarcon that the Land was thought to
extend farther to Northward than afterwards fuppofed by the
Voyage of Juan Roderique de CaMllo - *•
Fizcaipo,
81
82
,83
i /.I *
85
86
>
r
■^7
( xxi )
Vizcaino^ his Voyage, and the Difcovery of Aguilar.
Spaniards never meant by the Strcights of Anian^ Beerings Streiglit
Remarks on the Deficiency of the Spanijh Reco.ds.
Uncertainty of attaining any Evidence from fuch Records.
Father Kimd'% Map of California altered by Geographers -
The Objedlion of Venegas as to the Authenticity oi de Fonte*s Ac-
count confidered ------
MilVeprefents the Title of the Letter - . . -
Doth not deny but that there was fuch a Perlon as de Fonte.
The Jefuits and Parmentiers having been before in thefe Parts not
improbable • '*■ < •► •
Mailer and Mariners mentioned by de Fonte^ a probable Account.
"Whence the Tide came at the Head of the Gulph of California -
De Fonte retires. Command taken by Admiral Caffanate.
Seyax y Lovera^ the Authority of his Account defended
Venegas omits fome Accounts for Want of neccflary Authenticity.
Moft of the Difcoveries are reported to be made by Jhips from
tiie Moluccas ----__
What Ships from the Moluccas or Philippines were forced to do
in cafe of bad Weather.
The Probability of a Difcovery made by a Ship from the Philip-
pines or Moluccas,
The People of the Philippine Iflands thofe who moft talked of a
Puflage. " •• •-
Sahatierra^ his Account of a North-weft Paflage difcovered
This Account gained Credit - ♦ .
Was the Foun-lation oi Fro biff jer's Expedition. : •, •
'Thomas CowleSy his Account defended •,-...
Juan de Fuca^ his Account - . « ...
Remarks on that Account - . :;..*•-..• ,':-■•, . »•
Expeditions which the Court of Spain order correfpond in Time
with the Attempts for Difcovery from England
The Difcovery of tlie Coaft of California for a Harbour for the
Aquapulco Ship not the Sole Defign _ . .
Reafons that induced Jgtiilar to think the Opening where he was
was the Streiglit of Aman - - - _ _
Obfervation on the j. receding Accounts.
Have no certain Account of what Expeditions were in thofe Parts
c
l-agc
90
9'
9*
93
9+
95
96
97
99
100
101
10 j
104^
105
1 0(5
An-
,)fl"
>,
pi:
u
( xxli )
An cxa6l Survey of thofe Coafts not known to have been made
until the Year 1 745.
The Streight of yl/iian at prefent acknowledged
The fird Difcoverers gave faithful Accounts. , . .
Reafons for de Fontc's Account being true - « -
Accounts of Voyages not being to be obtained no juft Objeftion
to their Authenticity.
As to the Inference in de Fonte's Letter of t'.iere bi'ng no North-
v/eft Pafiage _ . _ . _ ^
The Proximity of tlie JVeftern Ocean fuppofed by all Difcoverers
Obfer^ations on the Northern Parts oi America being intermixed
with Waters.
The Objedion as to the Diftance between the Ocean and the Sea
at the Back of Hiuifon's Bay - - -
Reafons why a P:Tflage hath not been difcovered.
A great Channel to Weftward by which the Ice and Land Waters
are vented.
Accounts of de Fonte, de Fuca, and Chacke^ agree
Indians mcniioned by de Fonte and thofe by de Fuca not the fame.
Why de Fonte did not pafs up the North-eaft Part of the South
Sea , - - - _ i , -
The Perfons who were in thofe Parts got no Information of a
Streight - - - - - •
The Reprefentation of the Jefuits the Foundation of de Fonte'&
Inftrudlions.
The Court of Spain not of the fame Opinion with de Fonte or the
Jefuits on his Return _ _ - - _
There is a Sea to Weftward of Iludfon's Bay - - ,
Jojeph le France, his Account confidered _ - _
Agrees with the Account of de Fcnte and de Fuca
Improbability of the Tete Plat inhabiting near the Ocean
Which Way the Bojlon Ship made the PafTage, uncertain.
Whether through Hudfon''s Bay _ •
Obfervations as to Chefterfield^s Inlet.
As to Pijiol Bay and Cumberland Ifles - -
A Quotation from Seyxas y Lovera. '
Obfervations thereon
Page
107
108
109
III
112
"3
114
"5
116
117
118
119
120
122
123
- 124
Obfervations
>^.
( xxlii ) '
Obfcrvations as to its having been the conftant Opinion that there
was a North-weft Paffage - - - - -
The great Degree of Credibility there is from the Circumftances
of i^ Fc»/A Voyage.
What Foundation thofe who argue againft a North-weft Paffage
have for their Argument - - • • ■''*'■
Where the Paffage is fuppofed, and an Explanation of the Map
Remarks as to Expeditions to be made purpofely for the Dif-
covery. >
The Inconveniencies which attended on former Expeditions.
Prevented for the future by a Difcovery of the Coaft of La-
brador. '•
The advantageous Confequences of that Attempt
Method to be purfued in making the Difcovery.
Page
12';
126
127
128
A f
END
X.
Fallin with the Coaft of L«^rtf^' w <
iv
THE Viceroys of New Spain and Peru, having advice from
the Court of Spain, that the feveral Attempts of the EngliJ/j,
both in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth, YJmg James, and of Capt.
Hud/on and Capt. James^ in the 2d, 3d and 4th Years of King
Charks, was in the 14th Year of the faid King Charles, A. D. 1639,
undertaken from fome Induftrious Navigators from Bojion in New
England^ upon which I Admiral de Fonte received Orders from
Spain and the Viceroys to Equip four Ships of Force, and being
ready we put to Sea the 3d oi April 1640. frot the Calo o^ Lima,
I Admiral Bartholomew de Fonte in the Ship St Spiritus, the Vice-
Admiral Don Diego Pennehjfa, in the Ship St Lucia, Pedro de Bo-
nardce, in the Ship Rofaria, Philip de Ronquilh in the King Philip,
The 7th of Jpril at 5 in the Afternoon, we had the length of St
Helen, two hundred Leagues on the North fide of the Bay ofGua-
jaquil, in 2 Degrees of South Lat. and anchored in the Port St
Helena, within the Cape, where each Ship's Company took in a
quantity of Betumen , called vulgarly Tar^ o f a dark colour with a
caft of Green, an excellent Remedy againft the Scurvy and Dropfie,
and is ufed as Tar for Shipping, but we took it in for Medicine j
it Boils out of the Earth, and is there plenty. The loth we pafs'd
the Equinodial by Cape del Paffdo, the i ith Cape St Francifco, in
B one
April
1708.
M E M O I R S for the C U R I O U S.
A Letter from Admiral Bartholomew de Fonte, then
Admiral of New Spain and Peru, and now Prince of
Chili ; giving an Account of the mofl material Tranf
aBions in a Journal of his from the Calo of Lima in
Peru, on his Difcoveries^ to find out if there was any
North TP'efi Pajfage from the Atlantick Ocean into
the South and Tartarian Sea.
«'• j^.'
i/
.*"■■
• ( 2 ) • .
April -^"^ Degree and fcven Minutes of Latitude North from the Equator,
1708. and anchor'd in the Mouth of the || K'wer Stjago^ where with a
1/ it Lea ' S^^-^^f we catch'd abundance of good Fi(h j and fevcrai of each
iv. A'. /^.««^ Ship's Company went aflioar, and kill'd fome Goats and Swine,
^«Hdly^s" ' which are there wild and in plenty j and others bought of fome
Natives, 20 dozen of Turkey Cocks and Hens, Ducks, and much
excellent Fruit, at a Village two Spanijh Leagues, fix Mile and a
half, up the River St Jago, on the Larbord fide or the Left hand.
The River is Navigable for fmall VeflTels from the Sea, about 14
Spani/h Leagues South Eaji, about half way to the fair City of
^ita, in 22 Minutes of South Latitude, a City that is very Rich.
The 1 6th of y4prtl we failed from the R iver St jfago to the Port
♦^'^ and Town Raleot 320 Leagues W. N. W. a little Wefterly, in about
II Degrees 14 Min. of N. Latitude, leaving Mount St Miguel on
the Larboard fide, and Point Cazamina on the Starboard fide. The
Port of Raleo is a fafe Port, is covered from the Sea by the Iflands
Ampallo and Mangrezay both well inhabited with Native Indians^
The great and 3 Other fmall Iflands. -f* Raleo is but 4 Miles over Land from
S'/Serthe head of the Lake Nigaragua, that falls into the North Sea in
^''!";" ";;' , 12 Degrees of North Latitude, near the Corn or Pearl Iflands.
Here at the Town of Raleo^ where is abundance of excellent clofc
grain'd Timber, a reddifli Cedar, and all Materials for building
Shipping } wc bought 4 long well fail'd Shallops, built exprefs for
failing and riding at Anchor and rowing, about 1 2 Tuns each, of
32 foot Keel. The 26/Z', we failed from R^/eo for the Port of
Sarctgua, or rather of Sa/agua, within the Iflands and Shoals of
Chamilyt and the Port is often call'd by th€ Spaniards after that
Name j in 17 Degrees 31 Minutes of North Latitude, 480 Leagues
North Weft and by Weft, a little Wefteriy from Raleo. From the
Town of Saragtiay a little Eaft of Chamily at Saragua, and from
"l"'^ ,„..' Compcjlilo in the Neighbourhood of this Port, we took in a Mafter
and fix Mariners accuftomed to Trade with the Natives on the Eaft!
fide of Calif onii'a for Pearl; the Natives catch'd on a Bank in 19
Degrees of Latitude North from the Baxos St Juant in 24 Degrees
- - of
( 3 )
of North Latitude 20 Leagues N.N. E. from Cape St Luc^s, the A[n\\
South Eaft point of California. The Mafter Admiral tie Fontc ha J ^ 7^^-_^
hir'd, with his VefTel and Mariners, who had informed the Ad-
miral, that 200 Leagues North from Cape St Lucas^ a Floo:^. ^rom
the North, met the South Flood, and that he was fure it muft be
an Ifland, and Don Diego Pennelofa (Sifters Son of * Don Lewis dc Don Lewis dc
Haro) a young Nobleman of great Knowledge and Addrefs in Cof- grmt Mnvjitv
mography and Navigation, and undertook to difcover whether Ca- ^/^P^'"-
Jifornia was an Ifland or not ; for before it wos not known whether
it was an Ifland or a Peninfula ; with his Ship and the 4 Shallops
they brought at Rako, and the Mafter and Mariners they hir'd at
Salagua, but Admiral de Fonte with the other 3 Ships failed from
them within the Iflands Chamily the loth of May 1640. and having
the length of Cape jibel^ on the W. S. W. fide of California in 26
Degrees of N. Latitude, 1 60 Leagues N. W. and W. from the Ifles
Chamily i the Wind fprung up at S. S. E. a fteady Gale, that from
the 2(>th oi May to the 14th of June^ he had fail'd to the River
los Reyes in 53 Degrees of N. Latitude, not having occafion to lower
a Topfail, in failing 866 Leagues N. N.W. 410 Leagues from Port
Abel to Cape Blanco, 456 Leagues to Rjolos Reyes, all the time mod
pleafant Weather, and failed about 260 Leagues in crooked Chan-
nels, amohgft Iflands named the \\ Arckipelagus de St Lazarus i \\ So named hy
where his Ships Boats fail'd a mile a head, founding to fee what f/,f'7ij/!^
Water, Rocks and Sands there was. The 22d o( June, Admiral '^^"»^^>^ '^'^'f
Fonte difpatched one of his Captains to Pedro de Barnarda, to fdl
up a fair River, a gentle Stream and deep Water, went firft N. and
N. E. N. and N. W. into a large Lake full of Iflands, and one very
large Perji'fiila fail of Inhabitants, a Friendly honeft People in this
Lake j he named Lake VaJafOy where Captain Barnarda left his
Ship; nor all up the River was lefsthan 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 Fathom
Water, both the Rivers and Lakes abounding with Salmon Trouts,
and very large white Pearch, fome of two foot longj and with 3
large Indian Boats, by them called Periagos, m.ide of two Inriie
Trees 50 and 60 foot long. Capt. Barnarda firft failed from liis
B 2 - • • ' Shi^^s
rr^'
( 4 )
April
1708.
V
1^1
h. iv
l/jaf ivcnt
nuitb Capt,
Barnrid.i on
his Di/covtiy
mr
Ships in the Lake Valafco, one hundred and forty Leagues Wefti
and then 436 E. N. E. to 77 Degrees of Latitude. Admiral >- •
-\^--,\.
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June
1708.
( 6 )
MEMOIRS for the CURIOUS.
oHfc
T/)e Remainder of Admiral Bartholomew de FonteV '
Letter \ gi'ving an Account of the moft material
T'ranfaSiions in a Journal of his from the Calo of
Lima in Peru, on his Difcoveries to find out if there
was any North Wefl Parage from the Atlantick Ocean
into the South and Tartarian Sea ; which for want of
Room we could not fojfibly avoid pojiponing.
WE concluded with giving an Account of a Letter from Capt.
Barnarda^ dated the 27th of June^ 1 640. on his Difcovcry
See the Me-
moirs forApril
1 70S. and
'beginning of 10 thc Lflkc K^jAt/^o. The firft of July 1640, k^mxiT^ de Fonte
Di/cove'ry" failed from the reft of his Ships in the Lake Belle, m a good
Port cover'd by a fine Ifland, before the Town Conoffet from
thence to a River I named Parmentiers, in honour of my Indu-
flrious Judicious Comrade, Mr Parmentiers, who had moft exaftly
niark'd every thing in and about that River j we pafs'd 8 Falls,
in all 32 foot, perpendicular from its Sourfe out oi Belle-, it falls
into the large Lake I named Lake de Fonte, at which place we ar-
rived the 6th of July. This Lake is j 60 Leagues long and 60
broad, the length is E. N. E. and W. S. W. to 20 or 30, in feme
places 60 Fathom deep ; the Lake abounds with excellent Cod and
Ling, very large and well fed, there a.e feveral very large Iflands
ind 10 fmall onq^; they are covered with (hrubby Wood?, the
Mofs grows 6 or 7 foot long, with which the Moofe, a very large
fort of Deer, arc fat with in the Winter, and other lefTer Deer,
as Fallow, &c. There are abundance of wild Cherries, Straw-ber-
ries, Hurtle-berries, and wild Currants, and alfo of wild Fowl
Heath Cocks and Hens, like wife Patridges and Turkeys, and Sea
Fowl in great plenty on the South fide : The Lake is a very large
' - . . * fruitful
. ( 7 )
fruitful Idand, had a great many Inhabitants, and very excellent
Timber, as Oaks, Afhes, Elm and Fur-Trees, very large and tall.
The 14th of July we failed out of the E. N. E. end of the Lake
di Fontet and pafs'd a Lake I named EJiricho de Ronguilh, 34
Leagues long, 2 or 3 Leagues broad, 20, 26, and 28 Fathom of
Water ; we pafs'd this flrait in 10 hours, having a (lout Gale of
Wind and whole Ebb. As we failed more Eafterly, the Country
grew very fenfibly worfe, as it is in the North, and South parts of
jimerica, from 36 to the exiream Parts North or South, the Weft
differs net only in Fertility but in Temperature of Air, at leaft j o
Degrees, and it is warmer on the Weft fide than on the Eaft, as
the beft SpaniJJ: Difcoverers found it, whofe bufinefs it was in the
time of the Emperor Cbar/es the V. to P/j:h'/> the IIL as is noted
by Aloares and a Cojla and Mariana^ &c.
The 17th we camelo an Indian Town, and the Indians told our
Interpreter Mr Parmentiersy that a little way from us lay a great
Ship where there had never been one before; we failed to them,
and found only one IVl^an advanced in years, and a Youth j the Man
was the greateft Man in the Mechanical Parts of the Mathematicks
I had ever met with j my fecond Mate was an Englijlo Man, ar>
excellent Seaman, as was my Gunner, who had been taken Prifo-
ners at Campecky, as well as the Mailer's Son ; they told me the
Ship was of New Eng/and, from a Town called Bojicn, The Owner
and the whole Ships Company came on board the 30th, and the
Navigator of the Ship, Capt. Slapley, told me, his Owner was a
fine Gentleman, and Major General of the largeft Colony in Neiv
Englandy called the Maltechufeti ; fo I received him like a Gentle-
man, and told him, my CommifHon' was to make Prize of any
People feeking a North Weft or Weft PafTage into the South Sea,
but I would look upon them as Merchants trading with the Natives
for Bevers, Otters, and other Furs and Skins, and fo for a fmall
Prefent of Provifions I had i^o need on, I gave him my Diamond
June
170!^.
r
II
•c
/!
N
I' HI I
a. u t I
i
«>'
( 8 )
"June Ring, which coft me yaoo Pieces of Eight, (which th* fnodeft
^7°8- Gentleman received with difficulty) and having given the brave
Navigator, Capt. Shapley for his fine Charts and Journals, looo
Pieces of Eight, and the Owner of the Ship, Scimor Gibbons a
quarter Cafk of good Perucin Wine, and the jo Seamen each 20
Pieces of Eight, the 6th of Augujl^ with as muijh Wind as we could
fly before, and a Currant, we arrived at the firft Fall of the River
Parmentterst the nth oi Augujl^ 86 Leagues, and was on the
South fide of the Laice Belle on board our Ships the 16th oi Au^
gujl^ before the fine Town ConoJfeti'whtTC wc found all things well;
and the honeft Natives of Cotiojfet had in our abfcnce treated our
People with great humanity, and Capt. de Ronquillo anfwcr'd their
Civility and Juftice. i)
. W
Tlie 20th oiAuguJl an Indian brought mc a Letter toConoJfet on
i\iQ Lake Belle y from Capt. Barnarda, dated the i ith of Aagujl, where
he fent me word he was returned from his 'Cold Expedition, and
did afTure me there was no Communication out of the Spanijh or
Atlantick Sea, by Davii Srait j for the Natives had conducted one
of his Seamen to the head of Davis Srait, which terminated in a
frefli Lake of about 30 Mile in circumference, in the 80th Degree
of North Latitude j and that there was prodigious Mountains North
of it, befides the North Weft from that Lake, the Ice was fo fix'd,
tha;t from the Shore to 100 Fathom Water, for ought he knew
from the Creation ; for Mankind knew little of the wonderful
'Works of God, efpecially near the North and South Poles ; he writ
further, that he had failed from Bajjet Ifland North Eaft, and Eafl:
North Eaft, and North Eaft and by Eaft, to the 79th Degree of
Latitude, and then the Land trended North, and the Ice refted on
the Land. I received afterwards a fecond Letter from Capt. Bar^
nada^ dated from Minhanfet^ informing me, that he made the Port
o{ Arena y 20 Leagues up the River los Reyes on the 29th of Ait'
gujiy where he waited my Commands. I having ftorc of good Salt
Provifions, of Venifon and Filh, that Capt. de Ranquillo had failed
8 (by
( 9 ) ./:
(by my order) in myabfence, and looHogftieads of 7«^/j« Wheat
orMais, failed the 2d oi September 1640. accompanied with many
of the honeft Natives of Conojfet^ and the 5th of September in the
Morning about 8, was at an Anchor betwixt Arena and Mynhanfet,
in the River Voj Reyes^ failing down that River to the North Eaft
part of the South Sea ; after that returned home, having found
that there was no PafTage into the South Sea by that they call the
North Weft Paffage. The Chart will make this much more dc-
monftrable.
7ho tlie Style of the foregoing Piece is not altogether fo Polite, (being
writ I'ke a Man, ivhofe livelihood depended on another way) but with
abundance of Experience and a Traveller^ yet there arefo many Curious,
and hitherto unknown Difcoveries, that it was thought worthy a place
in tbefc Memoirs j and 'tis humbly pre/iim*d it will not be unaccept^
able to tbofe who have either been in tbofe Parts, or will give them"
Jelves the trouble of reviewing the Chart »
n
',i^l
Hi!
M
w
r '•*■,
■MMMMMMMto
OBSERVATIONS
O N
Tide Title affixed^ and on other Circumjlances relating to
tJ>e Letter of Admiral dc Fontc, Jhewing the Authett"
ticity of that Letter ^ and of the Account therein con^
taincd^
OBSERVATIONS have been made by feveral Gieographers of
different Nations on the Letter of Admiral de Fonte^ to flicw that .
fuch Letter is not deferring of Credit, is to be thought of as a mere. •
Fi(5Vion or Romance, and is a Forgery compofed by fome Perfon to ferve
a particular Purpofe. But it will appear, as we proceed in a more par-
ticular Confideration of the Title and Circumftances relative to the Let- •
ter of Admiral de Fonte than hath been iiitherto ufed, and from the fol-
lowing Remarks on the Subjed of fuch Letter*, That thofe Obferva-
tions made by the Geographers have many of tliem no juft Foundation, ,
the reft afford not a I'ufficicnt Evidence to invalidate the Authenticity of :
that Letter, and of the Account it contains. .
It is only from a Copy of the Letter of de Fonte that the Tranflatioa \
hath been made, which is now publifhed, as is plain from a Title •
being affixed, A Letter from Mmiral^ZTXhoXomQ-w de Fonte, then Ad- ■
viiral of New Spain lUid Peru, and now Prince of Chili. As Prince is ■■.
never ufcd in this Senfe with us, it is apparently a literal Tranflation -.
of the Spaniflj V/ord Principe., confcqucntly this Title was wrote in <■
the Spaniflj Language, and v/e cannot otherwile conclude but in the .•
fame Language with the Letter. From this and other Defeds of the ..•
like Sort, which will be noticed as we proceed in our Obfervations, the ■
* Memoires et Obfervations Gcographiques ct Crliiques fur la Situation de Pays Sep-
j&ntrionaux, &c. a ^aufanne, 1765.— Pa. 115, &c.
' , C. 2 . Tranflator
m
:'£
( " ) •
Tranflator muft be acquitted from all Sufpicion of being any way c6h>'
cerned in this pretended Forgery.
By the Copied affixing this Title, it is evident he was well afPured
that there had been fuch an Expedition. - , ~-.t
The Anecdotes, as to the Vice-admiral Pcnnelojfci in the Body of the
Letter, what is therein mentioned as to the Jei'uits, evidence that a
minute and particular Inquiry was made by the Copied •, that he had
thoroughly informed himfelf of every Particular of this Affair •, that he
was affured that the Account by him copied contained the mod mate-
rial I'ranfadlions in a Journal of de Fonte'Sy and that de Fonte was then,
probably from his advanced Age, in the Service of the Government in
another Station.
This Expedition not being folely to intercept the Navigators from
^ofton^ but alfo to difcover whether there was a Paffage in thofe Parti
thro' which xhtEngliJh expected to make a .Paflage, viz. by tlie back Part
of Virginia^ by Hudfon*& or by Bajfm^s Bay j it was an Undertaking
which required that the Perfon who had the conducing of it fhould not
only be a Man of good Underdanding, but a judicious and experienced
Seaman. The Time required to attain fuch Qiiallfication:. implies, that
de Fonte mud have been of a mature Age when he went on this Com-
mand i and de Fonte being alive at the Time that the Copy was taken,
it mud have been taken within twenty Years, or in a lefsTime after fuch
Expedition, as the Copied fpeaks of Pennelojfa as a young Nobleman
The Copied therefore could not be impofed on, as his Inquiries were
'made in fuch a Time, either with refped to the Perfons concerned, or
with refped to the Letter not being a genuine Ac':ount of the Voyage.
A Perfon might be fo circumdanced as to attain the Favour of copying
fuch Letter, induced by fome private Motive, without an Intention of
making it publick, as Publications were not at that Time fo frequent
as of late Days i neither is it 'ef*^ probable that a Copy fo taken may,
in troceis of Time, come into other Hands and then be pubiiflied.
Mr. Gage obferVes, in his Dedication to Lord Fairfax, * The Reafon
* of his pubiiihing a New Survey of the Weji Indies to be, becaufe that
^ nothing had been written of thefe Parts for thefe hundred Years lad
( 13 )
* jjaft, which is almoft ever fince from the firft Conqueft thereof by the
* Spaniards., who are contented to lofe the Honour of that Wealth and
' Felicity, which they have fince purchafed by their great Endeavours,
* fo that they may enjoy the Safety of retaining what they have for-
* merly go-.ten in Peace and Security.' And though de Fonte dec'iares
that there was no North-weft Paflage, yet that there ihould be no Pub-
lication of the Account of the Voyage is confiftent with this cftablifhed
Maxim.
The North-weft Paflage he mentions is not to be underftood, in
an unlimited Senfe, for a Paflage between the Jtlantick and Vv^efterii
Ocean to the Northward, but the Meaning is confined to that Paflage
expedled by HudfoK's Bay : For de Fonte fays, that he was to make a
Prize of any feeking a North-weft or Weft Pajfage * •, by the latter i;**
meant where Penneloffa was fent to fearch ; and Bernarda fays, there was
no Communication out of the Spaniftj or Atlantick Sea, by Davis Streight ;
and there was an Extent of Coatt which de Fonte only ran along, and
had, but at Times, a diftant View of j and as to the Jcfuits, by what-
ever Means they got into thofe Parts, it is evident they had not ktn.
all the intermediate Country. Ther'*forc tho' the Court of Spain was
fatisfied that the Paflage was not where de Fonte had fearched j yet there
might be a PaflTage where he had not fearched, and publiiliing this Ac-
count of the Voyage would be an Afllftance to the Adventurers, as
it would confine them in their Searches to thofe other Parts which
%vere curforily paflTed by de Fonte, and where perhaps they might fuc-
ceed : Or this Account particularly defcribing the Northern and
W^eftern Part of America, not hitherto known, would be of great Ser-
vice to Rovers, who had already found their Way into thofe Seas, by
diredling them to the Coaft and Harbours, and giving them an Account
of a Country where they could retire to with tolerable Security from any
Interruption from the Spaniards, a good Climate, hofpitable People, and
a Plenty of Provifions to be had ; Circumftances which might enable
them to continue their cruizing in thofe Seas much longer than witliout
fuch Lights as they would leceivc from this Account they would be en-
abled to do.
a
* Vide Letter.
It
13 '!
vie
jf
ii
It is well known that the Spaniards claimed all to the Northward as their
Dominion, wliich they intended in due Time to acquire rhe Poffeffion
of, and the Publication might give an Infight to the Englijh iiettlers in
Ammca to be beforehand with them in attaining a Settlement in thofc
Parts. " . - . • . .L ■- . ■-■':•:■ , , •
Their Attempt to intercept the Englijh Subjefts, when made Publick
to the World, would Ijavc given Umbrage to the Court and People of
England^ v.hich iht Spaniards would not unneceflarily, and efpecially at
a Tii^ic v/hen they had their Hands full of a War with the French^ who
had alio incited the Catalonians to rebel, and had joined them with their
Troops, The Spaniards were, at the fame Time, endeavouring to re-
cover the Dominions of Portugal. And da Fonte had refped to the criti-
cal Situation their Affairs were in, even before he fet out on his Voyage, ^
hence his political Behaviour when he met with the Navigators from .
Bojlon^ committed no Ad of Hoftility, yet made Uie of the moft effec-
tive Means to fevent their proceeding further.
As no Publication was permitted of this Expedition, this therefore
could come but to the Knowledge only of a very few Perfons in Old ■
Spain. Such a fingular Tranfadlion being foOi\, from their Attention
to other Matters, and their Miniflry foon after entirely changed, no
more talked of, unlefs it Ihould hav^e been > cvived by fomething of the
like Nature again happening on the Part of the Inglijh. As no At-
tempt was made by the Englijh for almoft a Century, this Tranfadion,
in that Time, fell into Oblivion. At the Time fuch Attempt was re-
newed, then the Spahu>rds were better acquainted with the Purpofe of
our fettling in America^ they had altered their Defigns of extending
then' own PoflefTions, there was alio another Power who might pre-
tend that fuch PafTage, if made, was Part in their Dominion, fo ob-
fltucl our free proceeding and interrupt our fettling j the Spaniards
therefore having no immediate Occafion for any Rel'earch^j back to
tlie Records to acquaint themfelves as to the Prafticability or Im-
pradicability of our Attempts, or to take Diredions for their own Pro-
ceedings, the Remembrance of this Expedition continued dormant.
( «5 )
In New Spain, the fitting four Ships to go on Difeovery, as fuch Un-
dertakings ha(L been very frequent, it would not engage any extraor-
dinary Attention of the Publick there -, it often happened that what
was done on fuch Voyages was kept a Secret. The more curious and
inquifitive Perfons would attain but an imperfect Account, by Inquiry
from the People on board the Ships, as the Ships were divided, and
they would receive no fatisfadlory Information of what was moll: material,
and the principal Objedt of their Inquiry by thofe who went in the
Boats, as Seamen delighting in Stories often tell what they neither heard
or faw. The Conlequences of the Voyage not known, becaufe not un-
derftood, a weak Tradition of this Expedition would remain to Pofte-
rity i and the only Knowledge or Certainty to be acquired, as to this
Expedition, would be from Journals accidentally preferved, of fome
Perfons who had gone the Voyage.
Monf. de Lijle gives us an ExtraiSl: of a Letter from Monf. Antonio de
Vlloa, wrote from Aranguer the 19th oijune in the Year i ys^*, to Monf.
Bouguer e le Mouniery to anfwer the Queries they had made on the Sub-
jed of the Letter of Admiral de Fuente. That curious and able SpcuiJJj
Officer fent them in Anfwer, That in the Year 1742 he commanded a
Ship of War the Rofe, in the South Sea ; he had on board him a Lieu-
tenant of the Veffel named Don Manuel Morel, an antient Seaman, who
ihewed him a Manufcript -, Monf. Ulloa forgot the Author's Name, but
believes it to be Barthelemi de Fuentes^ The Author in that Manufcript
reported, that in Confequence of an Order which he had received from
the then Viceroy of Peru, that he had been to the Northward of Cali-
fornia, to difcover whether there was a Paflage by which there was a
Communication between the North and South Sea ; but having reached
3 certain Northern Latitude, which Monf Ulloa did not recolledt, and
having found nothing that indicated fuch Paflage, he returned to the
Port of Cailao, &c. Monf Ulloa adds, he had a Copy of fuch Relation,
but he loft it when he was taken by the Englifi on his return from
America.
„'< '
• Novelles Cartes des Decovertes de L'Amiral de Fonte, et autres Navlgateurs, &c.
