BURNEY’S BISCOVERIES IN THE SOUTH SEA. 
fvashed by the ocean; but the first ac- 
tual information of this sea which they 
obtained, 
«¢ Was given to the Spanish conquerors 
by the native Americans. Basco Nunnez 
-de Balboa, a Spanish commander at Darien, 
to verify the intelligence he had received, 
marched with a body of Spaniards, and with 
Indian guides, across the isthmus. He was 
opposed in the passage by the natives. ‘They 
demanded who the bearded strangers were, 
what they songht after, and whither they 
were going? ‘Lhe S aniards answered, ‘ they 
were christians, that their errand was to 
preach a new religion, and to seck gold; and 
that they were going to the southern sea.’ 
This answer not giving satisfaction, Balboa 
forcibly made his way. On arriving at the 
foot ef a mountain, from the top of which 
he was informed that the sea’ he so anxiously 
wished to discover was visible; he ordered 
his men to halt, and ascended alone. As 
soon as he had attained the summit, he fell on 
his knees, and with uplified hands returned 
thanks to heaven, for having bestowed on 
him the honour of being the first European 
that beheld the sea beyond America. After- 
wards, in the presence of his followers, and 
of many Indians, he walked up to his mid- 
dle in the water, with his sword and target ; 
and called on them to bear testimony that he 
took possession of the South Sea, and all 
which appertained to it, for the King of 
Castile ae Leon. 
« The particular position of the coast of 
that part of the American continent from 
whence the sea on the other side was first 
discovered, appears to have stamped on it 
the denomination of the South Sea. The 
isthmus of Darien lies nearly east and west ; 
consequently, there the two seas appear situ- 
ated, the one to the north, and the other to 
the south. If the new sea had been first 
discovered from any part to the south of the 
bay of Panama, it would probably have re- 
ceived some other appellation. A  conse- 
quence resulting fron; the name thus im- 
posed has beer, that the Atlantic ocean, by 
way of contra-djstinction, has gecasionally 
been called the North Sea, even in its most 
southern part.” 
~ Only two years after this discovery 
the court of Spain sent Juan Diaz de 
Solis to explore the southern coast of 
America, and seek out a passage into the 
South Sea and to the Spice Islands. 
Juan Diaz was one of the most able na- 
vigators of his time ; but he was slain by 
the natives near the Rio de la Plata, and 
upon his death the remainder of his 
eople returned. The next expedition 
was under the command of Fernam de 
Magalhaens. Captain Burney we be- 
lieve is mistaken in the orthography of 
this name ; he says, i a 
8 
‘©The Spanish authors call him Magal- 
lanes, and generally with the christian name 
Hernando. Galvaom, De Barros, and others 
of his countrymen, write the name Fer- 
nando de Magalhanes, and this orthography 
has been adopted by Mr. Dalryinple. The 
strange practice (for it is one of these which 
custom cannot familiarise) of translating 
proper names, even when composed of words 
which have no descriptive or second mean- 
ing, has not been neglected in that of Ma- 
panert: In Spanish it is Magallanes; in 
talian, Mugaghanes; and the English of 
Magalhanes has been Magellan.” 
In the last edition of Barros the name 
-is spelt Fernas de Magalhats, which the 
Portugueze, when they disuse the til, 
write Fernam de Magalhaens. When they 
call him Magalhanes, they represent the 
sound of his Spanish name in Portu- 
guese orthography, Castilianizing it, as 
he expatriated himself. Captain Burney 
is so very accurate a writer, that we are 
sure he will be pleased to see the minut- 
est errors of his volume pointed out. 
He should write Galvam, not Galvaom, 
Barros, or Joam de Barros, never De 
Barros. 
«¢ Fernando de Magalhanes, by birth a 
Portuguese, and of a good family, who had 
served fiye years with reputation in the East 
Indies, under the celebrated Albuquerque, 
thinking his services ill requited by the court 
of Portugal, banished himself from his native 
land, and solicited employment from the 
king of Spain. He was accompanied by one 
of his countrymen, Ruy Falero, who was 
esteemed to be a good astronomer and geo- 
grapher. ‘They offered to prove that the 
Moluccea islands fell within the limits assigned 
by the pope to the crown of Castile, and un- 
dertock to discover a passage thither, difter- 
ent from the one used by the Portuguese. 
It is said that they first presented their plan 
to Emanuel, king of Portugal, who rejected 
it with displeasure; probably, being of opi- 
nion that it would be prejudical to the inte- 
rests of the Portuguese, who were then 
quietly suffered by the rest of Europe to 
possess exclusively the advantages of the 
ast Indian navigation, to encourage the 
discovery of a new route to those seas. An 
enterprize of such a nature, undertaken by 
one of their countrymen, for the benefit of 
foreigners, must naturally have excited great 
indignation in the Portuguese; and to this 
sentiment may beattributed several anecdotes 
which the writers of that nation have related 
to the disadvantage of Magalhanes.” 
The Portugueze accuse him of pecu- 
lation; that when a large booty had been 
_made from the Moors in Africa, he and 
one Alvaro Monteiro who kept the 
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