$4 The V O Y 
only that Part, Which . lay in or near 1 5 ° South Lath 
£ude. 
3 . As to the People, he reports, that they were of Vari- 
ous Complexions •, fome white, fome black, fome tawny i 
But is pofitive, that the Country he faw was very well-peo- 
pled, and very well cultivated ; the Inhabitants generally of 
of a quiet and peaceable Difpofition, having many Canoes, 
aiid other Veffels, in which they tranfported their Commo- 
dities from one Place to another. He defcribes very particu- 
larly the Plants, Trees, Bealls, Birds, and Fifties, of this Coun- 
try, affirming, that it produced ail Things neceffary to human 
Life within itfelf, together with Gold, Silver, Pearl, Nut- 
megs, Mace, Ginger, and other Spices for Exportation, 
abounding likewife with vaft Quantities of Sugar-canes, very 
large, and excellent in their Kind. He defcribes particu- 
larly the Bay of St. James and St. Philip , which, he fays, 
is very large, as well as very fafe and commodious. An- 
other Haven he mentioned, to which he gave the Name 
of La V era Cruz , capable, according to his Account, of 
holding 1000 Ships, with fafe Anchorage every-where. 
This Haven, he adds, is in the Neighbourhood of Seven 
fine Blands, One of which he had viewed and furrounded, 
finding it about Fifty Leagues in Circumference ; and this 
Haven, according to his Account, lies in 15 0 40' South 
Latitude. He expatiates on the many Advantages that 
might arife from a Settlement there ; and infills particularly 
on its being the propereft Means for uniting the large Do- 
minions, which his Catholic Majelly had already acquired, 
as well in the Eafi Indies , as in America , as lying between 
both, and affording thereby an Opportunity of carrying on 
an eafy and beneficial Trade with either : All which he 
offers to demonftrate at large to fuch Commiffioners, well 
lkilled in thefe Matters, as his Majefty fliould be pleafed to 
appoint. But whether, in confequence of thefe Memorials, 
any fuch Commiffioners were appointed, or whether, in 
purfuance of their being appointed, thefe Projects of Don 
Pedro Fernandez de Fhiiros were examined and approved, 
we have no kind of Proof. 
4. After infilling on the Fertility of the Soil, the Conve- 
niency of the Ports, and their commodious Situation, he 
commends the Wholfomenefs of the Air, which he declares 
to be fuch, that, notwithflanding he had a confiderable Body 
of Men, who, like himfelf, were Strangers to the Place, 
exercifed, while they were there, with continual Labours, 
expofed conllantly to the open Air, often hot, and fome- 
times expofed to the cold Dews •, yet were none of them 
taken fck. As to the Natives, they found them ftrong, 
healthy, and many of them very old, tho’ they laboured 
hard, and lay upon the bare Ground; which, as he very 
juftly obferves, is a pregnant Inftance of its Wholfomenefs, 
fince, if it were a moifl, marffiy Soil, like that of the Phi- 
lippines , the Inhabitants would certainly raife their Dwell- 
ings upon Piles of Wood, as is u-fual in thofe Blands. He 
likewife takes notice, that Fleffi and Fiffi were often kept 
there Two Days, and were perfeflly fweet. The Fruits of 
that Country, gathered green, he carried back with him to 
Mexico , found, and well tailed. Befides all thefe Bleffings, 
enjoyed by the Southern Continent in common with other 
fruitful Countries, he remarks the following Prerogatives, 
which diftinguifh it from, and render it iuperior to, any 
of the Provinces of either of the Indies ; fuch as that there 
are no Thiftles, Briars, or Thorns, that grow there; no Fens 
or Marfhes ; no Snow upon the Mountains ; no Handing 
Waters in the Fields or Meadows ; no Serpents, or venom- 
ous Creatures of any Kind, in the Grafs or Woods ; no 
Crocodiles in the Rivers; no Worms among their Corn or 
Grain ; no Gnats, Hinging Flies, or any other Vermin 
whatever : For thefe Reafons, he makes no Doubt, that it 
ought to be preferred to all the Conquefts made by the Spa- 
niards in either of the Indies. 