Par de Lide. Paris 1753, — P. 301 -* ' ;
v-i-
It
\^:'i.
mti
I .
iff
■A
1
ii
'If
111 :ii
i. i
ai
( 16 )
It is evident, from this Account being feen in 1742, it is not the
fame from which the Tranflation is made which we now have, that
being publifhed in i;o8. And as Monf. de Lijle aflerts, that the Letter
is conformable with what Monf. Ulloa faid at Paris three Years before,
with this Difference only, that he faid pofitively at that Time, that the
Relation which he had feen at P
Thofe who argue againfl: tl»e Authenticity of this Account, mull ad-
mit that he was a Perfon of Capacity and Abilities who compofed it,
and fhould alTign us fome Reafon, if a Fiftion, why a fenfible Perfon
fhould undertake it, as there could be no Inducement cither in Point
of Reputation or Prof:t : For, if a Fidbion, it is neither entertaining or
inftruftive. Neither can any political Motive- be urged for this Under-
taking, as the Subjedt mud then have been i icated in a Manner entirely
different j fo managed as to (hew that a North-weft Paflage was abfo-
lutely impradlicable, and to let nothing be introduced that would afford
the leaft Incitement to Adventurers to come into thofe Parts. But it
is apparent, that in this Account the Fadls are related in a plain and
fimple Manner, without any Violation of Truth, as they are related
without any Confideration of their Confequences. The Reprefentations
made, as to the Tides, as to the different Sorts of Filh that came into
the Waters from Weftward and Eaftward, would have been an Encou-
ragement to a further Trial as to a North-weft Paffage, had fuch Ac-
count been publiflied i and if the Phasnomena as to the Tides, and the
Difference as to the Fifh, was not from its communicating with the South
Sea, and the Attempt had proved fuccefslefs as to the Difcovery of a
North-weft Paffage, yet to countervail, in fome Meafure,. that Difap-
pointment, there was a Profped of a lucrative Trade, in all Appearance
to be carried on in thofe Weftern Parts where de Fonle is reprefented to
have been in, with greater Convenience than that which had been car-
ried on by the Bo^on People from the Eaft. before and at ti.is Time in
HudfotCi Bay j and the Englijh might be invited, if fuccefsful '\n their
Trading, to make a Settlement, an Event which the Spaniards were ap-^
Ml
ll I
E
jprchenCive
KX
( "6 )
prehcnfive of, and earneftly dcAraus to prevent. Thefe are Defers
which the Capacity and Abilities of the Author would not permit him
to run into, if he was writing a Sditious Account, as he mwft eaf^y fee
that fuch Reprefentations to deftroy the Notion of a North-weft Paflage,
and prevent the EngHJh fettling there, were abfolutely contrary to Uis
Purpofe. To give a greater Plaufibility to a fictitious Tale, the Scene
may be laid in diftant Parts, by this Means introducing, more fecurely,
Names and Charaders of Perfons as real who never were j and though
tliis Accoiuit mentions Perfons who lived at a great Diftance, and in an
oblcure Part, yet there were fuch Perfons as the Account mentions.
Alio the Period of Time when this Voyage was performed, fo co rei-
ponds with their TranfaAions, as the Author could fix on no other Pe-
riod fo agreeing with the Circumftance of Major Gibbons being lb long,
and at that very Time, abfent from home ; and his Abfence can be at-
tributed to no other Caufe than his being out on a Voyage. Here is
more Plainnefs and Confiftency than is ufual in Fiftion, with fuch a Va-
riety of Particulars, and fo circumftanced, as would perplex the moft
pregnant Fancy to invent, which can be no Way fo naturally accounted
fov .r by admitting that the Letter contains a genuine Account of a
Voyage made by Admiral de Fonte^ not a Forgery to fupport political
Views i or that it is the Produdlion of a fporting Fancy x.o contraft fome
other Performance, or in order to expofe th'^ Credulous to publick
Ridicule. .<
>*';('. }
;i>0;'l.
The Editors of this Letter, whofe Bufinefs it was to know whether
this Account was authentick, gave an entire Credit to It as being; ?u-
thentick, not only as they afTured the Publick in a general W«ty, and
with refpeft to all their Pieces that they Ihould publifli, that they would
only exhib't fuch as were of unqueftionable Authority, but by their an-
nexing an Advertifement to the Letter, have given us a particular Af-
furance of the Account being authentick; and we have juft Reafon to
conclude they could have given us that further Satisfadion we now dc-
fire ; but what they have done was thougiit by them fufficient, as they
\y^A no Idea of the Importance of the Subjedt. They comprehended not
further of this Account, Than that it contained many curious and unknown
Difcoveries ; and they humbly prefumedy being Strangers to any further
Merit that it had, that it would noty on that A county be unacceptable to
4 " the
( 27 )
the Puhlick. Had this Letter been publifhed at a Time a North-weft
Paflage was under Confideration of the Publick^ there might be feme
Sufpicion that the Editors had fome further Defign. But as to a North-
weft Paflage after the Voyage of Captain JanteSy and after the Difcovery
AVas entrufted to a Company, and no Succefs confequent, it was gene-
rally received, many Years before this Letter was publifhed^ that to
find fuch a PalTage Was a Thing imprafticable. The Opinion of there
being fuch a Paflage was treated as a Chimera : And the Affair of a
Korth-weft Paffage lay in a State of Silence and Oblivion near thirty
Years after the Publication was made. We may obferve, that there is
ho Art in the Compofition of this Advertifement ; it was inferted by
Men of Hoftour and Veracity, who had no other Intention in publilh-
ing thefe Memnirs than the Advancement of Science \ who, from their
general Knowledge, could not be impofed on, and cannot, from their
known Charafters, be fuppofed to have a Defign to impofe on others.
And what /virtKer or Other Evidence than that which they have given
could be expeded from the Editors, nnlsfs they had been acquainted
with thp Importance which the Letter now appears to be of? It was alt
that was at that I'ime neceflary, as they did not exped that there woul u
be any invidious Imputation of Forgery, for then they would have vin-
dicate4 it from all Sufpicion in a more particular Manner than they have
done. They thmight it a fufficient Proof of its Authenticity their re-
ceiving it into their Colleftion. As to that mean Refledion that this
Account is a Forgery of fome Englijhman^ it is thoroughly obviated if
v^e confider on What a Foundation fuch a Suppofition muft be grounded,
which is, That ibmc Englijhman compofed this Account^ tranflated it into
Spanijhy though there were but few and very indifferent Linguifts at that
Time in England^ to be again tranflated by the iLditors, the better to
impofe on them and the Publick. The Publick is z Name which corn-
prehends many Perfons of Curiofity and Sagacit\, for whom chiefly thefe
Memoirs Were publiflied j and by thefe Perfons, as well as by all others,
the Account Was received at that Time as genuine, without the leaft
Sufpicion of there being any Fraud or Impofture.
The principal Objedl or Defign of the Publication was, that tFie Ac-
count contained a Difcovery made of thofe Parts, as to the Knowledge of
which the Geographers were at that Time very deficient i ahd the Editors
' t . E 2 . being
'liji *
^
( 28 )
.1!
■ )P ■"
■' \ ti
being fatisfied as to the Authenticity, all they thonght neceflaiy was to
give a Tranflation of tlie Letter. And, from their Avocations to their
own private Affairs^ did not confider it in fo ni'nute a Manner as it re-
quired, as is plain from their Apology made as o the Stile of the Let-
ter, not being altogether fo polite, being wrote like a Man whofe livelihood
depended on another Way, and with an Abundance of Experience. Whereas
tJie Politenefs of Stile would have been an abfolute Objeftion as to the
Authenticity of the Account. That as it was a Letter wrote by Ad-
miral de Fonte to lay before the Court of Spain, what had paffed in the
Courfc of the Voyage, though de Fonte might exprefs himfelf in pro-
per and well chofer Terms, yet he was to ufe a Stile that was natural
and fimple. On the leveral Lights in which the Editors have been con-
fidered, as to the Part which they undertook, it muft appear that they
are unjuftly reproached with Want ot Integrity j they adted confiftently,
having no Occafion to fay more with refpeft to this Account than they
have done. Their Negledt was not from Want of Penetration or Defign.
Their genuine Charadters were '"jch as they could not fuppofe it would
be ever fufpefted, that they could have any Inducement to impofe a
fpurious Account on the Publick.
, ) .-J — irt.
■' 1 "7?ffT*f: >i^.)s- (...J^
Thofe who cenfure this Account of de Fonte as a Cheat and a Forgery
impofed by fomc one on the World, have produced no Evidence from
Fafts, or urged any Thing to Ihew the Improbability of this Account •,
aG to the Argument they fo ftrongly infill on that the Original was never
produced, >'. is highly improbable that the Original ever fhould be pro-
duced in thefe Parts ; and there is a Uniformity in the Circumftance
that a Copy only came to the Hands of the Editors, which turns the
Argument againft the Objedors. The Sufpicion of there being any
Deceit or Forgery, hath arole from there having been different Syftems
advanced by Geographers refpe<5ling thefe Parts : Thofe in whofe Syftem
this Account is not adopted have been the Occafion of fuch Sufpicions
being raifed, and have given fome Countenance to fuch their Sufpicions
from the imperfeft Manner in which t' A.ccount hath been exhibited •,
though that is not to be attributed t' vne Account in its genuine Drefs,
but as broken and disfigured by the Tranflator and Printer. The GlofTes
and Comments added by the Perfon who took the Copy, and thofe added
by the Tranflator in Explanation of the Text, are inferted in the fame
Character,
( 29 )
Cliaraftcr, and without any Diftinftion from the Text, and thofe by the
Tranflator ignorantly incroduced. Marginal Notes are inferted as Part
of the Narration -, Courfes are omitted ; others miftaken from the Tran-
flator's Inattention to the Spanijh Compafs •, Dates mifplaced by the Prin-
ter : The Tranflator alfo deviates from the Mode of Expreflion, and
renders, in an inaccurate, confufed and obfcure Manner, a very mate-
rial Part in this Account. Many of thefe Faults we may attribute to
Precipitation, from the Tranflator wanting due Time to ftudy the Let-
ter, occafioned by a Perfecution of the Printer, who prefled him to
finifti that the Printer might compleat his monthly Number, and, from
the fame Necefllty, the immediate Publication, it may be that the Faults
of the Prcfs are fo many. Such numerous Dcfcds make it evident that
this Account could never have been originally conftrufted in this Man-
ner •, and it is on thefe Defe that the firfl: Com-
pofltion is not their own, but that it is a Tranflation ■ hich the i ditors
have given us. The Defers and Imperfeftions of which being pointed
our, we fliall comprehend what little Reafon there is to difpuf the Au-
thenticity of this Acco\int, from the Disfigurements which have pre-
vented our feeing it in its proper Shape, and for fufpefting thofe Perfons
to be Authors of the Fiflion who meant well -, but their Fault con ''(led
in their Inattention co the Tranflator, who did not therefore ^ a fuc-
cefsful Conclufion to their good Defign, as by rendering the Account
obfcure and unintelligible, he afforded Matter for Cavil and Difpute as
to this Account of the Voyage, whether credible or not, and which a
iuft Tranflation would have confirmed to be true. "-
JUM ..
As
(30 )
' As to the Name Batthohmew de FoHte, we may obfei^fc that \ '■• it i> ' ij
'. ■-' :::r."j \%-{},vy ir-'Hsv-
,■■■:■•■ ■ ."•..■ :«'- ,.. •:
■ / . ' •
.... ^ p>
1 r' V,.
Jflj ii'.Vt »'M\^*n;/
' r': , ' --J. ' -x;'! Hi /(.'' :i-3,:xil lo i -II ;i /r^Ni- o-jfiiS .^.'^f-:
.Uf
^•I'i^ff
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I I':
E M
R K
O N
The LETTER of Admiral D E F O N T E,
TH E Viceroys of New Spain and Peru, having Advice from the
Court of Spain, and not from the Court and the Council of Spain i
which latter is the common Form of Expreflion ufed in any Matter
which had been under the Confideration of the Supreme Council of the
Indies, implies that fuch Advice mvift have proceeded from the Secret
Council, or from the King through his Minifter, that the Defign of
the Equipment of the four Ships, and the Attempt of the Induftrious
Navigators from Bofion might remain a Secret.
The Appellation of Induftrious Navigators was conformable to the
Charaifters of Gibbons and Shapley. Sir Thomas Buttori, in the Extra6t
which there is from his Journal, gives Gibbons a great Eulogium as to
his being an able Navigator j and this was the Character of Shapley
amongft his Cotemporaries.
The Court of Spain knew that this Attempt to difcover a Paflage
between the Atlantick and the IVeJlern Ocean, was intended by the North-
ward and Weftv/ard ; and though they allude to all the Attempts to
make fuch Diicovery which had been at any Time made, by mention-
ing the fevcral Reigns in which any fuch Attempts were made, yet they
hint more particularly, that they expedt this Attempt will be by Hudfon^s
Bay, as they mention exprefly in their Advice the two Voyages of Hud-
fon and James. For v/Iiat is here faid, That the feveral Attempts, &c. is
a Recital from the Advice fent by the Court to the Viceroys, or from
the Orders that dc Fontc received.
This
im
K
( 34 )
X
This Expedition from Sojien particularly commanded the Attentioi*'
of the Court of Spaing as Captain James had not abfolutely denied there
was a North-weft Paflage •, and FoXy though not mentioned here, had
publilhed an Account in 1635, by which he had pofitively ueclared
that there was a N orth-weft Paflage ; and Sir Thomas Button^ who kept
his Journal a Secret, was very confident of a FaflTage, and is faid to
have fatisfied King James the Firft. The Death of his Patron Prince
Henry prevented his being fitted out again. Gibbons, his Intimate, had
made the Voyage with him : Afterwards had made a fecond Attempt by
himfelf, but loft his Seafon by being detained in the Ice. And now, .
though a married Man, had a Family, a Perfon in Truft and Power
where he refided, . engages in a third Attempt from Bojlon. -
The fecond, third, and fourth Tear of the Reign of King Charles refers
folely to the Voyage of Captain James -, to the Time he was engaging
Friends to fit him out; and theTime when fuch Voyage was concluded on.
As the Englijk ufed the Julian^ and the Spaniards the Gregorian Account,
thefe Tranfadions which refer to Captain James\ Expedition, could not
be made to coalefce as to the Time, from the Difference there was be-
tween thefe two Computations, in any other Manner than by putting
the Year of the King of England*s Reign. As King Charles began his
Reign the 27th of March 1625, two Days after the Commencement
of the Year, according to the Julian Account, and the fecond Year of
his Reign would not begin until the 27th oi March 1626, two Days
alfo after that Year commenced, but according to the Gregorian Ac-
count, the Year 1626 began in January-, from the ift of January to
the 27th of March, the Year 1626, according to the Gregorian Account,
would correspond with the firft Year of the Reign of King Charles. As
to this Expedition from Bojlon, it is mentioned to be in the Year 1639,
and in the fourteenth Year of the Reign of King Charles \ but the Year
1639, according to the Julian Account, is the fifteenth Year of that
King's Reign ; but according to the Gregorian Account, the Year 1639
correlponds from January to March with die fourteenth Year of that
King's Reign.
The Times mentioned in this Letter do not refer to the Times when
the Voyages were adtually fet out on, but when undertaken or refolred
a - cn>
( 3J )
on, as it is expreflcd in the Letter, undertaken hy iamt induftrious Ni-
vigators from Bofton. Captain James did not fail until the Year one
Thoufand fix Hundred and Thirty-one, not getting the King's Protec-
tion early enough in one Thoufand fix Hundred and Thirty, to })roceed
that Year, or in the fourth Year of the King's Reign. That is,. \\z did
not get it early enough in Spring to be ready by the latter End of
March, as he muft have been to proceed that Year •, fo the fourth Year
of the King well agrees with this Proceeding. And de Fonte did not fail
until one Thoufand fix Hundred and Forty, which was a Year after the
Court oi Spain had received Intelligence of fuch Undertaking from Bofton.
"Which they would ufe the firft Opportunity to tranfmit to New Spain -, de
Fonte therefore had at leaft fix Months for the Equipment of the four
Ships to go on this Expedition •, a Time fufficient, in fo fine a Climate,
and every Thing that was neceflTary to be done was enforced oy Orders of
the Crown. Had this Equipment been executed in a much fmaller Space
of Time, there would have been nothing fo admirable in it ; There-
fore the Objeftion, as to the Impoflibility that Ships fhould be fitted be-
tween the Time the Court received this Information, and their failing,
.drops to the Ground. . .'
It is not any way ftrange that this Defign, as it appears to have been,
was made known to the Court of "^jain the Year before that it was fet
out on J as that Court entertained a continual Jealoufy of thefe Under-
takings, as is apparent from their fending Veflels to intercept Davis \
their having Informations as to Captain Jameses Voyage alfo, and the
Confequences of it, as may be colle6ted from this Letter.
Major General Gibbons, if he had not the King's Proteftion, yet he
had Friends at the Court of England who made Application for him to
be Captain of the Fort at Bofton, and one of the Council, the latter End
of the Year one I'houfand fix Hundred and Thirty-eight, or in the Begin-
ning of the Year one Thoufand fix Hundred and Thirty-nine. That the
moft fec-et Affairs of the Court were at that Time betrayed, I believe
will be au.nitted, and the Secret of his defigned Attempt might be known,
by his applying for Leave of Abfence from his Poll during the Time that
he ftiould be engaged in this Undertaking. Or the Perfons with whom i.."
F 2 cor-
'■ i
II !
w
I
m
. ( 36 )
corrcfponded in England might be apprized of his intended Voyage, as
he could not, at that Time of Day, be fupplicd with every Thing that
was neceflary thereto in America •, and as he intended to tiaUe, he would
be for procuring his Goods from England. By ibme ol'thefc Means pro-
bably his Defign perfpired, and was fecretly and unexpectedly, tranfmit-
ted to the Court of 5/rt/';;. , . .. j > .1
There are feveral Reafons to be afligned why both Viceroys Ihould
be informed, not only the Viceroy of Peru, in whofe Dillridt the Ships
were to be fitted, but the Viceroy of Nezv Spain alfo. That if a Paflage
was made by any other Way than where the Ships were to be ilationed
to intercept the Bofton Men, or they accidentally pafled fuch Ships, the
Viceroys might order a Look-out alfo to be kept. And fuch a Provifion
being made, it would be fcarce pofllble, if a PafTage was obtained, that the
Bofton People fhould get clear out of thofe Seas, and not fall into the
Hands of the Spaniards. Another Reafon is, that fuch Particulars as de
Fonte was to put in for on the Coaft of Mexico might be ready, that de
Fonte might not meet with the leaft Delay, as fucli Delay might occafion
the Disappointment of his Defign. . . ; •
The Letter proceeds, * Upon which, I Admiral de Fonte, received
* Orders froni Spain and the Viceroys to equip four Ships of Force.*
Thefe Words, upon which, I underftand not to allude to the Advice
given the Viceroys, but refer to the Attempt intended from Bofton, and
as to which he had received his Orders from Spain. But from the Vice-
roys he received Orders only as to the Equipment of the four Ships, as
Orders of that Nature would regularly proceed from them. If it was
otherwife, and he had alfo received his Orders from them, containing
Inftrudtions as to the Conduftof his Voyage, he would have made his
Report to the Viceroys as to the Manner in which he had condudled his
Voyage, and they would have reported it to the Court.
De Fonte mentioning the Viceroys fo fimply and plainly, without any
refpedful or diftinguilhing Additions, is an Inflance that this Letter was
wrote to the Court of Spain, it not being proper, in a Letter fo ad-
dreffed„ to mention the Viceroys in any other Manner v and as it is alfo
evidCi m the Exprefiion, / Admiral de Fonte, that he did not write
this
( 37 )
this Letter in his private Capacity, but as an Admiral, thcicfore this
Letter could not be otherwhere addrefled than to fuch Court, to traiii'-
mit an Account how he had executed thefe Orders, which he had
received immediately from Spain.
De Fonte mentioning that the Advice which the Viceroys received was
from the Court oi Spain^ and that the Orders he received were from Spain^
carries a Diftinftion with it as though the Advice and the Orders were
not tranfmitted from the fame Perfons. Thofe who tranfmitted the Ad-
vice to tlic Viceroys were not feemingly in the Secret, as to the parti-
cular Orders or Inllrudions which were fent to de Fonte^ as to the Man-
ner in which he was to condudl his Voyage. It was the Province of the
Admiral of Cajlile^ who was fliled Captain General of the Sea, who was
fubjedt to no Controul but the King's, to iffue all Orders relative to
maritime Affairs, and therefore de Fonte'v, Orders might come from him.
Or otherwife thefe Orders were immediately tranfmitted by the Conde de
OlivareZt who was on ill Terms with the Admiral, and regarded no
Forms, under the Sanftion of the Favour he had with the King, whom
he mfluenced to authorize all his Meafures. It is alfo confiflent with the
Condudt of Don Olivarez that this Affair fliould be managed in this
Manner, who was always myfterious, confided in his own Judgment,
Angular in his Manners, and therefore was called a Lover of Projeds,
and fuppofed a meer Vifionary in fome of them. He did not want for
Perfons of the greateft Abilities to affif* him, and the Accuracy with which
the Orders are compofed that were lent to de Fonte^ (as may be coUcdbed
from flie Manner in which the Voyage is conduced, and in which it
cannot be fuppofed de Fonte was left to his Difcretion) is an Inftance
there had been no Want of the Afliftance of able, fagacious and expCi
rienced Perfons in the compofing of fuch Orders and Inftrudtions^. -
The Defign of this introductory Part is to fhew the Proceedings in this
Affair previous to his Voyage ; that the Advice was received, and the
Orders fubfequent were obeyed ; and it is drawn with peculiar Care and
a Concifenefs which would be cenfured in a Voyage Writer, but is ufed-
with the greateft Propriety on this Occafion.
The Names of the Ships are agreeable to the Manner that the Spa-
niards name theirs •, and by Ships of Force is not meant either their
Caracks or Galeons, but Country Ships, which the Equipment feems to
3 "nply.
.'■I
( 38 )
Pi
imply, made defenfiblc againfl: any Attacks of the Natives, ofid to haxre
nothing to fear from the Bofton Men, and thefc Ends could be ob-
tained in VeflTcls which had no great Draught of Water, as the Rivers
they were to pafs up and the Lakes required, and of a Tonnage fuitablc
to thole NortI.ern Seas, therefore dc Fonte only expreflcs their Names,
and their Commanders, fays nothing of their Rates.
De Fonte., in his Courfc from the Callao of Limay and in all his fub-
fequcnt Courfes through the Voyage, computes his Diftance after the
Marine Manner, from that Land from where he takes his Departure to
the Land made when he enters a Harbour, or the Termination of tiie
Land which makes fuch Harbour to Seaward ; and here takes his De-
■ parturc from the extreme Part of the Callao of Lima., which is in the
.Latitude 1 1" 5' S. Longitude 80" ^c) W. and from which to St. Helena^
. being North of the Bay of Guiaguil, in Lat. 2" 5' S. Long. 84° 6' W. is
two hundred Leagues; and there is no Fault in the Imprefllon, as hath
been fuppofed. Though thefc Words, on the North Side of the Bay of
G«M^«/7 feem to be an Interpolation.
f I
The Diftance faid to be run between the Callao oi Lima and St. He-
lena is not reconcileable with the Accounts publi(hed by Dampier., Wood
Rogers., or the Accounts in general, excepting with a Copy of a Spanijh
Manufcript, of the Latitudes and Longitudes of the moft noted Places
,in the South Seas, correfted from the lateft Oblerv.;t'nns, by Manuel
Monz. Prieto, Profeflbr of Arts in Pfr«, whofe Computation ot LiOng:
tude is from the. Meridian of Paris; but he fixes Lima at full eighty
.Degrees. I ufe Pw/o*s Tables in this, and principally in all my fubfe-
. quent Compjutations, though de Fonte no where mentions the Longi-
tude in this Letter, as he only regards the Difference of the Meri-
dian pf Lima. And it by no Means invalidates but favours the Authen-
ticity of this Account, that de Fonte differs in his Computation from the
EngliJJj and French Accounts at, and after thofe Times, whicli alfo differ
from each other, as they only ranged along the Coafts of thofe Seas,
judged of their Diftances according to tlieir Journals, and muft have
made many vague Obfervations, as to the Latitude of Places, by In-
jpeftion of theL.and from Sea, and which Land they might not cer-
tainly know. Their beft Direftions they got from Manufcript Journals,
m
( 39 )
or S« Waggoners, compofcd for their own Ufe by Coaflcrs. But the
navigating of the King's Ships were better provided for in this rcfpeftj
and we may well fuppofe that de Fonte was not, on this Occafion, defi-
cient in Artifts well verfcd in the Theory as well as the Praftice of Na-
vigation, and under this Cuu.after of an Artift we may confider Par-
mentiers. Ihe Truth, as to the Latitude, once fixed is not variable by
Time \ and in this refpefl de Fonte and Prieto muft agree, though a
Century between the Time of their Computations. •
The Exprefllon, * anchored in tlie Port of St, Helena (in Spanijh, Santa •
* Elena) ivithin the Cape* hath Ibmething more particular in it than
appears on a uanlient View. The Point of St. Helena is thus defcribcd
in the i'.iilinp; Directions in the Atlas Mart timus, publifhed in 1728. * The
* Poinr itfelf is high, but as you come nearer in there is a lower Point
* runs out fliarpcning towards the Sea.' And there are two dillind: An-
* chorages witliin tiiis Port, one within the lower Point, here Veflcls ride
* without Shelter, and amongfl: Banks and Shoals. Under the high
* Land, there is the other Anchorage, deep Water, and fecure ridincr.*
Under this high Land, being called the Port within the Cape, is a Di-
ftindion which I do not find made by the Voyage Writers, or in any
other of the failing Direftions for thefe Parts that I have feen ; and de
Fonte particularly mentions, as it may be fuppofcd, being in Confor-
mity with his Inftruftions. .
Be Fonte taking in the Betumen muft have been in purfuance of his
Inftrudlions, and there provided for him by Order of the Viceroy •
That which follows, called vulgarly Tar, i^c. feens to be an lnter])0-
lation, or additional Comment, though not diftinguiflied as fuch ; and
it may be obferved here is a different Mode of ExprtfTion, and a Want
of that Cone ifcnefs which appavendy precedes. If with thell- Words took
a ^SljiavJily of Butumen^ we conned on the loth we puffed the EqidnotVial^
then that Concifeneis and .'iimolicity of the Narration is prcfervcd. It
is inconfiftent that de Fcue fliould inform the Court, that it was not for
Wa.nt of Tnr that he put into this Port, and that he did not procure
this BciiwiCH to ufe inftead of Tar, but to make Uie of it as Medicine.
The taking the Betumen aboard fufliciently intimated his Compliance
with
ij
! 'i'l
' !;
i'|:.
( 40 )
with his Inftrudions. The Expreflion, we took it in for Medicine,, hath
fomething particular in it, feems to be a Note or Memorandum added
by Ibme Perfon who made the Voyage, to inftrud: a Friend for whom
he made, or to whom he gave, a Copy of this Letter.
The one Degree itytn Minutes of Latitude is mifplaced, Cape St.
Francifco being by no Geographers or Voyage Writers placed in that
Latitude ; the one Degree feven Minutes is the Latitude of the River
St. Jago., and which Prieto lays down in one Degree eight Minutes.
As to the Courfes and Diftances eighty Leagues N. N.W. and twenty-
five Leagues E. and by S. which were placed in the Margin in the firft
Edition, but are fmce rrept into the Text. N. N. W. is a Courfe en-
tirely contrary, and inflead of one there is two Courfes, North and
North Eaft, and which two Courfes are confident with the E. and by S.
Courfe twertty-five Leagues, as that Courfe will then terminate in the
Latitude and Longitude of tlie River j'ago. This Error of North Weft
for North Eaft may be accounted for by remarking, that in the Spanijh
Compafs North Eaft and North Weft are rendered Nord EJle and Nord
Oefie. : The Omiffion of the O in efte is a Fault which may be commit-
ted even by a careful Tranfcriber, or ma oe a Miftake in the Tranfla-
tor, for Want of due Attention to the Compafs, .; .. , . , .
In the Paflage from St. Helena he would keep the Coaft aboard, for
the Benefit of a fair and freili Wind, and which he would have without
any Interruption from the Land Breezes, and by ftanding N.W. to
clear the Iflands of Sola\go and Paita^ and then ftand North Eafterly
would form a North Courfe of one Hundred and Thirty-two Miles, or
forty-four Leagues, and then be off Cape Pajfao^ in N. Lat. 8'. Long.
^3° S9 ^' ^^^ well in with fjch Cape, as it is evident he was from
the Exprcfllon in the Letter by the Cape del Pajfao with a North Eaft
Courfe, thirty-fix Leagues, they would be in Lat. i° 23' North, Long.
82° 50', and fo have pitffed Cape Francifco^ N. Lat. 50', Long. 82"* ^c,\
and with an Eaft and by South Courfe twenty-five Leagues, would be in
the Lat. i° 8', Long. 81° 36', the Latitude and Longitude of the River
.iit.Jago. . ^ ■
There
( 41 )
There was not fuch a Provifion Country, it appeats from later Ac-
counts, on any Part of the Coaft between this and Lima ; nor could the
Ships be any where brought up with greater Safety : St. Helena is de-
fcribed as a poor and barren Part of the Country.
The Health of his People, liable to fcorbutick Diforders in the nor-
thern Climates whither he was going, was an Objeft that mull be at-
tended to, in order that the Voyage Ihould meet with the defired Suc-
cefs. Therefore after the Betumetiy he recruits what he had confumed of
his frelh Provifion in his run from Lima^ and lays in a great additional
Store, as is apparent if we confider that their Confumf tion in this n-
fpedt is not proportionable to ours, from their Mode of drefiing it. And
we may judge from having fo great a Quantity of Fowl ready, with
Goats and Hogs, the People had received Orders to be thus provided
againft the Ships Arrival; the Sailors would be a great Afliftance
in curing the Provifions, the Flefh as well as the Filh, and would do
it in the moft fuitable Manner for the Sea Service; a Number of
Hands, gave an Expedition fo as the Provifions would not be fpoiled
by the Heat of the Sun i and his Vidualling detained de Fonte four
Days.
Sin Miles and a half^ or the Left Hand the River is navigable for fmall
Vejfels, and all that follows feems by Way of Comment, and to be a
fpurious Interpolation, as alfo, which are there wild and in plenty,
* The i6th oi April we failed from the River of St. J ago to the Port
* and Town i^f/?d, to L:
ftruut principally to Northward, as to which they feem not to
have got a perfeft Account \ though they did a great deal for the Time,
the Unfcafc- ulenefs of the Winter, and the melting Weather in the
Spring :onIi ?red \ nor is it ftrange they fhould not get a peifeft Ac-
count, in a Country fo intermixed with Waters, which hide themfelves in
their Courfes between inacccnble Mountains; and in manyPlp.ces where
they are to be come at, are deceitful in their Appearance, as to what they
really are, whether Lakes, Gulphs of the Sea, or Inlets. As they proceeded
to the Northward, they thought it the Part that principally claimed their
Oblervation. Were of Opinion as to the So utUw a »d , that it was Part of
r'.e Continent oiNew Spain^ or they would not have lead de Fonte to Los
Reys^ but caufed him co proceed up that Streight which feparated the
Part tliey had been in from New Spain. As to this Miflfion not being
known .;o the Pubilck, thefe Jefuits muft have been fent from Europe
into Netv Spain ; and the) »vould fo far regard their Obedience to the
Pope, as to pay due Refpedb to the King of Spain' i, Authority, in ob-
ferving tlie eftablifh-'d Maxim of the Time, as to keep th'jir Difcove-
ries a Secret from the Publick or other Nations. And as to all Mif-
fionaries who went intoiVifw 5^»/«, the King of Spain hath a Power to cnU
tliem to Account, by the Pope's Permiflion, though not permitted in
Old Spain to meddle with ecclefiaftical Affairs, or ecclefiaftical Men.
