128 DISCOVERIES OF 1588. 



Sutil and Mexicana^ that the commander of tliis 

 expedition was also furnished with a copy of the 

 manuscript journal of the supposed voyage of 

 IMaldonado. 



The manner in which this spurious voyage 

 found its way to the public is this : — Amoretti, the 

 librarian of the Ambrosian library at Milan, in his 

 examination of the manuscripts, with the view of 

 publishing such of them (agreeably with the inten- 

 tion of its founder, the CardinalBorromeo)as should 

 be found to contain new and instructive matter, 

 was struck with the title of a small volume in the 

 Spanish language, importing to be the " Relation 

 of the Discovery of the Strait of Anian, by 

 Laurent Ferrer Maldonado," &c. At first he was 

 disposed to consider it only as a tale to amuse the 

 curious ; but on reading it attentively, he found it 

 so strongly marked with the character of authen- 

 ticity and veracity, that he determined to translate 

 and publish it, with the addition of some notes and 

 a short dissertation to prove that it supported the 

 character of both ; and that he was more particu- 

 larly urged to this step from M. de Humboldt and 

 others having consigned the manuscript, without 

 knowing what it contained, to the mass of geogra- 

 phical impostures. M. Amoretti, however, had 

 one advocate, and but one for the ^' veracity and 



. . * PviMed at Madrid, 1802. 



