THE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 

No, -X.] 
NOVEMBER, 
1796. { Vou. If. 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
[eee is the commencement of the 
prefent unhappy conteft, a love of 
literature, and a fpirit of ufeful difcovery 
were every where prevalent, Afcending 
from individuals to nations, a fortunate 
rivalry took place among the European 
Ee ee and the maritiine ftates in 
particular feemed to be infpired with a 
laudable defire of furpaffing each other 
in enterprife and exertion. ‘he voyages 
of Cooke, Bougainville, Bering, Malef- 
pina, &c. have: greatly extended the 
boundaries of human knowledge. We 
have been enabled, by their means, to 
Jearn the manners of rude and uncul- 
tivated tribes, and to fiudy their genius, 
their habits, and their purfuits. Geo- 
graphy in particular has reaped many 
diftinguifhed advantages, and we can 
now form more ig cife notions relative 
to the figure, qualities, and productions 
of the planet we inhabit. ~ 
The Spaniards, feemingly funk into 
floth during a whole century and a half, 
were once the moft adventurous nation 
in Europe. It was under the aufpices of 
one of their princes, or rather princeffes, 
that Columbus difcovered the new world; 
and it 1s to the talents of their Cortes, 
Almagros, and Pizarros, that they are, at 
this prefent moment, indebted for the 
poffeifions of their immenfe territories in 
America, ‘The prefent king, from his 
infancy, was attachéd to naval affairs 5 
and it is but juftice to obferve, that the 
marine has attained a greater degree of 
confideration during his reign, than un- 
der that of any of his predeceffors. ©’ 
The voyages of our Cocke excited the 
curiofity, and even jealoufy, of the 
neighbouring flates; and the Spanifh 
court has fitted out feveral veffels for the 
exprefs purpofe of furpafling the ex~ 
ploits of the Englifh navigator. ees fol 
 MontuiyMac. No. Ke- 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
lowing particulars of the laft attempt of 
this kind, which has made but little 
noife, and has not even been mentioned 
by any Englifh journal, cannot: fait to 
procure attention. A magnificent work 
is at this prefent moment in the Madrid 
prefs, containing a full and ample detail 
of all the tranfaétions that occurred dur- 
ing this voyage of di{covery ; and, on its 
publication, we fhall be gratified with an 
account of the manners and euftoms of 
the Babaco iffes, a won- dcfeript clufter, 
then vifited for the firfi time by Euro- 
peans. 
The two floops, called the Dzovery 
and the Sudbile, the former commanded 
by Don Alexander Malefpina, and- the 
latter by Don Jofeph de. Baftamente, 
‘failed, in company, from the port of Qa- 
diz, on the 30th July, 1789, in ordar ta 
co-operate with the other maritime pow- 
ers in the extenfion of human know- 
ledge, and more particularly of naviga- 
tion. ‘The commanders of thefe vefiels 
made correcét charts of the coafts of Ame. 
rica and the adjacent iflands, from the 
river La Plata to Cape Horne, and from 
that cape to the farthermoftnorthern ex- 
tremities of that part of the world. Their 
intention in this was merely to repeat 
the attempts of the fame kind, formerly 
undertaken either by foreigners or their 
own countrymen, and thus acquire a 
more minute knowledge of the fubjeé&. 
On their arrival at the north-weft coaft 
of America, in lat. 59, 60, and 61°, they 
fearched, in vain, for a paffage by which 
they might penetrate into the Atlantic 
ocean ; they accordingly concluded that 
the prediétions of Cooke were founded 
in found reafoning, and that the gut 
mentioned by Ma/donado, an old Spanifh 
navigator, had not any exiftence, except 
in his own brain. 
In the beginning of the year 1792, 
the Swbtile, and a galleot called the Mex. 
acana, under the -command of Don 
5 ee eae Diog 

