Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (; 1563–1614) was a Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain. He is best known for leading several Spanish voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean, in particular the 1595–1596 voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira, and for the 1605–1606 expedition that crossed the Pacific in search of Terra Australis.
Early life Queirós (or Quirós as he signed) was born in Évora, Portugal in 1563. As the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies had been unified under the king of Spain in 1580 (following the vacancy of the Portuguese throne, which lasted for sixty years, until 1640, when the Portuguese monarchy was restored), Queirós entered Spanish service as a young man and became an experienced seaman and navigator.
In April 1595, he joined Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira on his voyage to colonize the Solomon Islands, serving as chief pilot. After Mendaña's death in October 1595, Queirós is credited with taking command and saving the only remaining ship of the expedition, arriving in the Philippines in February 1596. Isabel Barreto, Mendaña's wife, accompanied the expedition and was accused of causing the crew's low morale by her selfishness and strict discipline.
The search for Terra Australis
Queirós spent eighteen months in the Philippines, but returned to Spain in 1598, via Mexico. Upon his return to Spain, he petitioned King Philip III to support another voyage into the Pacific, hoping to find a large southern continent to claim for Spain. A devout Catholic, Queirós also visited Rome in 1600, where he obtained the support of Pope Clement VIII, for further explorations. He greatly impressed the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, the Duke of Sesa, who described him as a “man of good judgement, experienced in his profession, hard working, quiet and disinterested.” While in Rome, Queirós also first wrote his Treatise on Navigation as a letter to the king, further reinforcing his reputation as a navigator, and invented two navigational tools.
In March 1603, Queirós was finally authorized to return to Peru to organize another expedition, with the intention of finding Terra Australis, the anticipated "great south land," and claiming it for Spain and the Catholic Church. Queirós was shipwrecked in the West Indies, but made it to Peru by March 1605. Queirós's party of 160 men on three ships, San Pedro y San Pablo (150 tons), San Pedro (120 tons), and the tender (or launch) Los Tres Reyes left Callao on 21 December 1605.Estensen, M. (2006) Terra Australis Incognita; The Spanish Quest for the Great South Land, p.111-113. Allen & Unwin, Australia
In January 1606, the expedition came upon Henderson Island and Ducie Island, and then Rakahanga (Northern Cook Islands), and the Buen Viaje Islands (Butaritari and Makin) in the present-day island nation of Kiribati. It is also probable that his expedition sighted Tahiti and other islands in the Tuamotu archipelago. Queirós narrowly missed the Marquesas as well as New Zealand, thanks to a change in his planned itinerary.
In May 1606, the expedition reached the islands later called the New Hebrides and now known as the independent nation of Vanuatu. Queirós landed on a large island which he took to be part of the southern continent, and named it Australia del Espíritu Santo.Sir Clements Markham (ed.), The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 1595 1606, Hakluyt Society, 1904, Vol.1, pp.251, 478; Brendan Whyte, “Australia or Austrialia? A Correction”, The Globe, no.69, 2011, p.51; Rupert Gerritsen, "A Note on Australia or Austrialia", The Globe, no.72, 2013, pp.23-30; Margaret Cameron-Ash, "Juggling ‘Australia’, ‘Austrialia’ and ‘New Holland’", The Globe, no.73, 2013, pp.29-38. In his printed memorials, notably the Eighth (which was published in Italy, Holland, France, Germany and England), this was altered to Austrialia del Espíritu Santo (The Australian Land of the Holy Spirit), a pun on "Austria", in honor of King Philip III, who was of the House of Hapsburg or 'Austria' in Spanish.A. Lodewyckx, "The Name of Australia: Its Origins and Early Use", The Victorian Historical Magazine, vol.13, no.3, June 1929, pp.99-115. The island is still called Espiritu Santo. Here, he stated his intention to establish a colony, to be called Nova Jerusalem. He seems to have identified Australia/Austrialia del Espíritu Santo with the huge northward extension of the Austral continent joining it to New Guinea, as depicted in maps like those of Gerard de Jode and Petrus Plancius. For, as he said in his Tenth Memorial (page 5): “New Guinea is the top end of the Austral Land of which I treat".
Queirós' religious fervour found expression with the founding of a new Order of Chivalry, the Knights of the Holy Ghost. The Order's purpose was to protect the new colony. However, within weeks the idea of a colony was abandoned due to the hostility of the Ni-Vanuatu and to disagreements among the crew.
