16 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



leeward and in the morning succeeding the first night was out of 

 sight of land and hopelessly SEPARATED FROM HER CONSORTS. Quiros 

 himself was " below," too ill to direct the conduct of his vessel. 

 Prado asserts, indeed, that Quiros was a prisoner in the hands of 

 mutineers, but as he was not on board and could only have obtained 

 his information at second hand, and, moreover, was prejudiced and 

 malicious, the statement may be disregarded. Quiros himself, as 

 he complained, had enemies on board, discontented and sulky, but 

 there can be no doubt of the loyalty and devotion of his new 

 Captain, de Leza, and his Secretary, Bermudez, who, perhaps 

 jointly, conducted affairs during Quiros' incapacity. 



The " Capitano" having reached 10 S., the latitude of Santa 

 Cruz, without seeing the island, being probably between it and the 

 Solomon Group, it was resolved on i8th June to make for Acapulca. 

 unless some friendly port should first be discovered suitable for 

 refitting and repairing the ship. On a NE. by N. course the line 

 was crossed on 2nd July. The course was shortly altered to NE., 

 and lay, in all probability, between the Marshall and Gilbert 

 Islands. Having reached 38 N. latitude, the vessel steered ESE. 

 until North American land was sighted in 34, on 23rd September. 

 The Mexican coast was then followed to the SE. and Acapulca 

 was reached on 23rd November, 1606. Only one death occurred 

 during the voyage, that of an old priest. Quiros, who landed 

 without resources, was coldly received. He, however, managed to 

 reach Madrid on 9th October, 1607. The remainder of his life was 

 spent in making passionate appeals to the King for the means to 

 prosecute his discoveries and develop the imaginary continent in the 

 interests of Spain* Wearied by his importunities, the Government 

 got him out of the way by giving him an open letter to the Governor 

 at Panama, who was instructed to assist him to his object, at the 

 same time sending another letter in which the Governor was 

 secretly instructed to string him on and delay him ad infinitum. 

 Fortunately for himself, he died on the voyage to Panama (1609- 

 1610) unaware of the treachery of which he was to be the victim. 

 He was only fifty years of age, but was, says Markham, " worn out 

 and driven to his grave by Councils and Committees with their 

 futile talk, needless delays and endless obstructions." 



The flagship having disappeared, TORRES waited and searched 

 for it for fifteen days, before feeling himself free to form his own 

 plans for carrying out the instructions given him by Quiros. He 

 weighed anchor on 26th June, and commenced the voyage which 

 took him through the passage on which Dalrymple afterwards 

 conferred the name of TORRES STRAIT. 



Torres' relation or report on this voyage occurs in the form of 

 a letter from Manila, dated I2th July, 1607, addressed to the 

 King of Spain, and is, so far as is known, the firsf recorded account 

 of the passage of Torres Straits. Had this report been published 



