edro Fer'nAndez i) f. Qu'iRds 
g. It is a pretty extraordinary Confequence, that many 
People, in helping them to Water. He came on board, 
and converfed by Signs. He inquired of him, if there 
were other Hands round them, and if inhabited. He named 
above Sixty of them, and a great Country called Manicola. 
They lay from South South-eaft to North-eaft. To defcribe 
she large Hands he made large Circles, and fmaller for the 
leffer Hands ; and, for the great Country, he opened his 
Arms, and, pointing to the Sun, fhutting his Eyes, and 
laying his Head upon his Hand fo often, made out, that it 
would be Ten Weeks in failing round them ; in which 
were People of all Colours, fome Friends, fome Enemies, 
and Canibals •, which he fignified, by biting his Arm. The 
next Day, he faw many ofhis People in the Bay, who agreed 
in the fame Account ; and faid, they had Cows and Buffa- 
loes, Fowls and Swine ; which they fignified by crowing, 
grunting, &c. to make them fenfible of what they would 
exprefs to them ; and, upon fhewing them a Pearl, they 
faid, they had of them ; and in every thing told the Truth, 
and might be depended upon. When they failed from 
Taumaco , they took Four of the Natives with them ; Three 
were drowned in fwimming, and the other, whom they 
called Pedro , came to Mexico \ and, after learning Spanijh , 
upon afking him Queftions in different Companies at differ- 
ent Times, he never varied once in his Account, or ever 
contradicted himfelf. He was a Native of an Hand called 
Chicayana , greater than 'Taumaco, and Four Days Sailing 
from it. He faid it was plainer, and abounded more with 
Fruit. The Natives were moft of his Indian Colour, with 
lank Hair *, yet fome were white, with red Hair ; fome 
Mulattoes, with half-curled Hair •, and fome were woolly- 
headed. In this Hand were many Kinds of Oyfters, with 
Pearl of feveral Sizes, in fhalJow Water. 
8. He faid farther, that, Three Days failing from Tau- 
maco, was another Hand, called Guatopo, greater than the 
other Two, peopled with fome as white as the common 
Spaniards, with red and black Hair. He faid, that, from 
another Hand called T ncopia , at the Diftance of Five Days 
Sailing, was a great Country called Manicola, inhabited by 
many who were fair, as well as Mulattoes. It was an high 
Country, full of Rivers, which could not be paffed but in 
Canoes. He talked much of the Greatnefs, Fertility, and 
other Advantages of that Hand ; that he and other Indians 
went thither in a great Canoe or Periagua ; and he law there 
a good Harbour, of a ftraiter Entrance than that of Philip 
and James ; that it was betwixt Four Rivers ; and that they 
might coaft along that Country more Days than in going 
from Acapulco to Mexico , without feeing the End of it. 
There, he faid, are many Pearl-oyfters. In Three Days 
Sailing, with a ftiff Gale, from Taumaco, is another Hand 
called Fanofano. It is low and plain, in which are great 
Rivers •, the Country very fertile and populous ; and the 
Natives fome fair, and fome Mulattoes. Near this are the 
Hands Pilar and Nupon. In all thefe are Pearl-oyfters. He 
faid, that, in Taumaco, was a great Indian Pilot, who had 
been in many more Hands, and in one great Hand called 
Pouro, where the People Were very warlike. He brought with 
him from thence fome Fifh-gigs, and Arrows which had 
coloured Points. Upon lliewing him a Piece of Plate, he 
faid, the Points were of that Colour. DeQuiros fays, that, in 
the Bay of Philip and James, were many black Stones, very 
heavy, fome of which he carried to Mexico, in which, upon 
their being affayed, they found Silver. Upon fhewing 
Pedro fome of thefe, he faid, that, in Taumaco , there was 
much of that Sort, which they called Teraque ; and alfb in 
Manicola. When he came to be well underftood in Spanijh , 
he talked much of the Populoufnefs of their feveral Hands, 
and of the Variety of different Colours of fuch as inhabit in 
them ; and of other great Countries South-eaft and Weft of 
them ; which agrees exaCtly with the Conjectures of the belt 
judges, as well as the Experience of great Difcoverers fince. 