' A Letter fiom Captain Bamarda^ aated the 27th oijune 1740, that
he had left his Ship in the Lake Valafco^ betwixt the Iflands Barnarda
and the Peninfula Conihaffet^ a vep/ late Port ; it went down the River
from the Lake 3 Falls, 80 I^eagues, and fell into the Tartarian Sea
in 61 Deg. with the Pater Jefuits-, and 36 Natives, in three of their
Boats, and 20 of his Spanijb Seamen ; that the Land trended a>Yry
North Eaft v that they fliould want no Provifion, the Country abound-
ing with Venifon of three Sorts, and the Sea and Rivers with excel-
lent FiHi (Bread, Salt, Oil, and Brandy they Carried with them) that
iic Ihould do what was poflihle. The Admiral, when he received the
Letter from Captam Barnarda^ was arrived at an Indian Town called
Conoffet^ on the South Side Lake Belle^ where the two Pater Jefuits on
their Miflion had been two Years; a pleafant P'ace. The Admiral,
with his two Ships, entt;r'd the Lake the Z2d of June* .
Tli«
w
ill
( S5 )
The Letter from Bernard,; being dated the 27th of June, it is impof-
fible he flioukl finifli all that Bufinefs in four Days, which he gives dc
FoTiie an Account of: This alfo confirms its being a Miftake as to the
22d of Ju'ie^ being the Time he received his Difpatches. It might well
take Beniarda from the fourteenth of June to the twenty-feventh to re-
ceive his Difpatches, to pafs up the River, and to the Pcninfula in Lake
Valafco^ procure the Natives, who were not under his Command, get all
Things fitted, and fet out. And what this Letter contains, makes it
evident it could be no Account of his Voyage that was before-men-
tioned. ,
' This Letter is apparently an Anfwer to the Difpatches Beniarda re-
ceived from de Fonte. He mentions, L',ut he had left his Ship, agreeable
to Orders, and in a fafe Fort ; gives an Account how he was equipped
to proceed ; the Number of the Pcrfons he had with him ; that he had
thirty-fix of the Natives, which is conformable to the Charadler given
of them, a friendly honeft People, and fliews the Influence of the Je-
fuits. Thefe Natives, by joining in the Expedition, were Hcflages for
the good Behaviour of the others towards his People left behind, and
an Affurknce to Bernarda for the Security of his Ship left at the Port,
were of great Ule as Pilots as to the Coaft, and alfo in failing ttnd
managing their Periagos. Their liaving thefe Periagos implies they had
a Country abounding with Waters ; and it was their ufual Way of paf-
fing fron. one Part to another. Time and Experience had made them
exi^ert in the Management of them j and by fhifting from one Part to
the other .13 the Seafons required for hunting cr fifhing, and by Excur-
fions out oh dieir own Country either lor War or Curiofity, as is the
Nat are of Indians^ they were become acquainted not only with \.\\t inland
Waters, but alio the Sea Coafts.
W%
iir
De Fonte had ordered Captain Bernarda that he (hould fail one Hun-
dred and fifty Leagues Weft (but is rather to be believed a Miftake
from not undci^anding the Compafe, Oefie and Ejie being fo Cmilar)
and dien four Hundred and thirty-fix Leagues Eaft North Eaft to 77
Degrees of LAittude. In Anfwer to which Bernarda here mentions, that
from the Lal'.v; Valafco there was a River in which there was three Falls,
eighty Leagues inDiftancc, and fell into tl:^ Tarlay/an Se/iy in Latitude
6ii
' :i
■ii'
> 'i
1 ..',#'
I 56 >
61 > that the Land trended away North Eafl:, and that he would do
what was poiTible. By which Exprefllon it is plain^ that he did not
purfue the cxad: Courfe that de Fonie direded j probably that Courfc
was pointed out toBernarJa by which the Jefuits had travelled to Latitude
.66, but purfued a Courfe more immediate and direft to attain to Latitude
yy^ the Back of Baffin's Bay, as to which the Natives had informed
him } and that though he did not purfue the Courfe direfted by deFonte^
which he found not to be fo confiftent with the Defign he was fent on,
yet he v/ould do all that was poffible to anfwer that Defign. And the
Exprefllon alfo implies,, that he was fenfible he Ihould meet with Diffi-
culties, which he might exped from the Climate, the Ice, and the Fa-
.tiguej but as to the Article of Provifions, was in noFearon that Ac-
count. As to v^hat is mentioned as to Venifon of three Sorts, they were
the fmall Deer, the Moofe, and the Elk, all which are in the Northern
. Parts about Hud/en's Bay, and the Labarador Coall.
The 'Name ot Haro given to the River is a particular Compliment
■to Don HarOy who was the Head of tlie Houfes of Valafco -, and the
.Name otValafco^ in Compliment to the other Houfes, of that Family.
Which Refpeft fhewn by de Fonte feems to indicate a particular Conncc-
.tion with, or his being related to that Family, as already mentioned.
.Valafcoy i.% here wrote, with a va^ as thofe Families did write it nt that
Time, and one of that Family, who was Conftable oi Cajiile^ in his Titles
•is named John Ferdinandes de Vallafco., Conftable of Cajiiliay &c. now
Lord of the Houfe of VallafcOy &cc. and by the Orthography in the
Letter being fo conformable with that which was ufed at that Time,
and not with a w as at prefent, we have very good Reafon to fuppofe,
.that the Letter was not only wrote in Spam/j, but alfo by deFontc on his
return from his Voyage. Don Fevdinandez was living in 1610, and fiic-
ceeded by his Son, in his Title and Honour of Conftable of CajHlty JPou
^ermrdincy who was living at the Time of the Voyage.
* The Admiral entered the Lake an Hour before high Water, and
» there was no Fall or Catarad, and 4 and 5 Fathom Water, and 6 and
« 7 Fathom Water generally in the Lake Belle. There is a little Fall
* of V/a:cr half Flood, and an Hour and Quarter before high Water
• the Flood begins to fet gently into Lake Jf//^ : Tlie River is freih at
* 20
( S7 )
' 20 Leagues Diftancc from the Mouth of Entrance of the River Los
* Reyes. The River and Lake abound'? with JIalmon, Salmon Trouts,
* Pikes, Perch and Mullets, and two other Sorts of Fifli peculiar to
* that River, admirable good ; and Lake Belle alfo abounds with all
* thofe Sorts of Fifli large and delicate : And Admiral de Fonte alfo fays,
* the Mullets catched in Rios Reyes and Lake Belle, are mvich delicater
* than are to be found, he believes, in any Part of the World.*
De Fonte was not inaftive from the 14th to the 2 2d of June. Various
Courfes, contrary Winds, waiting for the Tides at times; from the Cir-
cumftance of the Tide as to Lake Belle, that there is a Fall until half
Flood, and it is an Hour and Quarter only before high Water that
the Flood makes in, evidences that there was a Current againft him i
and it is further evident, as on his return he was but two Days running
from Conoffet to the Entrance of the River Los Reyes.
De Fonte is very particular in his Account, being now to take a Sur-
vey of the Parts through which a Paflage was expefted, and in which
Parts he now was. He mentions the Trial of the Tides at Los Reyes and
Haro ; gives a particular Account of the Navigation up Los Reyes, and
to Lake Belle ; that it was frcfh Water after they were fixty Miles up the
River; and what is no immaterial Circumftance in this Affair, ihews
how far the Waters from Weflward flowed up, which he infbances in tho
Account of the Filh. That fuch as came out of the Sea into the Land
or frcfh Waters to fpawn at thofe Seafons, and afterwards return to the
Sea, went no further than Lake Belle ; for here he found the Mother
Fifh, as he defcribes them, large and delicate, fupcrior to thofe in the
River, and mdulges his Fancy, fo delicate as, he believes, they are not
to be exceeded in any other Part of the World. De Fonte, in his Orders
to Bernarda, fhewed it was frefh Water in Part of Haro, and in the Lake
Conibaffet, from the Salmon and Perch, in which he means Sea Perch,
which come into frefh Waters at this Seafon of the Year.
* The firft oi July 1640, Admiral de Fonte fliilcd from the refl of h's
' Ships in the Lake Belle, in a good Port, covered by a fine Illand, be-
* fore the Town of Conojfet, from thence to a River I named Parnwf-
i
tiers,
y
■■'•11
( 58 )
• tiersj in Honour of my induftrious judicious Comrade Mr. ParmeMierf,
* who had mod exaftly marked every Thing in and about that River.* '
We now proceed to confider the Remainder of Admiral de Fwtii^i
Letter, which was publiflied in 'June 1708.
\i.
Admiral de Fonte^ when he received the Letter from Capt. Bemarda^
was arrived at an Indian Town called Conojfet^ in the Lake Belle \ and as
he entered fuch Lake the twenty-fecond, probably arrived at the Town
the fame Day -, ftaid eight Days, and then failed the firfl: of July. That
Bernarda flioiild write, as to rhe Situation of his Affairs, mull have
been before concerted between them, they having been informed by
the Jefuits or Parmetitiers, that it was pradticable for Bernardo to fend
fuch Mcffage, that the Admiral might know whether Bernarda had met
With, any Accident as to his Ship, or any other Obftacle to his Proceed-
ing, as he might afllft him from thofe Ships Companies then with the
Admiral. How the Letter was conveyed is not exprelfed j probably
by a Seaman with an Indian Guide (the Diftance between the Admiral
and Bernarda, at this Time, will be confidered liereafter) who would
ufe all poflible Expedition both by Land and Water : Had the Advan-
tage of very fhort Nights. De Fonte would not proceed until he re-
ceived this Account, though ready as foon as he received it. As de
Fonte failed on the firil of July, that Account mull have come to his
Hand the thirtieth oijune.
The Ships being fecure in a good Harbour, and the Command left
with Ronqtiilk, the Admiral proceeds to the River Farmemicrs, fo named
in Honour of Monf Parmeniiers, v/hom lie ftiles his Comrade, and
commends his Induftry and Judgment in tiie Survey of fuch River, and
the Parts adjacent. From his being (liled liis Comrade, he was in no
Command, as lie could not have a Commifllon without having been bred
in the Service, and a Native of Spain. Tlierefore being a Perlbn imme-
diately neceHary for to have on this Occafion, he is introduced under
die Cliaratler of a Friend and Companion. Mr. Gage mentions, Chap.
>;y. of his new Survey of tlie IFefl Indies, one Thomas Rocalono, a French-
''/..7/?, a Prior of the Cloifter of Cemiilan, who^ with himfelf, was the only
Stranger in that Country, by v.'hich he means in that Part where he was;
i; and
( 59 )
and it implies thtrc being otlicrs in other Parts, which f.iinfies the Af'
fcrtion that no Frenchman was ever admitted in Peru. •, ■;/, . ;..
■A It
;->
.-> u y/
■I
■'•The Countries o^ ^.ivira ■a.n^ Anian were reprefcnted, at th:\t 'J 'inn-,
to be barren or defolate •, as is alfo evident from the Defcription of" tlic
Inhabitants eating rav/ Flefli, drinking Blcod, and in all Rcfpeds fuitii-
ble to the Charadlcr of tlic EJkemaux Indians^ who by Choice, not Ne-
ceflity, make Ufe of fuch Diet when ont a hunting or travelling, which
exprefles thofe Parts to be very inhofpitable, and where the Indians only
frequent at certain Seafons, in Purfuit of the Wild Game, and for rifhing.
And Cibola is reprefentcd as a Country which hath a Cultivation, where
the Indians conftantly live, and Teem a different People from thofe of
^(ivira and Anian. This is agieeable to the Accounts given at that
Timej which is fufRcient to fhew that the Jefuits couM not expccl: that
they fhould be able, or would undertake to pafs through fuch a Coun-
try as ^ivira and Anian in Purfuit of their Difcoveries to Northward -,
therefore muft have taken fome Opportunity of being conveyed tJiere,
which could only be by fome Perfons who had been on thefc Coafls,
and had, through Neceffity, Intereft, or Curiofity, pailed up thefe Wa-
ters, and furveyed the adjacent Country in Purfuit of fomething which
might turn out to their private Emolument : Nor were fuch Attempts
unprecedented, even on our Parts, though the Hazards were much
greater. The private Trade carr 'd on by the People from Bojhn, in
Hudfoh's Bav- before there was a Grant to the Company ; which Trading
might not have come to the Knowledge of the People in England, or
been k.no«ri :3j the Publick. for a Series of Years, had it not been for
an Accidenc which happened to Captain Gillam^ who thereupon made a
Difcowwpv of this Trade. Nor is there the leaft Improbability but that
Parwmmtiers had, on fome Occafion, introduced himfelf into thefc Parts,
hac *pei!ted the Jefuits to a Miffion there, v/ho, on other MifTions, had
uncfei ken what hath been much more hazardous, and fucceeded. There
yrcK fwtfteient Motives ivr that Undertaking ; the Northern Bounds were
lirn lanknown, \o that they could not affirm America to be Continent,
nor certainly to be an Ifland diftinguilhed from the old World. This is
the Account Mr. Gage gives us. Chap. xiii. and mentioning that he will
not write, as many do, by Relation and Hear^xy, but by more fiirc In-
tdtegence, Infight and Experience. He fays ^ivira is feated on the
I 2 moft
r'll
i
m
m
if
V
moft Weftern Part of America^ juft over againft tartary \ from whence,
being not much diftant, fome fuppofe that the Inhabitants came into this
new World. The Weft Side of Americay if it be not Continent with
Tar titty, it yet disjoined by a fmall Streight. Here then was a fufficient
Matter to encourage a Miflion of this Sort, and to keep a Progrefs to
the Eaftward, or in America, with the Difcoveries that were going on by
the Miflionars fent to Japan -, and there was a Propriety in this being
done, as the Coafts of both were fuppofed to be at no great Diftance
from each other : And this was exprefly the Purpofe of their Miflion,
as it is laid they had been to Latitude 66, and made curious Obfer-
vations, on which Account they were with Bernarda. As Parmentiers
went to the Eaftward with de Fonte, who muft have had a different Mo-
tive from them for coming into thofe Parts, he muft have had his own
private Emohmient in view, his better Succefs in which depended on
his Secrecy, as he thereby prevented others from interfering; which
Confideration would prevail with him, as with all Traders, fuperior to
any Satisfadion the Publick might have from iiis Informations •, and as
Trade would be carried on moft fuccefsfully where the Inhabitants were
more numerous, we find he had found his Way to Eaftward, apparently
tlie moft populous, as the Jefuits had gone to the Northward and Weft-
v/ard, prifKipally as moft confiftent with their Plan ; tho' Conajfet was
where the Jci'uits had been firft introduced, where their courteous Beha-
viour and Manafv'n.^nt of the Natives, would be of Advantage to Par-
tncntiers. In learching for the moft popular and inhabited Part of the
Country, he would become acquainted with the Geography of thofe
Parts necelTarily, Depths of Water, Shoals, Tides, which his own Pre-
fervation, and the better conducing of himfelt would naturally lead him
to obfcrve ; but there might be a moie particular Reafon for his Obfer-
vation of the River Parmentiers^ and of all the Parts about it i and
therefore he had been fo exadt as to the Falls, which were the Obftruc-
tion of the Ship Navigation through to the Eaftern Sea, that lay beyond
the Streights of Ronquillo, for his own private Advantage \ hy opening
a new and extenfive Trade, he would have greatly promoted it if he had
found this Communication practicable for Ships of Burthen.
The People that Captain Tchirikow met with on the Coaft is no Ob-
jcdion to ihe Characfler given of thofe within Land in this Letter, as it
is
( 6i )
is from Experience known that the EJkemaux^ who are along the Coafl:
of the Labrador^ are cruel and thievifti \ but that Indians of a diflferent
Difpofition live within Land.
As to Parmentiers being the general Interpreter for all, he is not faid
to be fo. He would, for the Benefit it would be to him in his Trade,
endeavour to learn the Language, and would of courfe acquire fome-
thing of it unavoidably, as he frequented amongft the Indians : And it
muft be obferved, though there are many different Nations, and there
is a Difference in Dialed, yet there is a Language which all thole Na-
tions will underftandy called the Council Language.
That Voyages had been made to thefe Parts more than once is evi-
dent, as thejefuits ftaid there two Years, therefore did not return with
the fame Opportunity by which they came there, but another ; and it
is probable that there had been a Voyage prior to that,^ which had en?
couraged them to undertake -ife. tA,U 'nilpLa.!. ,
In what Manner de Fonte proceeded, the Boats and Number of Per-
fons he had with him, the Tranflator hath omitted. It is mentioned,
that de Fonte failed from the reft of his Ships ; the River Par.noUiers
hath Falls of thirty-two Feet perpendicular Height from its Source to
where it iffues into Lake de Fonte ; fo again, on the South Side Lake
Belle on board our Ships ; and had it been with his Ship, his Inference
that there was no North- weft Paffage would have been unjuft, as his
meeting with this Ship the Veffel from Bofion^ would have effedually
proved the contrary. • . ,
• We paffed eight Fails, in all 3 a Foot, perpendicular from its Source
* out of Lake Belle •, it falls into the large Lake I named Lake de Fonte^
* at which Place we arrived the 6th oijuly. This Lake is 160 Leagues
* long, and 60 broad ; the Length is Eaft North Eaft, and Weft South
* Weft, to twenty or thirty, m fome Places fixty iafhom deep ; the
* Lake abounds with excellent Cod and Ling, very large and weJl (eCi i
* there are feveral very large Iflands,, ai 1 ten fmall ones ; they are co-
* vered with ftirubby Woods -, the Mofs grows fix or feven Foot long,
* with which the Moofe, a very large Sort of Deer, a:c fat with in the
' V; inter.
( 62 )
* Winter, and other Icftcr Deer, as Fallow, isc. There arc Abundance
* of wild Cherries, Strawberries, Hurtleberrics, and wild Currants ; and
' alio of wild Fowls, Heath Cocks and Hens j likewilc Partridges and
*' Turkeys ; and Sea Fowl in great Plenty. On the South Side the Lake
* is a very large fruitful Ifland, had a great many Inhabitants, and
* very excellent Timber, as Oaks, Allies, Kirn and Fir Trees, very
* large and tall.* •, -.,-,, > ,, , j :j i m'-if <•■•
We here again fee the Form of the Letter, ^e Fonte cxprefling Iilm-
fclf, as in the firft Part of the Letter, I named Pannentiers^ my iudujlrious j
'and there are other Inftances. . . .. . . .; ^ :,iw, . , i ., jm.:; w..
tt
■fT"
The River Parmentiers, which is the Communication by which tiie
Waters of Lake Belle are conveyed into the Lake de Fonle, fo named
we may fuppofe not in Compliment to himfelf, which would be abfurd,
but of his Family, as the Exprefljon is, / mimed Lake de Fonte, though
it almoil deferves the N ame of a Mediterranean Sea ; but from having
a fuperior Water near it, with which it communicated, de Fonte calls
it a Lake. It is not a cafual naming of Places^ or Waters, as Hudfon*5
Bay, given to that great Mediterranean Sea, and continued, but the
Names of the Waters he pafled through, would be given with Exadt-
nefs and Propriety; In the Lake de Fonte there was a great Depth of
Water, alfo Banks, as there is faid to be in fome Parts twenty or thirty
Fathom Water, as is alfo evident from the Cod and Ling there, and
which inftance it to be a Salt Water Lake. It was the Seafon when thefe
Fifh come to the Northward to fpawn. The flirubby Wood on the
Iflands, the Mofs for the Subfiftence of the Deer hanging on the Trees,
the wild Cherries and other Fruits ripening at that Seafon of the Year,
are all correfponding Tokens of his being advanced to the North-eaft
Part of America^ is agreeable in all the above Refpedls to the Country
Northward and Weftward in Canada^ about the River St. Lawrence., to
the interior Parts of the Country of Labrador, in Lat. 56 ; but as you
proceed further to Northward, the high rocky Mountains, which in
this Part are only confined to the Coaft, then extend more inland, increafe
in their Height, and in Lat. S9° and 60", the whole Country, as far as
Btxffin's Bay, feems to confift only of Ridges of barren Mountains, in-
terfperfed with Waters i and theProgrefs of the Productions, as to Trees
and
1W
. ( 63 )
and Plants, gradually decreafes from a more flouriniiiig to an inferior
Sort, as you proceed to Northward ; in Lat. 59, on theWeftern Side of
Hudfon's Bay to the Northward of Seal River, there is no Wood, only
Grals and a fmall Shrub of about a Foot in Heighth, which continues,
as far as it is known to Weftward j and a thin Soil, with a hard rocky
Stone juft below the Surface, and very frequently there are large Ponds
of ftanding Water.
De Fonte feems to have made a Stop at the Ifland at the South of
Lake de Fonte, to take Refrefhment, and make Inquiry as to the Bojion
Ship, it being out of his Courfe, or on any other Account to go there.
* The 14th of July we failed out of the Eaft North-eaft End of the
* Lake de Fonte, and pafTed a Lake I named the Ejlricho de Ronquilb,
* thirty-four Leagues long, two or three Leagues broad, twenty, twenty-
' fix and twenty-eight Fathom of Water -, we paflcd this Strcight in ten
* Hours, having a flout Gale of Wind, and a whole Ebb. As we failed
' more Eafterly the Country grew very fenfibly worl'e.'
What follows, * as it is in the North and South Parts of America,' ap-
pears to me an additional Comment.
De Fonte mentions, as he went more Eafterly the Country grew worfe ;
from wliich it may be ruppoled he found the Alteration to begin whoii
Ik was come to the Eaftern Part of the Lake, and more io, as he paflld
the Streights of iv(j«(^«/7/(?. , \- -
Where the Strcight of Ronq:tillo terminated de Fonte makes no men-
tion •, gives us no Account of the Soundings or Tides ; but his Silence
here, and the preceding Circumftances, lulRciciitly prove that he thouglit
himlelf then in fome Branch of the Atlantick Ocean, And it is to be ob-
ferved there is tiw; fame afTecled Silence here as to the Part he was
come into, as when he liad left theWeftern Ocean and entered the
North-eaft- Part of the South Sea to pafs up to Los Keys.
* The i7r.h we came to an IndianTo-wn, and the Indians told our In-
*■ terpreter Monf. Parmen tiers, tliat a little Way from us lay a great Ship,
* where tlicre never had been oiic before.'
The
( 64 )
'I
The Indian telling the Interpreter Pannentiers^ which cxprcfles a Kind
of Acquaintance made between them, and de FoHte*s pafling out of the
l^ake into the Sea, coming to a Town, and Parmentiers knowing the
L»inguage, is an Evidence of Parmentiers' having been there before.
And we may fuppofe, that from the Time they left the River Parmen-
tiers^ de Fonte had been on the Inquiry, it being now Time to expert the
People from Bojlon \ and what the Indian told him was in purfuancc of
i'uch Inquiry. ^
* We failed to them, and found only one Man advanced in Years,
and a Youth •, the Man was the greateft Man in the Mechanical Parts
of the Mathematicks, I had ever met with \ my fecond Mate was an
Englijbman, an excellent Seaman, as was my Gunner, who had been
taken Prifoners at Campechy^ as well as the Mafter's Son ; they told me
the Ship was of New England^ from a Town called Bojlon. The Owner
and the whole Ship's Company came on board the thirtieth ; and the
Navigator of the Ship, Captain Shapkyy told me, his Owner was a fine
Gentleman, and Major General of the largeft Colony in New England^
called the Maltechufets -, fo I received him like a Gentleman, and told
him my CommifTion was to make a Prize of any People feeking a
North-weft or Weft PafTage into the South Sea \ but I would look on
them as Merchants trading with the Natives for Severs, Otters and
other Furs and Skins, and fo for a fmall Prefent of Provifions I had
no need on, I gave him my Diamond Ring, which coft me twelve
Hundred Pieces of Eight (which the modeft Gentleman received with
difficulty) and having given the brave Navigator Captain Sbapley^ for
Jiis fine Charts and Journals, a Thoufand Pieces of Eight, and the
Owner of the Ship, Seimor Gibbons^ a quarter Calk of good Peruan
Wine, and the ten Seamen, each twenty Pieces of Eight, the fixth of
Augujiy with as much Wind as we could fly before and a Current, we
arrived at the firft Fall of the River Parmentiers*
J)e Fonte makes no Delay, but immediately proceeds as the Cafe re-
quired ; finds an old Man aboard, the Man (as being a great Mechanick
might be very ufeful on fuch an Expedition) and a Youth, might
venture to ftay, their Age would plead as to any Severity that might be
intended by dc Fonte j and through the Fear of which Severity the others
retired
retired into the Woods, ulicrc they could manage without being renfil)lc
of thoie Difficulties which Europeans apprehend. To leave the Ship
without any one aboard, de Fonte could of Courfe have taken her as
being defertcd •, and by their Retirement into the Woods, his Purl'uit of
them there would have alarmed the Indians^ and more cfpecially if he
had attempted any Severity, it might have been fatal to him and hin
Company, from the Refiftance they might have met with, not only from
the Bojlon People, but the Indians affilting them, as they would have
confidered it as an Infult, an Exercife of Power which they would ap-
prehend he had no Right to ufe in thole Parts, as to a People who wcrr
trading wUh them, and been the Occawcn that the Spaniards would have
been no more received as Friends in tholi. Parts.
M- ,.•'••■)'. »t.
■m/;
De Fonte had particularly provided himl'lf with fome Englifljmen^ who,
by a friendly Converfe with the People from Bojlon^ might endeavour to
learn their Secrets, and prepare them the better by what they would b(v
inftrudled to tell them to come to a Compliance with the Admiral's In-
tentions. The Refult of this Affair de Fonte only mentions ; but they
would not have (laid away fo long, would have returned fooner aboard,
had they only eft the Ship on Account of Trade. Trade was only a fe-
condary Objeft, the Difcovery was the principal, and they would not
have (laid in one Place, at thi afon, liad they not been neceflltated
through a Ft r oi de Fonte fo to >. It may be fuppofed the Englijhmen
who were wit/ ie Fonte^ two ot horn wc " from Campechy^ and the
other become ( atholick, as he was married to the Matter's Daughter,
they would not adt either with much Since ry ( • Truth as to their own
Countrymen, but managed with the old Man to bring the Owner, .Na-
vigator, and reft of the Crew aLX)ard.
On their return the Navigator of the Ship was the firft who vaited on
the Admiral, and he calls him Captaiii Shapky, his. Name Nicholas thap-
ley, who was famous as a Navigator, for his Knowledge in the Mathe-
maticks and other >>r.;ni.hes of Science, that the common People fup-
pofed he dealt in t'v: !'• *agick Art, and had the Name given him of
Old Nicky not by the ?< jple oi Bofton, but by a Set of Libertines as
they termed them, and who had feparated from the People of Bojion^
and gone to Lve by themfelves at Pifcatua^ wher- he was fettled at a
K Place
■laiJa
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^
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IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
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1.8
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'
fy
( 68 )
that the Wife of Major General Gibbons imill have had a feven Montlis
Child, if he went on fuch Voyage, as it was a Cuflom in the Cliurch of
Bojlon^ at tliat Time, that the Child Ihould be brought to be baptized
the Sunday after it was born \ and by the Regifter it appears that this was
the Cafe, according to the Time th.it it muft be fuppofed he returned, i
The Name was Edward Gibbons ; and Setmor is a Miftake of the Tran-
flator, not obferving that as de Fonte refpeftfully ftiles Shapley Captain,
he would not mention the Owner by his Chriftian Name only, a fine
Gentleman and a Major General, but ftiles him agreeable thereto after
the Spanijh Manner Sennor \ and this Miftake of the Tranftator, as ta
d\e Name, and not obferving that the Major General and the Owner
were one and the fame Perfon, fhews that the Tranflator and Editors
knew nothing of the Perfons mentioned.
What is faid of the largeft Colony in New England^ called the Mal-
techufets : The Dominions oi New England conl^fled, at that Time, of
the Colonies of Plymouth, MaJfachufetSy and ConneSficuty of which Majfa-
cbufets was the largeft, as New Hampjhire^ Pifcatua^ and the Province of
Main, were under its Jurifdidtion : And it is a little remarkable that the
Admiral fhould call it the Maltechufets \ he apprehended it a Miftake,
though fo exad as to the Names Shapley and Gibbons ; feems to have
given the Alteration agreeable to his own Ideas, and that it muft have
Reference to Malta.
,;
W
I .1
The old Man told them the Ship was of New England, from the Town
called Bojion, which was the only Place where they could fit out pro-
perly or conveniently, the Part where Shapley lived confifting only of a
few fcattered Houfes, and as it was very frequent from Bofion to make
Voyages to the Northward, their true Defign for further Difcovcrics
might remain a Secret to all but themfelves..
Be Fonte\ Addrefs to Gibbons as the Owner, reprefented Co on this Oc-
cafion to ferve the Purpofe, though the VefTel feems to have been Alex-
ander Shaplefs, implies that he underftood, or took the Advantage on
finding they had been trading with the Indians, that they had two Pur-
poles in their Undertaking, to difcover a Paflage, and to trade. As to
the firft, de Fonte tells him he had an Order to make a Prize of any
People
( 69 ) ■
People feeking a IVeJl or North-weft Tajfagey fpeaklng in general Terms,
not of them only, fo concealing the Advice he had received as to their
particular undertaking of this Difcovery ; nor could it be peculiarly
underftood as to the Subjedls of England^ for the Danes alfo, to their
immortal Honour, had before attempted the fame Difcovery j and in
Cor - .
We have been before told, that the Admiral went fixty Leagues up
Los Reyes, which I take to be the whole Diftance between the Entrance
of Los Reyes to Conojfet in Lake Belle i and if we tranfpofe the above
Words, * arrived at Parmentiers the eleventh of Augujl, and was on the
« South Side Lake Belle eighty-fix Leagues on boiard our Ships the fix-
* teenth of yf«^K/?,* then we have theDiftances refpeding every Part of^tf
Fonte's Courfe thro' Land, from Los Reyes to Conojfet fixpy Leagues, from
Conojfet to Lake de Fonte eigbty-ftx Leagues, from the Entrance of Lake
( 74 )
II
IlilJ
H
m
de Fonte to the Streight of Ronquillo one Hundred and fixty Lcagucf^
from the Entrance of the Streight of Ronquillo to the Sea thi'-y-fix
Leagues. The Time that de Fonte was pafling down the River of Par-
mentiers^ and the Time he took to return, are equal, which is plainly
owing to his being obliged to wait the Tides for getting over the Fall*
both Ways. The fixth of July they had entered the Lake de Fotite^ and
by the fifteenth were through the Streights of Ronquillo^ and at the In-
dian Town the feventeenth, fo they were eleven Days from their En-
trance into the Lake de Fonte \ but in their return the fame Way only
five, favoured by a ftrong Current which the Wind occafioned to fct into
the Lake, and having as much Wind as they could fly before, and now
came direAly back j whereis in tlieir Paflage out they had made fome
Delays. The Courfe to Conojfct being neareft North-eaft, I compute it
to be in Lat. s^ Deg. Long. 118" 2' from London. The Entrance of
Lake de Fonte (fuppofing the Courfe of the River Parmentiers and from
Conojfet Eaft North Eaft) in Lat. 59° 4'. Long. 113°. The Entrance of
the Streights of Ronquillo Eaft North Eaft, in Lat. 61 Deg. 8 Min.
