302 FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



been assigned to Jacob le Maire, a Dutchman, 

 in the service of the states of Holland, who, in 

 1616, rediscovered that which Drake had dis- 

 covered before perhaps, and left the name of 

 Hoorn (now corrupted to Horn), attached to 

 the cape, in honour of the town of that name 

 in Holland. Le Maire was the first European 

 navigator who, by finding a passage into the 

 Pacific Ocean round this terminus of South 

 America, thereby enabling navigators to avoid 

 the difficult and dangerous passage through the 

 strait of Magellan, has almost rivalled De 

 Gama, who converted the Cape of Storms into 

 the Cape of Good Hope, when the way was 

 opened to those magnificent oriental regions 

 which, for so long a period, have poured their 

 riches into the lap of Europe. It is imma- 

 terial, so far as respects rights resulting from 

 original discovery, whether this cape, or the 

 island of which it is a part, was first seen by 

 Sir Francis Drake, the Englishman, or Jacob 

 le Maire, the Dutchman; the honour of the 

 discovery was never claimed by Spain. The 

 discovery was followed neither by possession 

 nor occupation, and the natives still retain 