People have drawn from the Negligence of the Spaniards 
in profecuting the Difcoveries of thefe Countries ; which is, 
that they took thefe Relations of de FJuiros for Fictions j- 
and, upon this wife Foundation, will have us believe, that 
there are no fuch Countries as the Southern Continent or 
Hands by him defcribed. This Opinion of theirs, how- 
ever, is founded upon a falfe FaCt 5 for his Propofals were 
not rejected at Court, but he met with fuch Delays on his 
Return to the Indies, that he died before he was able to 
undertake any thing. Add to this, that all who have na- 
vigated thefe Seas, or any Part of them, inftead of con- 
futing, have confirmed what he has delivered in relation to 
the Hands on this Southern Coaft, and their Inhabitants. 
The Reader will hereafter meet with a Voyage round the 
World, undertaken for the Difcovery of thefe Southern 
Countries by the Dutch , fo lately as the Year 1721, where- 
in he will find, that they met with moft of the Hands men- 
tioned in le Maine's Voyage, and found the Inhabitants of 
other Hands, difcovered by themfelves, anfwer the De- 
fcription given by de Quiros very exaClly ; for they were 
perfectly civilized, dwelt in wooden Houfes, made life of 
earthen Veffels, had Flutes and Drums for Mufic, divided 
their Plantations regularly, and fenced them with Poles j 
all which Circumftances will be more particularly taken 
notice of, when we come to fpeak of that Voyage. 
10. In the mean time, I fhall conclude this SeCtion with 
obferving, that it has been now, for many Years, a fettled 
Maxim in the Spanijh Politics, not only to lay afide all 
Thoughts of profecuting thefe Difcoveries, but even to 
treat the Relations publifhed of them by their beft Authors 
as abfolute Romances •, and this with very good Reafon : 
For, finding themfelves fo weakened, as to be no longer in 
a Condition to undertake any Expedition of this Nature to 
any great Purpofe, and fo refeeing, that, if they fhould efta- 
blifh themfelves in Two or Three fmall Hands, it would 
only ferve to encourage other Nations to difpofiefs them-, 
and thereby gain not only the Settlements from whence they 
might be driven, but enable them to fix themfelves in 
the Middle between their American Dominions and the 
Philippine Hands, to their inexpreflible Prejudice, they very 
prudently forego a prefent Advantage, rather than run the 
Rifque of fuch a future Inconvenience : Yet, however wife 
this ConduCt may be in them, it is very wonderful, that 
other Nations fhould not fee through it, efpecially at a 
Time like this, when an Attempt might be made at no 
very great Expence, and with very little Hazard, becaufe, 
at all Events, our Ships might go fafely round to the Eaji 
Indies, as is evident by what has been fo very lately done 
by Commodore Anfon. 
n. If a ProjeCt of this fort fhould ever come to be ma- 
turely weighed, there is no great Reafon to fear, that we 
might find a Way to indemnify ourfelves for the Lofs of the 
AJfiento, fince, at the worft, if any Eftablifhment could be 
made, either on this Southern Continent, or in fome of the 
Hands near it, the Spanijh Court, upon a Peace, would be 
glad to renew that ContraCt, in Confideration of our aban- 
doning it, if that would content us •, but, if we negleCt this 
Opportunity, it is highly probable, that fome other Nation 
will foon be before-hand with us, fince there is nothing 
more certain, than that Schemes of this fort are daily thought 
of in Countries, where Commerce and Navigation are, as 
it were, in their Infancy, and where, as yet, the Tyranny 
of exclufive Companies is not known. But it is now Time 
to proceed in our Hiftory of Circum-navigations, and to 
fhew how foon the Streights of Le Maire grew into Credit 
with thofe, who affeCted to doubt the Truth of their firft 
Difcovery, and who, very probably, would have buried it 
in Oblivion, if the Relation in our laft SeCtion had not put 
it abfolutely out of their Power. 
Numb. 5, 
S 
SECTION 
