254 STORY OF A LOST ARCHIPELAGO. 



was thrown over the Isles of Salomon. Althouoih Herrera^ had 

 published in ICOl a short description of these islands, which he 

 must have derived from official sources, no account of the first 

 voyage of Mendana was published until nearly half a century after 

 the return of the expedition to Peru, when in 1613 a short narrative 

 appeared in a work written by Dr. Figueroa.^ However, the 

 exaggerated description, such as Lopez Vaz had given, obtained by 

 virtue of prepossession a stronger hold on the memories of the sea- 

 faring world. The same spirit of jealousy against other nations, 

 which had compelled Gallego to suppress his journals, and had so 

 long withheld any account of Mendana's discoveries, now doomed to 

 destruction the several memorials and documents of Quiros; but 

 fortunately the work of destruction was not completed. The con- 

 sequence of such proceedings was to greatly heighten the exaggerated 

 misconceptions relating to the Isles of Salomon. We learn from 

 Purchas^ that Richard Hakluyt was informed in Lond(m in 1604, by 

 a Lisbon merchant, of an expedition which had left Lima in 1600 

 and had fallen in " v/ith divers rich countries and islands not far 

 from the islands of Salomon. One chief place they called Monte 

 de Plata, for the great abundance of silver there is like to be 

 there. For they found two crowns' worth of silver in two hand- 

 fuls of dust, and the people gave tliem for iron as much and 

 more in quantity' of silver." ^ Amongst the misconceptions which 

 prevailed is one which we find in a memorial addressed by Dr. 

 Juan Luis Arias to Philip III. of Spain,^ where he refers to the dis- 

 covery of " New Guadalcanal" and "San Christoval" as quite distinct 

 from Mendana's subsequent discovery, as he alleges, of the Isles of 

 Salomon ; and he alludes to the opinion of some that New Guadal- 

 canal was a part of New Guinea. In Peru the actual existence 

 of these islands came to be doubted : and successive vicerovs held it 

 a political maxim to treat the question of the existence of the Solo- 

 mon Islands as a romance.^ 



The jealous attitude, assumed by Spain towards other nations 

 with reference to these discoveries, succeeded only too well in be- 



^ Vide page 192. 



2 Vide page 192. 



3 " His Pilgrimes," vol. IV., p. 1432, 



■* Geographical writers are not agreeil as to whether this allusion refers to one of the 

 voyages of Quiros or not. From the date it would appear probable that it refers to Men- 

 dana's second voyage, when Quiros was chief pilot. 



s A translation is given by Mr. IMajor in his " Early Voyages to Terra Australis." 



8 Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. XIV., p. 12. 