Long. 98 Deg. 48 Min. the Courfe through the Streights to enter the
Sea North by Eaft, fuch Entrance to be in Lat. 62 Deg. 48 Min. Long,
98 Deg. 2 Min. which Courfe muft be confiftent with de Fonte' s Account
that a ftrong Current fet in, as by this Courfe fuch Current muft be accele-
rated, if it fet to the Southward, by the Wind from the Northward, or if it
was from the Southward, would be oppofed in going to the Northward.
De Fonte proceeds to give an Account of the good Eftate in which
he found all Things on his Return ; mentions the Honefty and Huma-
nity of the Natives, and die prudent Condud of Captain Ronquillo,
who anfwered their Civility and Juftice. For they had, during the Time
of de Fonte\ Abfence, procured, by dealing with the Natives, Store of
good Provifions to fait, Venifon, Fifli; alfo one Hundred Hogflieads of
Indian Maiz j befides the Service this would be of on their Return, pro-
cured purfuant to de Fonte' 5 Order, it employed the People, with the
other neceflary Work about the Ships after fo long a Run, and kept
them from brangling with the Natives. The Natives were alfo employed
to their Intereft, which preferved them in good Humour j and a Juftice
in dealing preferved their Friendftiip.
• The
( 7J )
* The 20tl\ of Augtijl un Indian brought me a L.ettcr to Conojftt^ on
the Lake Belle»
What is objefted as to the Affability of the Inhabitants, that it is not
eonfiftent with tHe Charafter of the Indians. Hofpitality is the Charac-
teriftick of the Indians towards Strangers, until fuch Time as they are
prejudiced from fome ill Treatment -, and by the Account given by Sir
Francis Drake^ as to the Indians of California^ and by the Spaniards who
furveyed the Weftern Coafts, and the Iflands lying oft, they are repre-
fented in general as a kind, tradable People, and of a docile Temper.
As to the Difpatch ufcd by Indians iit Carrying Exprefles,. or their
Runners as they term them, to carry Meffages from one Nation to ano-
ther, they will gird themfelves up with the Rhind of Trees, and keep
going inceflantly great Diftances with a furprifing Agility Night and
Day, taking little either of Sleep or other Refrefliments, and keep a
dirtft Courfe, and in the Night fteer either by the Moon or Stars. Nor
is there any Thing miraculous in thefe Journeys, which the Exprefles
performed, either as to Diftance or as to Time, efpecially as they paffed
through a Country abounding with Waters, and which Country being in-
habited they could be fupplied with Canoes, or they would find Floats
at the Places where they ufually pafs the Waters. j .„
- . 'I
Bernarda meeting de Fcnte at a Port up the River Rio los Rcyes^ fhews
he had Ferfons aboard who could direct him there, therefore muft have
been pre ;iou(ly there -, und they can be fuppofcd*to be no other than the
Jefuits, which is a further Proof of the Jef ts having been before in thefe
Parts, it was eonfiftent that the Ships fliould join and return liome
together. From where Bernarda came to with his Ship was one Hun-
dred and twenty Miles to Conoffet : His Letter from thence was dated.
the 29th of Augufi^ and de Fonte failed the fecond of September : It may
be fuppofed the I^^tter came to Hand the firft of Sepi ember, which is.
■ ^ 1 £ou£
(80)
four Days» and the Exprefs had now all the Way by Water, and moftly
againft Stream. De Fonte^ to fhew that he had preferved the Affec-
tion of the Natives, mentions that he was accompanied with them \ and
they were of Affiftance to him in the Pilotage down the River. De
Fonte adds, he had fent a Chart with the Letter, which is mifundcrftood,
as if fuch Chart had come to the Hands of the Editors ; which will
Ufake this much more demonfirative^ were Words added by them •, but it
was ufual in all the Naval Expeditions to have Perfons aboard whom
they called Cofmographers^ to take Draughts of Places, and compofe
tlicir Charts, and at that Time a very reputable Employment.
%
% I
■' Miguel VenegaSy a Mexican Jefuit, publifhed at Madrid in 1 758, a Na-
tural and Civil Hiftory of California \ a Tranflation of which was pub-
Hihed in London in 1759, in two Volumes; and Vol. i. P. 185, fays,
' To this JEra (the laft Voyage he mentions was in 1636) belongs the
* Contents of a Paper publifhed at London, under the Title of the Nar-
* rative of Bartholomew de Fuentes, Commander in Chief of the Navy in
< New Spain and Peru, and Prefident of Chili, giving an Account of the
* moft remarkable Tranfaftions and Adventures in this Voyage, for the
* Difcovery of a PafTage from the South Sea, to that of the North in the
* Northern Hemifphere, by Order of the Viceroy of Peru in the Yean 640.
* This Writing contains fieveral Accounts relating to California ; but
' without entering into long Difputes, let it fuffice to fay, that little
' Credit is to be given to this Narrative. For the fame Reafon we have
* before omitted the Accounts of Voyages made from the South Sea to
* the North round beyond California, and thofe of a contrary Direction,
' of which an Account is given by Captain Seixas and Lobero, in nea-
* tro Naval, in Spaniflj and French j and particularly of that Spaniard
* who is fuppofed, in three Months, to have come from Puerto de Na-
* vidad and Cabo Corientes to Lijbon. Thefe and other Accounts dif-
» perfed in different Books, we defignedly omit, as they want the necef-
* fary Authenticity.'
m
lm■^i
!) = -!
■1 -. iia^mt
This Work was publifhed with a Defign to induce the Court of Spain
to a further Conquefl of, an intire Reduction of, and the full fettling
of California, as of the utmofl Importance to Religion and the State ;
and one of the Arguments is, for their immediate putting what he re-
commends
■v .'f ■
commends in Execution, tlie repeated Attempts of the Englifli to find
aPaflage into the South Sea. And oblerves, * Should they one Day fuc-
* ceed in this, why may not the Englijh come down through their Con-
* quells, and even make themfelves Mailers of New Mexico^ &c.' which
implies, that he did not look on fuch an ..Attempt as void of all Hopes
of Succefs i and he again fays, * Whoever is acquainted with the pre-
* fent Difpofition of the Englijh Nation, and has heard with what Zeal
* and Ardour the Projedt for a North-weft Paflage has been efpoufed by
* many confiderable Perlbns, will be convinced that the Scheme is not
* romantick, and it would not be furprizing if the Execution of it ftiould
* one Day come under Deliberation.* Thus artfully hints, fhould the
Scheme come under Deliberation, the Event would be to be feared;
and though he afcribes his Opinion of its not being romantick, is, to
many confiderable Perfons having efpoufed the Scheme, yet he tacitly ap-
plies to their own Knowledge, to what the Court of Spain knows as to
this Paflage. He then proceeds, * If this fliould ever happen,' the De-
liberation, * what would be the Condition of our Pofleflions ?' The
Deliberation would, from Confequences that would follow on fuch a
Deliberation, endanger our Pofleflions. ^ ...
» . .'. . . ..■ '• . » '
Don Cortez informed the King, by a Letter of the 15th oi OSfdher
1524, that he was building two Ships, to get a Knowledge of the Coaft
yet undifcovered between the River of Panaco and Florida^ and from
thence to the Northern Coaft of the faid Country of Florida^ aa far as
the Baccaloo, * It being certain, as he exprefl'es himfelf, that on that
* Coaft is a Streight running into the South Sea* — ' God grant that the
' Squadron may compafs the End for which it is defigned, namely, to
* difcover the Streight, which I am fully perfuaded they will do, be-
* caufe in the Royal Concerns of your Majefty nothing can be con-
* cealed ; and no Diligence or NeceflTaries ftiall be warning in ire to ef-
' fed; it.' Again, * I hereby inform your Majefty, that by the InteUi-
* gence I have received of the Countries on the upper Coaft of the;
* fending tlie Ships along, it will be attended with great Advantage to
* me, and no lefs to your Majefty. But acquainted as I am with your
* Majefty's Defire of knowing this Streight, and iikjwife of the great
* Service it would be to your Royal Crown.* Vol. i. P. 130, ^
M
Agreeable
( 82 )
f
j/ /v^:?^
Agreeable to this Letter feveral Attempts were made by Sea- to difcoi'
ver whether Florida was Pal-t of*the Continent, or feparated by aStreight;
but whether Coriez purfued his Defign by learching between Florida
along the Coaft of BaccalooSy Ntwfoundlandy and the terra de Labrador^
for a Streight, by which there was a Paffage from the North to the
South Sea is uncertain. N tw Spai H cortiprehended the Country from the
Cape of Labrador to the Cape de los Mdrtires, or of Martyrs, oppofite to
tJie Ifland of Cuba. From thenCe to the Streights of Magellan was
called -S^wWif. t!pc rtta ru ^ay^tr.
The fong oi Portugal, with a View of finding a riiorter Paflage tO'
thole Parts of the Indies, which he had difcovered, than by the Cape of
Good Hope, fent, in the Year fifteen hundred,. Ga^er de Corte Real to
the North of America, who landed on the Terra de Labrador ; atfb gave
his Name to a Promontory on that Coaft \*hich he called Promonteriuth
Corteriah. The Name of Z,<»3rtfJcr Implies a fertile Country, and given
in Diftindion from the high barren mountainous Country to N6rthward,
which Gajper difcovered in Latitude fixty, and to the Southward of it.
But this Diftinftion feems to have been fbon loft, and the Name of Ztf-
brador is now given to the whole Coaft.
From the Knowledge we haVe of thefe Parts wc may conclude, that
the Promonterium Corteriale was what we at prefent name Cape Chtdleyy
and the Idands de Demonios, where Gafper loft a Veflcl,. thofc Iflands
now named Button^ Iflands j ahd it was Hudfon^& Streights to which he
gave the Name of the River of the Three Broihers, though the Reafon
«f his giving tJiat Name is not known to us.
lir
We may perceive from this Account of Gafper'sVoyzge, who did not
proceed to Weftward to make a Paflage, but coafted down the mairt
Land, the Accounts of their being a Portitgttefe who made a Voyage
through the Streights of Anian, calling a Promontory after liis Name
Promonterium Corteriale, hath had fome Foundation in Truth -, and in
what is faid by 7^ri/7«j-, an antient Geographer, calling it the Streights
of Three Broihers, or JniaH (which that Word imports) becaufe three
Brothers had pafled through a Streight frorfi the Nurtb to the South Sea.
It is alio apparent that the Name of Anion was firft given by Gafper
■"'^ ' '■ ■ * ' Cortsrialis
III''
■ . ( 83 )
Corterialis (for fonie particular Rcafon unknown to us) to that Part,
which is now Iiudfon\ Streights. Tlioiigh in Time this became a proper
J^ame to exprefs a Streiglit by wliich there is a Paflage from the North
to the South Sea ^ and is contended for to .be the proper Name pf
the Streight that divides Afia from America^ by which there is a Coixi-
munication with the Tartarian and Scfuthern Ocean. After a Difcovery
of thefe Coafts had been made to Nortliward, the following Year tJjc
}^\ngQ( Portugal knt Amerkus Vefpiifinp to South wa«-d, to difcover the
J^ajid there. * , , ■ .. -i
Cortczh Defigns feem to have their Foundation in thefe Expeditions
of the Portuguefe i but it was not until after the Year 1513, that the
South Sea was difcovered, and the Portugueze had difcovered the Mo-
luccaSy that the finding a Streight to the Northward, by which a Paflage
might be made to the South Sea, became a Matter of particular Atten-
tion, and was the firft and principal Objeft of Cortez*s Attention after
he had become Mafter of. the Capital of MfwVo in 1521 -, and this Opi-
nion of a Paflage to Northward continued during the Reign of Charles
the Fifth. Who in the Year 1524 fent from Old Spain to difcover a Paf-
fage to the Moluccas by the North of Atnerica, without Succefs ; but
EJieven Gomez, who was fent on that Expedition, brought fome Indians
home with him. Then in the Year 1526 Charles the Fifth wrote to Cor-
tex, in Anfwer to his Letters, and orders him to fend the Ships at Za-
capila to difcover a Paflage from New Spain to xht ^Moluccas,
' ■ .. i jaa T v,-.r,',.,-. '-
From this Time, the Year 1526, the Opinion of tliere being a Streight
was generally received, though on what Foundation does not appear*
It was certainly on fome better Reafon than Gafper'^ Difcoveries ; and a
Confideration of the Importance fuch a Pafl^age would be of to the King
oi Spain with refpeft to the Spice Iflands. tt^is confiflent Avith the Cha-
raders of the Emperor C/fe^r/^J the Fifth, and of Cortez, when there were
. fo many other folid- Proje(fVs to purfue and this was preferred, to fuppofe.
that they ftiould go, at that Time, on a meer vifionary Scheme,
The fame Opinion of a Paflage to Northward prevailed hi the I'ime
cf Philip the Second, and in the Year 1596 he fent Orders to the Vice-
V ,. M 2 roy
( H )
'J J' ;,'
>\, ! ■
¥■■ i
m.
roy of Mexico for dil'covering and making Settlements in proper Parts of
California^ and one Reafon afligned was, * There was much Talk about
* the Streight of Anian^ through which the South Sea was faid to com-
* municate with that of the Norths near Newfoundland \ and fhould the
* Englijh find out a practicable Paflagc on that Side, our Dominions,
* which then included all Portuguefe India^ would be no longer fccure,
* all the Coaft from Acapulco to Culiacan being quite defencelefs, and
* from Culiacan Northward, not one fingle Settlement was made on the
* whole Coaft.' Hift. Cal. V. i. P. 163. That now not only the Opi-
nion of there being a Streight prevailed, but it was alfo fixed as to the
Part, and had the Name of y/«w».
.!
The Opinion of a PaflTagc ftill exifted in the Reign of Philip the
Third ; and the fame political Motives induced him to order the Con-
queft of California to be undertaken with all po(fible Expedition ; and
one Reafon afligned is, * His Majefty alfo found among other Papers a
* Narrative delivered by fome Foreigners to his Father, giving an Ac-
* count of many remarkable Particulars which they faw in that Country,
* when driven thither by Strefs of Weather from the Coaft of Newfound-
* land i adding, they had pafl'ed from the North Sea to the South, by
* the Streight of Anian, which lies beyond Cape Mendocino ; and that
* they had arrived at a populous and opulent City, walled and well
* fortified, the Inhabitants living under a regular Policy, and were a fen-
* fible and courteous People -, with many other Particulars well worth
* a further Enquiry.' It muft be confidered this is given us in the Hi-
^ory oi California, V. ii. P. 239, from the Monarchia Indiana oi Juan
T'orquemada, a learned Francifcan, publifhed at Madrid in 1613, and
republifhed -n 1 723, Vol. i. P. 629, That a Paper of this Sort was found
in the Cabinet of Philip the Second, was thought deferving the Atten-
tion of Philip the Third. However the Matter of it is reprefented here,
for nothing could be publilhed but what was firft perufed and altered,
fo as to make it confiftent with the Intereft of Holy Church, the State,
or good Manners, before it was licenfed, fuch Paper muft have contained
fome material Intelligence as to a Paffage -, and it is faid to have con-
tained fome remarkable Particulars. Neither would the Work have been
licenfed, if what is related as to their having been fuch a Paper, had
not been true.
Torquemada^
m
( 85 ) .
I'orquemadatVol. I. P. 20, C{\\ox.c% Francifco Lopez de Gomara^ Ucemetf
a careful Writer, and Author of the w liftory of the Indies. Who fays the
Snowy Mountains are in forty Degrees, and the furthermoft Land that is
laid down in our Maps \ but the Coafl runs to the Northward until it
comes to fo'-m an Ifland hy xht Labrador y or as feparatedfrom(7r^^«/fl«//i
and this Extremity of the Land is five Hundred and ten Leagues in Length.
As to what is faid as to the Latitude of forty Degrees in this Qiiota ■
tion from Gomaruy Tortiuemada hath prefixed a Map to his Work, a^ree •
able to that formed by the King's Cofmographers, in whicii he hath
made the moft Weftern and Northern Part of the Land in almoft forty-
feven Degrees, and then the Land trends to the Eaftward, and the Ser-
ras Nevadas are reprefented to extend a great Length along the Coaft, .
and to Latitude ^y Degrees. Mentions, Vol. i. P. i6, the Royal Cofmo-
graphers do not infert any Thing in their Charts of the Sea Coafts but
what they have upon Oath, or from creditable Perfons ; and * They make
* a Siipputation in the Northern Parts of Iflands, which do not lie near or
* contiguous to the Lands of Europe •, as to which Iflands, not long fince '
* difcovered, the one is called Iceland^ the other Creenlandy which are "
* the Bounds, Limits, or Marks, that divide the Land of the Indies ■
* from any other Part howfoever fituated or difpofed y afterwards ob-
ferves, which Iflands are not far from the Labrador j from which it is
plain he calls America an Ifland. And this is agreeable to whsit ^cojia
fays, in the Stnfe which I underft:and him, that ^ivira and Anian extend
to the Wefl:ern Extremity of America ; and that the Extremity of the
Kingdom oi Anian to the North extends under the Polar or Artick Circle, .
and, if the Sea did not prevent it, would be found to join the Countries ;
of Tartary and China i and the Streight oi Anian takes its Courfe througli ■
the Northern Region^ under the Polar Circle, towards Greenland^ Iceland, .,
England, and to the Northern Parts of Spain. By Greenland I under- ■
ftand the Land to Northward, which is the North Part of Iludfon'a •
Streights, and Cumberland Ifles ; and that this Streight fliould determine -
here is agreeable to what Cortex fays he would fend to fearch as far as ■
the Baccallaos, (which was a Name given by Cabot in 1496) for the
Streight by which he expeded a Pafl^age from the-Nortb to the Sout/j SeR
LAS
YND J A S
OClDKT\
■yr- 1 ^^i=sM^ rtCwinas- o y
cuio Sloan
•onts
T^eca parttda. Sf
Gdblo Equador Ltnea
I I ' I ■ -g
I '
^
,70,
Jutva Guinea
Tterra OAuAral
tfO
Sfjofef-
/2r^^^ i'^Safamon
f40 Eqv^^^NO lioCiAL no joo
(DEI
\^Mura de^jehaamenctonjih lOiplt 4r^.c. »
A
TB-OTiCO DJB, CAPB-tCOTLNiO
ZONA. TRiA.
'j:lILCUL q AhTTAILTICQ.
' ZonaTemplada del medio at
Troptco de Capricomio de Hwie
'■% **i\^7LonaTorrida
qutuc
■Jo
or o
onaJbrrida
^lintAeauino.
'^Zffnatomaa
Tropico tie Cancer de Vera
\ ZonaTemplada del ji
a no
. ort c
CIRCflTLO ARTTCO
OClDRNTA LK S.9f^nlandia^
V^ \ierradel/utJo ^
C deSSathador
auellaman deHom
i:
).' i
I nT*"
( 87 )
there irii i ^aflTagc 6f a Communication by Water througli thofc <,.■> jn-
trics which Coronada was to difcover and fubdue, with the South Sea. As
to Coronado., the Francifcans had been before in thofc Parts, and they
gave Information and Direftion as to his Part of the Expedition •, but as
to the Part that Alarcon had, on what Information he was ordered to go -
to Latitude 53, and what Probability there was that it was pofTible for '
him to fintl fuch PafTage, and join the Land Forces, tlocs not appear.
But from his not finding fuchPaflage, not joining the Land Forces, and :
proceeding no further than the Lat. 3(5, though his Reafon for not going ;
further is, that the Land then trended to the Northward, which -
he fuppofed would put him further off from the Army, whom he
knew were in ten Days March of him, and the Excufc of Sicknefs and '
ill Condition of his Veflels, occafioned him to return before his
Time \ yet his Conduct threw the whole Difgrace of the ill Succefs of
that Expedition onAlarsoHy both with the Emperor and the Viceroy:
And what he wrote to the Emperor was not attended to. He wrote to
the Emperor, * That it was for him only, and not in Subordination to
♦ the Viceroy, that he had conquered, difcovered, and entered on the
*^' Calif orniasy and all thofe Lands on the Coafts of the South Sea ; that
* he had learnt that fome of thofe Lands were nor far from the Coafts
» of Grand China \ that there was but a fmuU Navigation to the Spice
♦ Iflands, which he knew was wiOied foi at that Time; that it engaged 1
* all his Thoughts, and was his moft ardent Defire to undertake fuch
' Navigation.' Torquem. Vol. i. P. 609.^
On Jlarcon'i Return Juan Rodrtque de Cabrillo was fitted out, who
went as far as Lat. 44. Sicknefs, Want of Provifions, and his Shij)s
not being of fuffident Strength for thofe Northern Seas, obliged him to
return, though he v/as defigned to go further to Northward. I'he Ships
returning from the Philippinis^ which was alfo an Expedition in the Time
of Viceroy fhip oi Mendoza^ fell in with the Land in Lat. 42, and found
it all to be Terra Firma^ from a Cape there, which they named Mendo-
cino to the Port oi La Navidad. In 1602 Vizcaino went, and then the
Difcovery was made by Martin de Aguilar % and Torqti:mada tells us,
Vol. i. Lib. 5. P. ']'^S- That if there had not been, only fourteen healthy
Perfons when tloey were at Cape Blanco^ they were refolved to pafs thro*
the Streight, which tliey named Anian, and which Sircight is laid to be
there i and P. 710, fpeaking of tlie Entrance oi Martin Aguilar^ it is
4 underllcod
ii . :;i
• ( 88 )
underftood to be a River, by which you may pafs to a great City, which ^
the Hollanders dilcovered coming through the Strcight, which is the .
Streight of Aniafty and which City, he fays, was named ^ivira. [
Thefe Voyages, and we have Accounts of no others, could not have
furniflied the Cofmographers the principal "Materials for compofing their
Map, and it mufl: have been agreeable . to thofe Materials, befidcs the
Accounts of thefe Voyages fent to Old Spaitty that they fet down the
utmoft Limits of the Weftern Coaft to be in the Longitude of 13^5
Degrees from the Meridian of Ferro. The.efore it was their Opinion
at that Time that one Hundred and thirty-five Degrees was near the
Difference of Longitude of j:he Entrance of the Streight of Atir'n in
the South Seat accounting the Longitude from the Meridian of Ferro,
For which Reafon the Spaniards can never be underftood to mean by the
Streight of Anian the Streight which feparates ^ifia and America^ now
named Beering':-> Streight, and by which there is a Communication be-
tween the Sea of 'Tartary, or the Frozen Oceans and the South Sea.
It is forpething remarkable, and fupports what hath been before faid
as to Deficiency of the Spanijh Records, what }tivik Venegns . the Author
of the Hiftory oi California^ fays. Vol. ii. P. 228, * I was extremely
* defirous of finding Capt. Sebajiian Vizcaino's Narrative, and the Re-
* prefentations of the Council to his Majefty Philip the Third, efpecially
* the Maps, Plans, Charts of his Voyage and Difcoveries, in order to
' communicate the Whole to the Publick. Accordingly at my Requeft
* Search was made in the Secretary's Office of the Council of the Indies :
* But in this Intention of being ferviceablc to the Publick I have been
* difappointed.' And he again obferves, Oii the Governor of Cinaloa
being ordered to pafs ovtr and take a Survey of the Coafts, Iflands,
Bays, Creeks, and the Difpofition of the Ground of Californiay in the
Year 1642, Vol. i. P. 188, * There would have been little Occafion,
' fays he, for this preparatory Survey, after fo many others which had
* been continually making for above a Century, had the Reports, Nar-
' ratives. Charts, Draughts and Maps, which were made, or fhould
' have been made, by fo many Difcoveries ftill continued in being.
* Bun thefe are the Effefts of a Want of a proper Care in preferving Pa-
' pers, a Fault to be regretted by Perfons in Power, to whom they
* would be of Service in the Condufl of Affairs, and by private Per-
• ; • ■ ••' - •- ■' -'-^1^ ' Ions,
M-
( 89 ) ,
* fons, on the Account of their Intereft, or as Entertainments of a com-
* mendable Curiofity.' — * But by .he Lofs of fome Papers, either thro'
< a Change in the Government, or Irregularity in the Records, tlie whole
* Advantage of an Expedition is loft.*
W
From this Declaration by one who beinj^' a Jefuit, and of Mexic<^,
compofing a Work entirely for the publick Service, under the Direftion
of the Jefuits •, by their Influence could attain the Sight of any Paper;-
which were thought interefting as to the Work he was compofing -, and
his laft Refledtion is not confined to the Records of Old Spain only •, it
is apparent what Uncertainty there is of attaining any Evidence from llich
Records, as to the Diicoveries made in the firft Century after the Con-
queft of Mexico^ and for a long Time after. The Narrative of Vizcaino''^
Voyage, and every Thing thereto relating, as to any remaining Records
might have become difputable, had notTorquemada collected it, and pub-
lifiied it amongft other Accounts-, yet what Torquemada hath . preferved
is but imperfcft, as is apparent from a Journal of that Voyage, preferved
in a private Hand at Manilla, and a Sight of large Extrafts from
which the Author hath been favoured by a Gentleman in London. It is
owing to what 'Torquemada and fome others have colleded of the Ac-
counts which the Religious were the Authors of, that the Publick have
the Accounts of thofe Parts ; but fuch Voyages and Accounts as have
not met with the fame Means of being preferved, the Publick, from
fuc!^ Neglefi, know nothing of them. It is plain from Gomara's Ac-
count, alfo from Acojia^s, that great Difcoveries had been made in thefe
Parts, but as to many of fuch Difcoveries, by whom is not known ;
and Venegas fays, Vol. i. P. 30, the l^wtt Santo Thome was difcovered in
the Year 1684 ; * And tho' I do not find, fays he, in the Narratives of
* of that Txpedition (of Admiral Otondo) that O^ondo ever went afliore
* only to vifit the Harbours of the Eaftern Coaft and the Gulph ; yet
* from the ardent Curiofity of Father J^/«(?, and the groat Concern he
* had in the Aff;iirs of California, I cannot think that he fliould be
* miftaken in any Particular relating to the Difcovery : Ihat Father
* Kino, both in his large Manufcript Map, and likewife in the IciTer Im-
* preflion, plices the River oi Santo Thome as rifing between the 26th
* and 27th Dcgi-ees of N. Latitude, and, after crofling the whole Penin-
N : ' fula,
( 9° )
* fula, difcharglng itfelf into the South Sea, in the 26th Deg; and form--
* ing at its Mouth a large Harbour, which he calls Peurto de Anno Neuvo-i
* being difcovered in the Year 1685. On both Sides the River are-
* Chriftian Villages, as is evident from their Names ; Santiago^ Santy
* Innocentis, &c. yet, in the Accounts of that Time, I do not meet with
* any Inrelligence of this Difcovery j to which I muft add, that in the
' fubfequent Relations no mention is made of any fuch River, Settle-
* ments or Harbours, tliough even little Brooks, arc taken Notice of.*
And he obferves many other Difficulties occur about this Coaft. Thi*
Harbour made by the River Santo Tbome^ is evidently that which de
Fonte and others call Cbrijiabel. Soine Settlements had been made there^ .
as thefe Names were given, but either dcfertcd from the Barrenncfs of
the Country, or had been only frequented by thofe who went out private •
Adventurers, in order to trade with the Natives. But as to which Ri-
ver, Settlements and Harbour, . were not the Names preferved by Fa-
ther Kino^ it would not have been known that any Perfons had been in '
thofe interior Parts of California., or that there were fuch River#. and
Harbourft Father Kino looked upon it as a Thing fo well known, as
he had no Occafion to defend himfelf, by giving the Reafon of his-
inferting thofe Names to protedl himfelf from the Reproach of Pofte-
rity. And Venegas before tells us, that as to the Difcoveries which had
been made for a Century pafled, the Papers were -loft., ,
Between the Year fixteen Hundred and eighty-five, and the Time of
Venegas's Publication, though in the Year fixteen Hundred r.i\d eighty-^
five, it was v/cU known that there was fuch a River as St. SThomfy this Ri-.
ver is exploded out of the Maps by the Geographers, on Account of the
Uncertainty •, not duly confidering that there was as full a Proof as could
be required with refped to fo unfrequented a Part. The Account bein*
from a Perfon whofe Bufinefs it was to make Obfervations there, wha
had been fo laborious and accurate as to difcover, what had been fa
long defired to be known, whether California^ was an Ifland or not, as-
to which he was beli«='ved ; and the Truth hath been confirmed by later
Obfervations of what he had reported. That it was not an Ifland. Therefore
there was no Foundation for any Uncertainty in this Cafe, the fame as
with refpeft to the Letter of de Fonte, owing to the NeglcA of a pro-
■•■.•■ ^- ■'■::,•.' V . per
(9' )'
per Enquiry into the Circumftanccs relating to it, by fuch an Inquiry tlie
Uncertainty would have been removed.
What hath been faid is to (hew that the Argument on which fo great
a Strefs is laid, that there is no Account of this Voyage amongft the
Spanijh Records, is an Argument of no Weight againll the Authenticity
of this Account •, an- that as a Publication of this Voyage was not per-
mitted, an Account of fuch Voyage could not be perpetuated by the Re-
ligious, the only probable Means at that Time of preferving it from Ob-
livion. As it was intended what was the EfFeft of this Expedition fhould
be kept a Secret, it is not confiftent there fliould be many written Ac-
counts of it i the Officers concerned would be cautious of letting Tran-
fcripts be made from their Journals •■, and it may be attributed to an ex-
traordinary Accident, rather than to what could be cxpedcd, that a
Copy of the Letter of de Fonte fhould ever come into the Pofle/Tion of
the Englijh. ,
Thefe Obfervations being previoufly made, we are better enabled to
confider, what we have before inferted, the Objection of Fenegas for not
inferting this Account of de Fonit\ as being of little Credit ; but he feems
rather to wifli that we would be of his Opinion, than to imagine that
he could convince us by any Arguments j therefore excufes himfelf as
to the Length of the Difpute he might be engaged in. His Manner of
expreffing himfelf with refpeft to this Difappointment in the Secretary's
Office, fhews he hath a Manner of Addrefs that is Words will admit of
a further conftruftive Meaning than what is fet down. The principal Ob-
je(5l of his Writing is to incite the Court of Spain to prepare in Time
againft the ill Confequences of the Englijh making a Difcovery of a Paf-
fage i and he is to be underftood, that it is not only his Opinion that
the finding of fuch a Paflage is pradicable, but he apprehends it is of
the Opinion of the Court alfo. Declares, that fuch Opinion hath pre-
vailed from the firft fettling of Mexico^ and that there really is a Paflage
in fuch a Manner as a Perfon who publilhed an Account of this Sort
would be permitted to exprefs himfelf, to have it pafs the Approbation
of the Licenfer v and does not defire to fupprefs the Account of de Fonte^
as it is an abfolute Contradidion to what he would infer, there beino- a
N 2 Paflage,
( 92 )
I'an'age, and in fuch Letter it is declared there is no North- weft Paflage.