After six weeks Queirós' ships put to sea to explore the coastline. On the night of 11 June 1606, Queirós in the San Pedro y San Pablo became separated from the other ships in bad weather and was unable (or so he later said) to return to safe anchorage at Espiritu Santo. In reality, the crew mutinied, with the unfavorable wind conditions just giving them an opportunity to do so. The captain on the San Pedro y San Pablo named Diego de Prado, aware of the crew's plans, had already transferred to Torres' ship, and so did the expedition's surgeon. Queirós' ship, with Queirós being held in his cabin, then sailed to Acapulco, Mexico, where she arrived in November 1606. In the account of Diego de Prado, which is highly critical of Queirós, mutiny and poor leadership is given as the reason for Queirós's disappearance. Full text available here
Two weeks later, his second-in-command, Luis Váez de Torres, after searching in vain for Queirós and assuming Queirós (or rather the crew of his ship) had decided to go their own way,From Torres' letter to the Spanish king written in Manila in 1607: From within this bay, and from the most sheltered part of it, the Capitana departed at one hour past midnight, without any notice given to us, and without making any signal. This happened the 11th of June. And although the next morning we went out to seek for them, and made all proper efforts, it was not possible for us to find them, for they did not sail on the proper course, nor with good intention. So I was obliged to return to the bay to see if by chance they had returned thither. And on the same account we remained in this bay fifteen days, at the end of which we took Your Majesty's orders and held a consultation with the officers of the frigate. It was determined that we should fulfil them, although contrary to the inclination of many, I may say of the greater part; but my condition was different from that of Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros. Quoted in The Discovery of Australia by George CoolingridgeFrom the relation of Don Diego de Prado: at nine we made signal with a torch and they replied, at twelve we repeated it and they did not reply, at one we made it with two torches alight on the topmast and they did not reply [...] Seeing that the capitana (Queirós' ship) did not appear they suspected that it had become a wreck; I told them that they need not search, for the crew had determined to mutiny if they saw an opportunity, the wind had invited them and they had mutinied. [...] seeing then that the capitana did not appear Luis Baes de Torres went in the boat, well equipped, along the coast of the bay to the north and the launch along the other coast, hugging the land because if the vessel had made shipwreck they would find plenty of pieces of planks along the coast, and if they found nothing it would be certain that they had mutinied. They found nothing, and went up to the top of the headlands which were fairly high and saw nothingTranslation of Torres’ report to the king in Collingridge, G. (1895) The Discovery of Australia p.229-237. Golden Press Edition 1983, Gradesville, NSW. . Full text available online: The Discovery of Australia, chapter 39: Relation of Luis Vaez de Torres left Espiritu Santo. Torres successfully reached Manila, the capital of the Spanish East Indies in May 1607, after charting the southern coastline of New Guinea on the way and in doing so sailing through the strait that now bears his name, between Australia and New Guinea. Torres was unaware of his proximity to Australia's northern coast, just over the horizon from his route.
Later life Pedro Fernandes de Quirós returned to Madrid in 1607. Regarded as a crank, he spent the next seven years in poverty, writing numerous accounts of his voyage and begging King Philip III for money for a new voyage, sending the king more than 65 letters over a seven-year period. He was finally despatched to Peru with letters of support, but the king had no real intention of funding another expedition, as the royal council feared that Spain could not afford new discoveries in the Pacific. Quirós died on the way, in Panama, in 1614. He had married Doña Ana Chacón de Miranda of Madrid in 1589; the couple had one son and one daughter. His son Lucas de Quirós, who participated in the 1605 expedition, was knighted an Alférez Real and became a regarded cosmographer in Lima.
Accounts of Queirós's voyage There are a number of documents describing the Queirós – Torres voyages still in existence. Most significant are Queirós' many subsequent Memorials to the King Philip III regarding the voyage,A copy at the Library of Congress can be read online Torres' letter to the King of Spain from 12 July 1607,Relation of Luis Vaez de Torres - full text available online From chapter 39 of Collingridge, G.(1895) The Discovery of Australia, Golden Press reprint, 1983. Full text is here and a shorter fragment is here Diego de Prado's narrative Full text in English and 4 charts of New Guinea,For colour photos of the charts, see Hilder, B. (1980). Also see Collingridge’s The First Discovery of Australia, 1895, which includes Collingridge’s own copies of three of the charts The charts are the coloured maps 5,6 and 9.(Map 9 is incorrectly titled "Moresby's Map of the Islands at the South-east end of New Guinea" . It is in fact based on Prado’s Mappa III - showing Orangerie Bay, New Guinea.), Juan Luis Arias de Loyola's memorial to King Philip IV (written about 1630 and based on discussions between Queirós and Loyola).Hilder, B (1980) p.175-176
1617 may be the date of the first English translation of one of Queirós’ memorials, as Terra Australis Incognita, or A New Southerne Discoverie.The La Trobe Library of Victoria lists a copy of this as one of its rare books A short account of Queirós’ voyage and discoveries was published in English by Samuel Purchas in 1625 in Haklvytvs posthumus, or, Pvrchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv, p. 1422-1432. This account also appears to be based on a letter by Queirós to the King in 1610, the eighth on the matter.
Some time between 1762 and 1765, written accounts of the Queirós-Torres expedition were seen by British Admiralty Hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple. Dalrymple provided a sketch map which included the Queirós-Torres voyages to Joseph Banks who undoubtedly passed this information to James Cook.Hilder, B (1980) p.31Estensen, M.(2006)p.222
Memorials Queirós sent at least 50, possibly 65, memorials to the King between 1607 and 1614. Although most were written manuscripts, Queirós paid to have fourteen printed and presented to the King. Copies of thirteen of these memorials are known to have survived. Scholars have numbered these memorials in different ways according to the memorials available to them for study, and those publicly known at the time. 1617 may be the date of the first English translation of one of Queirós's memorials, as Terra Australis Incognita, or A New Southerne Discoverie.The La Trobe Library of Victoria lists a copy of this as one of its rare books