THE PIvANT WORIvD 227 



The records of the early voyages of the Spaniards across the Pacific 

 from New Spain to Asia are largely traditional, although fairly well authen- 

 ticated by circumstantial evidence. It is not, however, until 1567, with 

 Mendana's discovery of the Solomon Islands, that we can begin to trace 

 with any accuracy the voyages into that mysterious waste of waters. A 

 full account of this first attempt to discover lands in the Pacific would 

 mean a review of Peruvian folk-lore in which the natives had kept alive 

 traditions of inhabited islands to the west,* and also follow the adven- 

 turers on their sail of 3,000 miles to the Solomons. No notice of the 

 breadfruit was made there, but on their way home a low coral island, 

 probably an outlying northern member of the Marshall group, was visited, 

 the Spaniards finding ' ' some of the natives' food, which was very different 

 from those of the islands [Solomons], and of a bad taste and smell." 

 That this native food was the breadfruit is extremely likely, judging from 

 negative evidence ; but on the other hand it is just as probable that it was 

 the fruit of the screw-pine (Pandanus) fermented in underground pits. 

 The Pandanus tree is extremely common on the low coral islands of the 

 western Pacific, where it apparently grows without human aid, and 

 which, together with the coconut, forms the chief source of food supply 

 of the coral islanders. 



Ferdinand de Quiros, who sailed as chief pilot with Mendana in 1595, 

 when that adventurer attempted to colonize his islands of Solomon which 

 he had discovered over a quarter of a century before, noted the breadfruit 

 growing on the island of Santa Christina or Tauta in the Marquesas 

 group. This group of islands was first made known to Europeans through 

 this expedition, and in the harbor of Madre de Dios, Quiros observed the 

 natives and made notes on their food supplies, the following being the 

 first account of the fruit which can be identified with certainty : 



"A fruit growing on large trees, each fruit about the size of a large 

 pineapple. It is a very good fruit. I have eaten much of it green, roasted 

 and boiled, and ripe. It is so sweet and good a fruit that, in my opinion, 

 there is none superior, having nothing to throw away but a little shell." t 



A letter from Quiros to Don Antonio de Morga, Ivt. -General of the 

 Philippines, is the principal source of information regarding this voyage 

 upon which the Spanish chroniclers draw for their leading facts. Figueroa, 

 however, seems to have talked with companions of Quiros and Mendana, as 

 on particular points he is considerably more detailed, but unfortunately for 

 the history of this voyage only a fragment of his work is to be found. 

 His version is as follows : 



"The trees, mentioned to be in the square, yield a certain fruit which 



•"The Discovery of the Solomon Islands by Alvaro de Mendaua in 1568" (Hakluyt Soc. Ed.). 

 Introd., pp. iv, v. London, 1901. 



t A. Dalrymple, "Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean," 

 Vol. I, p. 70. London, 1770. 