For he rnufl: have liad further and better Authorities for his Affertions
of there being a Paflage than fuch, as that fingle AfTertion would pre-
vail againft. But defired to fupprefs this Account^ as it was an Account
which he knew it was more conGftent with the Dcfigns of the Court, k
Ihould be continued in Oblivion thaa revived. Mentions; it therefore as
tlie Contents of a Paper pubhihed in London^ which contained a Narrative
of litule Credit \ and to give the better Authority to what he fays, as he
could not truft to the Opinion that might 4>e had of fuch Account on
a fair Reprefentation of the Title ; to fupport the Chai*a6ter he gave of
it, therefore ufes Art, mifreprefenting fuch Title i fays it was hy Order of
the Viceroy o/Peru, in the Tear 1640, and gi*ving an Account of the tuoft
viatcrial '■Tranfatlions and Adventures in this Voyage. Was the Letter fo
cntituled, the T'ranf alliens and Adventures of a Commander in Chief of
fhe Navy, in New Spain, he would not be lingular in his Opinion, but
it would be underftood by every one as a Romance, and notdeferving^
of Credit.
V ■
This Mifreprefentation is intentionally done j for if he never faw-
the Letter, or had not a right Account of it, on what Authority could
he affert it was of little Credit ; and that it would engage him in a
long Difpute , a Difpute which his Sagacity would point out to him
how to determine in a very few Lines, by proving t^hat there was no
fuch Perfon as de Fonte^ Admiral of New Spain \ which it was in his
Power to do had it been the Cafe. But what he mentions is fo far from .
a Denial of there being fuch a Perfon Admiral of New Spain, that he
gives us the Name, and fets forth the Charafter de Fonte was in, in a
more proper Manner than we have it expreffed in the Title of the Let-
ter. Bartholomew de Fuentes, Commander in Chief of the Navy in New
Spain and Peru, and Preftdent of Chili •, and he is to be underftood not
to mean that there was no fuch Perfor, but that the Narrative is not
credible as to any fuch Voyage having been made by Admiral de Fonte.
By a Schedule of the King of Spain in 1 606 to the Governor of the
Philippines, Vizcaino was to be again fitted out to difcover a Harbour
on the Wcflern Coaft of Calif orni % for the Reception of the Aquapulco
■....::^ ■ Shipi
. ■ ( 93 )
Ship,', btit the Death of Vizcaino prevented tliat Defign being carried into
Execution-, as the Court had found fo many Difappointments, and fuch
ill Succeft in thcfe Undertakings, they did not think proper to •^ruft it
to any other Pcrfon in the Philippines or New Spain. And Venegas fays,
Hiftof Cd/. Vol. i. P. 180. * During the fucceeding nine Years incon-
' fiderable Voyages only were made to California^ and thefe rather to fifh
* for Pearls, or procure them by Barter, than to make any Settlement,
« and therefore they have been thought below any feparate Account,
* efpecially as in the fubl'equent Royal Cojnmiffions they are only men-
* tioned in general without any Circumftances.* Though Commiffions
were given to go into thefe Parts, without any Account remaining to
whom, and on what particular Occafion •, it is not to be doubted as in all
Commifljons of this Nature they would be under an Obligation to make
a JReport to the Court, and it is not to be underftood that thefe Com-
miffions were continued for nine Years only, and therefore what hath
been faid as to Parmentiers and the Jefuits, their having been in
thefe Parts, is not the leaft improbable. . By thefe Commiffions they
were not confined to the Gulph of Californiay is evident from Father
Kino, as already mentioned, giving Names in his Map to Villages, or
occafional Settlements rather, on the River Santo Thome : And he fays,
P. 299, what made Father Kino defirous of difcovering whether California
was an Ifland or not, * That all the Moderns had placed it as an Ifland,
* there being extant alfo fome Journals of Mariners, according to which
* they went round California through a Streight, and gave the Parts and
' Places through which they pafTed their ovm Names.' It appears from
this Account they were permitted, by thcfe Commiffions, to rove about,
though not to make Settlements, induced by their private Advantage,
and the Advantage to the Government was from their Difcoveries. Alfo
Vol. 1. P. 182, he mentions, * That a great many private Perfons, from
' the Coaft of Culiacan and Cbametlay made Trips in fmall Boats to the
' Coaft of California, either to fifli for Pearls, or purchafe them of the
* Indians j' which is agreeable to de Fonie's Account of the Mafter and
Mariners he procured at Zalagua and Compoflilo. We may alfo obferve
what the Miffionaries fay, as to the Tides at the Head of the Bay, whicli
ftill adds to the Authenticity of this Account. * In thofe Parts the Tide
5 * fliifts
( 94 ) "
< OniCi", every fix I lours •, the Flood, with a frightful Iinpetuofity, rifes
* from three to feven Fathoms, overflowing the flat Country for fome
' Leagues, and the Ebb neceflfarily returns with the fame dangerous
' Violence. — However the Pilot went on Shore in the Pinnace, at feve-
* ral Parts, in order to make a complete Drawing of it for his Chart ;
* was equally convinced that this Cape was the Extremity of the Gulph
* of Cali/omiay and that the Waters beyond it were thofe of the River
* Calorado.'' Therefore it was, from the exadl Obfervatjon of the Tide
which this Pilot took fo much Pains to make, an unfettled Point from
whence the Tide proceeded. Which, at the Time of de Fonte^s Expedi-
tion, was faid to come from the Northward, agreeable to the then pre-
vailing Opinion of California being an Ifland. According to the ufual
Praftice, though the true Caufe of a Phasnomena is unknown, to quote
that Phccnomena that favours a Syftem which there is a Defire to efta-
blilli as a Truth, not only in fupport of but to confirm fuch Syfl:em,
, as. to render the Truth of it unqueftionjble.
m
After Vizcaino^ Death, and though the Court of Spain was difappointed
as to finding able and fufficient Perfons in New Spain whom they could
.jntrufl- yet Adventures were made by private Perfons, at their own Ex-
pence, ooth for Difcovery and Settlements ; yet thefe could not be un-
dertaken without the Permifllon of his Majefty, who had taken it into
his own Hand to grant fuch Commiflions, and moftly required a Voyage
to Old Spain to attain them -, and the next Expedition that was made, at
the Crown's Expence, was conducted by an Admiral from Old Spain,
who arrived in New Spain in 1 643, Admiral Cajfanate, with full Power
and Neceflaries to equip a Fleet, and njake Settlements in California i
and he failed on fuch Expedition in 1644. By which it is apparent
that there were Ships at that Time in New Spain proper for fuch Ex-
peditions. As he came into thefe Parts within three Years after de
Fonte'^ Expedition, and took the Command as Admiral of New Spain
when he arr-'ed, it is to be fuppofed the Expedition Cajfanaie was fent
on was to tiguing for de Fonte, who was therefore retired to his Go-
ver.nment o. ''Hi. In the Year 1 649 Admiral Cajamte, in Reward for
jiis Services, being after the fame Manner promoted to the Government
6 of
■ ( 95 )
o( Chili, de Fonte muft be dead at that Time. This Circumftancc fixes
the Period in which the Copy of this Letter was taken.
As what Venegas fays as to the Account (which Account hath been
oefore mentioned) given by Seyxas y Lovera^ as to its wanting the necef-
fary Authenticity. Befides the ufual Licences, wherein the Licencers
declare there is nothing contrary to good Manners, and bcfidcs being
dedicated to the King in his Royal and Supreme Council of tlie Indies,
Seyxas^s Book liath the Licence and Approbation of the Pro fcflbr of Di-
vinity in the Univerfity of Alcara, Preacher to the King, and Principal
of a College of Jefuits in Madrid. Plath alfo the Approbation and Li-
cence of the Profeflbr of Erudition and Mathematicks in the Imperial
College of the Company of the Jefuits at Madrid. What unfavourable
Opinion foever we may entertain of the Principles of thefe Perfons, we
muft have fuch an Opinion of their Prudence, that they would not fign
their Approbation to a Book while it contained an unnecefTary Lie,
which could be eafily expunged, or until they were fatisfied as to the
Authenticity of this Account which Seyxas gives ofPecbe's Voyage, hav-
ing been publiflied in various Places. And it is indifputable from the
Countenance his Book received, he was looked on at that Time as a de-
ferving honeft Man.
Venegas defignedly omits other Accounts difperfed in various Books
for Want of neceflary Authenticity, but it is not to be underftood that
he abfolutely denies that fuch Accounts are true. Neither is there fo
great an Improbability in fuch Difcoveries having been made, as fome
of thefe Accounts mention.^ as is imagined, when fuch Accounts. are duly
confidered.
We have already. mentioned one Account which engaged the Atten-
tion of the King of Spain, therefore muft have been of fome Authority. ,,
There is another Account (unlefs it be the fame Account differently re-
prefented) of a Ship that, to the Northward of Cape Blanco, on the
Coaft of California, pafled through the Streight into the Norlb Sea, and :
to Old Spain, which was alfo made known to the King of Spain, men- ^:
tioned by Torquemada, Vol. i. P. 725.
Moft..:
( 96 )
Moft of the Difcoveries are reported to liave been made by Ships
corning from the Moluccas^ or from the Philippine Iflands to the Eaft-
ward, and which have met with b
any Nation -. For that (faid'he) // England had'onte a Knowledge and
Experience of i/, it would greatly hinder the King of Spain and me. And .
Salvatierra was himfclf perfuaded of a Paflagc by the Friar Urdanittta,
and by the common Opinion of the Spaniards inhabiting America.
ft \frfts this Account with Ibme ot!»cr that gained the Attentlbn of the
greatcft Men of that Age to purfiic the Difcovery of a North-weft Paf-
fage. Neither would Dudley^ W^ai/lngkami or Sir Humphrey Gilbtrty and
other honourable Perfons about the Court, be deceived with fiditioUs
Stories, and p\iirfue a Ph^ntOm. Could the great Abilities aind PenC"
tration of a fVayingbam be defeiftive ill this Refped, which was fo per-
fed in all other Refpeds, as to be the Admiratioti of the |>refient Age.
Thofe who condemn this Account^ and fonac other Accounts of this
Sort, have not confidercd, that upon a flight Surmife or Sufpicion only
they put their Judgments in Competition with and in Contr^idioii to
the Judgments of thofe great Men, who embraced no Opinbn as ta
any Matter but what was founded in Reafon, and all the Circuilnftances
relating to whkh they had firft fully confidered, and which Opinion
they adhered to. As to a North- weft Paflage, making a Dtftindion be-
tween tile Difappointments as to the effeding the Difcovery o£ a PaiTage,
and the Probability there was of their being fuch Paflage. The King of
Spain waa equally fuccefslefs as to the Execution, and at the fanrc Time
as much afluied of the Prtdicability of making it \. for whicK Reafoit
Secretary Waljingham was concerned at his Death, as the Attention of
the Publick was drawn to a Ntrth-et^ Pafiage,. by which nothing more
was propofed than a Trade to Cathay oc dma, and that a North-weft.
Paflage was negleded on the Part of the Englijh..
It was an Opinion received in England in the Year 1560, or earlier,,
that there was fuch a Paflage y and before the Philippines were fettled
by the Spaniards. Soon after the Difcovery of UrdaniettOy Frobijher, who>
fet out in 1576, is faid to have preceded his Deflgn, and made an Ap-
plication for fifteen Years before. Did not fucceed m the City probably,,
as they might not &e any certain Advantage ; but when he applied to
the Court he. fucceeded.. On what Plan he went is ^ib evident, to find
aa Entrance to Northward of the Labrador j for when he fell in with.
% the:
( 99 )
.the South-weft Part of GrHnkndt it was fuppofed by htm to be the Ld"
M
fitted out Capt. George Weymouth for the Difcovery of a North v.'slt x^^f-
fage, which it is obfervable was the fame Year with Vizcaino's Expe-
dition. And it is obfervable the next Expedition for the Difcovei/ of
a North-weft Paffage, was not until the Year i6c6, when Mr. John
Knight was fitted out \ and the fame Year the King of Spain orders Viz-
caino on a third Expedition, but Vizcaino died, though in the interim
Vizcaino had bev*n to Old Spain, to make Application to make a frefh
Attempt, at his own Expence, and he could not obtain Permiflion of
his Majefty. As the Expeditions v/hich the Court of Spain order pc-^
remptorily to be undertaken, coirefpond as to the Time with thofe fron*
England, Ihews a Jealoufy on the Part of the King of Spain that the
Engiijb might fuccced aj to a Paffag* through the Streights, And
though it is mentioned as the principal Dcfign in the Expeditions by
Order of the King of Spain, is the Difcovery of a Harbovir for the Aqua-
pulco Ship, the J'ubiick underftood there was yet a farther Defign, and'
as much niay be colledbcd from the King o( Spaitfs Schedule in 1606.
Count de Monterey, * by purfuing the Difcovery intended by Don Luis di
* Velafco, wrote to me concerning, and was of Opinion that fmall Vef-
« fels from the Harbour oi Jqtiapdeo \iert the ^tteft j and that in the
* Difcovery might be included the Coafts and Bays of the Gulph of Ca-
* lifornia, and of the Filhcry, to whii-h,. in my Letter of the 27th of
* September 1599, I ordered to be amfwcred, that the Dircovery,, and
* making Draiights, with Obfcrvations of that Coaft, and the Bays along;
* it, having appeared to me highly cmvement,, it was my WiU he fliould
*"*. ' ' - ■ . , ■ ' immediately
( 104 )
* immediately put it in Execution, without troubling himfelf about Ca-
' liforniay unlefs occafionally — And Sehajiian Vi'uaino carefully informed
' himfelf of thefe Indians, and mar-y others, whom he difcovered along
' the Coaft for above eight Hundred Leagues \ and they all told him,
* that up the Country there were large Towns, Silver, . and Gold ;
* whence he is inclined to believe that great Riches may be difcovered,
* efpecia!ly as, in fome Parts of the Land, Veins of Metal are to be feen ;
* and that the Time of their Summer being known, a farther Difcovery
* might be made of them by going within the Country, and that the
* Remainder of it may be difcovered along tHe Coaft, as it reaches bc-
' yond 42 Degrees, the Limits fpeciiied to the faid Sebajiian Vizcaino in
* his Inftruftions.* Though thefe Orders were received \ti Mexico in 1699,
no Voyage was fet out on until 1602, the Time that Weymouth failed,
then probably enforced by additional Orders from the Court of Spain,
The Expedition which was overturned by the Mutiny of the Soldiers,
fecms vo have been about the Time of Captain Davids Expedition •, for
de Fuca fays, after the Voyage was fo ill ended, the Viceroy fet him out
again in J 592, which implies a Diftance of Time between the firft and
fccond Voyage.
(
I
"r
The Inftru(Jlions Vizcaino had in the firft Voyage were given by the
Viceroy, for it was the Viceroy who appointed him, and were formed
according to the Opinion that the Land beyond forty-two Degrees took
a Ccnirfe to Weftward and SoufJiv. ard of Weft. And the Maps were
conftruftcd agreeable thereto, therefore the King fays, • Vizcaino had
* rcprefented to him that the Coaft, as far as 40 Degrees, lies North-.
* weft and South-eait, and that in the two other Degrees, which makes
* up the 4.7 Degrees, it lies North and South,' and;, as before mentioned,
fays, * and that the Remainder of it may be difcovered along the Coafts,
* as it reaches faipyond 4a Degrees, the Limits fpecified to the faid Se-
» baftian Vizcaino in his Inftruflions.* Therefore when Martin Aguilar.
got to 43 Degrees and found an Opening, he concluded, as the Coaft
was rcprefented to be terminated to the Northward, by the Maps and
Charts in Ufe, that this muft be the defired Streights j and therefore faid
on their Return, * they fhould have performed a great deal more, had
* their Health not failed them j for it is certain that only fourteen Per-
'* fons enjoyed it at Cape Blanco, The General and thofe that were with
,, - ' . ■ ' * him
:**■
(
JC
)
* Ilim had a inind to go through the Streight, which they call of //;;/e7/;,
* and is faid to be thereabouts. It had been entered by the tbrcigii
' Ship, who gave Inteihgence of it to the King, dclcribing its Situu-
' tion, and how through that Paflage one might reach the North Sea^
* and then fail back to Spain^ along Newfoundland and the Iflands of
' BaccalaoSj to bring an Account of the V^'hole to his Majefly.' T'ct'im-
mada^ Vol. i. P. 725. But it is very plain the King had anotliCi' Ir.for-
mation of this Matter, and as to the Extent of tiie Land to North\v.u-d.
Luis de Velafco was the Viceroy in whofe Time the Expedition of de Fuca
was •, and the Expedition of Vizcaino was under the Dircdlion of the
Count de Monterey., who was either not informed of v/hat had been done
by de Fuca^ or might not think de Fuca's Account of fufEcicnt Authority
to juilify him, the Viceroy, in drawing his Initrudlions agreeable thereto \
contrary to the general Opinion of the Cofmograohers at that Time,
and the Defcription they gave of the Coafts in their Maps.
It muft appear from what hath been faid that there are no fuch great
Improbabilities in the Accounts of Salvatierra^ Chackc^ or de Fuca^ ?*3
hath been repreiented. It is alfo evident that the Ei^glijh iiad great Ex-
peftations of fucceeding -, and the Court of Spain had gieat Appichtn-
fions we fliould meet with Succefs, and be enabled to attain a PalTage by
the Streight oi Anian into the South Sea ; for which there muil have been
fome reafonable Foundation both on the Part of the one and the other.
The EngliJJd were firft induced to attempt the Difcovery of kich a Puf-
fage, from the Accounts which they had iVom Spain of there being fuch
a Pafiage. The Court of Spain entertained, as hath been fliewn, an
Opinion of there being fuch a Pafiage fron^. the Time they conquered
Mexico \ and, agreeable to \i\\?X Torqiiemcda fays, had a certain Account
of it, or at leaft an Account which appcarcu 10 the King to be aut'iKn-
tick. V.^'hat that Account really contained v/e do not know, nor \vas it
confillent that it Ihould be made pubhck ; therefore what is laid afs to
the Particulars of it are but Ccnjedure, and Reprclentations upon Re-
ports, for which the Reporters could have no real iVuthority. As /V^;-
caino regretted being preventer!, by the Sicknefs of his People tliut lie
could not go round tlie World, and have carried home to Old Spain his
Account of iiis Expedition. This firm Perfuafion that he fiiould ]uv<;
accompiifiicd his PalThge x.q Old Spain^ by the Streight oi' yhian^ mutt
i* have
( io6 ) ■ , •
h-ave been from fome Iniormation which he liad received before he fet
out, that fuch PaflTage was pradlicable : Neither is ii mentioned as if he
propof^d making a Difcovery of it, but as of a Thing before done. It
was the Opinion of all thofe who were with him, that it was pradlicuble ;
which is agreeable to what Salvaticrra informed Sir Hugh Sydney, and
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, That a ^crih-'.veji P^fj'age from us to Cathay was
conJiaiJtly believed in timtricx navigable. I'izcalno, who is rcprefented as
a Commander of great Condufl and Difcretion (and which the Account
of his Voyage exprefifes him to have been) would not have attempted
to malce a PaflUge thro' fuch Streights, to the Hazard, perhaps entire-
Lofs, of the King's Ships, and what he had before done rendered of no
Effed, imlefs he had a difcretiowary Po\n • either to pafs to Old Spain
by thei'c Streights, or return to Jquapiilco.
After the Expedition of Knight failed, and Vizcaino died, we hear of
no other Expeditions at the Expence of or by the pofitive Order of the
Court of Spain until that of Admiral Cajfanate, who went the'third Year
after the Expedition of de Fonte, to make a Survey of the Coaft of Ca-
lifornia ; yet we have no Reafon to conclude there were no other Expe •
ditions, but it is rather to be fuppofed that, after the Englifh had pro-
ceeded in their Difcoveries as far as Hudfon'% Bay, the Court of Spain
thought it necefiary, and found an effectual Way of keeping their Ex-
peditions, both in refpefl to their Equipment and what was done on
fuch Expeditions a Secret, by fending Officers from Old Spain to con-
duct them, and as to which the Religious would not think themfelves
at Liberty to make any Publication without the Permiflion of the
Court. ' • . '
Having no Intercourfe by Trade with thofe Parts, we cannot be ac- '
quainted with what is tranfacted in thofe Parts, any further than what -
the Spanip Writers are permitted to inform us, and the imperfedt and
uncertain Intelligence of thofe who have been cruizing in thofe Seas.
The SpanifJj Nation have been particularly cautious of keeping the Know-
ledge of their Coaft fecret : Neither was it known, in the Year Jh^zgf, that //4r
an exa£t Survey was made of thofe Coafts until Pafco Thomas annexed — '^'^
to his Account of Lord Anfon's Expedition, publilhed in 1 745, a Copy
of a Manufcript, whidh Manufcript contained an Account of the Lati-
tudes
( 10? )
tudes and Longitudes of all the moft noted Places In the South Sea,
correfted from the latell Obfervations by Manuel Mcnz Prieto, Profcfior
of Arts in Peru, and are compofcd with as much Precifion and Exad:-
nefs, as Tables of that Sort are ufually made •, but when tiicfe Coails
were furveyed to the Northward, to attain a Knowledge of which was
formerly attended with fuch immenie Difficulty ; and to what Purpole
and what Trade is carried on there, we are at present entire Strangers
to. It is by Accident only that we have this Account ; and if tiie Spa-
nifo Nation have ufed this Precaution, with relpedl to the Knowledge of
their Cc -.fts, undoubtedly they would ufe the fame Caution with refpedt
to giving us any Infight as to how we might find a more ready Acceis
to fuch Coafts by a iVor/^-wi?/? Paflage. v . • ,
The Point of Suefte del Eftrech d'Anian, inferted in fuch Tables, (hews
the Opinion of the Streights is far from being exploded i but it is ac-
knowledged by the Geographers of Peru and New Spain, at the prefent
Time, that there are fuch Streights. The naming the South Point of the
Streight implies there is Land to the Northward, as to v/hich it doth not
feem to be confident with the Purpofe of the Perfon v/ho compofed this
Table to take any Notice, but that there is fuch Land is confirmed by .
the Ruffian Difcoveries. -*'
• The Extent of America to Northward and Wefi:ward, that America
and AJia were contiguous and only feparated by a Streight, that Call-
fornia was an Ifland, that a Pajfage by the North-:cJi was practicable,
have been by later Geographers treated as Chimeras, contrary to the ear-
lieft Accounts, and the Reports of the firft Difcoverers, and which, by
later Accounts, the Confequence of adual Obfervations are found to be
true. There was a Simplicity and Honour in the People of that Age ;
there was no Motive for telling the Lie, that tJiey faithfully reported
the Difcoveries they made, and if a Falfhood was difcovcred it mioht
be dangerous in the Confequences j their Voyages were not lucrative
Jobs, in Hopes of a Repetition of which they formed their Accounts
accordingly. There was no particular Syftem to fupport, for the Parts
they went to were entirely unknown, that a Reward and Reputation
fliould be procured through a prevailing Intcrcfl: to fuch as fpoke in Fa-
vour of the Syftem. While thole to whofe Fidelity and Afiiduity alone
P 2 it
( '=3 )
it ^A'Ou]il be owing tliat luch Dil'coveries were irade, tliougli repeated
Endeavours were Lifed to rentier the Undertaking ineUcdviaU and through
v.-!iole Mean^> alone the Truth v/ouhl be made knov/n to the Publick j
ihould be ill Ipoken of, accufed of Bribery, difcouritenanced, and the
whole Merit alcribed to, where it would be leall defervcd, and, inlVuth,
wlicre there could not be the lead Prctcnfion. Neverthelef, the Reward
given would be an Inftanceof a generous Regard in thofe who had Power
to beftow of rewarding Merit, though they v/ere inevitably deceived as
to the proper Perlbns to whom fuch Reward fliould have been given.
11
No Authorities have been produced from Tradition or Hiflory which
0]ipole the Probability of there being a North-weft Pafllige, or the
Reality of this Account of dc Fonte^ which the more we examine the lefs
there appears to be of a Falfity, the Circumftaiices of it fo confiftent and
united, and there are fo many extra Circumftances which concur with
that Account, that we cannot but admit to be an inconteftable Truth.
We have not had a full Account of the Voyages and Expeditions of
the Spaniards in Neiv Spaitty as fome of them have not been permitted
to be publiflied. Venegas particularly mentions. Vol. i. P. 14, and in
other Parts, There are alio Accounts of Voyages made to other Parts
of the World, which are only preferved in the Colle^ions of the Cu-
rious, and it is known but to few Perfons that fuch Voyages were ever
jnade. There are fome Voyages which are mentioned to have been made,
but cann • after the moft diligent Inquiries, be procured; yet it is no
jufl Objedion to the Authenticity of fuch Voyages, or as to their not
having been made. What the firft Difcoverers reprefented as to the Ex-
tent of America^ its being contiguous to JJia, as to California, and as
to a North-eaft Paflage, being in all Refpcds found to be true, there
is the greateft Reafon to believe that there is a North-weft Paflage ;
and it is confiftent with that Precaution which the Spanijh Nation have
made Ufe of, that we ftiould not have any authentick Accounts relating to
fuch Paflage,'which they were defirous of difcovering as a fl-.orter Way to
the Spice Iflands and the Indies. But when the King oi Portugal and
5 vm came to an Agreement as to the Moluccas, the principal Reafon
foi making fuch Difcovery was determined, and it became their mutual
Intereft that it fhould not be known that there was fuch a Paflage.
Tlieir continued Silence with refpeft to fuch Pafllige, implies they are
acquainted
( 109 )
acquainted witli tliere being fiicli a PafTage, though rot to an Exaflnf fs.
It cannot imply they are dubious, when we confider jv. Numbi r ot'Cu-
cumltances there are already mentioned, which e\preis uic cuntr.:ry.
. There are Circumfbances in de Fonte's Account which fliew the Ini'e-
rence of there being no Northzveft Pajfage is not juft, tliough jult as far
as it appeared to de Fonte^ as the River Parmenticrs was nor navigable
for Shipping. One Circumftance is, that in the River IJaro^ and Lake
Velafco^ there were Salmon Trouts and large white Perch •, alfo in Fes
Reyes and Lake Belle, but in Lake de Feme excellent Cod and Ling j
which are Filli that always abide in the Salt Water, the others come out
of the Salt Water into the frefli Waters to fpawn. Which de Fonte would
account for that they came into the Lake de Fonte from the North Sea,
and when he pafled the Streight oi Ronquillo, fuppoicd himielf to be in
that Sea, or from the Intelligence that he obtained from Shipley that he
was in a Gulph or Branch of it. Another Circumllance, as it flowed in
the River Los Reyes twenty-two Feet, and in Ilaro twenty-four, and but
a fmall Tide went into Lake Belle, de Fonte concluded that the Wtfiern
Tide terminated there, and that as the Waters role to fuch a Heir^luh at
the Entrance of thole Rivers, that it was a Gulph he was in which con-
fined thefe Waters and occalioned their rife at fiicii Entrances of the Ri-
vers. That the Tides in Parmenticrs, Lake de Fonte, and the Streightr.
of Ronquillo, were from the North Sea. But by later Obfervations of tlie
Rife of the Tides, a Tide cannot proceed from Hudfon''s Bay to that Sea
where Shapley was met by de Fonte, than through the Streiglits of Ron-
quillo into the great Lake of de Fonte, and afterwards to rife fo higii in
the River P^r»;^«//Vrj. Neither can fuch a Tide proceed througli ilie
broken Land to Northwards oi Hud/en's Strcights, named CinK\runui
lUes (formerly EJiotland) and which extend as far as Latitude 70 ; for iL
is evident the Strength of fuch Tides is ipent in Hudfonh Bay and Jj'.t/-
/w's Bay : For at the Bottom oi HudforS Bay it flowed but two Feet,
at the Bottom of Fretum Davis or Baffin's Bay, but one Foot. Wiiich
is agreeable to the Opinion of all the Difcoverers of tliat Time,
as to the Eaftern Tide from the Proportion that the great Spaces or
Seas which were to receive it bore to the Inlets by which it came in,
that the Force of fuch Tide mull be confumed in fuch Seas, and tlicre-
fore expedted to meet with aTide from Weftward, v/hich countcrcheci;ed
the Eafl:crn Tide. On the other Hand, if we confider this Tide to be
from
( MO ) ■ .
tVoni tlie Wellcrn Ocean, fuch Tide forced through various Entrances
up a Straight as that of de ' tca^ -null enter the Sea where Sbapley was
met, with {Treat Impctu yf v •, .'''■ i/i Hcij^hth proportionable to the
\Vidth ill all Or"nings tl. ther. are to receive it. As it is the Tide
round Greenland^ and that wliich comes from the Southward along the
Coafl: o^ Lcbradcr^ being both received in thofe Indraughts of Hudfon*s
Sircights, and the broken Lands of Cumberland lihs, which caufes the Rife
of the Tides there. It may be fuppofed that the North-cajt Part of the
Sctith Ser, and the Streight of dc Fnca^ received the Tides which fet to
Kallv.-ard along the Wellcrn Main from Bcering's Streights, and the Tide
wliich comes from the Southward along the Coaft of California. That
the Tide is not from the Tartarian Sea, in Lake de Fonte, (jfc. is evi-
dent from Bernnrda'a Account, who fliews there is no Communication
with that Sea and the Sea that Sbapley was met in.
As to the Cod and Ling in Lake de Fonte, or as to Salmon, it is not
known that there are either Cod, Ling or Salmon in Hudfon's Bay :
Neither have there been found Shoals or Banks to which the Cod could
repair ; nor is it known that any Cod have been catched beyond Lati-
tude sy ; an Article to which Davis was particularly attentive : There-
fore it is not probable that they fhould come from the Ncrtb Sea through
Hadfon's Bay to Lake de Fonte. De Fonte mentions Shoals in the North-
caft Part of the South Sea, which he pafTed up. And in Vizcaino's Voy-
age there is an Account that, off the Ifland Geronymo on the Coaft of
California, the Ships Companies fupplied themfelves with Cod and Ling •,
which fnews there are Cod and Ling in thofe Seas. It was reafonable for
de Fonte to fuppofe that the Cod and Ling came from the Eaftward from
the Ecccaloos, neither could he otherwife liippofe, as the contrary is only
known from Obfervations made much later than that Time.
Fcx had advanced in 1635, when he publiflied the Account of his
Voyage, that tliere was a free and op'jn Communication of the Weftern
Ocean v/ith Iludfcn's Bay : Which was looked on as an inconteftable Faft
until the Voyage of Capf.tin Middleton. What Foi( faid was confiftent
with the Opinion v/hich all the Difcoverers had of the Proxinity of the
Weftern Ocean j who therefore judged of the Probability of their Suc-
cefs in the Parts they went into, from the Courfe of the Tides, which
7 if
Ott.a
( II' )
if there v/as noWeftern Tide there was no Paflage. This probably pre-
vented that Succefs, as to a Difcovery of a Paflage, which thr^jgh their
Affiduity might otherwife have been obtained, had they not puid inch
a Regard to the Tides, but made a due Survey of the Inlets and Open-
ings of the Coafl:, which on their not finding that a WtUern Tide came
from thence they deferred, which was alfo the Caie as to Captain A'kcr
in the Search of Pijlol Bay as called, to Southward of Lord Soni/jwell's
Ides, there was no Weftern Tide •, therefore a conipleat Difcovery of
that Part was not made.
