TORRES 19 



turers found MAHOMEDAN RESIDENTS, with whom they traded for 

 such of their immediate necessities as they could afford to pay for 

 with cloth. The Mahomedans " gave them news of the events 

 of the Molucas " and spoke of Dutch ships. 



Torres in his report gives impossible latitudes in and about 

 the GULF OF PAPUA, and the inference is inevitable that he was 

 writing from memory and without having the charts of his voyage, 

 or perhaps even his log, before him. Therefore, the southmost 

 point (11) at which he says he cleared the strait is open to grave 

 doubt, especially as it is actually nineteen minutes south of Cape 

 York. 



Prado's No. 3 Chart 1 shows the expedition in " THE GREAT 

 BAY OF ST. LAURENCE and PORT OF MONTEREY " (modern 

 ORANGERIE BAY), lat. 10 25' (Prado has it 10 10'), long. 149 40', 

 with the legend " Discovered by D. Luis Vaes de Torres, 10 August, 

 1606." This careful survey, which agrees admirably with modern 

 charting, is sufficient evidence of a sojourn of at least a few days, 

 while the sketched rectangular subdivision of the coast land into 

 what are probably agricultural areas or PLANTATIONS suggests that 

 the site was considered to be well adapted for a settlement. 



In Prado's No. 4 Map, of the BAY OF S. PETER OF ARLANCA 

 (lat. 3 40' S., according to Prado, more correctly 3 56', according 

 to modern charts, long. 134 7' E.), we have no difficulty in 

 recognising, with Collingridge, TRITON BAY, in Dutch New 

 Guinea, nor in identifying the " ISLA DEL CAP- Luis VAES DE 

 TORRES " with the modern AIDUMA ISLAND. A legend on the 

 map reads : " Discovered by D. Luis Vaes de Torres, iSth 

 October, 1606." 



THE PASSAGE OF TORRES STRAIT, therefore, took place between 

 the dates of Torres' touching at Orangerie Bay, loth August, and 

 Triton Bay, i8th October. Considering that, once he had cleared 

 the reefs and banks of the Gulf of Papua, and taken a north-westerly 

 course along the Dutch New Guinea coast, his difficulties were 

 over, it would only be reasonable to assign two-thirds of the time 

 to the voyage east and one-third to that west of the turning-point. 

 On this assumption, the approximate date of clearing the strait 

 would be 2^.th September. 



Torres' report was written at Manila and dated I2th July, 1607, 

 and he states that he had been in that city for two months, thus 

 fixing the date of his arrival at the PHILIPPINES approximately at 

 I2tb May. 



The time employed between Triton Bay (i8th October) and 

 the Philippines (i2th May), nearly seven months, has now to be 

 accounted for. If we allow ten days for bargaining with the 

 Mahomedans at Triton Bay and leaving New Guinea " where it 

 comes to a termination fifty leagues before you come to the 



1 See Collingridge's Discovery of Australia, p. 251. 



