KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 57. N:0 4. 111 



the crew, who divided into two parties: one of them, with the little bark, steered över the 

 ocean to India and fell into the hands of the Dutch at Amboina; the other, under the 

 command of Dampier himself, after some further privateering exploits on the coast of 

 South America, also made its way to the Dutch Indies, where the vessel, a Spanish prize, 

 was seized and the crew was scattered in different directions. 



1705. The galleon "San Francisco Xavier", General Don Santiago Zabalbitru, 

 sailed from Cavite in August. "Nothing is known of its fäte; not a fragment, no object 

 whatever, large or small, has ever been found to serve as evidence or support for even a 

 conjecture as to its fäte, whether it was shattered on some unknown rock or was swallowed 

 by the waves, crew and all — commander, seamen, and passengers, among whom were 

 whole families of high rank. The ocean has kept the secret of this terrible tragedy." 1 



1706. The galleon "Nuestra Seiiora del Rosario", General Don Joseph Martines de 

 Ciriano, Piloto Mayor Don Antonio Fernandez de Röjas, sailed from Cavite 0116 July 

 and got through the Embocadero on 3 August. On 17 September, in 24° 12' N. lat., they 

 saw Volcan de San Agustin, and on the following day Fortuna, from whose summit smoke 

 was seen to ascend, and San Alessandro; the longitude was determined as 15° 5' (= 140° 

 20' E. Gr. ), which falls short of the reality by scarcely one degree. On 20 September it is 

 said that they saw a previously unknown island which was not to be found on the charts, 

 and on the four following days they passed to the east of no less than three groups of 

 small islands, of which the northernmost was situated in 27° 45' lat. This perfectly exact 

 observation establishes the fact that it was the Bonin Islands. On 29 September they 

 crossed the meridian of the Mariannes in 30° 39' lat., and on 16 November the senas were 

 encountered in 37° N. lat. and 93° 46' long. On 4 December they passed Cape San Lucas, 

 and on the 20th they arrived at Acapulco. A note in the diary says briefly that they 

 here learnt that the galleon "San Xavier" had not reached its destination. 2 — On 8 March 

 1707 they set sail from there with an exceptionally rich cargo. The vessel also conveyed 

 the newly-appointed Archbishop of Manila and, as usual, a large number of religious, 

 among them probably the French Jesuits Nyel, de Brasle, and Hebrard, who are said 

 to have been the first Frenchmen who tried to reach the missions of their order in China 

 by this unusual route. On the voyage the Mariannes were passed on 16 May, and the 



1 Cesareo Fernandez Duro, Armada Espafiola, VI, p. 96. Cf. Bl. & Rob. XLIV, p. 142. 



2 "Dio fondo en Acapulco y nota al margen haver tenido la noticia de que el galeon San Xauier no 

 havia llegado." This does not agree with the statement of M. Jean de Monségur, an officer in the Spanish 

 Navy, though French hy birth. He arrived at the City of Mexico in June 1707, stayed there about a year, 

 and shortly after his return to Spain drew up a detailed report of liis observations, which is preserved in 

 manuscript in the Bibliothéque Xationale in Paris, with the title: "Nouveaux mémoires touchant le Mexique ou 

 la Xouvelle Espagne, recueillis sur les lieux avec une attention particuliére par M. de Monségur pendant les 

 années 1707 et 1708" (Ms. Fr. 24228). In this report there is given in extenso a "Compte du produit de la 

 cargaison du galion appelé le Saint-Francois-Xavier, du port de 1000 tonneaux, venu de Manille ä Acapulco au 

 commencement du mois de janvier 1707". That the document is authentic cannot be doubted; but how can 

 this be explained when it is also indisputable that the galleon u San Francisco Xavier" was löst? The explanation 

 seems to be either that M. de Monségur had made a mistake about the name of the vessel, or that a list of 

 its cargo had reached Mexico with another ship and was then copied by M. de Monségur without knowledge 

 of the loss. Cf. the present writer's work, Les relations commerciales et maritimes entré la France et les 

 cötes de Vocéan Pacifique. T. I, Paris 1909. pp. 41. 09 notes. 