■ A
It is to be cor ' acred that the Northern and Eadcrn Parts of America^
are more intermixed with Waters than the Parrs to Soutlnvard are,
being a high mountainous Country. The Mountains chiefly confifting
of a brown rocky Subftance, not penetrable by the melting Snows or
Spring Rains, which therefore run off into the Levels and Valleys, and
form inland Seas, great Lakes, and Inlets, which vent their Waters into
the Ocean, ncceflary for carrying off that great Qiiantity and vafl Bo-
dies of Ice which are formed in the Winter in thofe Parts, not to be
diffolved, as the greater Part is which is formed to the Southward, by the
Influence of the Sun. The Northern and Wellward Part of America is
alfo mountainous ; and high Ridges of Mountains were feen from the
Head of Wager Bay on the oppofite Shore of what appeared to be a
Lake ; therefore there mufl: be Lakes and Seas to Weft:ward, Refervoirs
for the melting Snows and Rains, alfo fome Outlet or Channel to carry
off the great Quantities of Ice alfo formed in thofe Parts ; and with
which Barnarda\ Account is confident, and the greatefl: Rclcrvoir and
Difcharge feems to be to the Northv/ard by that North-eafl: Part of tin-
Tartarian Sea. The Lake Velafco^ Ljoke Belle, Lake de Fc:n'c, maybe;
all fuppofed to proceed from the fame Caufe, the melting Snows and
Rains, receive the Ice from the Waters which run into them, which,
from the Strength of the Currents and Tides, is foon fliot from the
Shores of fuch Lakes, broken to Pieces and carried off into fome Paf-
fage or Inlet into the South Sea ; and fuch a Vent or Channel to carry
off fuch Bodies of Ice mufl: neceffarily be, agreeable to what is known
by Obfervation in other Parts. The Objection of the great Difcance it
is between the Sea at the Back of Hudfon's Bay, and where Shapley war,
met, will appear of no Validity when we confider the Diftance between
the
( "2 ) ■
the Sirei^lits of Cil/raltar nnd the Northern Part of the filack Sea. Be-
tween the I'.ntrance of the Scuful to the Kntrapce of the IVbiie Sca^ be-
tween which there is Communication of Waters, or very nearly fo. And
from Point Comfort in Ilttdfon's Bay to Alderman Smith's Sound in Baf-
fin % Ray, between which there is a Communication of Waters without
Onrerin^ into the Ocean or Davis Streighf,. From I.al<.e Superior to the
Sireip,hts oi' Belle Ijlc at tl\e Back of Ncufottndlavdy or to Cape Breton, is
near forty Degrees of Longitude, or equal to 390 Leagues. And Lake
Superior hath a Communication with Hudfon's Bay.
• This great AfTlux of Waters form fuch Meanders and Labyrinths,
as it is impofTibL* to fay whether there is a Communication of Waters,
or wh.cther the Waters arc divided by fmaller or larger Tradls or Slips
of Land, without an abfolute Survey. The Lands fo double or fold
one witliin t'.e other, that unlefs you get a proper Sight of fuch Lands
lb as to diRinguifli this, to dil'cover the Opening that is between them,
there is an Appearance of a Continuance of the Land, and confequcntly
of a Termination of the Waters. So long as the Tide Argument pre-
vailed it was not thought ncceilary to be lb accurate in the Searches. A
S ght of ihe Land trending a Courfe contrary to that Courfe which the
Difcovercrs were to purfue to make a PafTage, and the Tide coming
from the Eufcward, rendered a Search any further in thofe Parts unnef-
fa\y : and it may be owing to the great Impropriety of adopting a par-
ticular S/ftem, more than to any other Caufe, that the Difcovcry of a
NorLh-weil PafTage v/as not made by thofe brave induftrious Difco-
vere:s who in a Series fuccceded each other from FrobriJJjer to James
and Fox.
;u -
<. ««».:
«,■ <■>
m
This feems to be certain, that there muft be one great Channel, as
lIudfon\ Streights are to Eaftward, alfo to Weftward though intricate by
v/hich the Waters to Weftward pafs into the South Sea, and as that to
Norrliward, the North-eaft Part of the Tartarian Sea. We already know
there is not a Communication by Htidfon^ sBay, thro' any Inlet by which the
Watci? do come in there or fufficient for that Purpofe ; neither round
the Mead of Repulfe Bay, 5; then the Current would have been met
coming from Weftward. Therefore fuch Channel muft be to Southward
and Weftward, confiftent with de Fuca's Account of a Streight, in fome
fuch
; Xvas made fuch an Account of after FrohiJ}ocr''%
return from his firft Voyage, and from which it may be inf>jrred it was
a barren mountainous Country wliich dc Fuca pafll-d through, i Ic was
alVaid of the Natives, who were cLl in Bead Skins •, and from whole
Behaviour he mull have had fume ivpprehcnfion that tliey v.-ould cut
him off, as he mentions that he was not crmcd againft. them. F)c Ftintc
is very exprefs as to tlie civil Behaviour ^^i thole Indians he met v/iih, fo
contrary to tlie Character of thofe v/hom de Fucu faw. Therefore thofe
whom de Fuca faw were the F.JL'mau\\ who trcqucnt the in(HnuaiiU)i:s
and deibUte Tarts, and near to the Salt Waters where they can car<.h
. Q, Full,
''I
( n4 )
Fifli, alfo tlic Seal and the Whale, from which they get many Conve-
nicncics bdidcs what is nccen'ary for their Subfillancc i who arc men-
tioned to be alio on other Parts of the Coalt of California \ are repre-
fentcd as a fierce and barbarous People, wi hold no Treaty or Amity
with their Neighbours, who arc always in Pear of them.
That deFontd fliould not pafs up the North-eaft Pa'-t of the South Sta,
but go through Land, mult have been, thai the North-call Part of the
Soiiib Sea wiis rcprefentcd as a Gulph, not a Streight, from fomc Obfcr»;
vations made prior to that Expedition, as to which the Obfervers might
be deceived, by its taking a Southerly Courfe through fome Inlet or
Opening obfurcd by Iflands, or the Entrance n/'-.ow, that they con-
cluded it only to be fome fmall Branch which foon terminated j having,
at the fame 'lime, a large open Channel before them, which they finding
afterwards furrounded with Land, concluded there was no Connraunica-
tion with any other Waters, but that they had feen the Extremity of
thefe Waters to Eaftward. That thefe Waters took a Courfe through
that clefert mountainous Country, until they joined with the Waters of
the Streights that de Fuca came up, the People of Conojfet might not be
able to give a juft Account of, as they lived fo far to Northward and
Faftward. Though they, as the Natives of Conibajfet alfo came occa-
fionally into the North-eaft Part of the South Sea \ the one moftly fre-
quented to Northward and Eaftward, the other to Northward and Weft-
ward, as is apparent from de Fonte's Account j where they hnd level and
fruitful Trafts, as tivey produced fo much Maiz ; a hunting Country,
as there were three Sorts of Deer j alfo Filh in their Waters. Whereas
the Country on the oppofite Shore of the North-eaft Part of the South
Sea, as is apparent from being the Refort of the E/l-emaux, would be
rugged, rocky, and remarkably barren, with little Intermixtures of level
and fruitful Spots. Therefore the People of Conojfety or Ceniba£ety would
have no Inducements to go into thofe Parts. May be fuppofed the op-
pofite Coaft was the Limits of their Enemy's Country, with whom if they
went to War, and knew that the Waters of the North-eaft Part of the
South Sea did communicate to Southward with other Waters ; yet it can-
not be imagined that they went up thofe Waters fo far in their Enemy*s>
Country of lb wild a Difpofition, where they were always in Danger of
being luiprized, as to know whiether thofe Waters joined with the Sea
^ > L iii
( "J )
in which Sbapley was met. Might alfo be jealous if the Jcfiiits, or Par-
mentien^ or others who came there, were very particular in their En-
quiries, that they intended to go and reftde amongil their Kncmies,
which, as the Nature of IndUm is, would caufe them to be on the Kc-
fcrvc, and flack ir .heir Informations, as to thofc Parts. (V \^*:\
■ . .. L
, .1 That thofc Pcrfons who were in thofc Parts before this Expedition of
tie Fonte^ got no Information of this Streight, or of the Waters, as to
the Courfc of them to Southward, there muft be a confiderable main
Land to Southward of Lake Belli and Lake de FontCy as is exprefled in
the Map, and as to the Sea to Eadward, that Part of it which was to
Southward of Ronquilloy no more would be apprehended of it, being
unacquainted as to the Streight, than that it was a Part of that Sea con-*
tiguous to Hudfon's Bay v and it not being known at that Time but the
Tides came from the Eoftward, would have no Reafon to infer, from the ■
Sea running to Coutliward, that it communicated with a Streight there.
To take away the Improbability ol what is here advanced, we fliould
refledt what Aflu ranees former Difcoverers gave, that had but the S.-a-
fon permitted to proceed, they fliould cer-tainly have made a Pafl'age •,
though when an Attempt was again made they found their Mifl:ake j
and from Obfervations then made, they faw good Reafon to have a dif-
ferent Opinion as to the Nature of the Pafl!age from what they had be*
fore, and very reafonablc, as their Searches were made in Parts entirely
unknown -, and as to the Appearance of the Land, the Courfe of the
Waters, and the Set of the Tides, the moft judicious might be de-
ceived. I
The Spanijh Nation had not been able to make out a Paflligc by their
various Attempts, agreeable to the Accounts of private Perfons, which
probably might give an Opportunity for the Rcprefentations of tiie Je-
fuits to be attended to, who would urge every Argument in Behalf of
tiieir Difcovcry, and endeavour to invalidate the former Accounts as to
a PaflTage j which by that Time, from the ill Succefs as to difcovering a
PaflTage, might not be at that Time fo much thought of; and as Dif-' '
ference in Time produces a Change in Opinions, whatever makes for '
the reigning Opinion is adopted, as every Thing that is contradidlory is
0^2 depreciated.
( "6 )
depreciated. The Arguments for the Opinion which pfevailed before
for a navigable Paflage might be treated as fallacious and infignificant,
and the Inftruftions for the Expedition oi deFonte might be drawn agree-
able to the Jefuits Plan, whom it is evident knew nothing of a Streighr,
but confidered the Land of America as one continued Continent to La*-
titude 66. And whatever Weight this Conjecture may have, it is appa-
rent from the Confideration of de Fonie's Letter, that the Inftiudions
were drawn from the Information of fome who had been before in thofc
Parts : And by whom can it be fuppofed more properly that the
Court received the Information which they had xhan from the Jefuits,
wh^fe Und«rftanding and Characfter would admit them to a fr^^e Con.
verfe with the Minifter on a lels Occafion than they would now have, io
give an Account of thole Parts they had been in. j .., ^ . t, .> ,
*Cn:.*I.f
';!!;
t*-
'I
rhe Court of Spain does not feem, from the Proceedings, to be of tlie
fame Opinion with the Jefuits, or de Fonte after his return. As the Go-
vernor of Cinoloa is immediately ordered to take a Survey of the Coafts
uji J Harbours of California. And the next Year Admiral Cufj'anate is fent
« rom Old Spain j and it is probable the Court was not of the Opinion of
the Jefuits v/hen they gave this Information, bur foriiied the Inftru£tions
for de Fonte agreeable thereto. As the mo*^' expedient Method, at that
Time, for intercepting the People from Boflon, was to go the Way they
gave an Account of with the Boats through Land, as ;:he Ships might
meet with Difficulties and Delays in pafllng up the Streights, alfo ran
great Hazard j the Bojton Ship might pafs them unpt/ceivedl Whereas,
oji the Plan which was purfued, if they heard by the Natives that the
Bojion Ship had pafled, and taken her Courie further to South A^ard or
Wcftward, de Fonte would have repaired aboard his Ship, proceeded
down Los Reyes, and v/ith the Diligence which he would have made Ufc
of, fell in with the Bojion Ship either in fuch Nor^h-eajl Part of the South
Sea, or on the Coaft of California, leaving Orders for Barnardo how to
a(^ in this Refpedt on his return. From which Conducfl, and the Look-
out that v/as kept on the Coaft of Mexico and Peru, it would have
been alfo impoflible for the Bofion People, unacquainted with thefe Parts,
and not expcding fuch a Diligence was ufed to intercept them, to have
made a fuccefsful Voyage. '
That
( H7 )
• That there is a Sea to the Wefhvard of Hudfcv*^ Bay is reported by
the Indians., 2nd is rcprelented to have Ice in it like Hudfon's, Bay.
Governor Dohbs., in his Account of t'.e Countries adjoining to Hud-
f(/»-s B^y (P. 19.) mentions fvom Joftpb k France., that their Savages
reported that in the Bottom of the Northern Bay there is a Streighc,
they can eafiiy difcover Land on the other Side : They had never 7 one
to the- End of that Strcight. They fay there is Ice thet-: all the Year,
which is drove by the Wind, fometimea one Way fomodmes another.
The Indians., who are called Northern Indians, hhviiig their Habitations
to North-welt of Churchill, mention a Sea to the Wcllward of them, and
which is from Churchill Fa(flcry in Hudfon\Bzy twenty-five Days Jour-
ney, not a direft Coune, but from the round tliey are obliged to
take. They fpcak of the EJkemaux Indians to Eadward of them, but .
never give an Account of any other Nations to Nortliward cr Weltward
of th.cm. Mr. Scroggs, vvho v. as fcnt out by the Hudfon's Bay Company
in 1722, had two Northern //r^/^.;/j, whom he carried with him, when
he was in about Lat. 62. knew the Country very well, and had . great
Defire to go home, faying they were but tv/o or three Days Journey
from their Family. And the Northern Indians who were with Captain
Middleton, were defirous of hi:> going near the Shore, between Lat. 62
Dcg. and 64. In Lat. 6^° and 14', Captain Middlemen put two of the
Indians afliore, who were defirous of returning to their own Country:
And the Author faw an Indian, whofe Daughter had married a Northern
Indian and been home with her, diredl his own Son to flcetch out on
a Board with a burnt Stick, the Coaft of tiiat Sea, which his Son did,
and the Father afterwards took, and corre(5led it where he faid the Son .
had millook..
Governor i>o/'3j, in the Account mentioned P. 45, mentions, * that
^'Jofeph k France was acquainted with an Indian, who lived at fome
* Dilliunce from Nclfon River in Iludfon's Bay, who, about 15 Years be-
* fore that Tip le^ went to War againft a Nation living Northward on
* the Weftern Ocean of America. Wlicn they went they carried their
* Families with them, and hunted and fiihcd from Place to Place for
* two Winters and one Summer, having left their Country in Autumn,
* and in April following came to the Sea Side, on the Wellern Coaft,
^ . ' whrre
...r.'i
p
m
( u8 ) .
" ^hcre they immediately made their Canoes. At fome little Diftance
' they faw an Ifland, which was about a League and a Half long when
' the Tide was out, or Water fell, they h^d no Water betwixt them and
' the Ifland, but when it rofe it covered all r' e Paffage betwixt them and
* the Ifland, as high up as the Woods upon the Shore. There they
* left their Wives and Children, and old Men, to conduct them home
•• and provide them with Prcvifions, by hunting and ihooting for thera
' on the Road j and he, with thirty Warriors, went in Queft of their
'- Enemies the Tete Plat. After they parted with their Families they
* CLime to a Streight, which they pafTed in their Canoes. The Sea
* Coall lay alrnofl: Eaft and Weft j for he faid the Sun rofe upon his
' Right Hand, and at Noon it was almoft behind him as he palfed the
' S Height, and always fet in the Sea. After pafllng the Streight they
' co.illcd along the Shore three Months, going into the Country or
' Woods as they went along to hunt for Provifions. He faid they faw
' a great many large black Fifh fpouting up Water in the Sea. After
* they had coafted for nea' three Months, they law the Footfteps of fome
* Men on the Santl ; then judged they were near their Enemies, quitted
' their Canoes, went five Days through the Woods to the Banks of a
* River, found their Enemy's Town, made an Attack, the Enemy ral-
* lied and put them to flight.* Then proceeds, * upon which they fled
* to the Woods, and from tiience made their Efcape to their Canoes be-
* fore their Enemies overtook them, and after a great deal of Fatigue
* got to the Streight ; and, after getting over, they all died one after
* the other, except this old Man, of Fatigue and Famine, leaving him
* alone to travel to his own Country, which took him up about a Year's
* Time.' When he reached the River Sakie he met his Friends again,
who relieved him. . , ,., ,,
The Indians that this antient Indian went to War againft, (and this
Indian was living at Tork Fort in Hud/on's Bay in 1746) are mentioned
to be the Tete Platy or Plafcotez de Chieus. The Part which they inhabit
is varioufly laid down by the Ge<. phers ; by fome in Lat. 6y, Long.
265 Eaft from Ferro^ which is tht ;xtremeft Longitude that their Country
is laid down in. Monf. deLiJle and others place them in Lat. 6^^ andLong.
12 80 Eaft from Ferro, fo their true Situation is uncertain. Yet it is apparent
that they do. not live rear to or on the Coaft of the South Sea, or Weftern
Ocean. For what Joftpb le France in this Account, and fo of all Indians,
meant
( "9 )
meant by the Word Sea is any Mafs or Colledion of Salt Waters whicli
have a Tide. P. 38, in the fame Work, giving an Account of the Indians
pamng down to Tork Fort. * The River de Terre Rouge, and from that
' Place they defcend gradually to the Sea.* By which Jofeph le France
means HudforC% Bay. Governor Dohbs mentioning the Weltern Ocean of
Airerica is a Miftake, which he was led into as having a Confiftency
with the Syftem which he had adopted. Thefe Warriors left their own
Country in Autumn, are faid to have lived near Port Nelfon or Tork
Forty and were at the Sea Side in April. Their not being fooner is not
to be attributed to the Length of the Journey but to the Scafon of the
Year. The old Indian was a Year returning to his own Country i but
he was fatigued and almofl: famiihed, fo labouring under a great Debi-
lity,, and had his Food to feek in whatever Manner he could procure it.,
The Winter alfo came on foon after his return from the Enemy. They
were ori the Weftern Side of the Land, which feparates Hudfon*s Bay
from that Sea, where they faw fo great a Tide. Afterwards palled su
Streight, which Streight lay North and South. The Se^ they came from,
and the Sea they paffed into after fuch Streight, laid T^aft and Weft.
They continually kept the Weftern Shore, as that was the Side on which
their Enemy lived ; and though they were fo long as three Months in
their Paflage, they were obliged to go evei / Day afhore to hunt, being
thirty in Company, required a prettv confiderable Subliftance. Their
Canoes can bear no Serge or Wave 1 the Wind blows, therefore are
obliged to keep clofe to the Shore, and xnuft go to the Bottom of each.
Bay.
This Account agrees both with that oi de Fonte and de Fuca. The Sea
they imbarked on was that at the Back of //«^fl«'s Bay, and the Sti eight
might be formed by lomelfland, or both the Shores apprc ch each other,
tho' the Account i? nv^t fufRciently intelligible to make any Defcription of
it in the Map. De Fuca fays the Su-eight grew wider when 1^ entered.
fuch Sea, which Ceems to imply it had been narrow. And th< ndians^ as
before-mentionc'd, faid there was a Streight, and they can perceive the
Land on th^; Jther Side. Be Fuca alfo mentions he went afhore, and
found the Land fruitful, and rich of Gold and Silver and Pearls, and
other Things, like Nova Ilifpania. Which Ihews it was a mixed Coun-
try i for a fruitful Country and a Produce of Gold and Silver is not a
1; Defcriptioa
( 120 )
jW"
Defcription compatible with one and the fame Part. The one we may
fuppofe the Defcription of the Parts nearer the Ocean, the other of the
Parts where tlie Tefe Plat live : But the old Indian fecms alfo to make
a Diftindion i for he fays they went to hunt in the Country and the
Woods. When they had pafled the Streight, they came into the broader
Part of the Streight of Anian, which appeared to them to be a Sea.. As
to the Place of their Imbarkation, they would be dirccled by where they
could procure Birch to make their Canoes.
^ The true Situation of the Part they went to, nor xviiere they imbarked
is not to be determined with any Certainty; but it doth not carry the
lead Probability that the went to War with a People more than a thou-,
fand Miles diftant. It is fcarce probable they had ever heird the Name
of the Inhabitants of thofe Parts, much more fo acquainted with their
Situation as to be able to form a Plan of going to conquer them. There
muft have, been fome particular Caufe for their going to War with a People
fo far off ', what that was it would be difficult to imagine; if it was only to
Ihew their Prowefs, they muft have had Enemies nearer home, againft
whom tliere was a greater Probability of fucceeding. Neither could it be
at that Diftance, as they had one continued Scene oi Fatigue until they
reached the Streights ; their Hearts broken by Reafun of the Difappoint-
ment, the Heat of Summer, no venturing alhore but for a very (hcrtTime,
either for Food or Refrefhment, as they expected the Coiiqucrors to
i'oUow them with Canoes, it would have been impofllble for tliem to
have reached the Streight. If they had a hundred Leagues a direct
Courfe until they attained the Place of their Imbarkation, and by going
round the Bays, might be near twice that Diftance, the Current alio
againft them, it would be fu/Ticient, ftout young Fellows, anil full of
Blood as they were, for what they underwent to be fatal to them. It is
evident the Streight was not far from where they imbarked, and the Re •
lation feems to exprtfs it fo, as they had luch a Fatigue in attaining to
it. Allowing the "I'cte Plat to be in Long. io8 Degrees from Louden^
and the true Couife was W. S. W. or E. N. E. on their return, with a
Diftarce of a hundred League-s, they would .alter their Latiitude 114
Miles, and make 277 Miles Departure, v/hic!i, with 27 Miles to a De-
gree, would make tl.e Place of rhcir Inibarkaticn to be in Longi-
tude 98 from London^ about the Longitude of Rouquilk. As to the
2 Latitude
^»
/.
r.
/ 7 /'^^ ^^/J
Latitude where the 7'ete Plat Indians live, and as to the J^^ongitvule it
is but conjedure ; there is fuch a Dilcordancy and Contradidion in
the Maps, there is I'uch Uncertainty, tliat the North-wefl: and Weft
l^arts beyond HudfcrC% Bay in the Latitude of Churchill^ fecm to be
entirely unlcnov/n. But this is to be obferved, and which has been
my Diredion in thefc Obfcrvations, the Northern Indians and the Ihme
Indians about the Fadory of York Fort, mention thefe Tcte Plat Indians^
and fpeak of them as their Enemies,- therefore they cannot be at fo great
a Diftance as the Weftern Ocean, neither further than where I have fup-
pofed their Country to be. For as the Time the Indians were going
there three Months, that is not to be confidered fo much with refped
to the Diftance, as they would choofe a proper Seafon, when there were
die feweft Indians in the Towns, and were moftly engaged abroad in their
Summer hunting. Perhaps there are no People who plan better in the
Partizan Way, and execute with more Succefs. They fix the Time they
intend to make their Attack before they fet out, then proceed eafily and
gradually towards their Enemy's Country, allowing a Sufficiency of
Time in which they may recover any Accident by which they might be
delayed, as unfeafonable Weather, Difficulty and Difappointments as to
procuring Subfiftance, or any Indifpofition, that they go to Adlion in
their full Strength and Vigour •, as an Indian who conduds an Expedi-
tion would be as much contemned for Want of Prudence, on his Re-
turn to the Towns, as he would for his Want of Condud in leading his
People to an Attack, and when the Enemy was too powerful not brin
^-f^rviff
\
T'^Z/Aw. J. »/.>•. -
ii
< 123 )
hcfs of the Seafon, as wc have the Inftance of the Bofton Ship, whicl\ w.n
fo far advanced in the Sea to Weftward of lludfon\ Bay in the Month of
Aii%njl\ and fomc Time would be taken up in finding out the Way.
The Itrong Tides that fct in, and the Current when to VVellwarJ, which
there is apparently i" the other Sea, may give an Expedition that may
compenfate againft tin- Shortnel . of the Seafon. It is but a fliortTimc
that would be required to pafs that Part of the PafTage wliich lies in
thofe hir>;h Latitudes, as the Courfc would be foon aliercd to the
Southward.
Seyxas y Loveray in his Theatre Naval IlydrogrtiphicOy in the feventh
Chapter, P. 426, fays, * North-eaft of America there is the Coafl of
* Greenland^ from fixty to fixty-cight Degrees, where there is to the Eaft
* the Entrance of the Streight of Frobijher. Nortli-wcft in the different
* Iflands which compofe the Northern Parts of America., there is the
* Entrance of the Streight oi Uudfon^ where t\\c North Sea communi*
* cates with the South Se^.y pafTing out of the Entrance of the SucijWit
* of Aniatty which runs North-eaft and South-well to the Northward of
* the Ifland of Californiay which Streight is hid by great Gulphs on
* the Part that is North of yf«;mf<7, which contain fuch great I (lands,
* .is Cumberland (or Eftoliland) that are more than one hundred Leagues
* in Length from North-eaft to South-weft, and their Extremity from
* Eaft to Weft more than feventy Leagues.' — Page 44. ' Some hold it
* for certain that you can fail fi-om Spain to China through thofe Sureights,
* or tojapauy or to the Lands oi Efoy in three Months. As fays alfo
* Dodlor Pedro -^e Syria •, but it is the Opinion of D. T. V. T. Author of
* the Hiftory of the Imperial Stater of the Worl.l, that he holds it for
* uncertain whether there is fuch S.reight by which you can pafs from
* the North to the South Sea. — P. 45. There were fomc of the Subjeds
* of the King of France, who offered thcmfelves, if they could get his
* Majefty's Licence, to perform that Voyage in four Months; entering
* the Canal de Htidfon from out of the Ocean, with a Courfe North-weft
* or Weft North-weft, taking always a Sight of the Coaft at Noon, they
* fliould attain to the Height of the Arctic Circle, or one Degree more,
* as in making that Voyage they will be favoured in that Part by tjie
* Currents and Winds from the Eaft and South-eaft, and afterwards in
■ R a ' ■ * thetr
( "H )
* their Pafl'age by ihc Sirriglir of Jnian^ the Wiriiis and Currents would
* be from thr North. — It is liiid that fomc Strangers (on what Occa-
' Hon is not laid) have gone that Rout \ and that there is in the Ar-
* ( hievcs of the Admiralry of l.tjlon^ and of the Contratacion at Seville, a
* Copy of fiK h Rout ; wh:it I here obferve is the fame with what Don
* l-'r(i)i(if(0 de San Mitlun obfcrvcs, from which or from the Copy of
* which Rout to be k-en in various Languages, or the Uilpofition of the
* faid Strcights, he holds it for certain that there is fuch a Courfe, and
* relates, That a Hollander^ on the Evidence of a Spaniard who was
* aboard his Ship, from the North of California^ forced by the Winds
* from South-weft, attained to fixty-fix Degrees North-caft, afrer-
* wards took a Courfe Eaft, and Eaft South-caft, came into fifty-eight
* Degrees, when he entered the North Sea to Northward of Terra Nova^
* from thence to Scotland^ and from Scotland to lAJljon, in lefs than three
* Months from the Port of Nativadad to Lijhony of which Voyage he
* makes no Doubt.' And Seyxas obfervcs, he hath fcen many other
Accounts of Voyages made from Holland^ alfo from England^ to the
'South Sea in three or four Months, which he much doubts, from the
Shortnefs of the Time •, alfo as in the Spanijh Hiftorians they have an
Account of what pnfTes in the feveral Parts of the South Sea^ in Cathay^
and China^ and no fuch Thing is to be found in the Bibliotheca of the
I^icentiatc Antonio de Leon^ which fets forth aii the Difcoveries and
Voyages v/hich have been made from any Region from the Year 1200
in America.
It is plain from the Account of Seyxu.\ ^e doth not determine abfo-
lutely for aPaflage, but that there is a Paflage is his Cpir'on. His chief
Objedlion is to the Accounts from the Brevity of the Time in which the
Voyages were faid to be performed, and there being no Account in a
careful Writer of the Difcoveries made in thofe Parts. He dotJi not
confine the Paflbge to Hudfonh Bay, as I underftand Jiim, but to the
Strcight and the other Openings to Northward through Cumberland Ifles,
and that they go up into as high a Latitude as the ArSfic Circle. Which
is agreeable to AcoJla\ Account, and gives a further Explanation to his
Meaning than I have already done. As to which Ifl.es, and to the North-
ward aad Eaftward of Carf^ Swanj-neJ^ it is apparent, from the Peru-
1
( "J ) .
{■A of the Voyages, there hath been no certain Account on a compleat
Difcovcry as to thofc Parts. What he fays as to the Voyage of the IJol-
iander^ it nnift be obfcrvcd it was while Holland was untler the Spanijb
Govenimcnt in the Reign o( Philip the Second, and fcems to be the
fame Voyage, of which Mention hath been made that ao Account wag
found amongft the Papers of that Prince. . /
It hath been fliewn to have been the conftant Opinion of there being
a North-weft PafTage, from the i ime foon after which the South Sea was
difcovcicd near the Wcftcrn Part oi America^ and that this Opinion was
adopted by the grcateft Men not only in the Time the/ lived, but whofe
Eminence and great Abilities are revered by the prclent A.ge. That
there is a Sea to Weftward of Hudfon's Bay, there hath been given the
concurrent Tcftimony of Indians •, and of Navigators and Indians that
there is a Streight which unites fuch Sea with the Weftern Ocean, The
Voyage which lead us into thefe Confidcrations, hath fo many Circum-
ftances relating to it, which, now they have been confidered, Ihew the
greateft Probability of its being authcntick •, which carry with them as
much the Evidence of a Fa«ft, afford as great a Degree of Credibility at
we have for any Tranfaftion done a long Time fince, which hath noi
been of a publick Nature and tranfaded in the Face of the Wctrld, ib
as to fall under the Notice of every one, though under tiie Difadvan-
tage that tiie Intent on one Part muft have been to have it concealed
and buried in Oblivion. Tranfaded alfo by Perfons in a private Part
of the World, who only fpoke of it amongft their Friends at home,
being themfelves Strangers to what they had cffeded, and made little
Account of their Voyage. Befides the Chagrin of their DiHippointment,
and the illnatured Reflexions it might fubjcdl them to, they mighr think
it alfo beft not to communicate it to ihe Publick, as .it might encourage
others to the like Undertaking, and fo they fall into the Hands of the
Spaniards, not only at the Hazard of their Ship, but tlvcir Lives, or at
leaft fubjed them to many Hardlhips fuch as they had fuftained to no
Purpofo. Therefore they thought proper to fay little about their Difco-
very, as it might onjy be a Means of eotrapping fome brave Adven-
turers, who might be animated by their Example to a like Undertaking.