5. The Account he gives of his taking Poffeffion of this 
Fourth-part of the Globe is very remarkable, and therefore I 
Brail give it the Reader in his own Words, which may ferve 
as a Specimen of the whole Performance, and convince the 
Reader of the Expediency of giving him an Extract only of 
the reft. 44 Such, Sire, fays he, in the Seventh Article of his 
44 Memorial, are the Greatnefs and Goodnefs of the Coun- 
44 -tries which I have difcovered, of which I have already 
taken Poffeffion in the Name of your Majefty, and un- 
AGES of Book L 
£t der your Royal Banner, as appeareth by the A&s, which 
“ I keep fafely in my Power, whereunto I proceeded after 
“ this enfuing Manner : Firft, (Sire) we ere&ed a Crofs, 
€c and built a Church, in Honour of our Lady of Loretta „ 
“ Then we caufed Twenty Maffes to be celebrated there §, 
<£ and our Troops made hafte thither, to gain fome Indul- 
46 gences granted on Whitfunday. We alfo made a folemn 
44 Proceffion, and obferved the Feaft of the Bleffed Sacra- 
44 ment, the which was carried in Proceffion, your Ban- 
44 neret being ever difplayed, and marching before it, thro* 
44 a great Circuit of Countries, which were honoured with 
44 the Prefence of the fame. In Three feveral Places we 
44 fet up our Title, in every One of which we prepared and 
44 eredled Two Columns, with the Arms of your Majefty 
44 tricked and garniftsed thereupon ; fo that I may, with 
44 good Right, affirm, that, fince this will challenge to be 
44 One of the Parts of the World, the Imprefs of Plus ultra 
44 is accompliffied ; and, becaufe it ftretched unto the Con- 
44 tinent, whether it be forward or backward can be no great 
44 Matter. ft he Bounds of your Dominions are, with much 
44 Spacioufnefs, inlarged. Now, all this which I have per- 
44 formed, receive th its Root from this faithful Zeal, which 
44 I bear unto your Majefty, that, to all the Titles, which 
44 you already poffefs, you may adjoin this, which I pre- 
44 fent ; and that the Name of La Aufirialia del Efpiritu 
44 Santo may be blazoned and fpread over the Face *of the 
44 whole World, to the Glory of God, who hath revealed 
44 this Country, and hath given me the Grace to guide my 
44 Courfe thither, and to return to the Prefence of your 
44 Majefty, before whom I prefent and proftrate myfelf 
44 with the fame Affeflion and Zeal unto this Work, 
44 which I had before, and which hath grown up with me, 
44 as it were, from my Cradle ; and, for the Noblenefsand 
44 Worth thereof, I do ftill tender and cherifh the fame- 
44 with the greateft Love that can be.’* 
6. In order to give ftill greater Force to this Memorial, 
he obferves at the Clofe, that if this new-difcovered South- 
ern Country ffiould be fought for, and feized by any of the 
Northern Nations, Enemies to the Crown of Spain , and 
Heretics befides, his Catholic Majefty would not only lofe 
the mighty Advantages before-mentioned, but might like- 
wife find himfelf fo terribly diftreffed in both the Eaft Indies 
and the Weft, as might engage him to fpend much more 
to recover, than was now neceffary for the fecuring and fet- 
tling this noble Country. He likewife obferves, that the 
Galleons were on the point of departing ; and that there- 
fore it was neceffary his Majefty ffiould take fome fpeedy 
Refolution, that he might be the fooner and better able to 
perform all that he had promifed ; the rather becaufe this 
was the Eighth Memorial he had prefented, and the Four- 
teenth Month he had fpent in the Spanifo Court, without 
being able to obtain any fatisfablory Anfwer. In Return to 
this, he is faid to have had an Order to levy 1200 Men in 
New Spain for the Execution of this Project, and to receive 
500,000 Pieces of Eight for the neceffary Expences of his 
Undertaking. But, after all, the Affair came to nothing, 
tho 5 the Spanijh Court had then fo good an Opinion of it, 
that they ordered feveral of the Memorials he had prefented 
to be printed at Seville in 1610. 
7. But, befides thefe, there is ftill extant a large Spanijh 
Memorial, in which the Subftance of what we have before 
related is contained, with fuch other Circumftances, as feem 
to fpeak it his laft Effort ; and perhaps it was upon that 
Memorial the Order was made, which is before-mentioned. 
In that Memorial he fays, that he difcovered 20 Blands, the 
Names of which he mentions, befides the Country before de- 
fcribed, in which is Bahya de Sant Felipe y Sant Iago , i. e. the 
Bay of St. Philip and James ; and Puerto de la Vera Cruz , 
i. e. the Harbour of Vera Cruz , where they (laid with 
Three Ships Thirty-fix Days. He believed they were ail 
one Country, from their high and double Mountains, and 
by the Greatnefs of the River Jordan ; which appeared from 
an Information lodged at Mexico , to which he refers. He 
fays further, that, in the Hie Taumaco , which is 1250 
Leagues from Mexico , they ftaid Ten Days ; and a Lord 
of that Bland, who was called Tamay , a Man of Senfe, tail 
and full-bodied ; his Colour of a Sea-ware, or reddiffi ; grey- 
eyed ; with an high Nofe ; his Beard and Hair curled ; of 
a grave Afpedl j was of great Service to them, with his 
People, 
