ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



337 



asserted it, and devoted the remainder of his life to the prose- 

 cution of a plan of discovery. He was the first to bring for- 

 ward scientific arguments in support of the theory, — one which, 

 by the way, was destined to agitate and interest the world for 

 two centuries, till its final overthrow by Cook. He presented 

 two memorials to Don Luis de Velasco, the viceroy, praying for 

 ships, men, and other necessaries, with which " to plough up the 

 waters of the unknown sea, and to seek out the undiscovered 

 lands around the Antarctic Pole, the centre of that horizon." 

 His arguments were many of them profound, and made a deep 

 impression upon the viceroy, who replied, however, that Quiros' 

 desires exceeded the limits of his authority. He nevertheless 

 despatched him with strong recommendations to the court of 

 Spain. Philip III. gave favorable attention to his projects, and 

 ordered that Quiros should go in person upon an expedition 

 " among these hidden provinces and severed regions, — an expedi- 

 tion destined to win souls to heaven and kingdoms to the crown 

 of Spain." Quiros returned to Lima "with the most honorable 

 schedules which had ever passed the Council of State." He pre- 

 sented his papers to the viceroy, and, forgetting the obstacles and 

 discouragements he had met with during eleven years, entered 

 on his new and arduous labors. He built three ships, and em- 

 barked on the 20th of December, 1605, holding his course west 

 by south. 



One thousand leagues from Peru, he discovered a small island 

 which he named Encarnac,ion : to others, of little importance and 

 uninhabited, he gave the names of Santelmo, St. Miguel, and 

 Archangel : the tenth he called Dezena. On the 10th of Febru- 

 ary, 1606, land was seen from the topmast-head, and, to the 

 joy of all, columns of smoke — an unmistakable sign that the 

 land was inhabited — were perceived ascending at numerous 

 points. A boat advanced to the surf, through which it seemed 

 impossible to gain the shore. A young man, Francisco Ponce 



by name, stripped off his clothes, saying that, if they should 

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