Thefe would be and were, by its being fo little publiftied on their Parts^
■. i . ■ and
( la'3 )
(and no Accounts of it in Euglatid^ which fliews their Friends were under
an Injundlion not to make it publicii.; the Refolution . of fuch fenfible
and fagacious Men as Gibbons and ShapLy were agreeable to which they
aded. All which Circumftances confulerecl, what Degree of Evidence
/Can be required more tiian hath been given to authenticate this Accoun*;
oideFontc? . ■
mi' '
Thole who argue againft a North-weft Paflage have" no better Foun-
dation for their Arguments, Than that there is no Tide from Weft-
ward. V/hich is arguing only for the Truth of a Syftem, and hath
•nothing to do with the Reality of a Paflfage, and in all Probability hath
•been the principal Occafion tiiat a Pafllige hath not been complcated :
I-'or a different Courfe of the Land, and no Tide from Weftward, con-
cluded any further Searches in fuch Part, but on a due Survey made of
the Map, as the Tide will enter up the Streight of ^^ Fuca^ and proba-
hl) other contigucais Entrances which are not yet known, befides the
North-eaft Branch of the South Sea., which we fuppofe to join with fuch
Streight -, the Tide would fill that Sea on the Sack of Hudfon\ Bay, and
the Openings but be cliecked to the Northward by the Current ; and
-may be iiindeied from coming into Hud/jfis Eay clirough the Inlet from
Caufes not known, or there L/emg great Indraughts on the oppofite
Shore, which may take oft' the Force of the Tide, and caufe it to come
■but a fmall Way up fuch Inlet. There is Reafon to believe the proper
Paflage is up the Streight of de Ftica, therefore that is the proper
Streight of Anian, as dc ponte proceeded no further than Los Rcyes^ and
declared tliere was no North-weft Paffage ; but the North-eaft Part of
the South Sea hath a Communication, as is exprefted in tJie Map, in
defcribing which a Certainty cannot be expcded, or an Exadlncfs but
what may be contradided if a Difcovery be made. The Defign of tlie
Map, befides wh,it relates to the Expedition oi de Fonte^ is to ftiew there
is a Streight, called the Streight of <^^ Fuca. A Sea at the Head of that
Streight, a the Back of Hudfon's Bay, from which Sea there is a Paflage
cither by an Inlet into Hudfon''s Bay^ or by a Streight at the Head of
Repfilfe Bay, and i': to Northward of Hudfon\ Bay ; from which Streight
there is a Paffage into the FioYth Sea^ either to Eaftward of the Land of
Carf% Swam-neji into Hudfonh Streight, or by Cumberland Ifles, and ex-
■ X prcfled
( 127 )
pren*ed in the Map in the Manner that the refpeftive Accounts i-eprefcnt,
According to ourUnderftanding of them, with a Submiflion to Correftion
and iuperior Judgment. But an ablblute Contradiction without invali-
dating the Accounts on which fuchMap is conftruclcd, or to fay there
is no North-weft Paflage, which it is impofilble fliould be determined
until a S'.arch is made in the Parts which remain to be fcarched, are no
Objeftions, are only Opinions, without any Authority to fupport them,
which Time mufl rectify.
• To make an Expedition to difcover whether there is a Paflage by thofe
Parts which remain unfearclied, purpofely from EagliDtd., is what I th-nk
an honefl:, difmterefted, or impartial Perlon cannot recommend, as mch
■Expeditions m'ght be repeated with great Expence, and the Evs.'nt un^-
ccrtain. The Government gave their Afllftance, and tiie Generofity of
the Merchants hath been fufficiently experienced, both m England ^n<\
America : Tiierefore it becomes every one wliole Intention it is folely
that fuch a beneficial Service fliould be done to avoid propofing what
might, in the Confequencc, be an unnecefuiry Expence to Government,
and abufe the Generofity of the Merchants. ,_ ,
The Ships which went on thefe Expeditions, after they left the Ork-
mySy had no Place to put into, neither could they there Wood or Wa-
ter, or conveniently repair a Damage. If they met with a Delay in paf-
fing Hudfon^s Streigiits, they were obliged, from the fmall Part of the
Seafon that was remaining, to go to the IIudfon''s, Bay Fadlories to winter;
that they might have the more Time the next Year •, were obliged to
go to the Fadories earlier than they were neceflitated on Account of the
Weather, in order to get their Ships laid up, and every other Conve-
nience for wintering prepared before tuac the Winttrfet in. The Ilud-
fan's Bay Company, jealous of a Dellgn to interfere witli their Tmde,
probably their Fears not ill grounded, the Confequeiice was, there was
no Cordiality between the Fadors and the Captains. The Ships People,
by wintering, fuffered in their Health, great Wages going on, a Confump-
tion of Provilions, a Spirit of Difcontent and Oppofrdon amongft the
inferior Officers, which obilruded the Succefs of the next Summer. To
obviate all which in any future Proceedings, a Difcovery was undertake!;!
on the Coaft of Labradc7\ to find Harbours on that Coaft which Ships
could repair to if neccfliiry on their Voyage out, or to repair tc on tiieiir
ye.urn^
■Hi
( '^8 )
m
retui-n, which they could be at: fooncr than at the Fadorics, flay longer
on Difcovery, and return the fame Year to England. How well this At-
tempt anlwered the Defign, may be coUeded from the Extra<5l from a
Journal of a Voyage hereunto annexed, performed in the Year 1753,
giving an Account of the Coall of Labrador. As what is now to be
done in the Difcovery of a Paflage in Hudfoti's Bay may be efFedted in a
Summer, and if there is the defired Succefs, an Inlet found by which
there is a Paflfage into the Sea adjacent out of that Bay, the Vef-
fcl which makes fuch Difcovery, and all Ships at their return by fuch
Inlet, will have no Occafion to go to the Southern Part of the Bay,
it will be out of their Courfe, but proceed through the Streights to
Labrador^ there Wood and Water, get frelh Fifh, and other Refrefti-
ments i can repair any Damage either as to their Marts, or their Hull,
and return the fame Year to England by the common Tradt of the Neiv-
foundlaad Sh'ipSj and not to go to the Orkneys. ., :^ ;• • . •
- "> ■■ ' . .■ ■•■• •= ■ . . ■ • • , .
That there was a good filhing Bank, a Coaft convenient for carrying
on a Fifliery, a Fur Trade, alfo for Whalebone and Oil with the EJkemaux
Indians, was a Difcovery tlie Confequence of that Attempt from America.
To take the Benefit of which Difcovery feems now to be the Intention
of the Publick. And a Survey of fuch Coaft being ordered to be made
by the Government, if fuch Survey is extended fo far as to thofe Parts,
in which as already mentioned fuch Paflage muft be, and without it is
fo far extended, the Defign of attaining a true Geographical Account of
the Northern Coafts of America would be incompleat. By this Means
it muft be known whether there is fuch a Paflage, the Probability of
which is unqueftionable. Alfo by fuch Survey a better Account will be
got which Way the Whales take their Courfes, and confequently where
it is beft to go in Purfuit of them. Alfo as to thofe EJkemaux who fre-
quent to Northward of Hudfon's Streights, where they retire to, and a
proper Place be found to keep a Fair with them. As thefe LJkemaux as
well as thofe on Greenland Side, who have not come into thofe Pr-rts any
long Duration of Time, being the fame Kind of /«^/^»j with thofe in the
South Sea, and as they tranlport themfelves and Families from one Part
to another by Water, it feems highly probable that it is by fuch a Paflage
or Streight that they have got fp far to Eaftward. This Difcovery of a
Paflage
Hi
( 129 )
Paflage can be made without any additional Expence, wove in wiili
other Services, as was in the Difcoveries which were ordered to be made
by the King of Spain on the Coafts of Califcrmd The Propriety of a
Vcflel to make iuch a Survey, and tJie Abilities and FiJci'.Ly of th'j
Perfons will be undoubtedly taken Care for. The Run from Labra-
dor, let it be from any Harbour, will be but fmall to any whtre,
where it is neceflary to make the Survey. The Perfons fent vnll go frelh
out of Harbour, whereas, with a Run from the Orkneys, the People are
fatigued -, will now be refrelhcd as if they had not come from Europe.
Will be out from fuch Harbour but a few Weeks, in a fine Seafon of the
Year, no Way debilitated by the Scurvy, and in a few Summers v;ill bo
enabled to compleat their Survey of that Coaft ; ufing fuch an Afriduity
as they proceed as not to leave any Part on Suppofition or Trull, but
being aflured where any Inlet or Opening determines. A Pcrfon who
underftands EJkemaux, and one or more Ejlemaux to be procured,
would be of Service as Pilots, and to giv. an Account of the adjacent
Country. And there is no Veflel (it is menrioned as perhaps it is not
fo very well known) fo proper and ferviceable for this long-lhore Work
as a Marble-head Schooner, about fixty Tons, fortified as to the Ice, and
would be at all Times a ufeful Tender, and a proper Boat if neceflary
to be left at the Labrador. What would give due Force to fuch Expe-
ditions, would be the Commodore of the Man of War being fo near,
under whofe Eye the Whole would be done, who would diredl tlieir fit-
ting out, receive their Report on their return, order a Review if necef-
fary, and be the Occafion of that due Subordination and Obedience both
of Officers and Men, which it is often very difficult to efFed on {ych
Voyages. Merit will then be diftinguilhed, and the Credulity of the
Perfons at home will not be impofed on, and no Difcouragement of thole
who diftinguifli tliemfelves in the Execution of fuch laudable Attempts.
Such a Paflage being difcovered, and the Sea entered to Weftward of
lltidfon's Bay, the Manner of proceeding afterwards mufl; be left to fu-
perior Judgment.
■'^*
\ 1
A P ip 1 N D I X.
A C C
A N -
O U
N T
Of Part of the Coaft and Inland Part of ^
THE LABRADOR:
An EXTRACT from a Journal of a Voyage made
UovQ. Philadelphia in I'JSh
rrHE Coaft of Ubr«dor to Northward of the Latitude of 57 D^g- 3°
^ Min is reprefented by Captain Benjamin GiUm (an Extraftot
whofriournal L Author had) as a perilous Coaft, and -«h°»' ^"j;":
kt° therefore the Defign was to fall in with the Land «» Southward of
tt«Lat.tude, which was attempted ^,»;^ the ,d. -h,*Jog \u
expeaed -when more in with the Land to have clear Weather. They
fJlVeat times the whole Day, and in the Evening found themfelves
[^bly d in a Body of Ice, and plainly perceiving Points of Rocks
TnoS the Ice, ftood out again durir,. the whole N-ght for a clear Sea,
which they fortunately obtained the next Morning.
■ It was then propofed to ftand yet more Southward, to make the Land
. r TJ Indfeuch the Inlet of Dot«. From the 3d to the gih
whL was fucceeded the .oth of^«..<^ wuh a hard Gale of Wmd^th^
b 2
C 132 )
moderated on the 1 ith, and clear Weather : Saw Rockweed, fome Kelp,
Land Birds, a Number of large Iflands of Ice, but no flat Ice ; con-
cluded in the Afternoon that they faw the Looming of the Land in Lat.
56 Deg. 2 Min. Long. 56 Deg. 42 Min. at Eight at Night had Sound-
ings 93 Fathom, at Ten at Night 8q Fathom.
I. 1
Jugujl the 1 2th, fine pleafant Weather; at Eight o'Clock had 40 Fa-
thom Soundings, and at Ten made the Land, bearing W. by S. ten
Leagues. Many Iflands of Ice, but the Wind contrai^^ for Davis's
Inlet, flood towards another Opening which promifed a good Har-
bour ; but not being able to attain it before Night, flood on and off un-
til the next Morning, fine pleafant Weather ; and y^uguji the 13th, by
Four in the Morning, were in with the Land. A Whale-boat, with pro-
per Hands, was lent to found a-head, and find a Harbour. Soon after
a Cry was heard from an Ifland to Northward ; there appeared to be
five Perfons. Some Rings, Knives, SciflTors, and Iron Hoop, being taken
by the People into the Boat, after rowing about a League they entered
into a fmall Harbour, near the Place where the five Perfons were firft
Icen, but who had retired. Entering the Harbour they faw Shallops
built after the Newfoundland Manner, at Anchor, with Buoys and Ca-
bles, a Mart, a fquare Yard athwart, with a Sail bent, a Tilt made of
Seal Skins abaft. Thefe Boats were tarred, that Summer's Work. Upon
the Sight of thefe Boats a Doubt arofe whether they were Indians whom
they had feen, or fome unfortunate Shipwrecked People.
When the Boat got further into the Harbour two EJkemaux Indians
came off', the one a Man in Years, the other a young Man. The elder
Man had a fmall black Beard. The elder Man being prefented with a
Ring, immediately put it on his Finger ; the young Man did the fame
when one v/as prefented him. Both declined accepting Pieces of Iron
Hoop, a very agreeable Prefent to the EJkemaux on the Weftem Side
Iiudy.n\ Bay. They knew what Fire-arms were, which they faw in the
Bout: Alio aflicl for fome Pork, which they faw, and had been taken
into the Boat for Fear the Schooner and the Boat ftiould be feparated -,
and, on the Boatfmen not having a Knife immediately ready, they pro-
duced a Knife aj.nece ; and the elder Man ufed the Word Capitaim in
his Addreli j had a Complaifance in his Behaviour. From thefe Cir-
cumftances
( '33 )
cumftances it was plain they carried on a Tradf^ with the French ; tho*
the lateft French Auihorh reprefented them a^ a f.ivage Pc->pk, who would
never have any Commerce widi them. And a Motive for this Under-
taking was from an Opinion, that no Trade had been carried on in thele
Parts, either by Europeans or y^r/ericans, the printed Accounts and com-
mon Report both agreed in thi?;. It was apparent to whom thele Boats
belonged j and there were more than twenty F.Jkemcu:-: afhore, of va-
rious Sexes and Ages, who kept Ihaking of old Cloaths for Sale •, ? ul
the elder Man prefied the People in the Boat very much i:o come afliorc,
alio to bring the Schooner to an Anchor, which was ftu .ding on and
offj but as the Day advanced, the Situation tiie Schooner wis in, being
many fmall I (lands about, and a fine Opening which promifed a good
Harbour in the main Land, they declined the Invitation j and there was
an EJkemaux ready with a large Coil of Whalebone, feeniingly for the
Boat to warp in to a fmall Cove and make fait with. Thefe Civilities
were acknowledged by a Prefent being fent to thofe alhore, and after
fhewing where they intended for, the Boat returned aboard the Schooner.
The People on board the Schooner, as they advanced towards the
Inlet where they expeded a Harbour, hoifted their Enfign, which was
very large, and fired two Swivels by way of Salute j foon after the EJke-
mauxs dilplayed on the Rocks a large white Enfign, on a high Pole •, .
and when there was Occafion to lower the Schooner's Colours, the EJke-
mauxs lov/ercd theirs •, the Schooner's Colours being again hoifted, they
hoifted theirs -, but a Squal of Sleet and Rain came on, which prevented
their having a further Sight of each other. At Six in the Evening the
Schooner was anchored in a convenient Harbour, a level Shore, with
high rocky Land, bare in Spots, the other Parts covered with a good
Herbage and large Groves of Trees, Firs, Spruce, and Pine. An Even-
ing Gun was fired to give the Natives Notice where the Schooner was,
and alfo a good Watch was fet.
Aiigufi the ; 4th, at Day, they fired a Swivel aboard the Schooner,
and difplaycd their Colours as a Signal for Trade -, and a Party went
aftioie to afccnd the Heigliths. Tiie largefl Trees did not exceed ten
Inches Diameter, and fifty Feet in Heighth •, many Runs of excellent
Water, Pon,ds in level Spots j the Country had an agreeable A IfAcl, a
* plentiful
I I
( 134 )
plcnt'ifut Herbage, the Flowers were now blown, the Berries not ripened,
and the Angelica^ of whicli there was great Quantity, not fecdcd. They
had a very laborious Walk before they attained the defired Summit ;
tlie MuR]uctoes very troublefome. Being on an extraordinary Eminence
they iiiw the North and South Point of the main Land, or two Capes
wliich form a Bay, the Northermoft was computed to be fomethmg to
the Northvvi-rd of Latitude 56, and the Southermolt in Latitude ^5.
The Shore high and bold, 10 Northward a Number of Reefs of Rocks
lying out a great Way into the Sea, in the Southern Part of the Bay
many Iflands and two Inlets. Sixty Iflands of Ice of large Dimenfions
in Sight. In the afcending this Helghth, faw many Moole Deer Paths,
Trafts of other Animals; and in the Ponds Trouts of about ttn Inches
in Length. On the Shores few Fowl but Ducks, and a Plenty of Mufcles.
The Weather vc^ warm and pleaf?.nt. Tlie Schooner's People found a
Barrel, a Hogfhead Stave, and a Piece of hewed Wood, on which it was
conjectured that this was no unfrequented Harbour. , , f.
The next Morning, the 15th of Auguji, the Boat was fent to carry
two Penons to the Head of the Harbour, that they might travel to a
Mountain about ten Miles off, to take a View of the inland Part of the
Country. When the Boat returned, the People brought Word they had
feen the Ruins of a Timber Houfe. The Boat was again manned to go
and take a Survey of it ; and it appeared to have been a Houfe built
for feme Perfons to winter in, of Logs joined together, part ftanding,
with a Chimney of Brick and Stone entire. The Houfe confifted of
three Rooms, a Log Tent near, and a Pit dug in which they feemed to
h.'ive buried their Beer. Die Ground cleared at a Diftance round: The
Woods burnt, feveral Hogflieads and Barrels, and feemingly a great
Wafte of Bifcuit, Pork, Salt Filh, and other Provifions, which feemed
as if tliofe wiio had been here had retired with great Preci])itation ;
neither had been icng. gone, as there were frefh Feet Marks on the
Strand, and fome Trees lately hcv/n. The Marks on the Caflc Ihewcd
that the People were from Lovdon \ and it was fuppofed that as tlie EJke-
maux had not come to trade, rliere had been a Fray between the EJke-
matix and thefe People •, and when they confidered the compleat Man-
ner in which the Roat.s v/ere equipped and rigged, doubted wliether the
Ejlemaux had not overpowered them, and had fome of tlie People with
them.
them. The ^t^reat Earneftnefs with which the eklcr of the Eflcemaux
inade Signs for the People in the Boat to go afhore, feemcd to be with
a i^articular Defign : Tiierefore it was thought prudent to be very care-
ful in the Watch at Night, to ftrikc the Bell every half Hour, to keep
a continual Walk on Deck, and call All is welly that the E/kemoux
might hear, if they fliould intend a Surprize, that the People aboard
were on their Guard.
The Morning of the i6th they run up to the Head of the Harbour
with the Schooner, to Wood and Water, thci c being Plenty of Wood
ready cut, and a Place conveniently dammed up to confine a fine Stream
of excellent Water which came from the Heighths. There was then
found feveral Pieces of printed Books, in German and Englijh, the £;/^-
lifl) Moravian Hymns. Peas, Beans, Turnips, and Radiflies planted,
which feemed as if they would come to no great Perfedion, and judged
to have been fowed about three Weeks. The wooding and watering was
finiflied by Ten at Night, but with no fmall Trouble on Account of the
Mufquetoes, though great Smoaks made to keep them oft'.
The two Perfons who had been fent to view the inland Country re-
turned in the Morning, .\ftcr having fpent a rainy Night in th- Woods ;
gave an Account that they had been torced to . go round feveral fmall
Lakes, which made the Way longer than expected ; and the Mountain
was very deep and rugged : Saw feveral large Spots of excellent Mea-
dow : The Tiir' . much the fame as that on the Shores of the Har-
bour : That they faw twj 1 1 lets to Northward, extending a great Way
into the Land : That it was only the Branch of an Inlet that the Veflcl
was at Anchor in •, but they faw the Termination of the Inlet to be in
large Ponds. ■'•
..<">5;o
•I ;■>•!.'
•1!J'
The 17th o{ Auguft the Schooner was to retu -n to her firft Anchorage,
with an Intention to fearch the Inlets to North ^vardj but the Wind
proved contrary, and a hard Gale, though the We^^dier pkafanr. The
1 8th the Wind moderated, and the Schooner returned to her former
Anchorage •, bu*- the Wind did not ferve to quit the Harbour until th*-'
19th in the Afternoon •, the Interval of Time had been filled up in brew-
ing Spruce Beer, and doing other necefiary Work with rel^^edt to the
■ - " . Sail'-,
*«
fS
( !3'' )
r»ail9 antl R'h^glng. At Six in tlic P>cning was clofc in wir'-. the Illand,
wlicic they liuil I'ccn the I'.jkemaux, but now gone. It was not until the
2ift, by rcafon of Calms and Currents, that they attained to the Inkt
to Nortliward. Thole who had been fent out with the Boat to found
a-head, had lien on the Shore an EJkemaux Encampment, from which
they were but very lately retired, and brought from thence a I'iece of a
Jawbone of a Spermaceti Whale, which was cut wiih a Hatchet. It was
plain from that tiie Ejkcmaux were fupplied withi Iron Tools : They alfo
found a Piece of an Earthen Jar. Theyjudgec. there had been about
eleven Tents.
'. ^.i -U-
J.. „
I'he 2 2d oi AiigHJ}, in the Mgrning, the Ship's Company c^tched
fome Cod i they were but fmall, but fine full Fiili. 'i he WJiuleboat
was fent up with fome Hands, to found and find a Harbour: And ihrce
Perfons went on Shore to a liigh Summit, about four Miles off, to view
the Country : Saw in tiieir Way many Trads of Deer, a de.p Soil, good
Cirafs, and met with feveral large level Spots, with Ponds of "Water ;
thick Groves of Timber, and a plentitul Herbage. The Country, f'-om
this Summit, appeared to confill of Kidgcs and Mountains •, and .. the
Weather changed from fine and ple^vfant, to thick and hazey, they faw
the Clouds fettle on feveral Ridgcj of the Mountains near them, as alfo
on the Heighth where they were, and under them. And when they re-
turned the People on board laid they had liad fome fmart Sb.owers of
Rain, which thofe who had been on the Heighth were not fenfible of.
In the Afternoon they proceeded with the Schooner to a Harbour
which thofe wlio had been fent out v/ith the Whaleboat had dilcovered,
an extraordinary fine Harbour \ and it may be here obferved in general,
that moft of the Harbours are very fine ones. There are many of them,
and not far the one from the otlier.
r^ f.
There were on the Shore, in many Places, the Remainder of EJkemaux
Encampments, but fome Time fince they had been there. Timbers of
Boats, on the Shores, which were much decayed, had laid long in the
Weather -, in the Carpenter's C^ inion the Boats they had belonged to
muQ; have been built fifteen or twenty Yer^rs, feemed to be the Timbers
of fuch Boats us hud been fccnwith the Ejlicmaux,
• The
( 137 )
The fiiccceding D:iy there was fuch Weather as tliey could not pro-
cceil i the Day after, the 25th, nin up the Inlet about eight Leagues
Irom the Harbour, which was about eighteen Leagues from the Entrance
of the Inlet. As they proceeded they found the Country more level,
diick Woods, intermixed /ith Birch Trees, and both Shores afforded a
pleafant Verdure. They could not proceed further with the Schooner,
by Rcafon of Falls ; wiiich, being I'urveyed the next Day, might be
paflcd with the Schooner, but with fome DifHculty. Therefore early in
the Morning of the 27th, at a proper Time of Tide, when the Falls
were level, a Party went in a Whaleboat, with a fmall Boat in tow
loaded with Provifions, Bedding, and a Sail for a Tent, to explore the
Head of the Inlet. The furthcft they could get with the Boat was about
live Leagues, being intercepted by impafliible Falls, about 300 Feet in
Length, and forty Feet their perpendicular Height, though of gradual
Defccnt. The Fall Rocks, but the Bank of the Northern Shore, which was
Iteep, was a Kind of Marl, without any Mixture of Stone j and no frozen
Earth here, or in any other Part, ulVuil in lludfon\ Bay, as was proved by
repeated Experiments : Therefore ii may be concluded that this is a
more temperate Climate in Winter than in any Part about nudfon\ Bay,
in the fame or lower Latitudes. ■
From the firfl: Falls to the fecond there were large Levels along Shore,
the Mountains at a confiderablc Diflance within Land, elpecially thofc
on the North Side. The Mountains and Shores thick cloatlied with
Pine, Spruce, Birch, and Alder, much larger and of better Growth
than thofe Trees nearer tlie Sea Coafb -, fome Pines meafurt\l twenty-five
Ifiches in Diameter. In a Pond, on the North Shore, faw two Beaver
Houfc' , and there were Plenty of Beaver Marks, as Dams, Trees barked
and felled by them. The Water was frcfli between the firfl: and fecond
Falls. Poles of JW/^w Tents in many Places along Shore, LodgmtiiCS
only for fingle Families, tied together with Strips of Deer Skin, and
no Encampments after the Ejkemaux Manner, Ihewed that a diflerent In-
dians from the Ejkemaux reforted into this Part. The whole Count.y
had a pleafant Appearance ; but as they came near to the upper Falls,
the Verdure of the Woods, barren Points of Rocks that exalted them-
felves, terminating the View, the Difpofition of the Woods which had
all the Regularity of Art, joined to the Freedom of Nature, the Gloom
T of
( "38 )
of the Evening, thr flow flcady Coiirfe of t!vc Water, and tlic Kchocs of
the ru.'nbling I'all, aftbrded fiich a Scene as affcfled even thofc that
rowed ', and they faid, it was the pleafanted Phicc they had ever fecn.
On .1 level Point, beautifully ^^rcen, f.tuatcd at a fmall Difta;icc from
an 0}i( ning in the Woods, and in full View of and Hearing of the Falls,
there were the Poles of an Indian Tent, which, from the Allies fcarce
cold, a Brt a(l-bone of a wild Goofe, with fonie little Meat on ii: thy t had
been bruilcd, Pieces of Birch Bark left, feemed to have been not long
dderted, and the Situation was fuch as exprefled the hue Inhabitants
to have the foftcft Scnfations. In coming u]) the Inlet they had found
wh. 're there had been a iinall Lire made, as luppofed, to drefs Viduals,
buL put out or covered with Turf, a ufuul Pradice amongfl: Southern
Indians to conceal the Smoke, -when they fuppofe the Enemy is near.
The Boats vvcre iccurely iiarboured, a Tent erected, with a good Fire
before it, and the Peoplc_ relied fecurely all Night.
The next Day, Augujl the 2 8ih, two Perfons were detached to a Sum-
mit, in Appearance about twelve Miles off, others went and hung Strings
of Beads, Combs, Knives, and other Peltry, on the Trees, fome at a
Mile, and others at a further Diftance, from where they kept their
Can'p all Day, to invite the Indians to a Converie with them ; but no
Indians were leen, nor any Thing meddled with. Thole who had walked
to take the View from the Summit, faw the Water above the Falls ex-
tend a great Dlllance into the Country, but not the Termination of it,
paffing through Meadow Lands of large Dimenfions, and by the Foot of
fmall rifing Land, they faw a large high Ridge of blue Mouncains at a
great Diftance, runnmg North and South, which was fuppofed to be th(v
Bounds of the new diicovered Sea in H:dfon\ Bay: Saw leveral other
Ridges of Land, but feemingly more level than thofc to Seaward; paffed
over in travelling feveral Spots of excellent Soil, the Timber of good
Size and Growth. There was v. great Plenty of Grafs and Herbage •>
walked a great Way in an Indian Path, iind faw feveral njarked Trees,
as is practiced amongft the Souihcrn Indians. They returned in the
Evening, mucli fatic^ued with the Heat of the Sun, and fwelled with
the Bites of Mufquetoc;, and a fmall black Fly, like thofc in England
cr.Ued a Midge. I'hofe tli-xi H-.tid at the Encampment were alio much
plagued with thefe Inlecls.
The
?
«39
)
The I/Uituilo of the upper Talli w.is 54 Vc^. 48 Min. near the ima-
ginary Line that bounded the E»g/ijh and I'rcnib Limits in thcfc I'arts ^
and it being fuppofcd that the two Inltts, Icen from the I Icight above
the I larbour where they lirlL ancliored, would terminate in iht- French
I/nnits 1 they therefore had declined making any Search there, and pro-
leeded to fearch the Inlet to Northward. . .
The next Morning they fet out to return to the Schooner, with a
Defign to fearch the other Inlet to Northward, feen from the Mouniiuu
at the Hack of the firft Harbour, but not feen fince by Rcalbn of a
high Ridge ot Mountains, as it was fuppofcd, that covered it. In the
Night there had been a (liarp Frofl, and early in tiie Morning a thick
Fog. About Ten in tlie Morning they were returned to the Schooner.
Several of the People, contrary to the written Inflrudlions wiiich v/ere
left, had rambled from the Veflll, got on the Heights, rollctl down the
Indian Marks, which are Stones that they put u]) one on another on
the Knolls and Summits of Hills, to dired them in their jounu'ying i a
Proceeding which was highly diffatisfadlory to the Commuixler, confi-
dering the Difpofition which it was found the Natives were in, and
whom, with the greatefl: Induflry, they could not get a Sight of. The
People had fliot fome few Fowl, which were plentier n this Inlet than
any where that they had feen, but very fliy add wild. They liiiled that
Afternoon to the Harbour which they were at when they firit entered
this Inlet. • . , •
yltigiift the 29th they failed out of this Inlet 10 go to the Northward,
kee);ing within a Ledge of Klands, as they might pafs no Part of tbu
Coart unfearched. Met with ibme Dilficukies amongfl: the Shoals and
Rocks i but about Four in the Afternoon wci-" clear of all, and plyed to
Windward to enter the third or more Northern Inlet, which they had
now open. Saw at the Head of a pretty deep Cove, on tiie South Side
in that Inlet, a ftrong Smoke arile, and that immediately anfwercd by a
leflTer Smoke on the Northern Side of the Inlet. The Smoke on the
Northern Side the Inlet continued towering and frefliening •, on fei ing
which they immediately ficcred for the Cove, fuppofing tlic Smt^ke
to be made by the Natives as a Signal for Trade ; but were delayed en-
tering by tlic Tide of Ebb. At Sunfet were furprifcd with a Squall of
T 2 Wind,
( 14°
)
"Wind, which came on in a Moment, and the Schooner in extreme Dan-
ger oi being afliore on the Rocks. A iiard Gale fucceedcd, but tliey
fortunately attained a Harbour, which had been before difcovered by the
B?!:, . d rode lecure.
The 31ft of yhguji, the Weather being moderate, two Perfons went
over tiie Heights to the Head of the Cove, in Purfuit of the Natives •,
and three Perfons w;nt in a Boat to tlie Head of the Cove, with fonie
trading Goods, and to pafs the two who walked, over the Water if it
ran up into the Country, and the Natives fliould be on the oppofite
Shore ; but after rowing up about two Leagues they found a Termina-
tion of Jie Water, landed and afcended the Heights, where they found
a very large Plain, without Ponds, and a fine Soil, which they pafled
over and delcended into a Valley, tliick Groves, good Grafs, and large
Ponds. Here they met with a Bear ; which one of the People firing too
precipitately miAed. Several Bears had been feen before, fome Foxes,
many Trails ci Wolves, both on the Shores and Inland, and in one
Place Otter Paths.
Three of tiie People v,cre fent to return with the Boat aboard, and
two fet out to go up a Mountain which promiled a good Sight of the
Country, and feemed pofllble that they might attain to the Summit of
it, and return to the Schooner that Night -, but were deceived by the
Height of the Mountain as to the Diftance they were from it. In the
Afcent they found great Declivities and Hollows in the Sides of the
Mountain, the Rocks rent in a moft furprifing Manner, having Rents or
Fiffi'.ies in them from thirty to fevcnty Feet in Depth ; fome tremendous
to look down, and not above two or three Feet in Breadth, The Dogs
that were with them would not, after looking down, jump over them,
but howled and took a Sweep round. In the Levels and Hollows on
the Side there lay great Heaps of fallen Rock. Some Stones or folid
Pieces of ten or fifteen Tons Weight, befides innumerable leffer Pieces.
And found a Patch of Snow in one of the Hollows, about forty Feet in
Bread di, and fourteen Feet in perpendicular Height, frozen folid, and
feemed of the fame Confiftence with the Iflands of Ice. I'he Perfons,
though conltantly labouring, did not attain .0 ti\e Top of the Moun-
tain until about Half an Hour before Sunfet, where they found a thin
Air..
( HI )
Air, and a frelh fhrrp cold Wind -, though below, and In tlicir Afcent,
they had experienced pleafant warm Weather, and little Wind. From
the Mountain they perceived a Smoke, about ten Miles off more inland,
the ufual Pradlicc of the Indians in the Evenings, when they form
their Camps, to make a Fire to drefs their Provifions, and to be by all
Night i and it was then fufpeded that they were flying more inland,
and that the Smokes feen tlie Night before were Signals from one Party
to anodier to retire on feeing the Schooner, fuppoling us Enemies. It
was too late that Night to return to tiie Head of the Cove, therefore en-
camped that Night on the Side of the Mountain in the Woods, near to
a level Spot without the leail Unevennefs of above fix Hundred Feet in
Breadth, and three Hundred over, exadly refembling a Pavement with-
out any Fiffurc or Opening in it. The next Day got to tlie Head of the
Cove, near twelve Miles from the Mountain -, on a Signal made the
Boat fetched tliem aboard, where the People exprefled in their Counte-
nances a univerfal Joy at feeing tlieir Commander fafe returned, whicli
was a great Sacisfaftion to him, as it was an Inftanct more fincerely ex-
prefled than by formal Words addrefled to him, that they looked on
their Security to depend on his Prelervation. The Wind was contrary
to their o-ctting out of the Harbour that Afternoon •, but the Boats were
employed in leeking the bell Channel for the Sc'iooner to go out at.
The Morning of September the 2d, the Wind proved favourable, and
that Evening they got a good Way up the third Inlet. When they were
fome Way up the Inlet, they difcovered a Smoke upon an I Hand at the
Entrance of the Inlet, and, when at Anchor, a Smoke alfo on the North
Shore. Therefore by Day -light, Sfptewlcr die 3d, the Time when
Sniokes are moft difcernable and looked out for by ihcLidiaw!, a Perfon
was ient to fire the Brufn on an Eminence afliort, to anfvv'er that Smoke
feen on the North Shore tlie Nigh.t before. Then Hie Sc!iooner pro-
ceeded up the Inlet, and by Ten o'Clock was come to the Extremity of
it, which terminated in a Bay of very deep Water, furrcundcd by very
fi;eep Mountains, with Groves of Trees on them -, but they found a f:;ood
Anchorage in a Cove, and an excellent Harbour. The Fleighto being
afeended, it was perceived there w?.: a narrow Streight out of this Inlet,
which communicated with Ponds. And that there wa.r a fourth Inletta
Northward,
( 142 )
N(M ilivanl, i^nd which extended further to Wcftward than the Inlet wliich
the Veflll Wiis now in, and about four Miles off, beyond the Hills there
;i})peared a towering Smoke, upon the Sight of v/hich the Perfons who
went to talce the View returned aboard to get fome Provifions, and a
Parcel of trading Goods, and fet out again with an Intention to feek
tlie Natives, and fpend the Night amongft them. The Boat put them
sifliore where it v/as thougiit moil convenient and neareft Place to the
Smoke, but it proved otherwife •, for after travelling about three Miles
they fell in with a Chain of Ponds, which they were forced to go round.
Hot fuluy Weather, the Woods thick, v/ithout the leaft Breath of Wind,
infinite Number of Mufquetoes and Midges. But by being thus to go
round the Ponds, had the Satisfa<5lion of feeing feveral Beavers Dams
made to keep out the Tide Waters. They faw a Continuance of the
Smoke, and fliaped a Courfe for it ; but when on the Heights perceived
that the Smoke was on an Ifland about two Miles off the Shore in the
fourth Tiuc:, tliercfore returned to the Veffel that Night.
The 4th of September^ in the Morning, they towed out of the Harbour
rhey Vvcre in, the Wind loon afier fprung up, and by Night they go
out of the Inlet, and anchored amongft fome Iflands, juft at the En-
trance of the fourth Inlet.
%
The next Morning, September the 5th, entered the fourth Inlet -, but
being becalmed a Imail Time catciied above fifty Cod, much fuch as
they had befo'' taken. By Twelve o'Clock were abreall of the Ifland
where they they had feen the Smoke on the 3d, and which was four
Leagues from the Entrance : Could perceive no Natives, but feveral
.1 'ires, and that there had been a great biirning of the Brufli j foon after
faw a Snow lying at an Anchor, which hoiftcd Englifo Colours, and fired
a Gun, Tlicy hoifted the Colours aboard the Schoorier, fired a Swivel,
and bore away for the Snow. The W^ind was frefh, and, as tiic Schooner
was entering the Harbour, two People came running over the Rocks,
hailed, but it could not be w°ll underftood what they faid ; but it was
a friendly Precaution is to fome Rocks v/hich lay off there. The Snow's
People then took to their Boat, and made a Trip to view the Schooner
a^ fhc was coming to an Anchor, and then returned aboard. A Whale-
boat
iii
( 143 )
boat was hoifled out, and a Pc rfon fent in it to go aboard the Snow,
and know where (he was from, and to let the Captain know they would
be glad to fee him aboard the Schooner. , '
The Perfon fent, and Capt. Elijah Goff the Comniander of the Snow,
returned aboard in a fliort Time j and the Particulars of what the Cap-
tain related were, That the Snow was fitted out by Mr. Nejlit^ a Mer-
chant in London : That he, the prefent Captain, had been the Yer.r be-
fore Mate of the fame Veflel on this Coafl : That (he was then fitted
out by Belly Nejhit and Company i the intended Voyage kept a great Se-
cret. They had, the Y^ar before as a Captain, a Dane who had ufcd
t.\iQ Greenland Trzdc, and could talk t\\t Ejkemaux l^^r\g\x2igQ. That the
Snow had been at Newfoundland., and afterwards came on the Labrador
Coafl: ; but being Strangers to the Coafl", and the Captain very obflinute,
the Veflel was feveral Times in Danger, which raifed a Mutinr Amongd
the People, who had formed a Rcfolution of feizing the Ship, and bear-
ing away for Newfoundland -, which Mutiny was appeaibd, and the Peo-
ple contented to go to the Labrador, wliere they harboured July the
'20th, in the fame Harbour v/hich the Schooner firfl: entered this Year.
They brought with them four of the Unitas Fratrtim.^ or Moravian Ere-
tliren, who were to remain during the Winter, to attain an Acquain-
tance with the Natives, and lay a Foundation of Trade : That the Moufe^
the Ruins of which the Difcoverer faw, was built for the Refidence of
theie Brethren ; ^nd, being compleated by the Beginning of SepiembcTy
the Snow left them in Pofic'flion of it, and let out to make DifcovTries,
and puriue a Trade to Northward : That they had fome Trade in Ntj^yii's
Harbour, the Narae they had given to the Harbour where the i loule
was, and alfo on the Coart before they arrived at the Harbour : That
when they went to Northward; in about Lat. 5^'' 40' oft' the Iflands,
amongft which the Schooner had harboured the preceding Night, fome
Efnemaiix came aboard, and told the Dane Captain there we'e fome tra-
ding Boats come from the Northward, with Plenty of I'radc, a'.\l ad-
viled the Captain to come where th^ Ifland ; he had no other Boat, one being left
v/ith ihc Moravian B.-cthrcn. Capt. Goff waited three Davs, and then
returned with the Snow to the Harbour wiiere the Moufe was. The Snow
being Ihort of Hands, lie took the A/orrtZ'/rtw Brethren aboard, leaving a
Quandty of Provifions iufficient to fubfift the unhappy People who
Avere nvKilng fliould they come there, until his Return. They put the
Key of the Houfe and a Letter in a Hole of a Tree ; but on his Re-
turn this Year found the Houfe in Ruins, the Cafks and Hogfheads
broke to Pieces, and tlie Key and Letter gone. That what was fowed
there was by Way of Experiment. ......
Capt. G(9^ judged tliat t\\t EJI^emnux traded with the French, as their
Fiihgiggs, Knives, and Boats, were French -, and the EJkematix told them
tdere was a Settlement of twenty Europeans to Southward, which they
fuppofed to be ibmcwhcre to Southward of Lat. c^c^, the Latitude of tlie
Cape they had named Cape Harrifon^ which is the Southermolt Cape
that forms the Bay in which is Nejhit^s Harbour, and the high Saddle-
back Land within, which is firfl; feen off at Sea they named St. John's.
He faid that one of the F.Jkemciix offered a Qiiantity of Whalebone for
a Cutlals, wliich they are very fond of; tlie Danijrj Captain infiftt.d on
having niore, the EJkemaux anfwcred, If he would not take it that Capt.
Sakroo would •, alluding, as fuppofed, to the Captain or Fadlor at the
French Settlement. The Boats the EJkcmaiix had were French : They
i'poke m.iny French Words. And the Women worked the Boats, turned
them to Windward, and were very expert in the Management of them.
The Account given by the Mafl:er who went in the Schooner's Boat
to nfli for Cod (Capt. Cf^jf not having yet got any) to the People in
the Boat was. That Mr. Nejbit was only, in this Cafe, an Agent or Fac-
tor for the Moravian Brethren, who aimed at a Settlement in thefe Parts,
and to attain a Proprietv bv a prior Poflefllon, but that no Propriety
a would
( M5 )
Tivould be allowed of by our Government : Tlut Petitions lud bfi*n
flung into the Board of Trade for Patents for the LabradoVy but were
rejeifted, and a free I'rade would be permitted to all the Subjefts of
Great Britain \ which open Trade was the original Defign on which this
Difcovery was undertaken by the People in America \ the Execution of
which was not only interrupted by private Perlbns dealing the Scheme,
and being before hand, but hath been a great Hindrance to tlie Fiflicncs
being carried on in thofe Parts, a Tjjide ellablilhed with the inland In-
dians and the EJkemaux, and further Advantages which will be known,
on our being better acquainted with thofe Parts. For as to this :^eve-
rity of the EJkemaux, inexculably barbarous, yet there were fome Provo-
cations which might have been avoided, and whiop of tteut 35 Tons, fitted out from RJaode IJiand to go n Pur-
fuit of i. North-iveJi PaJfage •, and if not fucccfsful to come down on
the Ccaft of Labrador. Capt. Gcff faid he liad learned by Capt. Taylor
that the Philadelphia Schooner would be out, and he fliould have lul-
pcded this to be her, but ihe entered tlie Inlet fo readily, and cnme up
.U with
'
( H6 )
with that Boldnefs as could not but thinl; that the Schooner was a French
Veffl'l acquainted v/ith the Coafti and he had received Orders to avoid
any Harbour in which a French Ship fliould appear. Capt. Taylor bad
feen a large French Sloop in Latitude c^^^ and to the Northward three
hundred F.Jhmaux^ \\\\o had notiiing to trade but their old Cloatlis,
and wl'.o were going further to Northward, but were hindered by the
Ice. Capt. Coff and Taylor^ who had entered into an Agreement to
aflociate, were eight Days grapple,d to the Ice, and did not arrive at
Nejhiih Harbour until the 20th of July. But had traded with feme of
the Ejlccmaux before, though for fmall Matters, and had fome of thefe
F-Jkemaux aboard for three fuccefllve Days, who then left them, and
came no more aboard the Veflels. Capt. Goff fufpefted, though he had
altered his Drefs, that tliey had then recollefled him. The ill of yf«-(
gtiji they fiiiled from Nejbit*^ Harbour, and attained to this Inlet where
he now was -, and on the 1 1 th failed to the Northward, when Capt.
'Taylar left him ; and on the 25th returned here again. That the Smoke
which the Pcrfons faw on the Ifland when they travelled over Land,
and which the Schooner pafled that Day, was made by his Order, but
that he had not made any other Smoke, and this was for a Dircftibn for
his Longboat, gone to the Northward to trade, and to fignify to Capt.
taylm- his being in the Haibour, whofe Return he expedled. , , ;. . ^
Capt. Go^ laid he had been in no Inlet but Nejlit'5 Harbour, and in
this wlien' the Snow was •, and that Capt. T^aylar^ in the Snow's Long-
boar, had fcarched, the H^ead of this Inlet, rt^cwed a Draught of the
CoAll, which Wfs defec^ve, as he knew nothing of the intermediate In-
lets. Had no Account of the inland Country 4 of there being any Bea-
ver or other Furs to be acquired there •, or of there being any Mines, of
wliich the Schooner's People had feen many Inftances, and had collcded
iome Ore. Capt. Goff had two Tiutch Draughts oi the Coaft, made
from late Surveys j but they were very inaccurate, the Views taken
from Sea, and there the Land appeared dole and continued ; the Inlets,
excepting that in which they now were, appearing like fmall Bays,
their Entrance being covered by Iflands. They had, this Year, found
the Corpfe of one of thofe w1k> went in the Boat, ftripped and lying
■on T.n IQand, j
It
:■
( '47 )
. -Ic being rainy Wcathei", anil the Wind contrary tg t!iw Sohoancr's
going up the Inlet, they were detained, and on 6V/>/t'w^t'/* the 8ih the
Snow's Lcnj^boat returned, after having been out fourteen Days, with
fome Whalebone, and a Quantity of EJkemaux Cloathing, which being
examined to find out if the EJkemaux wore Furs, there was only feen a
fmail Slip of Otter Skin on one of the Frocks. And Capt. Gojf\ being
afked, faid he never faw any Furs amongft theni. It is pretty evident
the EflcmatM only p^fs along this Coaft, to go and trade witii tlie E/le-
mottx in Htai/on's Streights, and occafionally put in as W-^atlier or other
Occafions may make it neceffary, which keeps the Native or inland /«-
dtans from the Coaft, as they are their Enemies. The EJI:emaux go up
to Latitude 58, or further North j there leave tiieir grpat Boats, pals a
irnall Neck of Land, taking their Canoes with them, and then go into
gnother Water which , cpoMrAinieates witli Ilndfon^ Streights. Cany
their Return of Trade \n%Q EJkemaux Bay, where they live in Winter -, and
the French made confiderable Returns to Old France^ by the Whalebone
and Oil procured from thefe People. And this Account is agreeableto
the beft Information that; could be procured. ,
* . ■.'■J ' ./rtiv. . ... '/
While the ScKooner's
brought that the EJkemaux were coming, who may be heard fhouting al-
moft before that they can be difcerned, the Schooner's People repaired
aboard. On the Colours aboard the Snow being hoifted, the Schooner's
People difplayed theirs •, but the Snow being the neareft, and the Snow's
t^eople fo urged the EJkemaux to come along-fide them, that they were
afraid to pafs. The EJkemauit had no large Boats with them, only their
Canoes, three of which came afterwards along-fide the Schooner. It
was perceived t' at none of the leading People were in the Canoes ; they
expoied no Ma.-ks or Shew of any Trade they had, which was ufual for
them to lay on the OutCde their Canoes ; neverthelefs they were pre-
fented with Rings. It was fome Time before they began to trade with
the Snow's People, and then it was carried on in a very peremptory
Manner. ■ . , ' , . , ' " .
s People were viewing the Cloaths, Word was
The People in the Schooner, a light Wind fpringing up, weighed An-
:hor, with a Dcfign to proceed up the Inlet, expei^tin^ to be fpUowcd
■ xj 2' ■ • : ■ - '• ■ ■■•by
( .+8 )
^y the Ej7cemau^\ whtn they faw that they were not Aflbciates with the
Snow's People, fo to have a future Opportunity of trading with them.
It was alio confillcnt with the Defign they had of fearching this Inlet,
the firft Opportunity that oftcred. They took their Leave of Capt. Goff
as they palled, and when advanced further beat their Drum. The
Ejhmaux quitted the Snow and came after the Schooner. The Fire
Arms were all primed and in order aboard the Schooner, but concealed;
each Man had his Station y and they were ordeied to treat the EJkemaux
as Men, and to behave to them in an orderly Manner } no hallooing,
jumping, or wreftling with them when they came aboard ; not to refufc
Ibme of the EJJcemau^jiQ come aboard, and let others, as there were but
iilne Canoes in all,^^!. ...
-A,
,.:.L
>t V'
,^tj:.,.
As the E/Jdemauxitafttt al6ng-fide the Schooner, they were prefented
each with a Bifcuit, si Perfon (landing in the main Chains with a Bafket
of Bifcuit for that Purpofe. Then they aboard the Schooner fhewed a
Kettle, a Hatchet, and fome other Things, which feemed much to
pleafe the EJkanaux. One of them attempting to get into the Schooner,
two of the People helped him in : He was received civilly on the Quar-
ter-deck J the trading Box fhewed him, a Spoon, a Knife, and a Comb
with which he touched his Hair and feemed defirous of, were given him.
Other EJkemaux werie by this Time aboard. They were prefented with
Fifh-hooks, Imall- Knives, Gbmbs, and a King Gwr^/s Shilling apiece,
which they carefully put into their Sleeves. In the interim the EJkemaun
who came firft- aboard wae gohcf to the Side, an^ called to another yet
-.in the Canoe under the Tit!*' of Crt/>f7ff«« 'The EJl'twaux (6 caHed to im-
mediately came aboard, fidoted the Commander with three Congees,
^ndkifftd each Cheek. He ^wasfprefeiited with a: Spoon and a Knife.
• Being fhewii the Goods, appdared very defirous of a; File, offering old
Cloftths for it; Bur the Cdfnmander fignifiM he would not trade for
:o\d Qloathsy 'hrtt^haecock (Svhich is' Whalebone ih' their Language) or
Skins ; and the''-fetter he dehoted to' the Cipiiaine by a Piece of white
Bear Skin that the' Capitaine had brought in his Hand. The Capitaine
^xprefTed by his Aition that he had not either Bone or Skins : He was
then prefented with the File ; was fhewed a Matchcoat, which he fur-
accwatcly i (igncd to the Commander if he was not come
very
round
-.^^'••*
( t49 )
'round from the South-weft, meaning, as fuppofcd, from ^tieck or the
Gulph of St. Lawrence. Afterwards took the Commander under hii
Arm, and fliewed a Dcfire of going into the Cabbin, which was conv
plied with. He pafled the Door firft, and fat down in as regular a
Manner as any European^ having firft accurately looked about him •, but
there were no Fire- Arms in Sight. Refufcd Wine, drank Spruce Beer>
was (hewed a Sample of all the Kind of Goods, with which he feemed
■well pleafcd j and it was fignified to him that there was Plenty of them.
While in the Cabbin the other EJkemaux who were on Deck, called to
their CapitainCy they were invited down. Three of the EJkemaux came,
but it was obfervable the Ctf/a/fl/w covered the Goods with aWoollea
Cloth, which lay on the Table. They were prefeilted with Beef and
Puddings which they took, and returned on Deck. The E/kemaux Ca*-
fitaine put the Good§ into the Box himfblf vmy honeiUy, and feeming
to admire a fmall Brafs-handled Penknife, it was prcfented to him. He
then returned on Deck, pointed to the^un, lowered his Hand a little,
then made a Sign of fleeping by ftiutting his Eyes, and laying his Hand
to his Cheek, and fliewed with his Hand to have the Schooner to conip
to an Anchor juft above. By which it was underftood that a little after
that Time the next Day he would be there with Trade. The Schooner,
being by this Time oppofite to a narrow PafTage, or Strei^ght formed by
Inlands, through which the EJkemaux had come into this Inlet, the C**
pitaine ordead his People into their CaAoes, and retired with a Congee
himfclf, after repeating the Commander's Name, to fee if he had it
right, and which he had been very induftriom to learn while he was in
the Cabbin. The Commander attended him to the Side v and feeing in
his Canoe a War-bow and Arrows, which are .of a curious Cojiftru(flion,
preffcd him to let him have them, though the fame Thing as afking a
Man to part with the Sword he wore. The Capitaine^ by Signs, fhewed
he could not part with it, and feemed to exprela it with, great Reluc-
tance that he could not. This Circumftance, and their having no Wo-
men with them, caufed the Schooner's People to think they looked
upon themfelves, when they fet out, as coming amongft their Enemies,
The Drum was beat umil they were out of Sight ; and the Capitaine^
juft before he loft Sight of the Schooner by being (hut in by the Iflands,
pointed to the Sun, and the anchoring Place. The EJkemam^ while
aboard*
a
i5o )
fiboartl, bcliavcd with great Decency ami Silence j though at firft tlicy
•began to jump and h;Uloo, as they had done aboard the Snow •, but fu>d-
•ing the People of the Sciiooner not fo difpoled, foon left off. ■];:t\-
i: '.':'■ : '. :\ .;.v;'i. ;.: l:u\ ,"•!•: . . :n :T!f ' .:'»> UlUf
' iS6on after tiv-.* Schooner v.>as anchored in an excellent Harbour^ the
^Snow's Boat came ivlong-fidc, with the firft Mate and Agent. Thtff
•were afkcd to mefs ; and it being enquired of them how far they had
"been with the Longboat in the laft Trip, faid to Latitude 57' 14' :
Had feen no EJkemaux, but within a few Days, though they had been
■out fourteen Days. The Mate faid, that he had chafed a trading Boaiy
Vith two EJkemanx in it, who had endeavoured to avoid them, and
'dodged amongft the Iflands ; but he came up with them as though ht
"had been a Privateer's Boat i run bolt aboard them, and fo frighteneil
the EJketnaux that they fell on their Knees, cried out. Tout CemfradA,
Mrid they would have given him all they had. He faid they took out the
Whalebone, which he brought aboard, about a Hundred and fifty
Weight, and paid them for it as much as he faw the Captain give. Hfe
Taw other EJkemaux at times alhore, wliefe they invited him, but woiilA
not venture ; and fired a Blunderbufs, charged with thirteen Bullets,
viver them, which caufed fome of them to fall down, others to bow.
^bmc EJkematix came along-fide, and traded their Cloaths ; but with great
Tfcar, crying out, ToUi Comerado^ as he had four Men armed ftandmg
'In the' Bow of the Boat. Said that thofe EJiemaux hz.di, who were juft
^one from the Schooner, the Peoples Cloaths who had been trepanned
the laft Year, particularly a brown Waiftcoat, which had had white But-
tons oh it, and a" white Great-c6at. The Great-coat meant was a Pf-encb
Matchcoat, which the EJkmmx Captain had on, made u^ in a Frock
■ftctording to the' Manner tha? they wear ' therfi. The fujJpofed brown
Jacket was a Trench brown Cloth', and there were two EJkemaUx who
"had them*. The Mate faid the* Schooner's People h'ad talked of fome
Inlets •, but no Anfwef was made, on which he declared there was nb
Inlet between iSTij^/'/'s Harbour and where they then were, nor any Inlet
to Northward between that and Latitude 57° 14'. After making fomfe
Enquiries, as to what the Schooner's People further intended, quitted,
land made for the Streight the EJ^emauxhud paflcd through.
This
( <5> )
• • This is mentioned as an Inftancc of what Caution (houkl be ufed^
as to theChoice of Pcrfons fcnt on Expeditions to explore iinfnqucntcd
or unknown Parts, as the Adventurers may be Sufferers, and the Ucalbn
of their being fo a Secret, and thereon pronounce dccifively no Advan-
tages arc to be r.iade, thus deprived of what might be grr "ly to their
private Emolument in Time undrr a proper Conducft, and to the Bene*
fit of the Publick. And there is a further Misfortune attending ;m
improper Choice, whicii every focial and generous Man wili confKk'r,
That according to the ImprelTions that Indians receive on the firll Ac-
quaintance, a lading Friendfliip may be expected, or an Enmity and
Jealoufy very difficu't to remove, who, in the interim, will execute their
Revenge -, not on thofe who gave the Offence, but on all iq^ifcrinii-
nately of the r?.ine Completion, when an Opportunity offers. . Jieafo is
would be unnecefTarily urged in Support of what Experience proves,
and of which there huvc been feveral melancholy Examples on this
Coaft. By a Privateer from New Tork^ fome Years fince, the firft Of^
fence was given ; thofe who have gone fince have done nothing to mollify
or abate this Enmity and RcA'enge. There could be no Expectation
of a Reconciliation with thefe Indians^ to the great Improvement of
Comrnerce in various Branches, but by the Meafurcs taken, the fendinfr
fome of his Majefly's Ships into thefe Parts to explore and get a Know-
ledge of the C( 1 i and the Commanders to eftabliHi a Regulation,
which will be a isfadlion and Encouragement to every fair ^Ti'ftder;
and where the li. • long fince might have been brought to fome Pcr-
f«(5tion, had it not bc*en from the ?little djrty Avarice of thofe eio^ployed
by private Atlventurers, wi»0! h'idaicd the original Delign haying a due
Effedt 1 and by interfering the one v/ith the, other, to their mutual Pre-
judice, they prcvi'nted thofe Returns on their Voyage3,>^hich might luiv'e
been otherwife male. The Cojifequence was, all. tA,uurq Attempts were
dropt, and. it was indeed rendered almoft im]. (r],i}le,tii;U,any frefli Un-
dertakings fhould meet with Succcfs, by the DiifiCSlties flung in the
Way ^" Account of the Natives, bOt which wil^ noW' bC efTtftuiilly re-
movv-ti L'V the Government giving their Affiftance. ••..
The rv. xt Morning three People were fent from the Schooner i "i;o on
the Heights, to difcover the Water the EJkimanx had gone into, and to
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IMAGE EVALUATION
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Ji '.vssT MAIN STRKT
WIRSr^M.N.Y. 145M
(71«) 373-45C3
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fee if the j^jiemaux were coming. The Account brought back was,
that there was fecn an [ftJia» trading Boat or Shallop under Sail, which
prefently tacked and flood towards four other Shallops. They all low-
ered Sail, and tlie EJkemaux feemed to be confulting together. Soon
after the People faw the Snow's Longboat coming, the Shallops hoifted
Sail, then went one Canoe, afterwards two more, to the Snow's Long-
boat, while the Shallops crouded away. The Schooner's People, after
this Time, had no Opportunity of feeing :he Ejkemaux j and attributed
their coming no more to their Fear of meeting the Longboat, or the
bad Weather, it being wet and bluftering for the fcverai fuccecding
Days. But they learned, after tl;e Schooner had returned to Philadelphia^
that thofe in the Snow's Longboat followed the Shallops, came up with
them, and took what they had. The Reafon is apparent for their not
coming to the Schooner as they had no Trade, and as they might have
a Sufpicion that the Schooner's People had a Connivance with thofe in
the Boat, efpccially as they might fee the three I*eople from the Schooner
Handing on the Heights.
The Commander fearched the Head of this Inlet, the Shores of which
were the moft barren of any that had ye', been feen, from the Sea to the
Head of it, about nine Leagues. Uj^-on their Return they found the
Snow gone j they then went through the Streight by which they faw the
EJkemaux pafs to explore that Water. From this the Difcoverer pafled
between Iflands, without going out to Sea into a fecond Inlet \ and from
that to a third from where he had met the Snow, and the feventh fvomNef-
l>ii*s Harbour. And the feventh or laft Inlet ran a North and Wefterly
Courfe, and terminated the fiirtheft inland, or had the moft Weftem
Longitude of any of the Inlets i and its Head about fifteen Leagues
from the Sea.
Thefe laft three Inlets to Seaward are feparated by very large Idands,
and have Iflands lying off diredlly athwart their Entrance, fo that it is
difficult to difcover, when within thefe Iflands, that there is any Outlet to
the Sea. The Iflands have little Wood on them, and arc moftly barren
Rock } but the main Land much as in the other Parts^, only the Inland
more level. The blue Ridge of Mountains appeared plainer than from
any other Parr. The Latitude of the furtheft Inlet about 56.
Having
'"V«,
( 153 )
Having explored thefe refpedive Waters and adjacent Country, and
Davis's Inlet, confequently, though it is difficult to which properly to
affix the Name i and the Autumn being far advanced, as was apparent
from the Birch Leaves becoming yellow, the Berries Frofl-bit, the Pines
and Spruce turning brown, 'evere Gales, Snow and Sleet at times, and
exceffive cold on the high Landj fo as nothing further could be carried
on with any Spirit, but exceflivc Fatigue, and the Health of the People,
as well preferved as on firft fetting out, would be now impaired, with
no certain Profped of doing any Thing further that was material, fuf-
ficient Harbours having been found j on the 20th oi'^Sepumber they fee
out on their Return. . ''■■■. ''■■' ...
Leaving the Land favoured with pfeafant Weather, an Opportunity
waited for to make aq accurate Survey of the Fiihing Bank, and to find
the Diftance it lay from thc: Lanjdy whicli froiri the Soundings on making
the Land, the feeing the Iflands of ke aground, and the Account of
Davis^ was known to- be there, and named by him Walfingham*& Bank,,
after the true Patriot and generous Patron of a Difcovery of a Nortli-
weft Paflage. Sounding about a League from Land, with one Hundred
and fifty Fathom of Line, had no Ground. At about fix Leagues from
Land, twenty-five Fathoms afterwards various Soundings, and catched
a great many Cod, large and full fed, reckoned by the People aboard,
to be very extraordinarj' Fifh, fome of whom from Bojlon followed the
Employ of filhing for Cod. The Bank was concluded to be about iiine
Leagues broad, and ninety Fathom Soundings on the going off it, on
the Eaftern Side ; and it was concluded, on a pretty good Aflurgnce,
that it reaches from Lat. 57 to Lat. 54, if not further j but the, Wea-
ther proving boifterous, as they ran to the Southward, could i^ot ?on- ■
tinue their Soundings. , . • '
ri;K
.»fi?
The Schooner founded with a Hundred and fifty Fathom of Line,
clofe by an Ifland of Ice, of a furprifing Magnitude, between the Bank
and the Shore, which was aground, and they, did not get Soundings..
■'.^'^m-
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^w^^v^^w^^
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•. L.
ERRATA.
lb.
Page I".
L.
23-
. .44.
L.
II.
. 45-
L.
36.
49-
L.
18.
. " 54-
L.
i:.
1 61.
L.
15-
67.
L.
29.
82.
L.
6.
L.
9-
83.
L.
28.
90.
L.
'7-
1 06.
L.
?.2.
III.
Ldj^.
^•^ .-,. .-136.
L.
14.
.^.•t, l^v ^
de Fuentes. The, read de Fueiites, the.'
de Fonte's, read de Fonte's Account.
Don Ronquillo, read Don Peni^jioffa.
from, reaain. .^'^
to the Southward, read to the Northward.
it, read this Miflion.
as that worthy, read that worthy.
New Spain, r^^rf Florida.
Florida, r^^^/ Peruan Part.
is confiftent, read is not confiftent.
Rivers and Harbours, read River .md Harbour.
in the Year 1746, read until the Year 1745.
between the Sea, read the Ocean and the Sea,
nigh Summit, read high Summit.
f > ■■■ " " "T"
DIRECTIONS for placing the MAPS.
Mapof ^^i^tf»//sJDifcoveries, in Front.
Map of ATtfw^tSpjMi, from Torquemada, Page 86.
Map of ;thc Difcoverics in Hud/en's Bay, Page 122.
./